January 2, 2007

The Ignoramus' Quiz No.24

1. In 2004, which ‘global currency’ exceeded the worth of all the dollar bills in circulation around the globe?

2. One in ten Europeans is allegedly conceived in a bed of which furniture brand?

3. Which country is referred to as the ‘little red dot’?

4. In bookmaking, what is vigorish?

5. Which place was originally named ‘Jebel Tarik’ or ‘Tarik’s mountain’ after a Moorish leader?

6. Outside of primates, which are the only species found to trust non-relatives on a routine basis?

7. What was the original name of Camp David, the retreat of US Presidents?

8. What is the Islamic name of the Queen of Sheba?

9. Which sporting event is held immediately after the Summer Olympics at the same venue?

10. Which EU countries still carry out the death penalty?

11. Which famous phrase was coined by sportswriter Dan Cook in 1978?

12. The red skyline in the Edward Munch painting ‘Scream’ were inspired by what?

13. Which country boasts the highest level language diversity in the world, averaging 1 language for every 6,500 reisdents?

14. During WWII, what were baseball commentators on radio prohibited from talking about?

15. What are the popcorn kernels that fail to pop called?

16. The name of which country literally means ‘House of stone’ in its native language?

17. According to World Bank estimates, about $ 167 billion flowed into developing countries (twice the amount of money they received as foreign aid.) From where?

18. What did Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the modern Olympics, describe as "impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and wrong."?

19. Which civilization used a used a writing system that involved knotted strings called Khipu?

20. What’s the Sports Illustrated Jinx?

21. The Japanese name for Godzilla – Gojira – is a combination of the Japanese words for gorilla and what other creature?

22. Which city in England gave rise to the phrase ‘true blue’?

23. Where would you expect to find dragline silk, minor ampullate silk and flagelliform silk?

24. Which city in New Zealand is named after the erstwhile name for Edinburgh?

25. Which state in the US is called ‘Land of Lincoln’ because the 16th President spent most of his life there?


For the answers, please visit: fifty things i didn't know until last year.