General Knowledge Quiz

1. Which American Civil War general captured and burned Atlanta in 1864?

A James Madison

B Andrew Jackson

C John Quincy Adams D William T. Sherman

2. What sort of creature is a treehopper?

A A squirrel B A bird

C A monkey D An insect

3. Which chemical element, symbol Lr, is named after the winner of the 1939 Nobel prize in physics?

A Lawcium B Littlium C Lawrencium D Lorium

4. Which Frankish ruling dynasty was founded by Pepin the Short?

A Plantagenets B Goths C Visigoths D Carolingians

5. Who was the last British prime minister to sit in the House of Lords?

A Gladstone B Salisbury C Rosebery D Balfour

6. Christopher Walken and Stephen Merchant are among the stars of which BBC comedy set in Bristol?

A Misfits

B The Outlaws C The Cleaner D After Life

Stephen Merchant See Question 6

7. What is the removal of salt from brine to produce fresh water called?

A Purification B Debrination C Desalination D Freshification

8. Who was Harold II’s brother who fought against him at the Battle of Stamford Bridge?

A Josstick B Rostog C Tostig D Ristog

9. What name is given to a celestial phenomenon that has undergone such total gravitational collapse that no light can escape from it?

A Lightless cavern B Dark abyss C Black space D Black hole 10. What does the name of the disease influenza literally mean? A Influence

B Flu enzyme

C Cold influx

D Fast spreading

11. What is the brightest star in the constellation Carina?

A Arcturus B Canopus C Marina D Peroni

12. Which band had a 1963 top ten hit with You Were Made For Me?

A Freddie and the Dreamers B Herman’s Hermits

C The Beatles

D The Shadows

13. Who wrote the cantata Carmina Burana?

A Carl Orff B Georges Bizet C Wolfgang Mozart D Richard Wagner

14. What name is given to the financial crisis in England in 1720 that revealed corruption among ministers?

A North Sea Bubble B Irish Sea Bubble C Atlantic Ocean Bubble D South Sea Bubble

15. Which New Zealand detective fiction writer created Roderick Alleyn of Scotland Yard?

A Dame Ngaio Roberts B Dame Ngaio Marsh C Dame Ngaio Maoro D Dame Ngaio Paou