General knowledge quiz

POT LUCK

1 Which type of mesh cap — often decorated with jewels and worn by brides or with evening gowns — takes its name from the title character of a Shakespearean play?

2 Derived from the resin from trees of the Garcinia genus, gamboge yields a dye of which colour?

3 What is the literal meaning of ’El Gordo’, the name by which the Spanish national lottery is generally known? 4 NINE THUMPS is an anagram of which 10-letter word? 5 In Cockney rhyming slang, what is a Barnaby Rudge? 6 What is the American award for excellence in television that is the equivalent of an Oscar?

BOOKS AND AUTHORS

7 Revival is a horror story by which bestselling writer?

8 ’On December 8th, 1915, Meggie Cleary had her fourth birthday’ is the opening to which novel by Colleen Mccullough?

9 The Scottish writer Ali Smith

(author of Hotel World,

How to Be Both, and Autumn) is the partner of which UK artist and film-maker?

10 Which military tyrant was the chief rabbit of Efrafa in

Watership Down? 11 Esther Summerson, Dickens’ only female narrator, is the protagonist of which 67-chapter novel? 12 By which pen name did the cartoonist Theodor Geisel become better known? HISTORY 13 Which prime minister was responsible for the National Insurance Act 1911, which helped create Britain’s welfare state?

14 In 1457, Margaret Beaufort gave birth to which Tudor monarch? 15 On 7 March 1969 which Kiev-born teacher and politician was elected as the first female

Prime Minister of Israel?

16 The Molly Maguires was a 19th-century union of agitators originally formed in which country?

17 What was the name given to Orde Wingate’s British India special force that served behind enemy lines during the

Burma Campaign in WWII?

18 The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the death of which Anglo-saxon king of England? TELEVISION 19 When disguised on TV as the brassy blonde, Mandy, which British comedian used the catch phrase ’Oh, you are awful, but I like you’? 20 The Glums appeared on the television with Patricia Brake as Eth and which actor in the role of the gormless Ron?

21 Jenna Coleman starred as which companion on BBC’S Doctor Who? 22 Which UK royal wedding was the first to be broadcast In colour? 23 Which former contestant on

The Weakest Link and The Chase went on to join the Eggheads team in 2014?

24 Jonathan Routh became a familiar small screen face as the star of which show from the 1960s? FILM

25 Who produced and directed the 2014 film Unbroken? 26 The PATSY was an annual award presented to winning performers of which film and television category? 27 What precisely is the Blue Angel in the title of Marlene Dietrich’s classic 1930 movie?

28 Pharrell Williams’ Happy was nominated for a 2014 Academy Award after it featured on the soundtrack of which film?

29 In which movie did Marlon Brando speak the words, ’I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I coulda been somebody’?

30 Who was the British actor that played the role of Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit films?