The Book of Samuel Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Coleridge was born in Devon in 1772 and his two most famous works are 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' and 'Kubla Khan'. 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' has given us the expressions 'water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink', often misquoted as 'and not a drop to drink', and an 'albatross around one's neck'.

The other poems also date from the Romantic era, with 'Tintern Abbey' having been written by William Wordsworth and 'Endymion' by John Keats. 'Ozymandias' was the work of Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Answer: Texas

Houston served two terms as President of what was then the Republic of Texas, between 1836 and 1838 and again from 1841 until 1844. When Texas became a state of the USA in 1845, Houston served as senator for the state from 1846 until 1859 before becoming the Governor for the two years from 1859 to 1861.

The city of Houston was founded in 1837 and named in honour of the President. Although the largest city, Houston is not the state capital of Texas, which is Austin.

Answer: Cooke

'You Send Me' was the first single released by Sam Cooke, born Samuel Cook. It reached number one on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and R & B Singles charts, and managed number twenty-nine on the UK Singles chart. The song was also recorded by Teresa Brewer in 1957 and she managed to reach number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100. Sam Brown is actually Samantha, and she is the daughter of British singer and guitarist Joe Brown. Sam Moore was a member of the duo called Sam and Dave and Sammy Davis, Jr. was a well known entertainer and member of the Rat Pack with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.

Answer: Warsaw

Goldwyn was born as Schmuel Gelbfisz in Warsaw, which is the capital of the present day country of Poland but was part of the Russian Empire at the time of his birth. He found his way to Birmingham in England, where he used the name of Samuel Goldfish, before travelling to the USA in 1898. Goldwyn was initially involved with a film making company called The Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company which eventually became part of Paramount Pictures.

He then formed Goldwyn Pictures, a combination of their names, with Edgar and Archibald Selwyn, and formally changed his name to Goldwyn in 1916.

He died in California in 1974.

Answer: Johnson

The dictionary was commissioned by a group of London booksellers and took Johnson nearly nine years to complete. The work maintained its status as the best reference book for the English language until the Oxford English Dictionary made its first appearance around 150 years later. Johnson was the subject of one of the most famous biographies ever written, 'The Life of Samuel Johnson', by James Boswell.

The other Samuels offered as options are all American actors - Samuel L. Jackson, Sam Bottoms and Sam Robards.

Answer: Golf

Samuel Jackson Snead was known as 'Slammin' Sammy' and had 165 wins as a professional. These included three PGA Championships, in 1942, 1949 and 1951 and the (British) Open in 1946. He also won the Masters tournament in 1949, 1952 and 1954, and was runner-up four times in the US Open. Snead's professional career ran from 1934 until he officially retired in 1987.

He died in 2002 at the age of eighty-nine.

Answer: Jurassic Park

Sam Neill was born in Northern Ireland in 1947 when he was known as Nigel John Dermot Neill. His family moved to his father's home country of New Zealand in 1954 and Nigel adopted the name of 'Sam' as being more masculine. His acting career began in New Zealand and Australia and Sam also appeared in various UK television dramas. 'Jurassic Park' was based on the novel by Michael Crichton, who also adapted it for the big screen. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, the film was the highest grossing film of 1993, with all the other films mentioned coming out that year. Neill has also appeared in 'Dead Calm' (1989) and 'The Horse Whisperer' (1998) among many other films.

Answer: Querrey

Sam Querrey began his professional career in 2006 and is best known for his service action and the many aces he serves, helped by his height of 6'6". He plays doubles with the even taller John Isner, who is 6'9". In the first five years of his career, Querrey failed to progress beyond the fourth round in any of the Grand Slam championships (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open). Sam Rice was known for baseball and Sam Cassell for basketball. Sam McCullum played American Football for Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings.

Answer: Vladimir

The play was originally written in French as 'En attendant Godot' and was translated into English by Beckett himself. Vladimir and Estragon are hanging around waiting for the arrival of Godot, and the play covers the various diversions they undertake to pass the time. Beckett was born in Dublin in 1906 and studied at Trinity College in the city.

He lived in France for much of his life and wrote in both English and French. Among his other works are 'Murphy' (1938) and 'Endgame' (1957). Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Answer: Peckinpah

Sam Peckinpah's films are noted for the violence of their scenes and the themes of conflict. 'The Wild Bunch' starred William Holden and Ernest Borgnine and depicted the difficulties faced by an outlaw gang in the changing world of the early twentieth century. 'Straw Dogs' was set in England and starred Dustin Hoffman and English actress Susan George.

The film depicted the suspicion of the outsider, Hoffman, by the local villagers and remains controversial. Sam Shepard is best known as a writer, who occasionally directs his own work, such as 'Silent Tongue' (1994). Sam Speigel worked as a producer whose works include 'Lawrence of Arabia' (1962) and Sam Katzman was a director who worked mainly in the western genre, such as 'Brothers of the West' (1937).