Pick n' Mix: Part TEN Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mexico

After Mexico had gained independence from Spain in 1821, there was understandably political unrest and tension within Mexico. Clashes between the Mexican government's forces and those rebelling against them often meant damage to property. One of these was a bakery belonging to a French pastry chef known as Monsieur Remontel.

Monsieur Remontel was not impressed when his bakery was heavily damaged during one of the skirmishes. He approached the Mexican government to seek compensation for this, and they were unhelpful. Incensed by this, Monsieur Remontel contacted King Louis Philippe I of France for assistance. Other French citizens in Mexico had also complained about their treatment and the French demanded that Remontel be compensated 60,000 pesos (despite his bakery being valued at around 1,000 pesos). This was a huge sum of money at the time and the Mexican government refused.

When Mexican president Anastasio Bustamante would not pay, the French responded with naval blockades around ports along the Gulf of Mexico by 1838. Mexico declared war on France, and the Pastry War lasted around four months between 1838-1839.

Answer: Hyrule

First released in 1986, "Legend of Zelda" was originally named "The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu" when it was first sold in Japan by Nintendo. The game was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, who is also responsible for creating the Super Mario video games, and the Donkey Kong video games. Link is the main character, who does not speak (but occasionally yells unintelligibly when he is surprised, annoyed or distressed) and is elf-like in appearance.

Hyrule was inspired by the countryside of Kyoto, one of the main Japanese islands where Miyamoto was born in 1952. He characterised Hyrule as "a miniature garden that you can put into a drawer and revisit anytime you like." Hyrule is a colourful land with quirky characters, where a player can explore and discover missions to further the game's storyline.

Answer: Edward Oxford

Edward Oxford (1822-1900) was born in Birmingham and went to school in Lambeth, London after his family moved to the city when he was 10. He was 18 when he decided to assassinate Queen Victoria in 1840. Four months after Queen Victoria's royal wedding to Prince Albert, the newlywed couple boarded an open carriage and left Buckingham Palace. Around 100 yards from the palace gates they were departing from, Albert observed who he would later call "a little mean-looking man holding something toward us." This was Oxford pointing a pistol at them.

Before Albert had time to realise what was about to take place, Oxford fired on Queen Victoria (who was four months pregnant) and missed as she had luckily turned her head to look at a horse nearby. The crowd that had gathered to watch the royals apprehended Oxford, who made no attempt to deny his attentions, proclaiming "It was I, it was me that did it!" as the couple continued their drive once he was subdued, as if nothing unusual had happened.

Answer: Ruthenium

Karl Ernst Claus (also known as Karl Karlovich Klaus) was born in Dorpat, Livonia in the Russian Empire (Dorpat being the modern-day city of Tartu, the second-largest city of Estonia) in 1796. The chemist discovered ruthenium as a result of having a large portion of platinum ore samples from his academic work around the Ural Mountains.

Ruthenium usually occurs around deposits of platinum, and is usually found as a by-product of platinum smelting (although it can also be a by-product of nickel smelting). Claus named his newly discovered element after Ruthenia, a latinized way of saying "Russia." It is said that the element was discovered earlier by Jedrzej Sniadecki, a Polish chemist, in 1807, however he withdrew his assertion of a new discovery when other scientists could not replicate his results.

Claus was known for his foolhardy approach to chemistry, particularly regarding his own well being. He would sometimes taste the chemicals he worked with (once severely burning his mouth), and dip his fingers into his acids to discover how strong they were.

Today, Ruthenium is mainly used as an alloying agent. Only a 0.1% addition of ruthenium to titanium makes titanium around 100 times more corrosion resistant. Ruthenium is also used to strengthen platinum and palladium. Ruthenium is also added to electrical contacts that must be strong against wear, and to jewellery.

Answer: Battus

Hermes is a deity in Greek mythology said to protect travellers, thieves, herds and merchants. Described as a trickster god, Hermes was partial to causing mischief and stealing. Soon after he was born, he snuck out of his cradle to steal cattle from Apollo, god of music, premonition, dance, archery, medicine and disease, to name but a few of his attributes. Upon stealing the cattle, a shepherd, an old man named Battus, caught Hermes in the act. Hermes bribed Battus to keep secret what he had done, and he accepted the bribe.

Hermes doubted that he could trust Battus entirely to keep his mouth shut. He decided to test the old man by returning to him disguised as someone searching for the cattle, offering a reward. Battus soon revealed that is was Hermes who stole the cattle, unwittingly to Hermes himself. Hermes responded by turning Battus to stone, ending his life.

Answer: Annie Londonderry

Born Annie Cohen Kopchovsky in Latvia in 1870, Annie Londonderry travelled to America with her family and became a U.S citizen when she was five years old, living in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1894, two businessmen from Boston made a wager that Annie would not be able to complete her bicycle trip within 15 months, and she accepted the challenge, with a $10,000 prize at stake. By the time she undertook her worldwide bicycle trip, she was married with three children under the age of six years old.

Starting in Massachusetts, she rode to New York to take a ship to France to begin her international journey, only using ships to cross water, with her land travel mainly by bike, with the occasional train ride when the terrain was impossible to ride. She had never ridden a bike before until a few days before her trip.

She changed her name for a few reasons. One being that her name revealed the fact that she was Jewish. Antisemitism was widespread in Massachusetts and America as a whole at the time. She adopted the surname "Londonderry" as a result of her sponsorship being a company called "Londonderry Lithia Spring Water Company" based in Nashua, New Hampshire. She completed her journey with fourteen days to spare. She died in 1947.

Answer: Farrah Fawcett

Diane Downs is an American murderer who, in Oregon in 1983, shot three of her children, killing one, paralyzing another and giving the oldest child a stroke from the trauma of the shooting. She viewed her children as obstacles that got in the way of her romantic life, with the married man she was having an affair with being seemingly put off from taking her seriously, as a result of them. Her oldest child testified in court that it was her mother that shot her and her siblings, and not a man who approached their car as Diane had stated. Diane was again pregnant during her murder trial, with the baby being removed from her custody when she was born.

"Small Sacrifices" is based on Diane Downs' story, a made for television film first shown on ABC. Farrah Fawcett (1947-2009) was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award, for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her role as Diane. The film also won a Peabody Award, citing Fawcett's impressive portrayal. Although Farrah Fawcett is known particularly for her roles in light-hearted roles such as on "Charlie's Angels," her acting in "Small Sacrifices" was met with wide acclaim.

Answer: Blackout

Between July 13-14, 1977, an electrical grid failure was caused by the weather in New York City. The Con Edison substation in Queens was hit by lightning, which had an effect on the entire system which had to be shut down from New York City to Westchester County.

Mere minutes after the city was hit by the blackout, the looting started. The neighbourhood of Bushwick and in particular, its main shopping stretch, Broadway, was saturated with looters. Windows were smashed and shops were completely stripped of their goods. The blackout lasted just under 25 hours, and in that short time there were around 1,600 fires, with over 3,700 stores being looted and $300 million in damages to the city. New York was close to bankrupt at the time of the blackout, and many members of the N.Y.P.D. had been made redundant.

Democrat candidate for the position of Mayor of New York, Ed Koch (1924-2003) took advantage of the blackout and its accompanying chaos. He styled himself as someone who would bring law and order back to the city, which was a huge factor in him winning the election.

Answer: Cow tongue

Gyūtan originates in the city of Sendai, the capital of Japan's Miyagi Prefecture, Honshu. Sendai is the second largest city of Japan that lies north of Tokyo. Gyūtan was served around the area since 1948 and was originally thought of as a peculiar dish.

It is composed of thinly sliced cow's tongue cooked on a charcoal grill. The name "gyūtan" is composed of the Japanese word for "cow", and the English word "tongue." It is usually based in salt or soy sauce, and accompanied by steamed rice and barley and a mixture of pickled vegetables.

Answer: Roker Park

Sunderland AFC are based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, in the north-east of England. The Stadium of Light was named by Sir Bob Murray, English businessman and former to chairman of the club, who named it to commemorate the history of coal mining in north-east England.

The Stadium of Light was constructed by 1997, and was established as a result of the Taylor Report of 1990, that is, the Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report. 94 spectators were crushed to death due to overcrowding during a football match on 15 April 1989, at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. In 1993 another person who was in the crowd succumbed to their injuries and died. In 2021 a man who had been left brain damaged by his injuries died, making him the 96th victim of the crush 32 years later. By 1999 at least three people who survived the disaster had committed suicide.

The Taylor Report resulted in the closure of some of the longest standing stadiums in England. This was because the stadiums in question had mainly standing sections, and it was not safe to risk a crush like that of Hillsborough occurring again. Roker Park, which had been Sunderland's home ground between 1898-1997, was one of them.

Roker Park had survived a bomb hitting the pitch during World War II, and was the second English football club to make use of floodlights (second only to Arsenal FC at Highbury) and although fans were certainly sad for the deaths of those at Hillsborough, they would miss their old ground and its history. Actors and playwrights Tom Kelly and actor Paul Dunn wrote a play in 1997 called "I Left My Heart at Roker Park" which portrays a Sunderland fan being sad about his team's old ground being demolished, and the relocation to another club. Housing now stands where Roker Park once stood.

Answer: Milton Obote

Milton Obote (1925-2005) was prime minister of Uganda between 1962-1966, gaining Ugandan independence from Britain in his first year as prime minister, after over 70 years of British rule in the country. He then became Uganda's second ever president in 1966, until Idi Amin overthrew him during Obote's trip to Singapore. Obote's regime was corrupt, with food shortages and extortionate prices under socialism. By 1970, Obote's government was claiming 60% in shares of both banks and corporations of Uganda. But his corruption would pale in comparison to that of his usurper, Idi Amin.

Idi Amin (1925-2003) was a brutal dictator. He authorised killings of between 80,000-300,000 people. He began expelling all Indian and Pakistani people from Uganda in 1972, numbering around 50-000-70,000 people, leading to a severe collapse in the Ugandan economy. He ordered massacres of the Christian Ugandan tribes loyal to Milton Obote, the Acholi and Lango. He established the State Research Bureau (SRB) and Public Safety Unity (PSU) which terrorized ordinary citizens of Uganda. In 1976, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) hijacked an airplane travelling from Israel to France, and Idi Amin not only praised the terrorists, but offered them sanctuary in Uganda, supplying them with weapons. Israel thankfully however, had their military rescue the hostages. Idi Amin responded by having hundreds of Kenyans who worked in airports executed, accusing them of being in cahoots with Israel.

Idi Amin was in power for eight years. He was forced to flee when Kampala, Uganda, was captured by the army of neighbouring Tanzania, a response to Amin annexing some of their territory. He was never charged for his crimes and spent the rest of his life in exile in Saudi Arabia.

Answer: Bayou Country

"Bayou Country" was released in January 1969, the second studio album from the band. The album features the song "Proud Mary" which became Creedence Clearwater Revival's first number two hit single in Billboard. Lead singer, John Fogerty, stated that he wrote "Proud Mary" within the two days after he was discharged from the National Guard, having received a draft order to partake in the Vietnam War in 1966. The song "Born on the Bayou" is the first track on Bayou County, and was a B-side to "Proud Mary" when it was released as a single. The album also features a cover of "Good Golly, Miss Molly" by Little Richard.

Creedence Clearwater Revival's first album was named after the band, released in 1968. Creedence Clearwater Revival disbanded due to personal disagreements within the band and with their record producers in 1972.

Answer: Indonesia

Born Diah Permata Megawati Setiawati Soekarnoputri in 1947, Megawati Sukarnoputri was the fifth President of Indonesia between 2001-2004. Sukarno, the first President of Indonesia, who declared Indonesia independent from the Netherlands in 1945, was her father. Sukarnoputri translates to "daughter of Sukarno"in Sanskrit.

Sukarnoputri studied agriculture and psychology whilst in college, but did not finalise a degree in either subject, returning home to be with her father who had fallen from power around 1967. She became active in politics in 1987, and in 1993 was selected as the leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party. She closely missed the presidency in 1999, instead becoming the Vice President of Indonesia the same year, serving under President Wahid. She became President of Indonesia when Wahid was removed from office in 2001.

Sukarnoputri saw her time in power as a way to unify Indonesia, and thus rarely intervened regarding decisions of the Indonesian government. Her reign was often described as "indecisive" and "inactive." Some Indonesian academics asserted that this was akin to an aspect of Javanese mythology. They said that she viewed her father as the "Good King" like in Javanese mythology, who had been ousted by Suharto, the usurper of "Bad King." Sukarnoputri was content in her role as the "Good Queen," the daughter who avenged her father and now that her task was complete, she was happy to leave the governing of the country to others.

Sukarnoputri was defeated in the 2004 Indonesian election by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who governed the country from 2004-2014.

Answer: The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) wrote 26 novels in his writing career, with "The Andromeda Strain" being his sixth altogether, and the first not written under a pseudonym, in 1969. "The Adromeda Strain" is about a microorganism not of this Earth that has deadly consequences within humans if it gets into their systems. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1971, directed by Robert Wise who is perhaps better known for directing "West Side Story" in 1961, and "The Sound of Music" in 1965.

Michael Crichton died in 2008 of lymphoma, a diagnosis he kept private from the public until his death.

Answer: Olorun

The Yoruba people are mainly present in Nigeria, but there are also significant numbers of them in neighbouring Benin and Togo. In the old Yoruba religion before Christianity and Islam had arrived in Nigeria, the Yoruba religion was the indigenous religion of many Yoruba people.

In the Yoruba religion, Olorun is the most powerful and intelligent deity, all knowing, and active in matters or both Heaven and Earth. Olorun is also named Olofin-Orun ("Lord of Heaven"), Oba-Orun ("King of the Sky"), and Olodumare ("Almighty"). The Yoruba religion asserts that Olorun was one of two creator gods, the other being the goddess Olokun. In the beginning of the world, Olorun ruled the sky whereas Olokun ruled the endless marshy waters underneath. Olokun was content with her marshy kingdom, but another god, Obatala, suggested the two should combine to make land.

Orunmila, (Olorun's oldest son) was approached by Obatala asking how he should go about this. A golden chain was made to lower from the skies into the waters. Orunmila descended from the skies using this chain, carrying a snail shell containing sand, a white hen, a black cat, and a palm nut. Orunmila lowered them into the waters, and anywhere the sand touched transformed into dry land. Obatala built a house and grew trees using the palm nut. The black cat became his pet.

Olokun was not pleased with this. She tried to flood the newly acquired land to take it back. She established a weaving contest between her and Olorun to settle the problem, but Olorun was a skilled weaver. Every time Olokun made a striking cloth, the chameleon, Agemo, matched his colours to the cloth to prove he could match its beauty. Olokun accepted defeat, and the world as we know it was born.

Answer: Marathon

What is now known as Snickers was introduced to the U.K in 1968, after being invented in America in 1930. The chocolate coated bar is composed of caramel, peanuts and nougat. Upon being introduced to the U.K in the late 60s, the bar was renamed "Marathon" for fear that "Snickers" could be confused with the word "knickers" (a British term for women's underwear). The U.K branding assimilated to the American name in 1990.

Snickers has not been without controversy. The official Snickers Twitter account posted a tweet seemingly mocking Welsh people and their culture, by comparing the Welsh language to someone "sitting on a keyboard" which was apologised for after the ensuing backlash. Complaints have also been made about their diminishing size (but not price) over the years.

Answer: Makowiec

Poppy seeds are a consistent ingredient in much of Polish cooking. This is a result of poppy seeds being easily available throughout Europe's culinary history. Poppy seed cake is a rolled cake consisting of a sweet yeast dough. As well as poppy seeds the roll is usually filled with nuts, sugared orange and raisins. Poppy seeds are by far the most common and popular filling, but this roll can also be filled with a chopped nut paste.

Although they are often traditionally served around Christmas, makowiec can be bought in any Polish bakery at any time of the year.

Answer: Palm tree

Bahrain does have a coin that has a boat on its obverse, however this is the 50 fils coin (the Bahraini dinar is divided into 1,000 fils). Most coins of Bahrain feature a palm tree. The Bahraini dinar was introduced to the country in 1965, as a replacement for the Gulf rupee, the previous currency of Bahrain.

In 2000, Bahrain introduced a new coin to the existing 1, 5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 fils coins. It was a 500 fils coin, and it features the Pearl Monument (which was destroyed in 2011 by the Bahraini government, as a form of fighting the uprisings happening throughout Bahrain the same year). Orders were given to stop producing the coin, and although could be still used, they were stopped from circulating in Bahrain once they had been used at a bank.

Answer: Safavid

The Safavid dynasty ruled Persia from 1501-1736, and this dynasty is often hailed as the starting point of modern Persian history, although the Safavid dynasty still adopted Mongol and Timurid customs and practices, including coinage and administration. The Safavids however had their own practices not confined to previous rulers of the area, and unified all of Persia under one government.

Ismail I (1487-1524) reigned from 1501 until his death in 1524. He was a poet who wrote under a different name, "Khataʾi" (translating in Persian to "the wrongful") and helped with the growth of the Azerbaijani language. Although he was hailed as a legendary military leader, once beating an army of 28,000 Uzbeks with 17,000 men on his side, his loss at Battle of Chaldiran against the Ottoman Empire sent him spiralling into depression. His wounded pride made him turn to alcohol, and he spent the rest of his days drinking in his palace, no longer interested in military campaigns.

Answer: Crane

Uganda's flag has been established since 1962, the year that Uganda gained independence from Britain. It is composed of black, red and yellow horizontal stripes, with the a grey crowned crane inside a white circle in the middle. The grey crowned crane (also known as the golden crested crane, the Eastern crowned crane, the Kavirondo crane, etc) is respected in Uganda for its placid temperament, and the bird was also featured on a military badge for Ugandan soldiers during British occupation.

The grey crowned crane is the national bird of Uganda.