Pick n' Mix: Part TWENTY-FIVE Trivia Quiz

Answer: Kannada

Kannada is one of the world's oldest languages still in use in modern times, and was designated as a Classical Language in India in 2008. It is spoken mainly in Karnataka in southwest India where it is the state's official language. Kannada features as a minority language in Karnataka's neighbouring states.

The Halmidi Inscription was discovered in 1936 in Halmidi, a small village in Karanataka's Hassan district. It was carved during the rule of King Kakusthavarman, one of the most powerful rulers of the Kadamba Dynasty, who reigned between 425-450 AD. Established in 345 AD, the Kadamba Dynasty was the first native dynasty of what is now Karnataka, being ruled from afar previously. The text itself is 16 lines long and is a royal deed of land donation. It records the donation of land to Vija Arasa, a gifted military general who had successfully fended off the combined army of the Pallava Dynasty and the Kekayas.

Answer: Mexican prickly poppy

Argemone mexicana (Mexican prickly poppy) has seeds that look very similar to that of the Rhamphospermum nigrum (black mustard) plant. Mexican prickly poppy also grow in nature alongside these plants, and are sometimes incorrectly included in a harvest of mustard seeds.

Two toxic alkaloids found in Mexican prickly poppy are sanguinarine and dihydrosanguinarine. This causes epidemic dropsy, symptoms of which include swollen legs and feet, nausea, vomiting and fever. In extreme cases this can result in blindness and organ failure.

Answer: Saint Eanswith

Folkstone is a coastal town in Kent, south-east England. It is known for being one of the sunniest places in the UK, receiving around 2,000 hours of sunshine annually. The town was popular with King Edward VII of England in the 1900s, who would frequently stay in the The Grand Hotel with his infamous affair partner, Alice Keppel.

Saint Eanswith (630-650 AD) was a princess from the Kingdom of the Kentish (also known as the Kingdom of Kent), a Medieval English kingdom. She was the daughter of King Eadbald of Kent, and the granddaughter of the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, Æthelberht of Kent.

Saint Eanswith, reportedly with her father's help, founded Folkestone Priory in around 630 AD, a Benedictine nunnery that is traditionally recognised as the first nunnery of England. Eanswith remained in the priory as a nun until her death. The original nunnery had to be rebuilt in 1095 due to coastal erosion, after parts of the building collapsed into the sea.

Answer: Raden Saleh

Raden Saleh (1811-1880) was an artist from the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) of Javan and Arab descent. In his paintings, he combined Javanese cultural influences with European Romanticism. Unfortunately, a good deal of his artwork was lost in 1931, due to a fire at the Colonial Dutch pavilion in Paris.

Pierre Henri Martin (1793-1882) was a French lion tamer. He was famous at the time for being the first recorded circus showman to enter a cage with a tiger. He managed a traveling wild animal show, a performance of which Saleh attended in 1836 at the Hague. Although Javanese wildlife included tigers, Saleh had never seen a lion in person before he travelled to Europe.

Saleh realised that Martin could provide him with an opportunity to see the lions up close. He painted a flattering portrait of Martin and sent it to him in 1837 for free. Martin was thrilled with the gift and granted Saleh free, lifetime permission to sketch and paint his animals whenever he saw fit.

Answer: They have thin woolly scales covering on their bodies

Native to eastern North America and south-eastern Canada, the rosy maple moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) has striking and unique colouring of pink and yellow, with a bright yellow, woolly body, pink wings featuring a triangular yellow band, pink antennae and pink legs. Although most nocturnal moths sport grey and brown hues, the rosy maple moth's colouring perfectly camouflages with the leaves of red maple tree during the daytime. The colouring also works as a biological defence mechanism, with the bright hues serving as a warning to predators, to trick them into thinking the potential prey is either poisonous or distasteful (that is, aposematism).

The rosy maple moth sports a layer of woolly scales on its body that is exceptionally thick. It traps the heat generated by the moth's wing muscles whilst in flight. This insulation facilitates the moth to fly on cold spring and summer nights, while other cold-blooded insects are incapable of flying in such conditions. During the night, bats are the main predator of the rosy maple moth. The moth's coat renders the bat's echolocation ineffective, as the coat is so thick it absorbs the ultrasonic clicks sent by the bat, making the moth appear much smaller on the bat's radar, or even invisible. The woolly scales also fall off of the moth easily, meaning that should the moth find itself entangled in a spider's web, its scales can easily detach and render the moth free.

The rosy maple moth has a lifespan of just 2-14 days on average. This is because it lacks a mouth and digestive tract, so it uses up the fat reserves stored from when it was a caterpillar, and dies when the reserves run out.

The rosy maple moth will play dead when threatened. Due to many predators such as birds and spiders having vision accustomed to searching for the frantic fluttering of moths, the rosy maple moth with instead freeze and blend into the background. It drops to the ground and tucks in its legs, and resembles more of a leaf than an insect.

Answer: Aurangzeb

Also known as Alamgir I, Aurangzeb reigned over the Mughal Empire between 1658-1707. The Mughal Empire was at its largest geographically during his reign, with territory under his jurisdiction encompassing almost the entirety of the Indian subcontinent. He had around 150 million subjects.

Aurangzeb was the son of Shah Jahan I, also known as Shah Jahan the Magnificent, who ruled the Mughal Empire from 1628 until Aurangzeb toppled him from power in 1658. In September 1657, it became apparent that Shah Jahan was not well. His sons believed that he was on his death bed, and a subsequent war between the brothers for their father's throne erupted.

Shah Jahan had never made it a secret that he favoured his oldest son, Dara Shikoh. Dara Shikoh was heavily influenced and interested in Hindu and Sufi philosophy, whereas Aurangzeb was a strictly orthodox Sunni Muslim and did not appreciate his brother's proclamations that Islam and Hinduism shared the same underlying message and truth. He accused Dara of heresy and cited him as a direct threat to the state's religion. Dara had been kept close to his father's side all of his life and lavished with titles, whereas Aurangzeb had been forced to govern in the south in the hostile Deccan frontiers. This favouritism significantly contributed to Aurangzeb's later treatment of his father and brother.

Aurangzeb would brutality defeat his brothers in battle and declare his father to be incompetent to rule. He subsequently placed Shah Jahan the Magnificent under house arrest in Agra Fort, where he would remain for eight years until his death. He reportedly served his father Dara's decapitated head as an act of spite.

Aurangzeb remains the only Mughal Emperor who successfully and permanently imprisoned his father. However, because he achieved his power this way, he never trusted his own children. He refused to give them any meaningful power or titles, leaving them completely unprepared to rule when their father died.

Answer: Antimony

The Xikuangshan Mine in Lengshuijiang, Hunan, China, is used to extract antimony ore and holds the largest known deposit of antimony worldwide.

Antimony has the chemical symbol Sb in the Periodic Table, and gets this symbol from "Stibium," its historical Latin name, with pure antimony being a silvery-grey, brittle mettaloid. Antimony is one of the rare elements that expands when it freezes. Antimony is a poor conductor of electricity and heat, and is mainly used as a flame retardant and to manufacture solar panel glass.

Answer: Ayizan

Ayizan is a revered spirit (Lwa) in Haitian Vodou, and protects the market, offering her protection to honest traders, encouraging booming business and punishing those who cheat, steal and exploit the poor in the marketplace. Loko, the first priest, is her husband. Unlike many other Lwa, Ayizan does not drink alcohol or smoke tobacco, preferring sobriety.

Ayizan has her physical embodiment on Earth as the palm tree, with Haitians using palm leaves as protection from negative energies and evil spirits.

Answer: Bird

Bar Yokni is an enormous, legendary bird in Jewish mythology. According to the Talmud (Bekhorot 57b), Bar Yokni laid an egg in its nest, which caused 300 trees to be flattened, and 60 cities became flooded with yolk.

Tradition holds that the bird was created for the feast at the end of days. Bar Yokni is to be served with Behemoth, the giant, and the sea serpent, Leviathan. The three are to be served at the feast to welcome the Messiah.

Answer: Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip (1738-1814) founded the first permanent European settlement in Australia, and was the first Governor of New South Wales. He banned slavery in the new colony immediately, stating "There shall be no slavery in a free land, and consequently no slaves." He was stabbed by an Indigenous man at Manly Cove in 1790. Remaining calm and realising that the attack was born from fear and misunderstanding, he forbade his men from retaliating against the man. His peaceful demeanour and avoidance of bloodshed somewhat kept the peace during tense times in the area.

Phillip Island is around 40 square miles (100 square km) and is around 15 miles (25 km) long and around 5.5 miles (9 km) wide. The island is home to the largest colony of Little Penguins in the world, and also Australia's largest colony of Australian Fur Seals.

Answer: Langepas, Uray, and Kogalym

PJSC Lukoil Oil Company is Russia's largest enterprise by revenue that is not owned by the state. In terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves, it is the world's second-largest private oil corporation. The company's production costs remain low due to its efficient extraction techniques and infrastructure.

Langepas, Uray, and Kogalym are three towns of Russia that are particularly rich in oil reserves. Established in 1980, Langepas gets its name from the language of the indigenous Khanty people, and translates as "Squirrel Land" with the town featuring a statue of a bronze squirrel.

Uray is credited with being the birthplace of the Russian oil industry. Crude oil was discovered here in 1960 by Soviet drillers.

Kogalym has evolved into an affluent, urban city with the support of Lukoil. It was a tiny settlement in 1975, and by 1985 it was granted town status. It is home to the Akvatika Oceanarium, where Russia's longest viewing tunnel stretches for around 60 metres.

Answer: Golkar

Born in Surabaya, East Java, Airlangga Hartarto was raised around politics. Between 1983-1998, his father, Hartarto Sastrosoenarto, was a minister for President Suharto. In 1998, Airlangga became a member of the Golkar Party. He replaced Setya Novanto as leader of the Golkar Party following Novanto's arrest for his part in a corruption scandal.

The Golkar Party firstly tried to avoid being thought of as a political party, and more so a "social-political organization" in order to not get caught up in the differing ideologies of politics. Following changes in the law, it became a registered political party in 1999. The party was established in 1964 as a response to the growing support for the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

Answer: Black Label Society

"Sonic Brew" was released as Black Label Society's first album in Japan in 1998, and was released in the U.S.A the following year. Because the album's original cover featured a Johnnie Walker Black Label whisky bottle, the company sent the band a cease and desist order, threatening the band with legal action if they did not change the artwork.

Answer: Horse

Since 2006, Blue has performed as the mascot for the Indianapolis Colts, and was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2020.

Blue is known for smashing whipped cream pies into unsuspecting audience members (and sometimes even players). This is such a regular occurrence that fans seated in the front row at Lucas Oil Stadium (the home ground of the Indianapolis Colts since 2008) are required to sign a waiver acknowledging that Blue may possibly throw a pie in their face.

Answer: Tsambagarav

Tsambagarav is situated in Western Mongolia between the Khovd Province and Bayan-Ölgii Province. According to legend, Tsamba was a wise and resourceful herder in the valleys of what is now Mongolia. A severe rain storm hit, and he drove his herd up the mountain to avoid drowning. As he chose to stay near the summit watching the valley below, Tsamba became a deity after hundreds of years on the mountain, with his spirit becoming fused to it.

The mountain has a permanent snow cap due to weather conditions, and the legend states that this is actually Tsamba keeping the rainwater frozen in order to prevent another flood.

Answer: Daşoguz

Daşoguz is situated in the north of Turkmenistan and has a high, concentrated population of Uzbeks. This area of the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan is called Shavat-Daşoguz border, separating Turkmenistan's Daşoguz Province and Uzbekistan's Khorezm Region.

Formerly known as Tashauz, what is now Daşoguz was gifted to the Turkmen SSR by the Soviets in 1924, when the Soviets drew the borders of the Central Asian republics. The Soviets cited that the Turkmen republic was in dire need of industrialization. As a result, a city populated with Uzbeks became under Turkman jurisdiction.

The Shavat-Daşoguz border features No Man's Land, a 1 mile (1.5 km) strip of land which is heavily fortified and inaccessible to the public on foot. A mandatory shuttle system is in place which must be used in order to cross.

Answer: Bryan Dechart

Released in 2018 by Quantic Dream, "Detroit: Become Human" is set in the year 2038, where humanoid artificial intelligence systems called androids are the supply of a dystopian Detroit's labour force. The game's production took four years to complete.

Game director, David Cage, chose Bryan Dechart for both the voiceover and motion capture for Connor by allowing his young children to choose out of the final three actors considered for the role. Bryan Dechart's wife, Amelia Rose Blaire, unwittingly became involved in the game's production. She happened to know the script off by heart due to assisting her husband practicing his lines. When the game's crew found themselves short of an actress for the Traci androids, Dechart suggested his wife for the part as she already knew the script's content.

Answer: Gyeongju

Gyeongju is located in the south-east of South Korea. It was once the capital of the ancient Silla Kingdom (57 BC-935 AD).

Also known as "Gyeongju bread," Hwangnam-ppang is named after the neighbourhood of Hwangnam-dong in central Gyeongju, South Korea. The Cheonmachong tomb is next-door to the original bakery where Hwangnam-ppang was invented in 1939, resulting in tourists eating the red-beaned pastry around the ancient tombs.

The pastry is traditionally stamped with a chrysanthemum pattern and has no artificial preservatives, meaning that the pastries must be consumed fresh or frozen if not sold by the bakers. It consists of around 70% red bean paste and 30% egg and flour pastry. Hwangnam-ppang is often mistaken by tourists to be Chinese mooncakes, but Hwangnam-ppang has much thinner dough.

Answer: Thyroid

Emil Theodor Kocher (1841-1917) won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1909, and was the first Swiss citizen to ever win this. To achieve this, he revolutionized what was once a surgery with a high mortality rate (at 40%): the removal of swollen thyroid glands (goitres). His techniques reduced the mortality rate to 0.5%.

Kocher was also instrumental in popularising sanitation during operations. He banned spectators from watching operations and kept his instruments sterile and clean.

Answer: Abeokuta

Situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State of southwestern Nigeria. Abeokuta was established by Egba refugees who were fleeing the intense conflict during the collapse of the Oyo Empire. Renowned Egba fighter, Sodeke, led the refugees to safety in the newly founded Abeokuta.

Nigeria's first newspaper, "Iwe Iroyin," was first published in Abeokuta in 1859. Established in the 1840's, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in Ake, Abeokuta, is largely considered to be the first Christian church to be built in Nigeria.