Some Tricky General Knowledge Quiz

Answer: Photo-electric effect

Albert Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize in Physics for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, not for the theory of relativity. The effect describes how light can eject electrons from metal surfaces, and Einstein's work helped demonstrate that light behaves as if it comes in particles, now known as photons. That idea became one of the foundations of quantum mechanics.

Although Einstein had also made landmark contributions to relativity, Brownian motion, and mass-energy equivalence in his 'miracle year' of 1905, the Nobel Committee chose to recognise the photoelectric effect because it had stronger experimental support at the time.

Answer: 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds

The Earth takes approximately 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds to complete one full rotation relative to the distant stars. This is known as a sidereal day. Our familiar 24-hour day is a solar day, which is slightly longer because the Earth is also moving along its orbit around the Sun.

As a result, Earth has to rotate a little more than 360 degrees for the Sun to appear in the same position in the sky again.

Answer: A. A. Milne

Kenneth Grahame wrote 'The Wind in the Willows', which was published in 1908, and A.A. Milne later adapted it for the stage in 1929 as 'Toad of Toad Hall'. Milne, who is best known for creating Winnie-the-Pooh, focused the play mainly on Mr. Toad's comic adventures, making it well-suited to the stage.

The adaptation keeps the charm of Grahame's riverside world while highlighting the humour and chaos of Toad's obsession with motorcars.

Answer: Marlowe

Marlowe's 'Edward II' was written around 1591-1592, and it is one of the earliest and most important English history plays. It tells the story of Edward II of England, especially his relationship with Piers Gaveston and the king's eventual downfall.

Shakespeare later became better known for his history plays, but Marlowe was an important early figure in the development of the genre. The two men were contemporaries working in Elizabethan London.

Answer: Bertoldt Brecht

German playwright and poet Bertolt Brecht wrote the lyrics to 'Mack the Knife' ('Die Moritat von Mackie Messer') for 'The Threepenny Opera' in 1928, with music by Kurt Weill. The play was a modern adaptation of John Gay's 1728 'The Beggar's Opera', set among criminals and beggars in London.

The song introduces the criminal Macheath, better known as 'Mack the Knife', and went on to become one of the most famous musical theatre songs of the 20th century. It has been recorded by artists ranging from Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra.

Answer: Prions

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, better known as Mad Cow Disease, is caused by prions. These are misfolded proteins that can cause other proteins to misfold too. Unlike bacteria or viruses, prions contain no genetic material and are notoriously hard to destroy with normal heat or standard sterilisation methods. The disease damages brain tissue, leaving it spongy and full of holes.

BSE emerged in British cattle in the 1980s, probably after cattle were fed meat-and-bone meal containing infected material. The discovery of prions as disease agents was a major breakthrough in biology.

Answer: Trevithick

Richard Trevithick built the first steam locomotive to run on rails in Britain in 1804, almost 25 years before Stephenson's Rocket. His engine ran on the Penydarren Tramroad near Merthyr Tydfil and is said to have hauled about ten tons of iron and 70 men.

Rocket later won the Rainhill Trials in 1829, but Trevithick's earlier machine was the key step in showing that high-pressure steam could power a railway vehicle.

Answer: New York

The Statue of Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York Harbour. It was a gift from France to the United States and was dedicated in 1886. The statue was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, with an iron framework engineered by Gustave Eiffel, and it later became a powerful symbol of freedom and democracy.

Although people usually think of it as part of New York City, Liberty Island is actually federal land run by the National Park Service. Nearby Ellis Island served as the country's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 to 1954.

Answer: 11

Eleven kings of England have been named Edward. The numbered line runs from Edward I through to Edward VIII, but there were also three earlier Anglo‑Saxon kings with that name: Edward the Elder (reigned 899-924), Edward the Martyr (975-978), and Edward the Confessor (1042-1066).

Edward the Confessor was the last Anglo‑Saxon king before the Norman Conquest and was later canonised as a saint. The most recent was Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 to marry Wallis Simpson and was never crowned.

Answer: Zambia

Northern Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zambia in 1964. The territory had been named after Cecil Rhodes, the British imperialist and founder of the British South Africa Company. Southern Rhodesia, which lay to the south, eventually became Zimbabwe following a longer and more complicated path to independence in 1980.

Both territories were part of British colonial Africa, but they followed different political paths after the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland was dissolved in 1963. Zambia's first president, Kenneth Kaunda, led the country for 27 years after independence.