All Bits and Pieces No 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves (1515-1557) was the fourth wife of Henry VIII (1491-1547) in a mismatched marriage that saw Henry head for the hills as soon as he possibly could. To wriggle out of his fourth foray into matrimony, he claimed the following: (a) Anne had been contracted to marry Francis of Lorraine. Indeed she had, but both were only children at the time, and the betrothal was subsequently cancelled. (b) Anne was ugly and unattractive. She wasn't - contemporary accounts describe her as having a lovely face, long blonde hair, and of a gentle and docile nature. (c) Anne smelled. A low blow. How could that be proved without people sniffing the poor young queen? Besides, Henry, with all his festering sores, probably ponged to high heavens himself. (d) He was certain Anne was not a virgin. As the marriage had never been consummated, how could the wily old lecher claim that? The plain truth of the matter was that he just didn't like Anne. She wasn't sophisticated, wasn't witty, had had no formal education, and only liked needlework and playing cards.

Henry slept in the same bed as Anne for the six months the marriage lasted, but he wanted out - and of course he had his way once again. No doubt he already had his eye on the young, nubile and very lovely Katherine Howard at that time as well. He married her that same year. Anne described her marriage with Henry to one Lady Rutland as ""When he comes to bed he kisseth me, and he taketh me by the hand, and biddeth me 'Good night, sweetheart'; and in the morning kisseth me and biddeth 'Farewell, darling.'" Lady Rutland is said to have responded with "Madam, there must be more than this, or it will be long ere we have a duke of York...". After her marriage was annulled, Anne lived, for the times, a long and comfortable life, paid off by Henry, on good terms with him, and quite content with her lot in life. She outlived the king and all his other wives by some years, and, in a kind of regal poetic justice, was the only one of that old rascal's many wives to be buried in Westminster Abbey.

Answer: True

Painted in 1632 by Rembrandt, and now housed in the Mauritshuis Museum in the Hague, both the body and the avid surgeons present at the dissection were all taken from real life. In fact, so eager were they to view this procedure that the surgeons depicted paid to be included in same. So, why this gory interest you ask? Or have you passed out? The Amsterdam guild of surgeons would only give permission for one body a year to be publicly dissected. And that unwilling occupant being disembowelled on the table for all to see had to be a convicted criminal. Actually, he's only having his arm cut open in the painting. Unbelievably though, so eager were the Dutch to see this procedure that members of the public actually paid a fee to be allowed in as well.

The "star" of this painting was convicted criminal Aris Kindt. He was hanged for the crime of stealing, and in an ironic twist to fate, has continued to be "hung" on walls ever since. Rembrandt, noted for his signatures, or lack of same, definitely had a black sense of humour, one is inclined to think. If you enlarge the painting, you'll note that the unprotesting corpse's belly button is cleverly painted in the shape of an R.

Answer: A small lie used to terminate conversations

A butler lie is a term coined by the Cornell University's Social Media Laboratory. These are lies usually made up on the spot in order to get out of answering anything, or to avoid follow up conversations. More often than not, they're usually delivered electronically in situations where the expression on the face of the liar cannot be seen. An example of these could be "Have to go! The cat has just been sick on the dog!" or "Whoops, my boss is coming. Must go. Talk to you later". Neither event has happened of course - fortunately for the dog.

Answer: Women

Wrist watches have been around since at least the 16th century, for it is on record that England's Queen Elizabeth I received one as a gift from her close friend, Robert Dudley. Back then though, the wrist watch was known as the arm watch. It was women who normally only wore these adornments. Men continued to favour the pocket watch, right up to the beginning of the 20th century. The main reason for that continued preference was to protect the watch from the weather. A pocket watch could be kept safely ensconced in a small pocket instead. A follow-up accessory for the pocket watch was the Albert chain, introduced by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert. Although the watch was still kept in a gentleman's pocket at that time, the chain on which it was attached could be fixed to the outside of his vest, and easily drawn out when needed to check the passing of the hours.

One of the most creative very early forms of time telling, which is rather fascinating, was the candle clock. This emerged way back in the 6th century AD, and was particularly useful at night. Candles of standard length were marked off in fixed intervals of time and recorded the passing of the hours and minutes as they burned down to each mark. An extra addition to that fine piece of creativity were tiny coloured balls on string fixed into the wax at those time intervals. When the candle burned down low enough to each allotted marker, the ball would fall down into a bowl below. At a glance one could tell the time with certainty.

Answer: Removing part of the tongue

Oh that's so awful, but this was actually once a "cure" for stuttering in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. During this procedure, the poor old tongue was cut open by scissors and a triangular wedge removed from it. This assault was followed by cutting the nerves to various parts of the poor abused waggler, and, in severe cases, muscles in the neck and lip as well. It most definitely would have cured stuttering one imagines, with the patient probably left unable to talk at all. Other "cures" for stuttering during this barbaric time period included removing the tonsils, and, oh my goodness, removing part of the uvula. Oh those poor people. Fortunately for all concerned, these ghastly practices, none of which worked, were eventually abandoned owing to the fact that many patients bled to death. So, in effect, their stuttering was cured after all.

Alternative medical practices of the time included drinking from a snail's shell for the rest of one's life, the consumption of assorted herbs and spices, hitting the stutterer in the face in cloudy weather, and doing tongue exercises. All together now, "Lift up zee tongue...swish it to the right...flick it to the left...plop it down again - stutterer in the back row, please refrain from sticking yours out at me - now, once more, with feeling!"

Answer: World Sleep Day

World Sleep Day was established by the World Association of Sleep Medicine in 2008. Its purpose is to celebrate the benefits of healthy sleep, and to draw attention to the various sleep disorders that can negatively effect up to 45% of the world population. That figure seems rather excessive. With several slogans coined by the organisation, some of these include "Sleep Well, Grow Healthy" and "Good Sleep is a Reachable Dream". Each World Sleep Day includes educational talks, distribution of pamphlets (oh no, not MORE pamphlets - what about the trees!), and various exhibitions. An exhibition of sleep? I could do that. Especially when the twins are here.

Answer: It was actually a gorilla

How comical is that! How could they not tell the difference?! There's a mighty big one between a monkey and a gorilla. However, the ape monkey was a favourite of the US Secretary of the Navy, George Bancroft (1800-1891), the US Secretary of the Navy, so the identity challenged creature - along with a cat that was probably a tiger - remained the Naval Academy's primary mascot for several years. Bill the Goat was adopted as its official mascot in 1893. Today, in 2016, Bill the Goat is the Academy's 23rd Bill, with Bill the 24th pawing in line, waiting to butt in at any time.

Old sailing ships for centuries carried goats with them on sea-going voyages. They ate the rubbish and gave milk and butter in return. A somewhat uneven bargain, all things considered. In those days the male of the species were referred to as he-goats. The term billy goat wasn't adopted until some time in the late 19th century. There's an amusing photograph of one in Wikipedia if you care to look it up. He looks very admiral-like, an Horatio Nelson of the bleat fleet.

Oh this is so funny: One week before the army-navy football game in 1953, the army lads from West Point Military Academy had the audacity to kidnap Bill the Goat, in order to demoralise the navy team. They pushed Bill into the back seat of a convertible and made their getaway. Unfortunately, they were caught at a local gas station where they had pulled into to buy petrol. The indignant Bill ripped the convertible top apart with his horns and stuck his head through, bleating for help. In the fallout that followed, in which even President Eisenhower became involved, several New York headlines screamed "Goat rebellion at West Point". One more goat-y fact for you. The first goat to circle the earth twice was a female. Her second memorable voyage was with the great Captain Cook on his epic voyage to discover Australia, after which, thoroughly seasick, she was allowed to retire and...er...kid around.

Answer: Room service, please

Ward Morehouse (1895-1966) began his working life for the :"Savannah Press" and the "Atlanta Journal" before heading to New York and a career in several of the top newspapers there. He became famous for his long running column (1925-1966), "Broadway After Dark", his engrossing interviews with the big name celebrities of the day, the establishment of his own theatre, the several plays he wrote, his screenwriting, and for his endless trips around the world during the course of his work. These trips included 23 trips across the United States, and more than 80 visits to other countries.

Because of the nature of Morehouse's work, he became more than fond of good food and wine, with his waistline spreading accordingly. This led the "New York Times" to once describe him as "the New York Sun's pudgy, pungent drama critic and columnist". Shortly before his death at the age of 71, Morehouse jokingly suggested "Room service please" should be his epitaph. Or, perhaps, given the nature of his lifestyle, he wasn't joking at all.

Answer: Bean

All that hot air is now fully explained. I think they serve double portions of bean soup in the Australian parliament, come to think of it, and even more when they're about to give themselves another hefty raise. Back to that US Senate tradition, though. Senate Bean Soup has been on the menu there every day since the early 20th century.

Other windy ingredients in this soup include ham hocks, garlic, onions and potatoes. Good Lord, they'd be farting until the cows come home. No wonder they all look so inspired - or desperate - while making speeches.

Answer: Make out with their husbands

Is that in between bouts of screaming agony and grunting, one wonders? And for whom is the pain of childbirth being eased - the wife - or the husband? Ina May Gaskin, who practices without a medical licence, but who runs a birthing centre in Tennessee renowned for only accepting very healthy pregnant women, is being touted as the guru of wondrous new birth methods, one of which is apparently to make out with the man who got you in that condition in the first place.

She is also a proponent for direct-entry midwifery. That translates to becoming a midwife without any prior nursing training. Casting my mind back to the joys of childbirth, I quite seriously believe that if my husband had ambled into the room suggesting we make out in the interim between my hollers, I may, also quite seriously, have shot him.