Bit of This and That No 10 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Giant illuminated ads for a car manufacturer

Blazing out for all Paris residents to see, these giant illuminated advertisements for the car manufacturer Citroen marred three sides of the tower every night, from 1925 until 1934. It was tasteless commerce at its worst. This added to the indignation of more than 300 of this beautiful city's resident artists, sculptors, writers and architects who had petitioned against the tower's erection right from the very beginning in 1889. They described the project as a "a column of bolted sheet metal...dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack..."

Information and quotes for this question were found at the following site:

Wikipedia.org

Answer: Spanish nun

Professor Paul Ilegems, curator of a museum in Belgium, said that the Spanish brought the potato back with them from the Americas, and that one Saint Theresa, a Spanish mystic and nun, cooked the first fries. The potato was introduced to Europe in the latter half of the sixteenth century. Sister Theresa lived from 1515 to 1582, so who knows? It's as good a claim as any. Other claims as to the origin of this humble dish come from the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and even the United States, where Thomas Jefferson is said to have had them served at a White House dinner.

The name "French fries" itself is said to have been given to the dish by American servicemen serving in Belgium with French-speaking Belgian troops during World War I. It is said they were given potatoes fried in this manner there, and took the cooking method back with them to America, where they described them as French fries.

Answer: Dorgis

Several crosses of dogs have emerged on the scene in the last fifty years. There is the cockapoo, which is a cross between a cocker spaniel and a poodle. Another well-known cross is a labradoodle, which is a cross between a labrador and a poodle. The poodle crops up again with the schnoodle, which is a cross between it and a schnauzer. All these breeds are commonly referred to as designer dogs. If, then, a poodle was crossed with a cocker spaniel and a rooster, would we get a cocker-poodle-doo?

Answer: The indentation on the longest side

Bricks have been with us for many, many centuries. They are a sturdy, long-lasting building material. The oldest bricks found date back to an area near the ancient city of Damascus in Syria, and are believed to be at least 9,5000 years old. Not all bricks manufactured have this indentation known as a frog on their surface, but when they do, it is to be found on one of the longer faces of the brick.

The purpose of the frog is to allow more cement to be spread between bricks. This, when dry, increases the strength of whatever is being constructed. Bricks, in fact, are very interesting. Any book written on such would be absolutely guaranteed to give you a good night's sleep.

Answer: Psycho

"Psycho", which was made in 1960, starred Anthony Perkins as the mentally disturbed owner of an out of the way motel, and Janet Leigh as his murder victim. The toilet scene takes place when Leigh is seen flushing some notes down the loo. Ridiculously so, the producers of the film were swamped with letters of complaints on the release of the film, not about the gory and terrifying murder portrayed on the screen, but about the toilet scene instead. To show such a thing in public was considered to be the height of indecency.

Answer: Periodically dig them up and then rebury them

This is a great occasion to celebrate the memory of deceased family members in this island country. Families get together to disinter dead relatives, and celebrate the event with a huge party to which members from all the surrounding villages are also invited. Food, rum, entertainment and music are all part of this joyous family occasion as well.

At the conclusion of this merry event, the deceased is re-wrapped in a fresh shroud and re-buried - somewhat the worse for wear, one imagines. Visitors to one of these events, unaccustomed to the process, would quite possibly need a great deal of that rum to enable them get through it. I certainly would.

Answer: An inland tsunami

A series of terrible floods right throughout Queensland took place that year. Hundreds of thousands of people had to be evacuated, and thousands of homes were destroyed. Even the capital city of Brisbane was partially submerged, and three-quarters of this giant state was declared a disaster area.

In the inland town of Toowoomba, a combination of unceasing rain for weeks, and two closely parallel rivers suddenly bursting their banks, saw a huge wall of water eight metres (26 feet) high thundering down the range and straight through the city.

The impact was shocking and the aftermath of what was described as this inland tsunami saw Toowoomba and several smaller towns devastated. Some bodies were later recovered 80 kilometres (50 miles) away, and some were never recovered at all.

It's hard to believe that this could happen so far away from the coast, but this terrifying event did indeed take place.

Answer: Loud coughs

"Over here, dear, ahem, cough". Young calves have the widest variety of sounds. They can moo, bleat, snort and make a type of miaowing noise. The female giraffe's most articulated sound is when she's dealing with her young. When she wants to get their attention, and with a remarkable resemblance to mothers worldwide - particularly my daughter - she bellows.

Answer: Cut round the top with a chisel and hammer

These very amusing instructions quite fitted the size of the cans at that time. These were large and heavy, and each can itself weighed more than the food it contained. The use of canned food is recorded as far back as 1772. Food records of the Dutch navy reveal that canned salmon was part of the listed cargo taken on board its ships.

The first can openers didn't appear on the scene until the 1850s. Englishman Robert Yeates, who manufactured cutlery and surgical instruments for a living, came up with the initial design.

The thought occurs that the association between surgical instruments and can openers doesn't exactly inspire one to rush into hospital for surgery.

Answer: Etruscans

Believe it or not, these were made out of human - or animal - teeth. They didn't last very long, but at least it was a beginning. By 1538 in the Orient, the Japanese were making wooden dentures. These remained popular until the beginning of the twentieth century. Porcelain dentures were being made in England by 1791, and animals everywhere sighed with relief. Back to Italy, however, dentures manufactured out of animal teeth continued to be the trend until the mid 1800s.

This gives an entirely new meaning to the term "Horse Laugh", or the phrase "Never look a gift horse in the mouth".

After all, this could be the location of grannie's Christmas present to which you're referring.