Mix Me Up No 2 Trivia Quiz

Answer: His cousin

Born in 1914, Mohammed Zahir Shah was king or shah of Afghanistan from 1933 until his cousin's coup in 1973. For the first thirty years of his reign, he was not a particularly effective ruler and was prone to being overly influenced by his uncles. Following the end of WWII however, he hired foreign advisers to assist him.

As a result of this input, a new constitution was formed, and a modern democratic state set up, with free elections, universal suffrage, liberation for women and civil rights for all. Wow! Unfortunately then, along came his cousin, and while the Shah was in hospital undergoing eye surgery, the coup took place. What a dirty tactic.

The poor man couldn't see what was going on. On his return to that nation in 2002, after spending twenty-nine years in exile in Italy, Zahir refused the title of king and became known as The Father of the Nation instead.

He passed away in 2007.

Answer: Brahman

Mrs Brahman can bear calves for many years in cow life, up to fifteen years in fact. She makes a really good mum, is very protective of her calves and provides them with rich and nourishing milk. Oh, if only that's all it takes to be a good mother. Brahmans originated in India but have since made their way all around the world.

They can withstand very hot conditions, their thick skin protects them from numerous insect bites and parasites, and they are kept for breeding purposes - and their meat. Try as she may then, poor old Mrs Brahman can't protect her babies from that.

Answer: Quince tree

This is to ensure fertility, love and a long life for the baby. The quince is an amazing fruit. Related to apples and pears, it grows on a small deciduous tree which can reach a height of eight metres. It bears a striking resemblance to a pear, but its flesh is highly perfumed and it has a slightly bitter taste. Excellent for jams and many other uses, the quince is so interesting that I'm going to write a separate quiz on it.

Answer: Men who propelled barges through tunnels with their legs

Most of the early canal tunnels were built without towpaths for the horses that normally towed the boats to walk along. Instead, the horses were taken across the top of the hills through which the tunnels passed, and met the barges on the other side. In the meantime, leggers were used to get the barges through the long, dark, narrow tunnels.

These were men, usually two at a time, who lay on a plank that was placed across the bow of the boat. They then propelled the boats along by pushing with their legs on the sides or roof of the tunnel.

It was dangerous work, many were killed, but one could earn good money simply by possessing a strong pair of legs.

Answer: Vestigial tail

Atavism is a condition in the human biological make-up where someone has some feature which has reverted to ancestral type. Also known as an evolutionary throwback, it can include features such as the unfortunate tail, or extra nipples, or longer, sharper teeth. If you ever take the time to see the film "Shallow Hal" there's an amusing scene in it where Jason Alexander, one of the film's stars, was born with a short tail.

When he's happy, it wags.

Answer: The dress sense of his colleagues

The son of a postal worker, Mulka was born in Hamburg in 1895. During the first world war, in which he fought, he rose to the rank of second lieutenant. Between the wars he ran a number of import and export businesses. When the second world war eventuated, he joined the Nazi party. Because of his age, he was deployed to Auschwitz instead of the front.

There, where he began his ghastly work, he soon became right hand man to the camp's commander. After the war, he was eventually found, arrested in 1960, and put on trial for his crimes. During the trial, he stated of Auschwitz that "the things that transpired there shocked me from the beginning." Asked to elaborate, he pointed to the uniform selected by his colleagues for the prisoners to wear, and replied that his colleagues had "No style".

He was sentenced to fourteen years in prison during which time he tried to commit suicide. Released in 1968 because of his chronic ill health, he died the following year.

Answer: Her teeth extracted and replaced with dentures

Believe it or not, a gummy mouth was thought to be desirable in a young woman looking for a husband, as it guaranteed he wouldn't have any future dental expenses for his wife. Ever so romantic - especially when kissing. Bizarrely so, the belief that it was a good idea to have all one's teeth removed and replaced with dentures persisted right up to the middle of the 20th century.

Not necessarily for marriage purposes by then, but more for future financial reasons alone.

Answer: Meadowsweet

Meadowsweet is a perennial pleasant tasting herb, now cultivated by man, but originally growing wild in meadows with moist soil. Its a pretty little plant with creamy blossoms when it blooms. Its other uses, apart from its pain killing properties, are its sweet scent (used for strewing on floors and in making pot pourri), and its flavour (used in wines, vinegars, jams and preserves). Queen Elizabeth I was particularly fond of its perfume and had the plant strewn on the floors of all her residences.

It has many other medicinal properties as well, which include being used as a remedy for acidic stomachs, as a treatment to ease diarrhea, and it can be brewed as a tea to relieve influenza symptoms. Mother Nature is just wonderful.

Answer: Another Pope put Formosus on trial again

This second trial of the unfortunate corpse took place early in the tenth century, and was carried out by Pope Sergius this time. The first trial was at the end of the 9th century. In the interim, trials of this nature had been banned. The ban didn't seem to carry much weight with Pope Sergius however. Out came poor old Formosus from the grave once more, looking somewhat the worse for wear, and was again dressed in his papal vestments, but minus the three fingers he had used in consecrations. These had been chopped off at his first trial.

At this second trial, Formosus had his head lopped off as punishment.

Answer: A horse

The Vedic religion was the forerunners of today's Hinduism. This particular ritual of sacrifice has to be one of the most peculiar I've ever read about, and as a Sagittarian, it thoroughly alarms me. The horse was chosen because it was considered to be the most noble of the animals and one associated with the warrior class of people. I won't bore you with all the unpleasant details of the ceremony, neigh indeed I wont, but the whole thing seemed a waste of a perfectly good horse if you ask me.