Patchwork Quilt 4 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Earwax

Lydia Maria Francis Child (1802-1880) was not only a writer of domestic manuals and novels, she was also a journalist who strongly featured women's rights, Native Americans' rights, and the opposition to expansionism and slavery in her works. She spoke out about male dominance and white supremacy as well. All that and earwax too. Two of her most successful books were an instruction manual for young mothers, and her work "The Frugal Housewife". This had the subtitle of "Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of Economy" and was reprinted 33 times over 25 years. It is filled with all types of recipes and economical tips based around the needs of the times. Wouldn't you just love to have a hard copy of this historically fascinating work?

A few examples of its advice include how to braid your own bonnets and men's hats from straw; how to make fans out of turkey and goose feathers; teaching children how to knit stockings and make mats for the floor and table (she was a bit too fond of putting children to work, and saw playing as a total waste of man hours); all kinds of moral and monetary saving hints, and general advice about life altogether. We have tips such as "...see that nothing is thrown to the pigs that should have been in the pots"; boiled potatoes are excellent for cleaning really dirty hands and will leave them feeling very soft; clean yellowed ivory handles on knives with sandpaper to restore their whiteness; refresh faded carpets, silk handkerchiefs and cotton material by soaking them in salted water; fix dyed materials to retain their new colour with the gall of a cow; how to keep eggs fresh for up to three years; New England rum makes an excellent shampoo; how to cook a pig's head, particularly the snout; and so on. This book is utterly fascinating. There's a copy of it on the internet.

Did you know that when roasting a pig, you'll know that it's half done when its eyes drop out?

Answer: It was no loss

Famous socialite, actress, property owner, theatre owner, winery owner and race horse owner, Lillie Langtry (birth name Emilie Charlotte Le Breton) was born on the island of Jersey in 1853, and, although she became an American Citizen in 1888 for several years, she eventually moved back to England, but resided in Monaco for the last few years of her life. She died there in 1929. In the interim Lillie grew up to be a remarkably lovely girl, known for her wit and vivacity. She married Irish landowner Edward Langtry when she was twenty and the couple moved to London in 1876. There, she became a rather famous and much in demand socialite. During the course of one evening's dinner, she met and commenced an affair for several years with the heir to the British throne, Prince Edward. He would go on to become King Edward VII. After the affair ended, partly because she misbehaved at one dinner, they remained good friends, and the Prince continued to support her in later years.

Lillie moved on to have several more affairs with other famous men who were equally captivated by her beauty and wit, became a famous actress whom audiences adored even though the critics most definitely did not, gave birth to a baby girl (whom she claimed was fathered by Prince Louis of Battenberg), moved to the United States for several years where she owned and trained thoroughbreds, bought a winery and other properties, went on several outstandingly successful theatrical tours, divorced her husband in 1897, and moved back to England and married a wealthy and much younger man, Hugo de Bathe, the 5th Baronet, in 1899. The much cuckolded Edward Langtry died in 1897, shortly after Lillie divorced him, whereupon she received that very amusing letter of condolence from an admiring widow and fan.

Answer: Used them as toilet paper

Religious tracts are pamphlets dealing with various aspects and practices from the bible, depending on the perspective of the religious organisation which printed them. An example of this type of work is the "Watch Tower" pamphlets and booklets printed by the Jehovah Witness religion. William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) was the Prime Minister of Great Britain on four separate occasions, finally retiring from politics at the age of 84. He was a dour, humourless man for the most part, very religious, and, though born in Liverpool, was 100 per cent Scottish descent. Reared in the Anglican faith, he felt so guilty at rejecting a call to the ministry as a young man, that he over-compensated by becoming fervently religious instead, and almost lost his place in parliament at one stage for trying to enforce a mission on his party. Queen Victoria disliked him and wrote in her diary that "Mr Gladstone always addresses me as if I were a public meeting". Gladstone was also an out and out bigot as far as other religions went, and particularly detested Roman Catholicism.

You can imagine then that this tight-lipped, morally disapproving of everything in sight Prime Minister, was very far from pleased when his sister (name unlisted), whose mental health was delicate, converted to the Roman Catholic faith. Shortly after this switch of faith to one he despised, Gladstone's sister had a complete nervous breakdown, and commenced using every protestant tract she found - as toilet paper. Gladstone was absolutely livid on being informed of this, a fact that is just the tiniest bit amusing.

Answer: The Sacred Cow

Although Theodore Roosevelt was the first US President to fly in an airplane, he was no longer US President at that time, as his time in power (1901-1909) was completed by then. This took place on 11 October, 1910, in a Wright Flyer, an open aircraft. It would be his distant relative, fifth cousin Franklin Roosevelt who became the first US President *in office* to fly in a plane, becoming, at the same time, the first US President to fly in an aircraft officially designated Air Force One. During World War II, FDR had previously flown in a commercial aircraft on a 5,500 mile trip to the Casablanca Conference in Morocco in 1943. That was in Boeing 314 flying boat. From that time, however, the US Air Force became too concerned over his safety to allow any further transportation in commercial planes and ordered a military aircraft be modified to suit his needs instead.

The first military aircraft converted for his use, the Guess Where II, was knocked back by the Secret Service, following a review of its safety record, so President Roosevelt never actually flew in it. They allowed his wife, Eleanor, and members of the President's administration team to do so though, which is a rather disturbing fact. The second plane converted for the President's use - the first to be designated Air Force One - was a reconfigured Douglas C-54 Skymaster, one of many used by the US Air Force in WWII and the Korean War. This included a sleeping area for the President and a special hoist to allow his access in his wheelchair. Far from being referred to respectfully (unofficially of course), the first Air Force One aircraft for the President of the United States was promptly given the comical nickname of "The Sacred Cow" by all who worked on it - and that particular cow, containing the President, flew over the moon to the famous Yalta Conference in 1945.

Answer: Wind eye

Back in the early days of different tribal settlements in northern Europe, when families were still living in large one room huts, the original purpose of a window was a hole in the roof of each hut to allow smoke to escape. The old Norse word, "vindauga" or the Swedish "vindoa", or the Danish "vindue" all translated, more or less, to "wind eye" and from that we get our modern word "window". The use of the word "window", as we use it in the English language, first sprang into use in the 13th century, but, at that stage, a window was still being used as an open hole in the roof of family huts. This would be covered with animal hide as the need arose.

Wooden shutters that could be pulled closed or pushed open to protect the inhabitants from the elements were next in the evolutionary life of windows, and from there, the next move was to glass. It would be the Romans who first came up with the notion of using glass in window frames to offer protection against the whims of the weather, to let in light, and to allow people to gaze out at their surroundings. Before glass as we know it was invented, however, early attempts of "glass" consisted of flattened out, see-through animal horns, or very thin pieces of marble.

Answer: Pope Urban VII

Pope Urban VII was born in Rome to a noble Genoese family in 1521, and given the name, Giovanni Battista Castagnaas. He grew up to be remarkably intelligent, and studied at various universities throughout Italy, finishing with a doctorate in both civil and canon law at Bologna's university. Working briefly as a constitutional lawyer, he entered the Roman Curia in 1553. Peculiarly so, he seemed to have been appointed an archbishop before he was actually ordained a priest. There's nothing like putting the altar before the horse. This Pope soared up the ecclesiastical and political ladder. His civil and church posts include being made governor of Fano for four years (1555-1559), governor of Perugia and Umbria (1559-1560), Apostolic Nuncio to Spain (1565-1572), governor of Bologna (1576-1577), Apostolic Nuncia to Venice (1573-1577), and Papal Legate to Flanders and Cologne from 1578-1580.

Finally, he became a cardinal in 1583, and was then elected Pope on 15 September, 1590. The poor man must have been exhausted. He certainly wouldn't have time to do any sinning. He did however have time to put people who smoked, sniffed or chewed tobacco in the church, or its doorway, under threat of excommunication. In that intense dislike of tobacco, he seems to have been several centuries ahead of his time. Alas though, Pope Urban VII was only in the prestigious position as head of the Roman Catholic church for a total of twelve days. He passed away on 27th September in the year he was elected, theoretically from Malaria. There are those of us, however, who have dire suspicions that he was bumped off by somebody overly fond of Cuban cigars.

Answer: The remains are turned into humus

Promession, as a means of disposing of dead bodies in an environmentally friendly manner, was developed by a Swedish biologist in 1997. This is a five step process - as follows:

1. After the service, the body is removed from its coffin and placed into a promession chamber. One presumes the coffin is re-used by future customers.
2. The body then undergoes cryogenic freezing at temperatures of minus 196 degrees C. This step crystallises the remains.
3. Following crystallisation, the body is vibrated rapidly, and, within only a few minutes, it has crumbled into tiny particles.
4. These particles are then freeze dried in another chamber.
5. The last step is the most unusual in this environmentally friendly process. Any metals such as tooth fillings and artificial body parts (hips, pacemakers and so on) are then extracted, either by magnetisation or by going through a sieve (oh dear). The fine particles left are then put in a biodegradable container, and lightly buried in soil that needs enriching, where, within a few short months, they turns into a lovely rich humus.

There is something bizarrely appealing and practical about this means of disposing of dead bodies, particularly so if it nourishes a beautiful tree such as a Jacaranda - but shoving granny through a colander, I don't know, this seems just a little bit disrespectful somehow.

Answer: Yes

Iguanas have to be the ugliest creatures ever known to man, but their physiology is quite amazing. These lizards native to the tropical areas of Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean grow to lengths of just over five feet - eek, that's my height! - they have a row of external spines running down their backs, sharp, serrated teeth with which to capture and tear prey, an extra eye that is used for sensing light, three-chambered hearts, and eardrums located behind each eye. Oh, and the male iguana comes endowed with two penises. One for now, and one for later?

These hemipenes are kept within their bodies until it becomes times to mate, so unless you're exceptionally brave, you won't see them emerging, or observe their design until the iguana is dead. However, the encyclopaedia does give us the helpful advice, that, if you wish to see a hemipene while its owner is alive, they are also found in snakes, and, if you gently squeeze a snake's tail up towards its vent, a hemipene will obligingly appear for you. That would be a great consolation for any Australian who has just died from the venom of one of our extremely dangerous reptiles. Did you know that iguanas, rather amusingly, have the ability to sneeze?

(You have no idea how demoralising it is to know that one is the same height as an iguana).

Answer: Gloves made from the skin of unborn calves

Horrible, just horrible, and, because there was such a demand for these gloves in the 17th century - by both men and women - it is strongly suspected that the method of obtaining that skin was pretty brutal. Gloves have been around since at least the days of Ancient Greece. At that stage though, they were worn for practical reason, but when they began to be worn for ornamental purposes by the ladies of the 13th century, sumptuary laws were created to put a halt to this form of vanity. England's later Elizabeth I well and truly pooh-poohed that notion, and was known to be extremely fond of wearing be-jewelled and highly embroidered gloves - but not for warmth or a fashion accessory as such. Instead, she liked to keep putting them on and off, while in the company of others, in order to draw attention to her lovely slender hands. Oh, what a minx. That's rather endearing though, isn't it?

The 17th century saw gloves made from chicken skin, which is rather amazing. Chicken skin is so thin. How on earth they managed to sew it together is remarkable. It's presumed the feathers had been previously removed. This was the century that also saw the grim fashion of gloves manufactured from the skin of unborn calves. At least three monarchs of England were buried wearing their gloves. These were Henry II, King John and Edward I. The last two still had the gloves intact on their skeletal hands when their tombs were opened in 1774 and 1797 respectively.

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I

When Queen Elizabeth II visits Scotland, she is technically titled Queen Elizabeth I. This is because Scotland wasn't united with England when Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was the reigning monarch. Those two kingdoms didn't combine until 1707. This peculiarity began with James I who took that title when he inherited the throne of England from Elizabeth I of England in 1603. He was also the king of Scotland at that time, but as James VI of that nation. How confusing.

To add to the perplexity, the Channel Islands, although located in the English Channel, are not part of the United Kingdom, BUT Queen Elizabeth II is their monarch. These islands are an archipelago located off the coast of Normandy in France. They are all that remain of the Duchy of Normandy in fact, a large part of France that was fought over between England and France for centuries. Therefore, in the Channel Islands, Queen Elizabeth II of England is actually referred to as their "Duke.