There Comes A Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven, who lived from 1770 to 1827, was a German composer whose works, including the "Moonlight Sonata" and "5th Symphony in C Minor", have become some of the most recognised and best loved in the word of classical music. What is astounding about this is the fact that he became totally deaf, yet he continued to produce works of outstanding quality.

The reason for his deafness is not certain, but he wrote to a friend in 1800 when he was 30 years old, saying that his hearing had been growing steadily worse over the past three years. His hearing continued to decline and by the age of 44, he was almost totally deaf. It is believed that he used to imagine the pieces in his head and then use a soundboard to feel the vibrations. He died in Vienna at the age of 57 leaving behind a legacy of beautiful music.

Answer: True

Yes, it's true. The famously reclusive Swedish actress who is probably best known for the line "I want to be alone" started off her working career as a 'tvalflicka', or 'soap-girl' in a barber's shop in Stockholm when she was aged just fourteen. The job of a soap-girl was, amongst other menial tasks, to prepare the customer for his shave by lathering his face in readiness for the barber. Born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson in 1905, Garbo's family struggled financially after her father's early death and she dropped out of school and starting working to supplement the family's meagre income. She earned the princely sum of seven krone a week, but found that through her charm and winsome ways she could nearly double that amount in tips.

Before embarking on the film career that would earn her three Best Actress award nominations at the Academy Awards, Garbo also worked as a hat girl in a local department store. Extremely publicity shy, Garbo who was dubbed the "Swedish Sphinx" by the media, once turned down the opportunity to have her face featured on Palmolive soap bars across the US. Perhaps that would have been a soap bubble too far.

Answer: Amy Johnson

The British flyer, Amy Johnson, completed this marathon long haul flight on 24 May 1930 when she landed in Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia, becoming the flight woman to fly solo between Britain and Australia. Amy, a colourful character who also modelled clothes for the Italian designer, Elsa Schiaparelli amongst other ventures, had taken off from Croyden Airport outside London on 5 May 1930. She was piloting her intrepid second hand Gypsy Moth "Jason" and set off with no ground contact and limited navigational aids to eventually cover a distance of some 18000km. This remarkable feat earned her a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) from King George V in recognition. The faithful "Jason", who was quite battered and damaged, was repaired and today has a permanent place in the Flight Gallery of the Science Museum in London.

This was the first of many records that Johnson would set. However, it was a short, more routine flight that was her undoing. She was ferrying an aircraft to RAF Kidlington near Oxford on 5 January 1941 in appalling weather conditions and never arrived. A wreckage was spotted off the Kent coast. Her body was never recovered, although certain of her personal belongings washed up nearby. She was just 37 years old.

Answer: Sweden

One of Sweden's top tourist attractions, the 190km Gota Canal with its 58 locks forms part of a network of waterways that link the city of Gothenburg to Soderkoping on the Baltic Sea. Construction of the canal began in 1810 and of the 190km, 87 of those were dug by hand with the project using about 58 000 enlisted soldiers before it was finally completed in 1832. It is still one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in Sweden and was the brainchild of Count Baltzar von Platen who oversaw the construction.

Although the canal's usefulness as an industrial and commercial route dwindled with the advent of railways, it is still one of the most popular destinations in Sweden for holidaymakers wanting to enjoy a waterway experience and is visited by about two million people a year. The canal has, somewhat irreverently, acquired the nickname of "the divorce ditch"; a result of inexperienced and landlubbing couples setting out to navigate those tricky 58 locks.

Answer: Ricky Martin

This versatile singer and actor was born Enrique Martin Morales in San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, in 1971, but is better known around the world as Ricky Martin, the "King of Latin Pop". This is due in no small amount to his massive hits single "Livin' La Vida Loca" which was released in 1999 to both critical acclaim and commercial success.

The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks as well as many other charts around the world and is considered to be a driving force in putting Latin Pop on the worldwide music map.

After appearing in television commercials from the age of 9, Ricky started out his musical career with the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo when he was 12 before going on to pursue a solo career.

Answer: Rust

It is good old rust, the bane of everyone who has something made of iron. Rust is the name given to iron oxides that form on the surfaces of iron when it comes into contact with oxygen and moisture. Although the red coloured version is the one that most of us are probably most familiar with, there are a number of different types that can occur, an example of which is the green one that usually forms in underwater conditions.

However, the good news for those of us who own something containing iron is that a number of different technologies have been developed that can be applied to items containing iron that can prevent and protect against the formation of rusts. Probably the most used one of these is galvanisation where the iron surface is coated with a metallic zinc.

Answer: Sextant

The sextant, which has been around for centuries, is a navigational instrument that can be used to pinpoint your exact position to within ten seconds anywhere on the globe by determining both your latitude and longitude. It does this by measuring the exact angle between any two objects, for example the sun and the horizon, through the use of two mirrors.

This is known as' taking a sight'. The sextant's name derives from its arc which is one sixth of a circle. Though largely superseded today by global positioning systems and radio communications, sextants are still used and most large ships are required to carry both a functional sextant and a crew member trained in its use and operation.

Answer: Watch a performance

Bunraku is a traditional form of Japanese theatre where wooden puppets are used to act out the plot of the story. It dates back to the Edo Period in Japan which ran from 1603-1867. It started out in Osaka as entertainment for the common masses, developed into a highly skilled art form and is still practised today.

The use of large, almost life size wooden puppets characterize this form of theatre with the puppets being hand carved by specialists. The puppets are hand controlled by extremely skilled puppeteers who are able to convey the slightest nuance of emotion and meaning with a tiny twitch of a string.

The stories performed are usually based on the folk tales, legend and lore handed down from the Edo Period. In 2003 Bunraku was given World Intangible Cultural Heritage status by UNESCO.

Answer: Highland Fling

The Highland Fling, which is regarded as the national dance of Scotland, is a vigorous and energetic affair that most likely originated as a victory dance performed by warriors after battle. The name comes from the very distinctive way the dancer kicks a leg backwards and forwards, alternating legs, while balancing on the other leg.

In dance parlance, this movement is known as a "fling". Performed at the annual Highland Games, the Highland Fling is the oldest of the traditional dances. As this lively dance is very demanding and energy sapping, it requires dancers to be in superb physical shape and was thus often used by clan chiefs and kings as a method of selecting the finest warriors.

Answer: Igloo

Igloo was the short-haired fox terrier who, however improbable it might sound, accompanied the explorer Admiral Richard Byrd on his expedition to both the Arctic and a later trip to Antarctica. The story of how the two met is a heart warming one. The little dog was found homeless on the streets of Washington DC by Maris Boggs. Maris, who was unable to keep him herself, dreamt that the dog was destined for great adventure. She cottoned on to the idea that Byrd should adopt him and pestered him until he gave in and agreed - the night before he was due to sail from New York on his Arctic expedition. The little dog was personally delivered to the ship by Maris the next morning, together with a warm sweater to keep out the Arctic cold. It was love at first sight and the dog, now named Igloo, and the explorer became inseparable companions until Igloo's death in 1931. The inscription on his grave in Dedham, Massachusetts reads "He was more than a friend".

On the other side of the comparison, igloo is also the name commonly given to the snow dwellings built for winter use by the Inuit people who inhabit the frigid northern climes. It is derived from the Inuit word 'igdlu' which means 'snow house'.