January Aberavon Rugby Club Quiz

Ok - here's the first 40 questions that I asked in the club last Thursday. As a rough guide, the highest scoring team in this first half of the quiz scored 34.

1) In Annan in Scotland last week, a statue of which hero has finally been installed 150 year after it was commissioned ?

2) Events of the 21st century – in which year did the Columbia space shuttle disaster occur ?

3) What nickname was given to the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, due to the stripes on the uniform ?

4) 2 – 17 – 3 – 19 – what number comes next ?

5) In which country would you find Mount Cotopaxi ?

6) Business – what does MB as in MB, one of the world’s biggest toy manufacturers, actually stand for ?

7) If you had little swords in your garden, what would actually be growing there ?

8) In TVs Gavin and Stacey, what is the name of Nessa and Smithy’s son ?

9) Which song did the X Factor finalists take to number 1 in November 2009

10) Name the controversial third umpire in the final test against south Africa, who allegedly did not have the volume up on his TV set .

11) Last week, which comedian , actor and writer publically quit twitter after using it for just 6 weeks, branding it as a pointless opportunity for celebrities to show off.

12) In the 1991 gulf war, what were the names of a) The missiles fired by Iraq into Israel, and b) the American missiles used to counter the Iraqi one.

13) True or false – the cake on the front cover of the Rolling stones Let it Bleed LP was actually baked for them by Jane Asher ?

14) Weybridge in Surrey was home to the world’s first ever purpose built racing circuit. What was its name

15) Porto Novo is the capital of which west African country ?

16) Which is the birthstone for January – is it garnet – amethyst or bloodstone

17) Which Yann Martel novel won the Booker Prize in 2002 ?

18) The meerkat is actually a species of which mammal ?

19) Which film about the Beatles days in Hamburg starred Ewan Macgregor as fifth Beatle Stuart Sutcliffe ?

20) Michael Schumacher is set to return to formula 1 this year. Driving for which team ?

21) Which premiership manager was last week charged with two counts of tax evasion ?

22) Marion Barry the black American politician arrested and dismissed from office for drug offences, was the mayor of which major US city ?

23) In a novel by H. Rider Haggard, who was Ayesha ?

24) Tokay wine comes from which country ?

25) In which city was a plaster figure called the goddess of democracy controversially raised in May 1989 ?

26) True or false – the hula hula dance was developed from the activity of surf boarding ?

27) What type of creature is a galliwasp – a lizard – a bird – a mammal – an insect

28) Leo McKern, Patrick Cargill, Peter Wyngarde and george Baker were among the actors who played number 2 in which cult TV series ?

29) In the 2009 animated film Disney’s A Christmas Carol, who voiced the character Scrooge ?

30) In the 1970s, Brian Clough succeeded Don Revie as manager of Leeds United, and only lasted 44 days. Who took over from Clough, and took Leeds to the final of the European Cup ?

31) Last week who announced that they plan to quit China ?

32) Which ancient people, traditional enemies of the Israelites, have given their name to people who are thought to be uncultured or uncivilised ?

33) Between 1970 and 1975, which asian country was called the Khmer Republic ?

34) Which classical composer composed the St. Matthew Passion ?

35) Who or what is a zoetrope ?

36) Malachite is a main ore of which metal ?

37) In which decade of the 20th century was sliced bread introduced ?

38) Whose toy stories TV series in 2009 saw him create , amongst other things, a full size airfix spitfire, and a full size house made from lego ?

39) Which 90s song beings with the line “Confidence is a preference for the habitual voyeur “

40) Who was the first ever british boxer to win world titles at more than one weight, in the 20th century – (excluding Bob Fitzsimmons – 2 of his three titles Middleweight and heavyweight – were won during the 19th century, only his light heavyweight title was won in the 20th.)