Quiz #1: Are you a match for our quizmaster?
Welcome to our first quiz. We think you'll find it tougher than others but also more rewarding.
Click on each question to reveal the answer, or click on the 'Show all the answers' link to see how you went and to learn more. Let us know any suggestions you have for improving the quiz by emailing quizmaster@radionz.co.nz.
Q 1 When was Vatican City State established?
A 11 February, 1929
It was established by the Lateran Treaty. Benito Mussolini was Prime Minister at the time and signed for Italy on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel III. Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri signed on behalf of Pope Pius XI. At around 100 acres in size, Vatican City State is the smallest country in the world.
Q 2 Which artwork has been stolen more times than any other?
A Hubert and Jan van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystic Lamb (The Ghent Altarpiece)
According to The Guardian, it's been "forged, pillaged, dismembered, censored, stolen by Napoleon, hunted in the first world war, sold by a renegade cleric, then stolen repeatedly during the second world war".
Jacob de Gheyn III, painted in 1632 by Rembrandt, qualifies as the second most stolen painting, taken four times since 1966.
And if you're wondering which artist has the most works stolen, it is Pablo Picasso. The Art Loss Register has more than 1,000 of his works listed as 'missing'.
Q 3 Which two films received 11 academy awards nominations, but won none?
A The Turning Point and The Color Purple.
The Turning Point (1977) was set in the New York ballet scene and starred Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft.
The lead roles were offered to Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and Doris Day.
The Color Purple (1985), directed by Steven Spielberg, was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name by Alice Walker.
The film critic Roger Ebert called Whoopi Goldberg's performance in the film "one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history" and predicted she would win an oscar. She had to wait until Ghost, where she gained the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Q 4 What was the name of the song Teddy Johnson and Pearl Carr performed in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest?
A Sing Little Birdie
This husband-and-wife duo, popular in the 50s and the 60s, performed this number as the entry for the United Kingdom.
Observant readers will note this question is similar to one posed in the World Forum Sketch by Monty Python's Flying Circus, although they suggested the song won. It came second.
Q 5 Albert Einstein won the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics. What was it for?
A According to nobelprize.org, he won it "for his services to Theoretical Physics, and especially for his discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect". It was not for his theory of relativity.
Q 6 Who was the lead vocalist of The Alan Parsons Project?
A The APP had many lead vocalists.
Eric Woolfson, Parson's collaborator on the project, was probably the most recognised singing lead vocals on some of the Project's biggest hits including Time, Eye in the Sky and Don't Answer Me.
Parsons drew from his many musical acquaintances and people he'd worked with as producer and engineer. Some of the most well known are:
- Gary Brooker (Procol Harum)
- Colin Blunstone (Zombies)
- Elmer Gantry (Velvet Opera)
Parsons himself only sang lead on one song, The Raven, through a vocoder.
Q 7 Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera all have what in common?
A They were all Mouseketeers in the Mickey Mouse Club between 1993 and 1995.
The Mickey Mouse Club was produced by Walt Disney Productions. It ran from 1955 to 1959, and was revived first from 1977 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1996.
Q 8 Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth appear together in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Which other movie have they both appeared in together?
A The King's Speech.
Really. Still can't work out which part she played? She was Lionel Logue's wife Myrtle. This is the scene when they appear together.
Q 9 The Titanic had two sister ships. What were their names?
A Olympic and Britannic.
The Olympic was launched on 20th October 1910, Titanic on 31 May 1911 and Britannic on 26th February 1914.
The fate of the Titanic is well known - it sank on 5 April 1912 on her maiden voyage after hitting an iceberg.
The Olympic worked until 1935, serving as a troop carrier in the first world war before returning to use as an ocean liner from 1920 to 1930. The downturn that came during the Great Depression saw fewer people travelling and the ship was decommissioned and scrapped in 1935.
The Britannic was launched just before the First World War and converted to a hospital ship in 1915. She hit a mine in the Mediterranean on 21 November 1916 and sank with the loss of 30 lives.
Q 10 How may US presidents have lived in the White House?
A 43.
The only president who didn't live there was George Washington, who was in office from 1789 and 1797. Work began on The White House in 1792 and it was not completed until 1800. John Adams, the second President, lived there from 1800, as has every president since.
Note: Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, and was the 22nd and 24th president, so we counted both presidencies. That means only 42 people have lived there.
Q 11 Who is the Quizmaster?
A Sorry, we are not going to say. No one knows who The Stig is either.