Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1510's

It's Wednesday, so that means it's time for the Monday quiz. Congratulations are due to John, Bhagpuss and Ale for braving last week's quiz and for your scores of 7,5 and 5 respectively in what I'd thought was an extremely challenging week. For those of you who missed out, feel free to pop back to last week's quiz and try your luck before coming back and checking your answers below.

1. The last Aztec New Fire Ceremony was held in 1507. I am glad I was able to ensnare one person in the classic Aztec/Inca coin-flip.
2. The painting I was looking for was Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Full marks to all.
3. The sculpture I was looking for was Michelangelo's David. Can you believe it was carved out of a piece of marble that no-one else wanted?
4. Columbus used a lunar eclipse to wow the people of Jamaica. Columbus was strictly an Atlantic Ocean guy, but I agree that the etching does have a Pacific vibe.
5. Dias was the first European to set foot on Madagascar, but pretty much everyone else beat him to it.
6. Pictured were the colourful outfits of the Swiss Guard, who've been protecting the Vatican City from crimes against fashion since 1506.
7. Guru Nanak found the founder of Sikhism. I knew nothing about Sikhism a couple of months ago, but it keep popping up all over the place at the moment.
8. Henlein's 1505 was the first watch, not technically a wristwatch but it's the idea of portability that's important, so I'll pay Ale the point. Clockwork itself is much older.
9. The garden of Earthly Delights is a Triptych. I thought this was a pretty hard question, but you lot are hitting the art ones out of the park this week.
10.The Atlantic slave trade began in the 1500's and continued until the 1870's. John was right on the button.

With that excellent showing I'm expecting some very impressive results in your comments this week as we dive in the 1510's, but as usual we appreciate the effort of giving in the good old college try rather than actually happening to arrive at the correct answers.

The Quiz

1) Who is pictured here, possibly apocryphally, in 1517, casually starting the Reformation?

2) From where were sunflowers, which have been domesticated since at least 2500BC, first brought to Europe in 1510?

3) Which astronomer, who wouldn't widely publish his theories until 30 years later, contradicted Ptomely's model of the universe in his Commentariolus in the early part of the 1510's?

4) In 1517, the Mamluk Sultanate was defeated by the Ottoman Empire, leading to 350 years of Ottoman rule of which modern-day country?

5) Which artist, who had never seen a rhinoceros, produced this woodcut in 1515 from a written description and a sketch from another artist?

6) Which modern capital city was founded by conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar in August 1515?

7) Which Archbishop of York was appointed both Cardinal by the Pope and Lord Chancellor by King Henry VIII of England in 1515?

8) Which political treatise, not publically available until the 1530's, was written following the author's arrest and banishment from Florence by the Medici family in 1513?

9) The Portuguese conquered Goa in 1510. We all know and appreciate the tight Euro strategy game with the same name, but...in which country is Goa, actually?

10) Considered one of the most important works of the Northern Renaissance, In Praise of Folly, published in 1511, was the work of which humanist?

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1500's!

We have reached day 7 of Blaugust, which means that it's time to return to the last of our long-standing projects, the history quiz, which began right back in the year 1000 on the site of my spiritual Blogmother, Michael5000, and has been in exile since the 1440's, but looking forward to a triumphant return to it's original home now that the Infinite Art Tournament has reached it's final conclusion. In the meantime, though, the Leaflocker is Proud to present Through History With the Monday Quiz (in Exile): The 1500's!

1. Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1792. It rhymes, you know?
2. These days, Hispaniola is shared between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
3. The first sea route from Europe to India was discovered by Vasco da Gama.
4. The Kilwa Sultanate spread the usage of the Swahili language.
5. The Erdapfel is the earliest extant example of a world globe.
6. Lê Thánh Tông and the Lê dynasty were Emperors of Vietnam.
7. The saviour of the Spanish jews in 1492 was the Ottoman Empire.
8. Shrove Tuesday 1497 is commonly known as The Bonfire of the Vanities.
9. Perkin Warbeck's last rebellion was fomented in Cornwall.
10.James IV drank an awful lot of Scotch Whiskey.

Looking back, I'd thought last decade had been a particularly difficult one, but as ever, John was on the money, with a staggering 8 points. Honestly, writing a quiz hard enough to challenge that fellow and still be approachable to the rest of us mere mortals is now easy matter.

The Quiz:

1) The New Fire Ceremony, which ushered in a new cycle of the calendar every 52 years (and perhaps acted as the inspiration for the grisly scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom pictured above) was last held in 1507 by members of which civilisation?

2) Probably the most famous and most valuable painting in the world, which oil-on-board portrait, now the property of the French government, was likely painted between 1503 and 1506?

3) Probably the most famous and most valuable sculpture in the world, which six ton piece of marble, now the property of either the Italian government or the city of Florence, was erected in 1504?

4) In the inspiration for Allan Quartermain and Tintin, amongst others, Christopher Columbus is pictured above using his advance knowledge to predict a lunar eclipse in order to intimidate the locals in which modern island nation?

5) There were Austronesian, Bantu, Arab, Persian, Malay and Javanese settlers already there, but it wasn't until August 1500 that Dias, captain of a Portugese vessel that had been blown off course, was the first European to 'discover' which landmass?

6) Pictured above in their extremely functional and not at all silly uniforms, which still-extant military force was founded in 1506?

7) The early 16th century saw Nanak Dev Gi embark on a series of missionary journeys. In 1497, he had founded which religion with the words "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim"?

8) Estimated to have a value between 50 and 80 million US dollars, the worlds first example of which type of device was developed by Nuremberg locksmith Peter Henlein in 1505?

9) Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights, which he probably painted in this decade, is an example of what type of artwork, commonly used as alterpieces?

10) 1502 is usually cited as the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade, which would continue until the last ship set sail in which decade?

The rules remain the same as ever. Please refrain from searching for the answers anywhere except the inside of your head, and post your best attempts in the comments. Points are given for correct answers, but kudos is given for showing your thought processes, and is much more important in the long run.

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1490's

It's been a fortnight, and that means that it's time for the latest installment of our weekly quiz feature here at the Leaflocker. This week we're looking at the 1490's a decade that was kind of a big deal for Europeans in the exploration game, so we're confident that there's some answers to some of these questions lurking in your head this week. Share them with us in the comments below.

Last week's answers:
1. This map must be from after 1488 because the Portugese have made it around the Cape of Good Hope and the horn to the eastern coast of Africa.
2. It's 1480 and Ivan the Great has finally thrown the Golden Horde out of Rus after 250 years of occupation.
3. The Sistine Chapel is named after Pope Sixtus IV. If he'd been Pope Sixtus VI it probably wouldn't be known as the Sistine Sistine Chapel, but a boy can dream.
4.Qaitbay built his citadel on the site of the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, the little Egyptian flag in the photo was a bit of a hint.
5. King Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury were kept in the Tower of London by Richard III
6. The Reinheitsgebot strictly governs the purity and ingredients of that finest and most famous Bavarian produce, beer.
7. The Guanches were the indigenous population of the Canary Islands.
8. The Malleus Maleficarum is all about the hunting of witches, and got a lot of people burned alive.
9. The War of Grenada had the first documented cases of Typhus. Yay!
10.The A-Ma temple, and the sea goddess Mazu are situated in Macau.

Last week was a very hard quiz indeed, not that that stopped John, who somehow managed to eke out 7 points, and was only bettered by the M Cats superior knowledge of Bavarian legislature.

1) There's a famous poem that our Usonian readers will undoubtedly have had thrust at them at some point in their schooling and that has been passed through the joys of Hollywood to the rest of us. I'd say that it's not a particularly good poem, but perhaps as a doggerelist myself I shouldn't be casting stones? Anyway, what year was immortalised in the poem whose opening couplet finishes with "....Columbus sailed the ocean blue"?

2) After sailing the ocean blue for a while, the star of that poem established an ill-fated European colony on the island he discovered and named Hispaniola. The colonists fought among themselves over the riches of the island, and were then killed by the Taíno natives, who Columbus had described in his journal as "without arms and very cowardly". In modern times, which two nations share the island?

3) Just a few years after Columbus was claiming to have discovered a sea route to India, having missed by a narrow margin of some 18,000 kilometers, which Portugese explorer, having sailed around the southern tip of Africa, first successfully managed the feat?

4) On his travels, he stopped in at many cities of the Kilwa sultanate based in modern-day Tanzania, which after a 500 years as an important trading confederation would soon enter a rapid decline in the face of growing European intervention. Kilwa's wide influence led to the spread of which trade language, the most commonly spoken African tongue today?

5) In 1492, Martin Behaim, a cartographer from Nuremberg who'd been working for the Portugese, created a vellum map that he called the 'Erdapfel', which is represented above. The Erdapfel is now housed in the German National Museum where work to digitise it has been underway since 2011. What makes this map special?

6) Somewhere between India and the Caribbean, the Hồng Đức Era was ending with the death of the fourth Lê emperor. Over the course of nearly four decades on the throne he promulgated a new code of laws, encouraged the spread of Confucianism and pursued a number of wars, most notably capturing Champa capital and annexing most of Cham territory to become a new southern province, where many Cham still live as a minority group today. Where were the Lê enthroned?

7) While the Portugese were busy exploring finding new places to try to spread Christianity, their Spanish neighbours were doing the same at home. In 1492 when the Catholic monarchs gave an ultimatum for Jews in Spain to leave or convert, who sent their navy to collect the Jews and bring them to a new home?

8) On 7th of February 1497, Shrove Tuesday, followers of friar Girolama Savonarola, de facto ruler of Florence, destroyed thousands of sculptures, paintings, books, musical instruments, mirrors or anything that they considered could lead to temptation, including many precious and irreplaceable works of art. How is this event (which gives its name to a fabulous flop of a movie made in 1990 which gives me an excuse to post yet another picture of a young Tom Hanks) commonly known?

9) Meanwhile in England, Henry Tudor spent most of the 1490's fighting off a series of small but dangerous challenges to his reign by Perkin Warbeck, who claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury, the son of Edward IV, and who raised support and/or armies in Burgundy, then France, then Ireland, then Burgundy again, then York, then Scotland and finally among the nobles of which perennially rebellious English duchy before finally being captured and hanged in 1499?

10) While we're vaguely on the the topic,  in 1494 James IV of Scotland ordered 380 litres of what, the first record of production in the country? Today, the Scottish industry exports this volume every 15 seconds.

Happy quizzing! Remember, those that fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it, and all those long sea voyages aren't good for you.

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1480's

Post 8 of ? for Blaugust 2018.
It's Wednesday, and that means that it's time for yet another episode of our famous* Monday history quiz. This week we're focused on the 1480's. I hope you'll take a couple of minutes to take a stab at the quiz and leave your answers below. If you want to check your answers from last week, please click the button below.

1. It turns out that everyone expects the Spanish Inquisition
2. Caxton printed the Canterbury Tales in 1476.
3. The 1470's put us smack-bang in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, during the reign of the Chenghua Emperor.
4. The Chess of the Mad Queen was apparently inspired by the ascension of Isabella of Castille.
5. Who else could possibly defeat the Novgorod republic than the Grand Prince of the Rus, Ivan III of Muscovy?
6. The islands of Annobón and Bioko, once Portugese, are now part of Equatorial Guinea.
7. The ruins of both Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlan can be found in Mexico City.
8. Bavaria and Poland were marrying up because of the fear of the Ottomans.
9. Venice had the first patent law way back in 1474.
10.  Verrochio's angel-painting apprentice was no other than Leonardo da Vinci.

Those brave enough to post their attempts last week did very well. John got the best individual score with seven points, but Adam successfully identified the emperor and Ale recognised an angel, so overall the team managed nine. 
 Let's see if we can do even better in the 1480's

1. This Portugese map must be from after 1488. Why?
2. Also in 1480, Ivan III finally ejected which group of people, who'd been ruling over the Rus for more than two centuries?
3. 1480 saw the restoration of the Sistine Chapel, famously home to papal conclaves as well as Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. But why's it called the Sistine Chapel?

4. The Citadel of Qaitbay, a fortress and mosque in an important strategic location, was completed in 1480. It was built on the ruins of one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but which one?
5. One of the most famous cases of missing persons ever known, the 'Princes in the Tower' occurred in 1483. But wait, which princes? And which tower?
6. 1487 saw the introduction in Munich of the Reinheitsgebot, a law that has remained virtually unchanged to this day. What does the Reinheitsgebot impose regulations on?

7. This is Cenobio de Valerón, an ancient granary of the Gaunches, who were conquered by the Spanish in 1483. In which island group might you find it?
8. The 1480s also saw the first publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, a bestselling book that would go on to be highly influential throughout Europe for two hundred years, despite being roundly condemned as theologically and ethically unsound when released. What's the Malleus all about?
9. The first documented cases of red spots, delerium and gangenous flesh leading to death occurred during the War of Grenada in 1489. Which disease, that Charles Nicolle was given the 1928 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discovering was transmitted by lice, was the likely culprit?

10. The A-Ma temple, dedicated to the sea goddess Mazu, was constructed in 1488. It is thought that this temple gives it's name (via Portugese) to the modern name of which peninsula?

Don't forget to leave your answers below. No guess goes unappreciated.

*Fame not included.

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1470's

 Post 1 of ? for Blaugust 2018.


What better way to kick off another Blaugust than with a reboot of the Monday Quiz in exile, a project that's been dropped more times than Kevin's famous chilli? The quiz was originally the brainchild of Michael5000, spiritual blogmother of this humble site, but I've kept it on life support for a little while, and though there's been no signs of life for a year or so, but it's never too late to give up hope.

The format is simple. Each week the quiz asks ten often absurdly difficult questions about events that occurred in a decade of history. All you have to do is answer the questions using your knowledge and powers of deduction rather than your ability to search references for information, and then leave your guesses in the comments for the chance to win fame and fabulous prizes*. Showing your logic is strongly encouraged so that I can have a good giggle, if for no other reason.

The answers from the 1460's are as follows:
1. Saravejo was founded in 1461. 
2. Prussia was ceded to Poland-Lithuania in 1466. 
3. The Florentine Signoria were appointed from among the guilds of the city.
4. The Mentelin bible was in German.
5. Shetland and Orkney became Scottish after a deal made in 1469. 
6. The Ōnin war kicked off the Sengoku period. 
7. The polyalphabetic cipher is not as vulnerable to frequency analysis. 
8. Pope Pius died in Ancona while on crusade. 
9. The people of Great Fula are heading north east into modern Nigeria. 
10. A Catholicon is a multi-lingual dictionary. I'll give half a point to those that said just dictionary.

Thus the winner of the fame and glory of the 1460's goes to John, with 6.5 points, closely followed by Michael on 6.

Zeitz Map: Anon. (German) 1470

This week we're transported to...the 1470's, when the world looked like this! Be particularly wary of the many islands of the cannibals. Those who inhabit them are said to have tails.

1. It's 1478. Which heretic-hunting organisation responsible for 3000-5000 executions, mostly of forced converts from Judaism and Islam, aren't you expecting a question about?

2. Printing is just going nuts all over Europe at the moment, and printers are in a desperate race to find stories that will appeal to the masses. Which middle-English text, widely distributed in manuscript forms over the past century but first printed by Caxton in 1476, features this woodcut?

3. In response to renewed Mongol raids, the Emperor of China commissioned new sections of 'temporary' defensive fortification along the Northern border, which would eventually become in large part what we know today as the Great Wall of China. Any idea which dynasty we're talking about, here? 
(Bonus point for naming the Emperor).

4. The first recorded game of recognisably modern chess was played in Valencia in 1475 between Franci de Castellvi and Narcis Vinyoles and recorded in the lines of a long allegorical poem. Whose ascension to the throne is thought to have inspired the change in rules in the game?

5. Around this time, the Novgorod republic, the Easternmost part of the Hanseatic League, was defeated and annexed. Who dunnit?

6. In 1472 Fernão do Po claims the central-African islands Bioko and Annobón for Portugal. Which modern-day country are they part of now?

6b. After a short-lived period of independence, the people of Tlatelolco were defeated by and made subjects of Tenochtitlan again in 1473. The ruins of the city can now be seen in which modern city?

8. In 1475, the Landshut wedding between George, Duke of Bavaria, and Hedwig, the daughter of the King of Poland, was celebrated by ten thousand guests, all of whom presumably ate themselves silly, an event celebrated in modern times through a huge-scale recreation every four years. Who was the alliance between Bavaria and Poland designed to defend against?

9. "There are in this city, and also there come temporarily by reason of its greatness and goodness, men from different places and most clever minds, capable of devising and inventing all manner of ingenious contrivances." This is the opening sentence of an act established in Venice in 1474 which is widely considered the first of what kind of law?

10. This is the Baptism of Christ as depicted by the workshop of Andrea del Verrochio in the period between 1472-1475. Modern scholars believe that many parts of the painting, especially the leftmost angel, are actually the work of which of Verrochio's apprentices?

Do let me know what you think of the quiz when you enter your answers below. Too hard? Too easy? Too European? Too many maps? Lay that sweet criticism on me, I can take it.
*Fame and fabulous prizes not included.

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1460's

The Leaflocker is currently hosting Michael5000's weekly history quiz while he takes a break from creating non-art-tournament content. I don't know if he's noticed this fact yet, but I'm not going to let a little thing like that stop me.

Some decades are so full of important events that it's hard to decide which of them to include in our weekly history quiz, and some decades are...decidedly less interesting. It's not that I think that the 1460's were boring, exactly, just that there seems to be remarkably few world-changing events going on during them. So yes, I am blaming history itself if you feel that the notable events this week seem...less notable than usual. As usual, leave your answers in the comments, and do show your workings, as it's much more fun like that.

1. 1461 is commonly given as the date of foundation by the Ottoman Empire of which city, the modern-day capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina?

2. The conclusion of the Thirteen Years War and the Second Peace of Thorn saw one of the final nails in the coffin of the Teutonic Knights, who were forced to cede control of Prussia to which state in 1466?

3. Cosimo de Medici died in 1464 after more than thirty years as de facto ruler of Florence, exerting power through use of his considerable fortune. At this point in time, Florence was officially ruled by the Signoria, a group of 9 priori selected every two months from amongst whom?

4. Having set up his Offizin, or printery, in Strasbourg earlier in the decade, in 1466, Johannes Mentelin printed the first of many bibles to be printed in the vernacular. In the decade to follow, bibles would be printed in Italian, Catalan and Czech, but what language was the Mentelin bible printed in?

5. Feeling a little short of cash in 1469, Christian I of Norway ponied up Shetland and Orkney as security against the payment of a dowry for his daughter Margaret. When he failed to pay, which Kingdom officially annexed the islands?

6. Beginning in 1467, the Ōnin war, an eleven year conflict that left Kyoto in ruins, marks the transition from the Nanboku-chō period into which era of Japanese history, a 150-year period notable marked by near-constant military conflict?

7. Invented in 1467 by Leon Battista Alberti, the polyalphabetic cipher was a step forward in cryptography as it allowed the use of wheels like the one pictured above to switch encryption alphabets during the message. Why was this such a significant advance?

8. I have a soft spot for Pope Pius II because he wrote erotica and generally messed about before ascending to the papacy. I am the proud owner of a lovely edition of his autobiography, written in the third person because he was just that cool. He died in Ancona on the Adriatic coast of modern Italy in 1464, what was he doing there?

9. The 1460's saw the rise of Tenguella as chief of the Fula people, still the largest nomadic people group in the world, and a large influence in the spread of Islam in Northern and then Western Africa. Under Tenguella, as the Empire of Grat Fulo, the Fula were again on the move, out of Senegal into which modern-day state?

10. 'Catholicons' were important books in Europe the late 15th century, and one of the more notable examples,the Catholicon Armoricum, was written in 1464 in Tréguier, Brittany, modern-day France. You still come across Catholicons all the time, though under which more common name are they now known?

Please leave your answers in the comments below. Thanks for playing and for dropping by, and I hope to see you (and to visit your blog) during Blaugust 2017.

Through History with the Monday Quiz in Exile: The 1450s

As we continue to gear up for the gargantuan beast that is Blaugust, we're proud to bring you the latest edition of the Monday Quiz, the brainchild of the Leaflocker's spiritual blogmother, Michael5000. As usual, the quiz is a closed book exam of historical knowledge, focusing this week on the 1450s.

1. The above image depicts the close of a siege that would end a political entity that had existed for almost 1500 years, if you count generously. The year is 1453, which Empire is falling?

2. Also in 1453, the battle of Castillion was the final action in which war, a conflict that had been waged (on and off) since 1337?

3. Built in the 1450's but abandoned less than a century later and not known to the outside world until the 1910's, what is the name of this royal Estate?

4. The 1450's saw the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, conflicts between the rival Lancastrian and Yorkish factions for the English throne. Henry VI, who held the throne at the beginning of the wars, was of which House?

5. The first significant mass-produced movable type book was produced in the 1450's in Mainz, modern day Germany. In which language was the Gutenberg Bible printed?

6. Debre Berhan was founded by Zara Yaqob as a shortlived permanent capital for his Empire that would soon be abandoned by his son in favour of returning to a movable encampment. Debre Berhan was supposedly named after a which 'miraculous' light seen in the sky over Ethiopia in 1456?

7. Ōta Dōkan wrote the following words about which fortress (ruined but still partially extant today) that he designed and built starting in 1457?

The abode of mine
Adjoins a pine grove
Sitting on the blue sea
And from its humble eaves
Commands a view of soaring Fuji.

8. According to Antarctic ice records, at some point in the 1450's there was enormous volcanic activity somewhere on Earth, the second largest volcanic activity in recorded history. Exactly where is a matter of contention, but one of the most likely candidates is Kuwae, which used to connect Epi and Tongoa prior to its collapse. In which modern day Pacific nation is Kuwae situated?

9. 1451 saw the birth of the Portugese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, first European recorded to have achieved which feat of navigation?

10. The below is an extract from 1452's Dum Diversas, seen as one of the most important documents in the history of African slavery. Can you name the author or recipient of the document?

We grant to you full and free power... to invade, conquer, fight, subjugate the Saracens and pagans,other infidels and other enemies of Christ, and wherever established their Kingdoms, Duchies, Royal Palaces, Principalities and other dominions, lands, places, estates, camps and any other possessions, mobile and immobile goods... and to lead their persons in perpetual servitude, and to apply and appropriate ... goods of this kind to you and your use and your successors.

Please leave your answers in the comments below. Thanks for playing and for dropping by, and I hope to see you (and visit your blog) during Blaugust 2017.

The Last Eminemperor

For the final Wednesday in Blaugust I present you the quiz that I've been working on almost all month, as it's been an annoying mind-worm that just wouldn't quit. Originally I thought it would be fun to do a mashup of the names of Bands and famous films and make you guess the constituent parts by decoding crude mashups of film plots and band descriptions like that video game quiz I did last year, but when I was half-way through I realised that the whole thing would just be better if it were just using the band's tunes and describing the film, which meant that I had to start from scratch again and that it pretty much had to become this big multimedia thing, and since I'm not a big multimedia person it came out like this...

Anyways, if your ears can stand my terrible late-night tone-deaf singing and your brain can survive my terrible lyrics, watch each clip and then provide a portmanteau of the name of the band that famously sings the song and a Best Picture Oscar winning film (eg. Amadonnaeus, or The Sting and the Police). As always, no using references of any kind. If you're not willing to put your ears or brain through that kind of punishment, please enjoy the following series of still images and don't press the play button on any of them. Good luck!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Thanks for joining in on all the wackiness of Blaugust 2016 with me. I've had a blast and I hope that you have too whether you've been following along or completing your own blogging challenges. I hope to keep writing here on a semi-regular basis this year, so keep dropping by for more of the same.

Sometimes YOU Do a Quiz...

I had an actual quiz planned for today, but it just won't co-operate (again!), so instead of doing it half-assed, I'll save it for yet another week. Please accept my apologies and this video of me hurting my brain attempting to compete in an episode of University Challenge (from the comfort of my living room).

Needless to say, 'compete' is an unnecessarily strong word.

I hope to be along later in the day with a quiz for you guys to actually participate in, but just in case it doesn't happen, please accept these answers from last week's quiz.

1. The Weakest Link (UK)
2. Countdown (UK)
3. The Price is Right (Aus.)
4. University Challenge (UK)
5. 21 (USA)
6. RocKwiz (Aus.)
7. Jeopardy (USA)
8. A*mazing (Aus.)
9. Eggheads (UK)
10. Pointless (UK)

Excellent work by everyone involved, we obviously all watch far too much television. The only exception is Pointless, which you guys should check out, it's pretty cool, even it's it's no University Challenge, what with being pitched at humans and all. The M Cats win with 7.5, their half point is because they gave 3 synonyms for Eggheads and obviously knew the show, even if they couldn't come up with the name, Shaun and Mark share second with 7 points, so you guys can claim a technical victory if you like.

Blaugust Writing Prompts
1) Was there a TV show that you wanted to be on as a kid?
2) Who's your favourite artist, visual or otherwise?
3) What subject do you wish you knew more about?

The Wednesday Quiz Quiz

The quiz is a simple one this week. Just identify the quiz show from the view of the contestants featured in each picture. They're from the UK, US and Australia, so don't worry too much if you can't get them all. Drop your answers in the comments, and be thankful that there's not an audience of thousands watching if you mess it up!

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

7)

8)

9)

10)

Last Weeks Answers:
1) The UKs last executions were in 1964, and ours was in 1967. Australia by a nose!
2) The WNBA is the (Australian) Women's National Basketball Association, and the Capitals are from Canberra.
3) That's an Ionic capital. Doric is the one on the left.
4) Axis and Allies. The current versions have different win conditions.
6) That's the spirit descending on the disciples at Pentecost.
7) Bloemfontein is where the magic happens.
8) Capital letters were also known as majuscule.
9) Capitol Records is from Los Angeles
10) Per Stirpes is the one you don't hear that often.

Apparently this one was harder than I thought! Sorry about that! John carries the day with 4/10, with Ale just a point behind on 3.

Blaugust Writing Prompts
1) Got a great format for a TV show you want to share with the world?
2) Got any games that you'll never play again?
3) If you needed a game show mascot, what would it be?

A Capital Idea

Well folks, it's Wednesday again, so that means it's time for our weekly trivia quiz. I had a real corker for you all this week, but it was going to take too long, so I'll have to do it later on. Then I came up with a replacement idea, did all the groundwork and realised that it would also have to wait until later in the month due to time constraints. So here we are, Quiz version 3. Nothing fancy, just trivia, or I might go off on another flight of fancy and we'll never get a post up. I'm five hours behind schedule as it is...

1) Capital punishment, or execution, is somewhat out of fashion in the West these days. Which of Australia and the United Kingdom most recently carried out their final executions?

2) The Capitals play basketball in the WNBA . Which city do they represent?

3) As any classicist worth their salt would be able to tell you, there are three main types of capitals for Greek architectural columns. Which variety is the central one here?

4) In (all early versions of) which classic Avalon Hill board game can either side win either by economic victory or by controlling two enemy capital cities?

5) THIS QUESTION WAS A TRAVESTY ALL ROUND AND HAS BEEN SCRUBBED FROM EXISTENCE. WHAT THE HECK, THOM? IT WAS LATE, BUT NOT THAT LATE.

6) Which scene is depicted in this illuminated capital found in a 14th century bible?

7) South Africa is one of a handful of countries that designate multiple cities as their capitals. Cape Town is the legislative capital, Pretoria is the Executive capital, which city is their Judicial capital?

8) In type, lower-case letters are sometimes referred to as minuscule letters. What similar term is used for capitals?

9) This is the Capitol Records building, home of the music publishing giant. In which US city is it situated?

10) Many useful statistical measures are taken per capita, or 'for each head', but some measures (such as many in the recent Australian census), are taken 'for each family unit'. How do say that in Latin?

Good luck everyone.

The answers from last week were as follows:
1) A Clockwork Orange
2) 1984
3) Silmarillion
4) Amber Spyglass
5) Goldfinger
6) James and the Giant Peach
7) Player of Games
8) Satanic Verses
9) Just So Stories
10) Lucky Jim
11) Constant Gardener
12) Out of the Silent Planet.

Not many Kingsley Amis fans out there, but all in all, a very good week to everyone. Have I become predictable, or are you guys just getting smarter? Long-time quiz stalwart John and first-timer Emma both got 10 points, so let's see if we can break the tie this week.

Blaugust Writing Prompts
1) Write a quiz. Quizzes are easy.

Cover Cover Versions

This Blaugust been thinking about why I got into blogging in the first place and what exactly it is that I get out of it that makes me keep going (if 'keep going' is a term that can be applied to these somewhat infrequent ramblings). I've not stumbled across too many answers, but in the process I've been flicking through the archives, and it's been handy for collecting ammunition for quizzes, if nothing else.

Before Blaugust was even a twinkle in anybody's eye, I did my first Wednesday Quiz (in exile), which asked readers to identify a selection of Australian novels from their covers. Since I'm no longer resident in Australia, I thought it might be fun to revisit the concept with a little bit of a Britannic spin. Just identify the book by the information on the cover and leave your answers in the comments.

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How many of them did you get because of their movies?

It's amazing how much easier this was to create with British authors instead of Antipodean ones. Now to see if it's easier to solve, as well!

You don't need Blaugust prompts on a Wednesday, surely? Just pick a topic and make a quiz about it!