So here is the answers:
1. Let us start with an example of brains and beauty.
The lady below was one of the screen godesses of Hollywood, but she also made an important contribution on the field of science.
What was her name (3 p),
Hedy Lamarr(1914-2000) Born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler in Vienna, and a graduate at Max Reinhardt's famous actor school in Berlin, she was eventually to be considered by many the most beautiful woman in Hollywood.
More information can be found here:
http://www.hedylamarr.com/
and what sort of contribution did she make (5 p)?
In 1942, together with George Antheil,
she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time.
2. What is more common name for a camelopard(3 p)?
Giraffe. The giraffe was called camelopard in the Middle Ages because it has the head like a camel's and the spots of a leopard.
3. What very common item which I am sure of most of you (if not all) own is this(3 p)?
- The Arabs made it from Salvadora persica and called it siwak. Muhammed himself is supposed even to have used it on his deathbed.
-The first ones that look like those we use today was made in China around 1500.
- The first electric ones was manufactured in 1908.
- The first one which used nylon instead of natural material was made in 1938.
The toothbrush.
4.Which US president proposed a maximum wage (3 p)?
Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1942 he suggested a 100 percent tax rate on all individual income over $25,000 a year.
Times surely have changed, and not always to the better.
5.Below is a scene, depicted with a lot of artistic license, of a plebeian hero of Ancient Rome.
What was his name (3 p)
Manius Curius Dentatus (d 270 BC), who as a consul celebrated many military triumphs and also showed himself to be a good administrator in peacetime.
and what is happening on the picture (2 p)?
Curius Dentatus was famous for being incorruptible and frugal. The story, which is to be found at many Roman writers goes that
during the war with the Samnites when Samnite ambassadors, bringing expensive gifts, searched for him, they were shown to a tent where a man simply dressed was roasting turnips. He replied to them that he preferred his pot of clay to their gold, that he intented to stay poor and that he wanted to rule over people with money.
6. And to stay with the Romans for a little while; what sort of people are these :Andebate, Dimachaerus, Essedarius, Laquearius, Paegniarius, Secutor (3 p)?
Different types of gladiators.
Andebate: Limbs and lower torso protected by mail armour, chest and back plate, large vizored helmet with eye holes.
Dimachaerus: Sword fighter using two swords and no shield.
Essedarius: War chariot fighter.
Laquearius: With scaled armour (manica) covering left arm and projecting shoulderpiece to protect the neck (galerus), using a lassoo, a lance and a dagger.
Paegniarius: Using a whip, a club and a shield which is fixed to the left arm with straps.
Secutor: Large, almost spherical helmet with eye holes or large crested helmet with vizor, small or medium rectangular shield.
7. A lot of important inventions was made by the Chinese. One of them is attributted to the half-mythical Ko Yu, about whom can be read first at the first century BC. What invention is that( 4 p ) ?
The wheel barrel.
8.With the help of the four persons below, find the name of a 5th person (3 p).
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) . Important German social dramatist, stage instructor and poet.
Additionally, you get 2 p for each person correctly identified.
1. John Gay (1685-1732). English poet and dramatist. His most famous work was
The Beggar's Opera set to music by Johann Christian Pepusch, which Brecht based his
Dreigroschenoper(Threepennyopera) upon.
2. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642). Astronomer, physicist and philosopher, one of the most important figures in the Scientific Revolution. His controversy with the Catholic Church was the basis of another of Brecht's plays;
Galileo.
3. Kurt Weill (1900-1950). German composer who wrote the music to Dreigroschenopfer and also colaborated with Brecht on later occassions.
4. Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973). German politician, as leader of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany, he was the most important person in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) where Brecht lived for the last part of his life.
9.In which field is the treatise Sushruta Samhita from the 8th century BC, a pioneer one(5 p)?
Plastic and cosmetic surgery. Sushruta was an illustrious surgeon in ancient India, and this treatise describes rhinoplasty and otoplasty by using the technique of skin grafts for reconstructive work
10.
The most illustrious phase of Poland's cultural history is arguably the 16th century.
Below are the pictures of five of the most important people from that period, as well as their names, a short description and the years of their births and deaths.Combine the rows correctly for 3ps each, two or three correct ones gives 2.
1-C-III-b
2-E-I-e
3-B-V-c
4-D-IV-d
5-A-II-a
11. The pictures below are from an ancient city which was established about 300 BC and lasted for more than 9 centuries. Besides being the capital of an illustrious kingdom, it was also famed for its massive iron production.
What was its name (3 p)
Meroe, the capital of Kush
and where was it located (2 p)?
In today's Sudan.
12. Here are the names of ten armed conflicts. You get 2 p for each you can identifying the principal parties , and additionally 2 for each you can place approximately correct in time:
Not being a military man (I can only claim expertise in 7 and 9), I just give you wiki-links to this one:
1.Kalinga War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalinga_War
2.War of Jenkins ear:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenkins_Ear
3.Schmalkaldic War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmalcaldic_war
4.War of the Oranges:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Oranges
5.Black War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_War
6.Pastry War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastry_War
7.The Deluge:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deluge_(Polish_history)
8.Ten Years War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Years_War
9.Torstenssons War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torstenson_War
10.War of Tatters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Tatters
13. Personally I am a bit fed up with Mozartkugeln now. So let us, just for a brief moment at least, turn our attention to another of this year's musical jubilants. The young man below was indeed dubbed the Mozart of his country, but his premature death prevented him to fullfill his great promise. What was his name (5 p)?
Juan Crisostomo Arriaga (1806-1826), "The Spanish Mozart".A short biography about him and some midi-files with his music can be found here. His symphony and string quartets exists in some quite good recordings at the Naxos label.
14. What is the origin of the expression "it's raining cat and dogs" (3 p)?
There are several explanations on this one, so more than one answer will be accepted.
More information here:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining cats and dogs.html
15.Which former world champion of chess was accused of espionage (4 p),
Wilhelm Steinitz (1836-1900). The Austrian Steinitz, usually reckoned as the first official world champion, was accused of espionage after his cable match with the Russian master Chigorin in 1890/91.
and for what reason (4 p)?
The police found it highly suspicious that
he received strange coded messages from St.Petersburg...
I welcome any (well, almost any) sorts of feedback.