General Knowledge Quiz

[nonconformist]

Was it Mitterand at the time?

 

[Steph]

Yes. And Hernu was defense minister IIRC

 

[choxorn]

Meh, curse you Europeans and you knowing everything.

nonconformist wins.

 

[nonconformist]

This might be too easy for my compatriots, but what was unusual about the death of French President Felix Faure?

(And I don't want the sanitized version )

 

[Steph]

As the newsparers said at the time, he died "d'avoir trop sacrifié à Vénus".

He had brain attack when "visited" by Marguerite Stendheil.

His death was the opportunity for some good words...

Clemenceau is supposed to have said "Il voulait être César, il n'a été que pompé". (impossible to translate)...

And yes, it was to easy

 

[nonconformist]

Yeah, you got it, but the reason I'm giving it to you is the Clemenceau quote

though I like the one about "pompe-funebres" myself personally

 

[Steph]

Another quick one, related to the last question from Izipo.

Before Olympus Mons was discovered, what was the highest mountain in the solar system?

 

[Mise]

It was still Olympus Mons

 

[Steph]

Yep, you didn't fall for the first obvious trap... Only to get caught in the second hidden trap! You now have to ask a question

 

[Olav]

Open floor, Mise?

 

[Snerk]

/poses as Mise

Yes, open floor!

 

[Mise]

If one of you chaps has a decent question go for it. I thought of one earlier but I forgot it

 

[Olav]

Another mountain question: On the Earth, Mount Everest is the tallest mountain measured from sea-level. However, if measured from the base of the mountain, Everest is not the tallest. Which mountain is?

 

[KaiserElectric]

Mauna Kea in Hawaii, right?

 

[Olav]

Right! That was at least what I had in mind (however Wikipedia mentions another mountain in Guam). Over to you.

 

[KaiserElectric]

How many US Presidents have served during a year containing the number seven?

For example, George Washington served in the year 1790 and George W. Bush served in the year 2007.

 

[choxorn]

Well, let's see...

George Washington (1790)
John Adams (1799)
Thomas Jefferson (1807)
James Madison (1817)
James Monroe (1817)
John Quincy Adams (1827)
Andrew Jackson (1837)
Martin Van Buren (1837)
James K. Polk (1847)
Franklin Pierce (1857)
James Buchanan (1857)
Andrew Johnson (1867)
Ulysses S. Grant (1877)
Rutherford B. Hayes (1877)
Grover Cleveland (1887 and 1897)
William McKinley (1897)
Theodore Roosevelt (1907)
Woodrow Wilson (1917)
Calvin Coolidge (1927)
FDR (1937)
Harry Truman (1947)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1957)
Lyndon B. Johnson (1967)
Richard Nixon (1972)
Gerald Ford (1975)
Jimmy Carter (1979)
Ronald Reagan (1987)
Bill Clinton (1997)
George W. Bush (2007)

I believe that adds up to 29.

 

[KaiserElectric]

I believe you are right. You're turn.

 

[choxorn]

Open floor.

 

[Olav]

Lets test your calculus-knowledge: what's the answer to this?

lim(x->0) sinx/x