1. Which particular so-called 'culinary' aspect of London did Monet like to paint ?

2. In which ballad (song) would you find "wicked Felina" ?

3. What was Britain's first settlement on the east coast of what is now called the USA ?

4. In which city in December 1937 did invading troops kill between 260,000 and 300,000 civilians ?

5. As of 2005, what is the only south american country in the top 15 in worldwide beer consumption ? (litres per person)  
    a. Venezuela  
    b. Columbia  
    c. Chile  
    d. Argentina

6. The American Charles Osborne got the hickups in 1922. On a February morning in which year did the hickups suddenly stop ?  
    a. 1956  
    b. 1975  
    c. 1990  
    d. 2008

7. What was the largest industrial complex in the world in the late 19th century ?  
    a. The Royal Navy dockyards in Portsmouth  
    b. The rail yard in Delhi  
    c. The hydro-electric complex in Niagra Falls

8. Which famous widow and cacaphonist's first name translated means 'ocean child'?

9. Many fans today complain about ticket prices in English football. In 1953, 63,000 people paid to see an FA Cup tie between Newcastle United and Swansea Town. How much money was made at the gate ?  (nearly) 
    a. 1,000 pounds  
    b. 7,000 pounds  
    c. 21,000 pounds  
    d. 50,000 pounds

10. The Mayflower left Southampton and landed at Cape Cod on 9th November 1620. How long did the crossing take ?  Plus or minus 5 days.

ANSWERS

1. Pea soupers, the fog, the "London particular". In Peter Ackroyd's 'London the Biography', some of the different fogs are listed: the black species, bottle green, rich lurid brown, simple grey, orange coloured vapour, dark chocolate coloured pall. Pea Soup, or Pea Souper is an idiom for fog. Although it is sometimes used for any thick fog, it refers particularly to a yellowish smog caused by the burning of soft coal. Such fogs were prevalent in UK cities (particularly London) prior to passage of the Clean Air Act of 1956. An 1871 New York Times article refers to "London, particularly, where the population are periodically submerged in a fog of the consistency of pea soup..." In the phrase "pea-soup fog," the implied comparison may have been to yellow pea soup: "...the yellow fog hung so thick and heavy in the streets of London that the lamps were lighted" (Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess, 1892); "The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes," (T. S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, 1917; "London had been reeking in a green-yellow fog" (Winston Churchill, A Traveller in War-Time, 1918); "the brown fog of a winter dawn" (T. S. Eliot, The Waste Land (1922); "a faint yellow fog" (Stella Benson, This is the End). Inez Haynes Irwin writing in 1921 in The Californiacs praises what was then the superior quality of California fog, saying it is "Not distilled from pea soup like the London fogs; moist air-gauzes rather, pearl-touched and glimmering."

2. El Paso. (Marty Robbins) Lyrics: Blacker than night were the eyes of Felina,
Wicked and evil while casting a spell.
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden;
I was in love but in vain, I could tell.

One night a wild young cowboy came in,
Wild as the West Texas wind.
Dashing and daring,
A drink he was sharing
With wicked Felina,
The girl that I loved.

3. Roanoke The Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island in Dare County in present-day North Carolina was an enterprise financed and organized by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 16th century to establish a permanent English settlement in the Virginia Colony. Between 1585 and 1587, groups of colonists were left to make the attempt, all of whom either abandoned the colony or disappeared. The final group disappeared after a period of three years elapsed without supplies from England, leading to the continuing mystery known as "The Lost Colony." The principal hypothesis is that the colonists were absorbed by one of the local indigenous populations, although the colonists may possibly have been massacred, by the Spanish or by the Powhatan Confederacy.

4. Nanking.  `The rape of Nanking?. In 1937, the Japanese army invaded and occupied the Capital city of Republic of China - Nanking, and carried out the systematic and brutal Nanking massacre. The total death toll could not be confirmed, since no official records were kept, and is often contested, but most estimates put the number of dead between 200,000 and 350,000.

5. a. Venezuela. According to the Swiss newspaper 'Heute', Venezuela ranks tenth in the world.

6. c. 1990, 68 years !! Osborne, from Iowa, was entered in Guinness World Records as the man with the Longest Attack of Hiccups. The hiccups started in 1922 at a rate of 40 times per minute, slowing to 20 hiccups per minute and eventually stopping on June 5, 1990, a total of 68 years. Osborne began hiccuping in 1922, while slaughtering a hog. Despite his condition, Osborne was able to lead a normal life, and was even married two times. Osborne died of complications from ulcers at Marian Health Center in Iowa in 1991. It has been estimated that Osborne hiccupped 430 million times over the 68 year period. The average human only hiccups about 2,300 times in an average lifetime

7. a. The Royal Navy dockyards in Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth (HMS Nelson), is one of three operating bases for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth naval base is located on the east shore of Portsmouth Harbour and is part of the city of Portsmouth and is situated north of the Solent and Isle of Wight. The base is home to the oldest Drydocks, as well as being a base port for 66% of the Royal Navy's surface fleet. The base is home to a number of shore activities including shipbuilding; ship repair and naval logistics; and personnel support functions (eg accommodation and messing; medical and dental; education; pastoral and welfare) provided by the Ministry of Defence. The base is the oldest in the Royal Navy, has been a vital part of its history and the defence of the British Isles for centuries and was at it height the largest industrial site in the world.

8. Yoko Ono

9. b. 7,000 pounds (2/3d per head in old money).  The match was abandoned because of fog (the simple grey kind) after 8 minutes play.

10. Nearly 8 weeks. Circa 56 days.