1. On the evening of August 3, 1492, Columbus set out from Spain for his first voyage. How many days later did he reach the Americas? (+/- 10 days)

2. The Roe River in Montana, the world's shortest river, is 
    a) 5m, b) 23m, c) 61m or d) 112m long?

3. Which ice dance couple became famous for its performance of Ravel?s "Bolero"?

4. Which country started providing a world-first earthquake early warning service on Tuesday?

5. The Roman goddess Justitia is often portrayed with a blindfold, holding what in her hands?

6. In which city was the rock band The Animals formed in 1962?

7. True or False: painter and caricaturist Lyonel Feininger was German?

8. What is the name of the approx. 300,000 files containing the real names of agents who worked for the intelligence agency of the GDR in former West Germany?

9. True or False: amber is the fossilised resin of only conifers?

10. Soul singer & songwriter Isaac Hayes provides the voice of which "South Park" character?

11. Which actress links the movies "E.T.", "Batman Forever" and "Charlie's Angels"?

12. How many people were thrown out of a window of Prague Castle on 23rd May 1618 in the so-called "Defenestration of Prague": 
    a) 1, b) 2, c) 3, d) 7 or e) 9? (BQ: how many survived the fall?)

13. All 14 of the so-called eight-thousanders (mountains over 8,000 m) are located in which 2 Asian mountain ranges? (1 point per correct answer)

14. What technique was mostly used in high jump before Dick Fosbury introduced his new "flop" technique in the 1960's?

15. In which country was Jawed Karim, co-founder of the video sharing website YouTube, born in 1979?

16. Which one is NOT a meteor shower: 
    a) Leonids, b) Geminids, c) Perseids, d) Polaroids or e) Quadrantids?

17. For which baseball team did Mickey Mantle play his entire 18-year major-league professional career?

18. In which city would you find the famous "Pall Mall" street?

19. In 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the first elected Prime Minister of which country?

20. What was Uma Thurman's "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad" name in "Kill Bill"?

ANSWERS

1. 70 days

2. c) 61m

3. Jane Torvill & Christopher Dean

4. Japan

5. scales and a sword

6. Newcastle-upon-Tyne

7. False - American

8. Rosenholz files

9. False, deciduous trees too

10. Chef

11. Drew Barrymore

12. c) 3 (BQ: all three)

13. Himalaya, Karakoram

14. Straddle

15. GDR (East Germany)

16. d) Polaroids

17. New York Yankees

18. London

19. Democratic Republic of the Congo

20. Black Mamba