General Knowledge 49

Question 1

What is the study of postage stamps and their use known as?

Answer 1

Philately

Question 2

The Penny Black was in circulation for approximately how many years?

Answer 2

One year

Question 3

What stamp was the penny black replaced by because of difficulty in seeing cancellation marks?

Answer 3

The Penny Red

Question 4

In which year were stamps issued commemorating both the first flight of Concorde and the investiture of The Prince of Wales?

Answer 4

1969

Question 5

Which Victorian is mostly credited with the invention of the postage stamp?

Answer 5

Rowland Hill

Question 6

For which event held at Wembley in 1924 were the UK’s first commemorative stamps issued?

Answer 6

British Empire Exhibition

Question 7

Which country is the only one in the world that does not include its name on its postage stamps?

Answer 7

United Kingdom

Question 8

Who became the first commoner to appear on a British postage stamp in 1964?

Answer 8

William Shakespeare

Question 9

Often used on airmail labels, which French phrase means ‘by air mail’?

Answer 9

Par avion

Question 10

Which company is the world’s longest established rare stamp dealer?

Answer 10

Stanley Gibbons or Gibbons

Question 11

“A wonderful evening. In the darkening twilight I saw a lone star hover, gem-like above the bay”.

This was the last diary entry of which explorer, written on January 5th, 1922, at Grytviken in South Georgia?

Answer 11

Ernest Shackleton

Question 12

Shelley said it’s like London, T. S. Elliot says it is oneself and Jean-Paul Sartre says it is other people. What?

Answer 12

Hell

Question 13

Which city at the mouth of the River Arno in 1564 was the birthplace of Galileo?

Answer 13

Pisa

Question 14

What is a state of animal dormancy, similar to hibernation, that takes place in the summer rather than the winter?

Answer 14

Aestivation

Question 15

What did Winston Churchill describe in a 1939 broadcast as ‘a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma’?

Answer 15

Russia

Question 16

In the late 1930s, the German word meaning aviator defence gun, was abbreviated to what four letter word?

Answer 16

Flak

Question 17

Originally referring to anti-aircraft artillery, in English it now means adverse criticism.

Answer 17

Flak

Question 18

Which country is the location of the highest mountain outside Asia?

Answer 18

Argentina

The highest mountain outside of Asia is Aconcagua, located in the Andes

Question 19

Played by Kate Winslet, the 19th century fossil hunter Mary Anning is the subject of what 2020 film?

Answer 19

Ammonite

Question 20

What name is given to the photosensitive layer of the human eye that consists of rods and cones?

Answer 20

Retina

Question 21

What five-letter adjective is found in all the following: the popular name for Charles I’s parliament of 1640; another term for stenography; and an electrical circuit that acts as a shunt to a circuit of comparatively large resistance?

Answer 21

Short

Question 22

What name is given to any stripped grilled meat in Tex-Mex cuisine?

Answer 22

Fajita

Question 23

What is the well-known name of the French vegetable stew originating from Nice?

Answer 23

Ratatouille

Question 24

Which food additive is made from animal bones and skin?

Answer 24

Gelatin

Question 25

What stew, typically made with meat, potatoes, and onions, is closely associated with Liverpool?

Answer 25

Scouse

Question 26

Which Italian white bread, meaning 'slipper,' is often used for making paninis?

Answer 26

Ciabatta

Question 27

What word for dishes made with potatoes comes from an 18th-century French pharmacist and nutritionist?

Answer 27

Parmentier

Question 28

Which Italian pasta dish is made with eggs, hard cheese, cured pork, and black pepper?

Answer 28

Carbonara

Question 29

What food is also known as Dublin Bay Prawn or Norway Lobster?

Answer 29

Scampi

Question 30

Which traditional French mustard is named after a town in Burgundy?

Answer 30

Dijon

Question 31

What type of fish is used in an Omelette Arnold Bennett?

Answer 31

Smoked haddock