General Knowledge Quiz

[John Griffiths]

Neither of those, and much smaller.

It was under British control from 1898 to 1930.

 

[Calthrop]

Consumed now by curiosity, I've consulted Google; and thus disqualified myself. I had previously heard of the place -- "only just" thus -- and had been vaguely aware that there was "something funny" about it...

 

[John Griffiths]

Heh. OK, another clue: the last commissioner (= governor, but for unimportant places) of the territory was also a character in a major film by Bernardo Bertolucci.

Played by a famous 'hell-raising' British/Irish actor.

I don't think we'll get any more attempts so will say that Port Edward was the admin centre of the British Leased Territory of Weihaiwei. I suspect lots of you might know that the New Territories of Hong Kong were leased (at the barrel of a gun) from China in 1898 for 99 years (and it was the impending expiry of that lease that led to the negotiations for the rendition of all of Hong Kong to China in 1997. Free may know that Britain in 1898 also leased the naval port of Weihaiwei from China, for 99 years "or so long as Russia might occupy Port Arthur". WHW and Port Arthur were both Chinese naval bases in NE China controlling access to the Bohai Gulf, which gave access to Beijing. Russia had extorted Port Arthur from China in 1898; the Chinese saw British occupation of Weihaiwei as a handy counterbalance. When Japan conquered Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, Britain's ease technically expired, but it suited us and the Chinese to pretend otherwise. We continued to occupy Weihaiwei until 1930, despite undertaking it to return it to China in 1921, and conducting cack-handed negotiations that gave ground while causing the maximum of ill-feeling. Sounds familiar? The film reference was to Reginald Johnston, tutor to the 'Last Emperor' Puyi in the mid 1920s; Johnston was the Commissioner at the rendition of Weihaiwei on 1 October 1930.

Sorry for going on! This was the subject of my undergraduate dissertation in 1982.

 

[444045]

Would that be Peter O-Toole in Lawrence of Arabia ?

 

[John Griffiths]

Sorry, I was so long typing amendments -- yes to Peter O'Toole, but in The Last Emperor, tutor to the emperor Puyi, and (in 1930) the last Commissioner of the British Leased Territory of Weihaiwei.

Anyway, open floor.

 

[MotCO]

May I take the floor?

What connects the following:

• To throw or give off or out
• An individual article or unit
• A minute arachnid
• A period or occasion

 

[SteveM70]

Emit, item, mite, time; all anagrams

 

[MotCO]

Emit, item, mite, time; all anagrams

What took you so long ? I think it took me longer to set the question. Well done - please take the floor.

 

[SteveM70]

What notable event happened in London on 4 September 1752?

 

[444045]

Is that the date of the change of calendar where 11 days disappeared and the Gregorian calendar was introduced ?

 

[SteveM70]

Is that the date of the change of calendar where 11 days disappeared and the Gregorian calendar was introduced ?

You’re there or thereabouts. The correct answer is “absolutely nothing because that date didn’t exist”, but you’re spot on with the reasoning, so the floor is yours.....

 

[444045]

Thank you

Nick Hewer is the current host of which tv show and who were the previous hosts please ?

 

[xotGD]

Countdown.

Original host was Richard Whiteley

 

[444045]

Countdown.

Original host was Richard Whiteley

You are right with the show and original host - I need the ones that followed before Nick Hewer please

 

[SteveM70]

Desmond Lynam I think

 

[MotCO]

And Des O'Connor

 

[444045]

And Des O'Connor

Well done between you all you have all right names - although @xotGD got 2 parts correct so the choice of letters is all yours

 

[SteveM70]

Well done between you all you have all right names - although @xotGD got 2 parts correct so the choice of letters is all yours

Just for completeness; I’ve just remembered that Jeff Stelling off Sky Sports did it for a while

 

[444045]

Just for completeness; I’ve just remembered that Jeff Stelling off Sky Sports did it for a while

You are quite right - I had forgotten to mention his name - thank you

 

[xotGD]

I didn't realise that there had been any hosts in between!

Geography this time:

Where would you find the Straight of Messina?

Bonus points if you can name the two bodies of water it connects.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Is that Italy and Sicily so the two bodies would be The Adriatic and The Aegean ?

 

[xotGD]

Is that Italy and Sicily so the two bodies would be The Adriatic and The Aegean ?

You are correct that it is the strip of water between Italy and Sicily.

However no bonus points, as it connects the Tyrrhenian Sea to the north with the Ionian Sea to the south.

A ticket for the ferry is yours...

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Probably an easy one and has maybe been asked before but what is in the top left hand quadrant of the State of Hawaii flag?

 

[Calthrop]

Probably an easy one and has maybe been asked before but what is in the top left hand quadrant of the State of Hawaii flag?

Britain's Union Flag -- Hawaii having been at any rate in the British sphere of influence, before it became US territory.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Britain's Union Flag -- Hawaii having been at any rate in the British sphere of influence, before it became US territory.

Correct. Your floor (flagged of course)

 

[Calthrop]

Thanks.

There are at least two explanations of why a ball-peen hammer is so called. One of those, known to me, is straightforward and seems to make thoroughly good sense; the other would appear more colourful but less probable. What is this -- attractive but seemingly less likely -- supposed derivation of the name?

 

[xotGD]

Is it to do with its use in the castration of livestock?

 

[Calthrop]

Er... no -- nothing like that at all.

 

[Trackman]

Er... no -- nothing like that at all.

Thank god for that!
Pein as in pain? Weapon, torture instrument?

 

[Calthrop]

No connotations of any sort of cruelty or nastiness -- mental processes following a totally different track. (I'll provide other hints, according to how things develop...)