Sunday quiz What has August 1 ever given us
Adolf Hitler presides over the opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
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1 / 10 |
On August 1, 1498, Christopher Columbus became the first European to visit this country, and he called it ‘Paradise on earth’. Although it’s only the fifth most populous country in South America, it has produced six Miss World winners and Seven Miss Universe winners. It’s also home to Lake Maracaibo, which is in the Guinness Book as the most likely place to see a lightning bolt. What country is this whose name means ‘Little Venice’?
2 / 10 |
On August 1, 1774, British scientist Joseph Priestley discovered a gas, and hence corroborated the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele. With this discovery, he answered age-old questions of why and how things burn. Priestley also invented carbonated water and the rubber eraser, identified a dozen key chemical compounds, and wrote an important early paper about electricity. What did he discover that is the active ingredient in our planet’s atmosphere?
3 / 10 |
On August 1, 1785, Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a certain astronomical body. She was the first woman ever to receive a salary as a scientist and the first woman in England to hold a government position. After her discovery on August 1, she went on to discover seven more of these entities. What are these entities that get their characteristic look from a long trail of gases they leave behind them?
4 / 10 |
Born on August 1, 1819, Herman Melville was an American novelist and poet. After the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis, he had difficulty holding on to a job. He worked as a bank clerk, land surveyor, ship’s crew member and then finally found his calling as a harpooner on a whaling ship. His adventures at sea inspired him to write the book that made him famous. What book did he write that follows a captain’s search for an albino sea mammal?
5 / 10 |
On August 1, 1900, two brothers, Édouard and André, published a reference guide for travellers in France. Their idea was to encourage more road travel and thereby increase demand for cars, which would help their tyre business. Initially free, it provided useful information about places to eat, maps, tyre repair instructions and petrol stations. In 1926, they started to award stars for dining establishments, a practice that led to a mention in the guide becoming a coveted prize for hotels. What was their family name and what guide is this?
6 / 10 |
On August 1, 1883, this country became the first in the world to start a parcel post, which was seen as the greatest revolution in the postal system since the stamp was introduced 40 years earlier in the same country. Which country is this, which because of its pioneer status doesn’t mention its name on its stamps?
7 / 10 |
On August 1, 1936, the Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler. These games were the first to be televised, with radio broadcasts reaching 41 countries. Leni Riefenstahl, who filmed the games, pioneered many of the techniques now common in the filming of sports. A certain event introduced at these Olympics went on to become a modern tradition, and this followed the reintroduction of the Olympic flame at the 1928 games. What event is this, which took 499 days and was the first to be powered by hydrogen?
8 / 10 |
On August 1, 1941, the first army vehicle of this type was produced. Sold with the tagline ‘As faithful as a dog, as strong as a mule and agile as a goat’, this vehicle was used for any and all purposes. It’s theorised that this led to its name. What vehicle is this whose military designation GP (for Government Purposes or General Purpose) was slurred into one word?
9 / 10 |
On August 1, 1956, this building was opened in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the very first building in the world to be completely heated by non-fossil-fuel energy. The firm housed in the building, Bridgers & Paxton, was responsible for its then revolutionary design, and it was even added to the National Register of Historic Places. What is the name of this building, which is named after the energy that heats it?
10 / 10 |
On August 1, 1981, this American cable channel began broadcasting in the U.S. It originally aired only music videos, starting fittingly with the song ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by The Buggles. What channel is this, which was responsible for introducing English pop and rock music to an entire generation before the advent of the Internet?
