Weekly quiz #3 guess the year

Do you know which year the following happened? If you can answer from your encyclopaedic memory rather than cheating with Mr Google, so much the better 😀

Beware - they are not in chronological order!

Year 1 (let's start with an easy one):

• David Cameron left his eight year old daughter at a pub
• Malala Yousafzai was shot by a member of the Taliban
• Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her jubilee
• London hosted the Olympic Games

Year 2 (you can have a year either way):

• The United States Senate tried, and acquitted, President Clinton, who had been impeached for "high crimes and misdemeanours"
• The world's population first exceeded six billion
• The European Union introduced the Euro currency
• Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture at the Academy Awards

Year 3 (three years either way):

• Ipswich Town won the First Division in England
• Jamaica gained its independence
• Marilyn Monroe died
• John Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature

Year 4 (twenty years either way):

• Robert the Bruce defeated Edward II and declared Scotland independent
• It was a leap year
• Amsterdam was officially declared a city
• Giotto completed the Badia Polyptych

Year 5 (sorry, this is too easy, so no leeway):

• The London Underground map was unveiled
• Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany
• England won The Ashes in Australia, unleashing bodyline bowling tactics against their opponents
• FM radio patented

Year 6 (two years either way):

• Richard Wagner born
• Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice published anonymously in London
• Prussia declared war on France
• The battle of Stoney Creek took place

Year 7 (one year either way):

• The first Tom and Jerry cartoon made
• John Lennon born
• A new car in the USA cost $850
• Rebecca won Best Picture at the Academy Awards

Quiz #2 answers

 Exhibit A: Charles Dickens

Exhibit B: Albert Einstein

Exhibit C: Margot Fonteyn

Exhibit D: Paul Gauguin

Exhibit E: Isaac Newton

Exhibit F: Richard Wagner

Exhibit G: Hypatia

Exhibit H: Isaac Asimov

Funny kittens

 

It's done!

All 1,000 pieces present and correct. Nice picture, eh?

Next:

Van Gogh "Starry night". 1,000 pieces again. I'll get back to you in a few weeks!

Cornish fauna

 Cornish wildlife is super interesting. Weird and wonderful. Take this guy:

Yes, please take  him; he's weird and scary. He can be seen roaming the fields and moors and I run away when I see his hunting party coming. He is called the giant....no, I'm kidding; he's actually a tardigrade and can be found well, everywhere - volcanic mud (not so much of that in Cornwall though), in the deep sea and rainforest (ditto) and on mountaintops (again not so much down my street). He's about 0.5mm long so not so scary - except to other tardigrades.

Here's another scary guy:

Look at those eyes! Following you, ready to pounce. I wouldn't like to be on my own with him in a room. He'd probably tickle me to death. For those who care enough, he is a Lackey Moth Caterpillar.

This is a porbeagle. At least, it's snout. Or rather the rostral cartilages. See, you can learn new words by reading this nonsense. A porbeagle is a species of mackerel shark. I guess you could cook it and eat it in a sandwich. Brown bread please. Which you couldn't say of a tardigrade. Inhabits Cornish coastal waters.

You didn't think you'd see a moose in Cornwall? You certainly will - in Cornwall, Ontario. Along with

and

That's a rat snake, by the way. So far in Cornwall, Canada but not my Cornwall. Thank goodness.

If you're planning on a visit to my neck of the woods any time soon, keep an eye out for the wildlife!

It's that day

Shiver me timbers! Ahoy there, me hearties. It's International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

So let's here it from all you bilge-sucking pirates out there. All hands on deck. How to talk: throaty growl, West Country accent, lots of waving your cutlass. Give us yer spoils or you'll be shark bait.

Don't be lazy, resting on yer laurels

What's that, you're struggling with yer peg leg? It's a walk along the plank for you, yer son of a biscuit eater.

OK it's off to the briny deep for me, flying the Jolly Roger

and looking for some booty.

Pieces of eight, pieces of eight!

@diaristpepys turns 100

In an idle moment I began wondering about historical figures and how they would use the Internet if alive today. It seemed a suitable subject for my 100th blog post.

Exhibit A: Samuel Pepys

• Pepys would definitely have a Facebook page; he wanted to be a member of the establishment and this would be his way of publicising his activities and making Friends
• LinkedIn - Pepys' LinkedIn page says "Naval Administrator has contacts and contracts for negotiation"
• Tinder - a must for Pepys' social activity
• WhatsApp contacts include Oliver Cromwell, Charles I, Charles II and James II.

Exhibit B: Jane Austen

• Jane would obviously have been a blogger: bloggerjane.blogspot.com
• Selling her novels through Amazon Kindle. Book 1 free, book 2 £2.99, book 3 £7.99, now you're hooked it's £14.99 from now on
• Jane's LinkedIn page says "superior librettist seeking comic opera composer for collaboration"
• She set up a WhatsApp group with her sister, brothers and assorted Hampshire country folk

Exhibit C: Leonardo Da Vinci

• Leo started with Instagram, obviously. A new picture every day
• YouTube channel of Leo building massive Lego structures
• LinkedIn: "painter (not houses), sculptor, engineer, inventor, theoretical physicist, mathematician, writer, locksmith, pilot, balloonist, driver, draftsman, interior designer. Available for...well, anything really; I can do a great job for you"

Exhibit D: Caligula

• Definitely a Twitter candidate. "Senators are fat, lazy dangerous lefties. VOTE THEM OUT!!!!" "German Governor conspiracy! Mainstream media won't report it, of course. Neues Deutschland spokesman for the socialists". "I'm gonna build a wall. A big one. The biggest ever built. To keep the peasants out".

Exhibit E: Henry VIII

• Facebook page: 1.5 million Protestant followers; 2 Catholics (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and his mum)
• Twitter: "Be afraid, be very afraid, Charley boy"
• Tinder: "looking for a wife. Short term temporary post"

Exhibit F: Mao Zedong

• TikTok: pictures of a Long March
• WeChat group with Qin Shi Huang, Kublai Khan and Sun Yat-sen
• Facebook page sponsored by HuaWei
• Twitter: "We're gonna build a wall around Taiwan. A big wall. The biggest ever. To keep the Taiwanese virus out."

So, 100 blog posts! When Geoffrey Boycott reached a century, he took a fresh guard ready for the next 100. So that's what I'll do.