Question: In the far past it has been a very large lake but is currently a brackish lagoon, the neck leading to the sea being bridged by the General Rafael Urdaneta Bridge and carrying the second-largest city in its country. What is it called?
Answer: Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela

Question: What is taphophobia the fear of?
Answer: Graves

Question: Who was the leader of the Peasant's Revolt in England in 1381?
Answer: Wat Tyler

Question: On February 13 2008 the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, delivered a formal apology to the Stolen Generations. What was he referring to?
Answer: Children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders who were taken from their families 1909-1970

Question: Besides being a composer, philosopher, poet, artist and printmaker, John Cage was a leading authority on what?
Answer: Mushrooms

Question: What is the name of the leather ring that a scout uses to hold his scarf together?
Answer: Woggle

Question: In 1921 Sir Arnold Lunn organised the first British national ski championship which included, as well as jumping and cross-country, a speed version of what other style?
Answer: Slalom

Question: In biology what are Retzius lines?
Answer: Growth lines or bands in tooth enamel

Question: What is one of the main ingredients of marzipan, besides egg whites and sugar?
Answer: Ground almonds

Question: Where is the Strait of Belle Isle?
Answer: Between mainland Labrador and the island of Newfoundland

Question: In which sea is the country of Grenada?
Answer: Caribbean

Question: At 9.00 a.m. on 27 August 1896, after Khalid bin Bargash ignored a British ultimatum to leave the Beit al Hukum Palace, Royal Navy ships opened fire. Khalid's troops returned fire. A cease fire was declared at 9.45 a.m., giving the bombardment the title of "The Shortest War in History". Where was this?
Answer: Zanzibar

Question: Who principally studied transplant rejection and immunosuppression after World War II, which led him to perform the first kidney transplant in the UK on 30 October 1960?
Answer: Michael Woodruff

Question: In the US, what are SEALs?
Answer: An elite special US Navy force

Question: On a state visit to Britain in 2003, US President Bush was welcomed by a salute of how many guns?
Answer: 41

Question: If you were to sail directly south from Los Angeles, USA, where would you find yourself?
Answer: Antarctica

Question: Who retained his title as the World Chess Champion after a challenge from Veselin Topalov in 2010?
Answer: Viswanathan Anand

Question: Where would you find a person called a seamer?
Answer: On a pitch

Question: Why, during World War I, were some munition workers nicknamed "canary girls" or simply "canaries"?
Answer: Handling TNT can cause the skin to turn bright yellow-orange

Question: The father of which ex prime minister of the UK was a trapeze artist and a garden gnome salesman?
Answer: John Major

Question: Issei is a Japanese term used by Japanese in countries in North America, South America and Australia to describe what?
Answer: Japanese people who were first to immigrate

Question: Who was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 882 to 887 AD?
Answer: Charles the Fat

Question: Where would "scram" be used?
Answer: In monitoring of alcohol offenders

Question: IOC President Jaques Rogge led a spontaneous one minute silence on 23 July before the opening of the 2012 Olympics to mark what?
Answer: The 11 Israeli athletes killed in the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics

Question: The eruption of Mt Tarawera in New Zealand almost destroyed the natural wonder, the Pink and White Terraces. When did this happen?
Answer: Three years after the globe-changing 1863 eruptions at Krakatoa

Question: What series of comic strips first appeared in French in a children's supplement to the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtime Sicle on 10 January 1929?
Answer: The Adventures of Tintin

Question: Who is a cartoonist, best known for his appearances in "The New Yorker" since 3 January 1977, which published 819 of his cartoons, many of which involved animals?
Answer: Leo Cullum

Question: Gynophobia is an abnormal fear of what?
Answer: Women

Question: A study of bacterial DNA through the 1960s and 1970s isolated and identified a new branch of the tree of life many of whose members live in places extremely hostile to other forms of life. What is it called?
Answer: Archaea

Question: It is traditionally distilled from malted barley, grain, potatoes or whey and is one of the strongest alcoholic beverages in the world. What is it?
Answer: Poitin

Question: Who coined the expresssion "portmanteau words" for words made from combinations of other words, such as "brunch"?
Answer: Lewis Carroll

Question: What was the name of Paddington Bear's aunt, who sent him from Peru to London?
Answer: Lucy

Question: If someone holds their breath, chokes, or in some other way suspends external breathing, the term is what?
Answer: Apnoea

Question: Which South American country stretches over 3,000 miles from north to south and less than 300 miles from east to west?
Answer: Chile

Question: When were the debts incurred by Montreal, Canada, in staging the 1976 Olympics finally met in full?
Answer: The end of 2006

Question: Edward the Confessor was crowned King of England in which century?
Answer: 11th

Question: In what mountain range are the four Presidential heads in Mt Rushmore National Memorial carved?
Answer: The Black Hills, Dakota

Question: Joe Calzaghe, known as "The Pride of Wales", was a boxing world champion in which category?
Answer: Super middleweight

Question: What type of show is the US/Canada TV series Stargate SG-1?
Answer: Scifi

Question: Outstanding work of lasting literary merit giving evidence of consistent idealism on some significant level is recognised by the annual Nobel Prize in Literature, one of only six Nobel prizes. What was the first novel published by the most recent American recipient?
Answer: The Bluest Eye by Dr Toni Morrison

Question: What is the small plain plastic or metal sheath on each end of a shoelace, cord or drawstring to stop the fibres from unraveling, and to make it easier to hold and feed through the guides?
Answer: Aglet

Question: The hottest, and one of the lowest, places on the Earth's surface is called what and found where?
Answer: Danakil Depression, Ethiopia

Question: Whose autobiography, published in 1999, was entitled "Managing My Life"?
Answer: Alex Fergusson, British soccer manager since 1974

Question: The ostrich, emu, rhea, kiwi and the extinct "elephant bird" of Madagascar and moa are all types of what diverse group of large, flightless birds?
Answer: Ratite

Question: The singer Kimbra who featured on the Record of the Year for 2012 was born and grew up where?
Answer: New Zealand

Question: In the 1950s, what was Jersey Joe Walcott known for?
Answer: Boxing

Question: In a 2009 film James McAvoy plays the role of private secretary to whom, played by Christopher Plummer?
Answer: Leo Tolstoy

Question: What name is given to the individual leaves of grass, gladioli and irises?
Answer: Blades

Question: What is most usually cited as the baroque pitch for the note A?
Answer: A-415

Question: The name Gurlitt became widely associated in 2013 in the world press with what?
Answer: Nazi-era paintings

Question: Which country does not currently have a sultan as its political and/or religious head of state?
Answer: Morocco

Question: Which letter is unique to the Icelandic alphabet?
Answer: (thorn)

Question: Who, styling himself "Witch-Finder General" conducted witch-hunts mainly in the counties of Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk and occasionally in other eastern counties of England during the English Civil War?
Answer: Matthew Hopkins

Question: What type of play did William Shakespeare never write?
Answer: Kitchen sink drama