Q 01/05

Which Lloyd Webber musical, set to poems Eliot wrote for his godchildren, opened in the West End in May?

A) Evita

B) Starlight Express

C) Cats

D) Song and Dance

Answer · why

C) Cats

Cats premiered at the New London Theatre on 11 May 1981, setting verse from Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats to music. A poem Eliot had cut as 'too...

Q 02/05

Which reggae star died in Miami on 11 May, aged 36, having refused to have a cancerous toe amputated?

A) Peter Tosh

B) Bob Marley

C) Jimmy Cliff

D) Toots Hibbert

Answer · why

B) Bob Marley

Bob Marley was diagnosed in 1977 with a melanoma under a toenail and declined amputation, citing his religious beliefs. A flight home from Germany was...

Q 03/05

Who took over the CBS Evening News the Monday after Walter Cronkite's final sign-off on 6 March?

A) Tom Brokaw

B) Peter Jennings

C) Dan Rather

D) Ted Koppel

Answer · why

C) Dan Rather

Dan Rather succeeded Cronkite, whose trademark close 'And that's the way it is' was followed each night by the date. The last one ran: 'And that's the...

Q 04/05

Which country, a democracy again only since 1974, became the tenth member of the European Communities?

A) Greece

B) Spain

C) Portugal

D) Turkey

Answer · why

A) Greece

Greece joined what is now the European Union as its tenth member in 1981, seven years after military rule collapsed. Andreas Papandreou came to power ...

Q 05/05

Which probe, launched in 1977, flew closest to Saturn on 26 August, then went on to Uranus and Neptune?

A) Voyager 1

B) Pioneer 11

C) Galileo

D) Voyager 2

Answer · why

D) Voyager 2

Voyager 2 passed Saturn at 03:24 UT on 26 August 1981, riding a rare alignment of the outer planets that let one probe tour all four giants by gravity...