Q 01/05

Birmingham's well-worn boast is that it has more miles of canal than which famous canal city?

A) Venice

B) Amsterdam

C) Bruges

D) St Petersburg

Answer · why

A) Venice

Venice has about 26 miles of canal to Birmingham's 35, but the boast flatters: Birmingham is a far bigger city, so its canals are spread much more thi...

Q 02/05

Alfred Bird, a Birmingham chemist, invented his custard powder because which ingredient disagreed with his wife?

A) Cream

B) Flour

C) Eggs

D) Sugar

Answer · why

C) Eggs

Eggs thicken a traditional custard, so Bird built his powder on cornflour instead; he went on to devise a baking powder too, for making bread without ...

Q 03/05

George Cadbury, a Quaker, kept which business out of Bournville, his model village beside the chocolate works?

A) Pubs

B) Banks

C) Shops

D) Cinemas

Answer · why

A) Pubs

Pubs have never been built in Bournville, a legacy of George Cadbury's temperance beliefs, although Rowheath Pavilion, built for the works' sports fie...

Q 04/05

The 'ring' in Birmingham's Bull Ring was an iron hoop to which bulls were tied for what, before slaughter?

A) Branding

B) Auctioning

C) Weighing

D) Baiting

Answer · why

D) Baiting

Baiting took place on the green of the medieval Corn Cheaping market, which gave the Bull Ring its name; the 1964 Bull Ring Centre that later replaced...

Q 05/05

Duran Duran, formed in Birmingham in 1978, took their name from a villain in which 1968 science-fiction film?

A) Planet of the Apes

B) Barbarella

C) Fantastic Voyage

D) Flash Gordon

Answer · why

B) Barbarella

Barbarella's villain Dr. Durand Durand, played by Milo O'Shea, gave the band its name, and O'Shea returned the compliment by playing the part again in...