General Knowledge Quiz #8

Both sweet dreams and sleep should be acceptable answers.

Mr. Sandman, bring me a _____. "Sweet dreams" and "sleep" don't fit there...

Technically good dreams doesn't fit in there either.

It's more than just the song in America; it's also a legend that originated in Europe. Therefore synonyms should be accepted.

Wikipedia says the sandman puts people to sleep and brings good dreams. Accept sleep?

I didn't know it was a real person.

Or that more people know Starbucks cup size names than the Magna Carta. Or that the most correctly guessed answer is the husband of a Spice Girl...

vbhgthg still doesn't work

Would you accept vbhtghg? Needs more type-ins.

I think that Cuba is closer than Russia is. Cuba is just 90 mile off of Florida's coast.

Okay...the US and Russia, at their closest points, is under 2.5 miles apart.

Russia is actually 55 miles, at the closest point, from the United States. Cuba is about 90 miles so, yes, Cuba is closer but Russia is definitely NOT 2.5 miles away.

I didn't believe this till I saw that there are two islands (the Diomedes) in the middle of the Bering Strait, one owned by each country. With a land-bridge connection in winter, it's the only place in the world to you can walk to and from tomorrow.

I think a land bridge is by definition made out of land, not of ice.

considering the US and Russia were at one time connected via an ice land bridge.. ///Cuba is 90 miles away..

But the distance between the United States and Russia is the distance between the islands of Lttle Diomede and "Big" Diomede, which I don't know exactly, but is considerably less than the 82km of the whole Bering Strait.

And what about Bahamas ?

Little Diomede to Big Diomede: 4.3 miles.

Florida USA to Bahamas (closest point): 68 miles.

What about Yemen?

Proud to have not known the ridiculous Starbucks size names. The coffee shop culture could do with a bit less pretentiousness.

So could statements like "proud to have not known..."

I haven't been to a starbucks and I knew it.

I drink coffee and I didn't know starbucks

There aren't any Starbucks in my town, but I knew it from this site - that clue comes up occasionally.

Did anyone else try Charles Kuralt for "On the Road"?

Never heard the term "factorial" before. Either it's taught under a different name in the UK, or i've forgotten a hell of a lot of Maths.

Just looked it up. I definitely wasn't taught that at school. I didn't do Maths at A-Level but I did Maths and Ad Maths GCSE and defintely didn't encounter 'factorials'. Learn something new every day. Mind you, like most maths you learn at school, not sure how much use it will be in everyday life.

They didn't use the term factorial when I learned math in the US in the 1960s. When I was in high school we could take either the basic math class, or take the college-bound program of Algebra I as freshmen, geometry as sophomores, Algebra II as juniors, and trig and math analysis as seniors. One year of either algebra I or basic math was all that was required. No calculus class was offered. It wasn't much better when my children were in school in the 1990s. Some of the city schools had better programs, but not in the rural areas. It was difficult to find good teachers, too. Since 2010 the state requires 3 math credits for graduation, but sometimes ag or building trades classes can be substituted for at least one year of math.

For eminem's real name, Slim Shady should be accepted.

Starbucks also has a 'Trenta' size now according to Google!!!!!!

It makes me very sad, but the greatest astronomy television programme in the world, and the longest lasting programme of ANY kind on the BBC, the Sky at Night, will insist on pronouncing it "Bettelgurz". Apparently it never occurs to them that, yes, "beetle juice" at first hearing sounds slightly amusing, but as a set of phonemes, it is a far more beautiful word. In fact it is one of the most beautiful words there is, what JRR Tolkein would have compared to "cellar door" - a very boring domestic word that however sounds lovely to the ear and feels lovely to pronounce. Whereas "bettelgurz" is the opposite: clunky, awkward and ugly.
Long live "Beetle Juice"! Long live Betelgeuse!

Betelgeuse is really from an Arabic phrase "bīt al jauzāʾ " and means shoulder of the Giant. There is no special way to pronounce 'Betelgeuse' as it does not sound exact in English anyway, so feel free to call it what you will.

Never heard about the blind squirrel. In my area we say, "Even the old sow finds an acorn."

Alaska is about 6 miles or so across the Bering Strait from the easternmost end of Russia.

The Californian Gold Rush didnt begin until 1849.

Yep. And the moon is made of cheese!

Only if you discount Islands belonging to each country. And if you do, that wipes out Cuba so end of problem.

It would be nice to offer "Vente" for Venti and "Wembly" for Wembley. Phonetically, they are the same. I would have had 100% :'-( [Cries himself to sleep that night]

I was very close to typing slim shady instead of Marshall Mathers

There was a famous Country & Western singer in Australia called 'Slim Dusty' (better than Eminem I think)

Are the Bahamas closer than Russia?

No.

What about Marshall Bruce Mathers for Eminem.

Just type in "Mathers"

Typed Wimbledon 2x before realizing my mistake.