Latest questions: 27 February 2018

This week's questions are from those written for Cup and Plate Semi–Finals of the 2017–18 season in Macclesfield Quiz League, by the Chester Road Tavern and the Church House Bollington.

What was the name of the SpaceX rocket that carried Elon Musk's Tesla Roadster (car) into space earlier this month?		Falcon Heavy
How many sides does the new £1 coin, introduced in March 2017, have?		12
What's the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac?		The dragon
Jacinda Ardern became Prime Minister of which country in October 2017?		New Zealand
Operation Hope Not, drawn up in 1959, was the plan for whose funeral?		Winston Churchill
With a capacity of 257,325, what is the world's largest sporting venue?		Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Which novel was first published as a monthly serial from 1847 to 1848, with the subtitle Pen and Pencil Sketches of English Society, and published as a single volume in 1848 with the subtitle A Novel without a Hero?		Vanity Fair (W. M. Thackeray)
Who is the current Director General of the BBC, having succeeded George Entwistle in 2013?		Tony Hall
Which famous American artist was dismissed from the US Military Academy at West Point, by General Robert E Lee, for persistent rule–breaking?		J. A. McN. Whistler
Who was Mayor of New York from 2002 to 2013 (three consecutive terms), having succeeded Rudy Giuliani on 1 January 2002? Since at least 2009 he has consistently been rated as one of the world's richest men – in 2018 he was 7th richest in the USA and 10th richest in the world.		Michael Bloomberg
What type of creature is (or was) Beatrix Potter's Samuel Whiskers?		A rat
What honorific (title) is conferred by the State of Israel on non–Jews (such as Oskar Schindler) who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save the lives of Jews?		Righteous among the Nations
Which sporting event takes place annually, in April or May, at the Gloucestershire estate of the Duke of Beaufort?		Badminton Horse Trials
In which English town was a large steel feather (designed to sway in the wind) erected in 2007 to mark the centre of Sherwood Forest?		Mansfield
Who was the subject of the 2015 Oscar–winning documentary Citizenfour?		Edward Snowden
He died in 1703 and may have been called Eustache Dauger. How was he better known to history?		The Man in the Iron Mask
Which occupation is indicated by the Ukrainian word shakhtar, as used in the name of Shakhtar Donetsk football club?		Miner
What is the second oldest city in Australia, and the second largest in New South Wales (after Sydney in both cases)? Situated at the mouth of the Hunter River, it exports more coal than any other port in the world.		Newcastle
Which Yorkshire–born novelist and playwright broadcast a series of short propaganda radio shows that were credited with strengthening civilian morale during the Battle of Britain? He died in Stratford–on–Avon in 1984, aged 89.		J. B. Priestley
Of which 1980 film is its co–producer Sir Lew Grade said to have remarked: "It would have been cheaper to lower the Atlantic"?		Raise the Titanic!
Which King of England was married in Cyprus while on his way to the Holy Land?		Richard I
Who hosted the BBC's television coverage of the Apollo moon landings, the Aberfan disaster, the 1966 and 1970 UK general elections, and the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales in 1969? He also presented Tonight from 1957 to 1965, and was the first presenter of the BBC's Holiday programme (1969–86).		Cliff Michelmore
Which US singer–songwriter first came to notice in The Impressions, writing hits such as Keep on Pushing and People Get Ready, which became anthems of the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s and 60s? He later wrote the soundtrack to the blaxploitation movie Super Fly, with hard–hitting commentary on the state of affairs in black, urban ghettos.		Curtis Mayfield
Which much–derided dish, made with stewing beef, lamb steak, onions, carrots etc. and known to have been on the menus of British restaurants in the 1920s and 30s, is said to have been invented for the post–natal Queen Victoria, by her chef, who named it "Calf's Feet Soup, A La Windsor"?		Brown Windsor soup
Which 1978 film was released in Italy under the title Brilliantina!?		Grease
What is the USA's fifth most populous city, and (with just over 1.6 million inhabitants in 2016) the only state capital with a population of over a million?		Phoenix
Who has a typecast cameo role in the film Trainspotting, appearing in one of Renton's hallucinations as an irritating game show presenter?		Dale Winton
Which town in the north of England is home to the cartoon character Andy Capp? A statue of him was unveiled there in 2007.		Hartlepool
Which song has given its title to the Proclaimers' second album and a musical based on their songs, and has also become an anthem for fans of Hibernian FC?		Sunshine on Leith
What can be spiral, elliptical or irregular?		Galaxies
Inspired by the Polish trade union movement Solidarity, what was U2's first UK hit single? It reached No. 10 in 1983.		New Year's Day

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Latest questions: 27 February 2018