Latest questions: 14 June 2022

These questions were inspired by those set for use in Week 11 of the 2021–2 season in Macclesfield Quiz League, by the Dolphin.

Which future Prime Minister, when Chancellor of the Exchequer, introduced the so–called 'People's Budget' in 1909, introducing unprecedented taxes on the lands and incomes of the wealthy in order to fund new social welfare programmes? It was blocked by the House of Lords for a year, and only became law in April 1910.		David Lloyd George
Which ancient battle is commemorated by an epitaph on the site, that reads (in translation): "Go, tell the Spartans, stranger passing by / That here, obedient to their laws, we lie"?		Thermopylae
Which African nation asserted its independence in 1896 by defeating the Italians at the Battle of Adwa?		Ethiopia
Which King of England ordered the rebuilding of Westminster Abbey, in the 30th year of his reign, and was the first to be buried there?		Henry III
Which British Prime Minister issued the Tamworth Manifesto in December 1834, laying down the principles upon which the modern Conservative Party is based?		Sir Robert Peel
Who was the lead singer, guitarist and frontman of Ultravox, on all of their hit singles and albums (after replacing original frontman John Foxx in November 1979)?		Midge Ure
Silverview, published posthumously in 2021, was the 26th and final novel by which British author?		John le Carré
In the term 'PCR test', which became familiar to millions during the course of the COVID–19 pandemic, what does PCR stand for?		Polymerase Chain Reaction
Which Sheffield–born former IBF welterweight world champion boxer announced his retirement in May 2022, three months after inflicting a crushing defeat on Amir Khan in a catchweight contest?		Kell Brook
Related to the weasel, widely spread in Africa and southern Asia, and noted for its ferocity, by what other name is the ratel (rhymes approximately with 'fatal') better known?		The honey badger
Whose 2021 album Certified Lover Boy produced a record ten Top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, including Way 2 Sexy which reached No. 1?		Drake
Which small yellow creatures from the Despicable Me franchise, known for their childlike behaviour and unintelligible language, starred in their own film in 2015?		Minions
Whose 1830 painting Liberty Leading the People is featured on the cover of Coldplay's 2008 album Viva La Vida?		Eugène Delacroix
What name is given to the style of architecture that replaced the Romanesque or Norman style in Europe in the late 12th century, which was characterised by pointed (as opposed to semi–circular) arches?		Gothic
Which country music legend was played by Tom Hiddleston in the 2015 bio–pic I Saw the Light?		Hank Williams
The song Adiemus, the orchestral piece Palladio, and the mass The Armed Man (subtitled A Mass for Peace) are among the best–known works of which composer and former jazz–rock musician, born near Swansea in 1944?		Karl Jenkins
In which country is Vänern (VAY–nern) – the largest lake in Europe, outside Russia? vanern		Sweden
Which stage musical, whose original Broadway production ran from 1996 to 2008, was loosely based on Puccini's opera La Bohème?		Rent la boheme
Which London–born Turkish international footballer, who played 260 League games for Leicester City between 1996 and 2004, had four Zs in the ten–letter name by which he was commonly known?		Muzzy Izzet
What name, for a cocktail of dark rum and ginger beer, was patented in 1991 by Gosling Brothers Ltd. of Bermuda?		Dark 'n' stormy
In 1976, wines from which Californian wine–producing area caused a sensation when they were judged superior to the top–rated French entries, in a specially–arranged blind tasting in Paris?		Napa Valley
No Way Home, released in December 2021, is the latest film to feature which Marvel superhero?		Spider–Man
The Polish–born British writer and illustrator Jan Pienkowski, who died in February 2022, is best known for illustrating a series of children's books about which incompetent witch and her stripey cat?		Meg and Mog
Often understood to represent a real historical character, what's the name of the 'everyman' narrator in the musical play Evita?		Che
Which prominent figure in British sport was controversially awarded Portuguese citizenship in 2021, under a law that offered naturalisation to descendants of Sephardic Jews?		Roman Abramovich
Winner of the Best Picture Oscar in 2020, the 2019 film Parasite was produced and is set in which country?		South Korea
Which Hollywood star made his screen debut in The Killers (1946), based on a Hemingway short story, and his last appearance as a former baseball player in Field of Dreams (1994)? He died in October 1994, aged 80.		Burt Lancaster
Which cocktail, made with white rum, cognac and triple sec, and sometimes known as a Maiden's Prayer, is often said to have been invented by Harry MacElhone at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, in the 1930s, as a derivative of the sidecar?		Between the Sheets
Which 2015 bio–pic, starring Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance, was about the conviction of the British–born Soviet spy Rudolf Abel, and his exchange for the American spy plane pilot Gary Powers in 1962?		Bridge of Spies
The word 'hypersonic' refers to speeds that are at least how many times faster than the speed of sound?		5 times (Mach 5 and over)
What variety of cheese, often sold as a ball, 6 or 12 cm in diameter, is most commonly used (traditionally) in pizza toppings?		Mozzarella

© Haydn Thompson 2022