Five alliterative questions – Quick Quiz answers

By British Expat, 28 September 2019

We asked you five alliterative questions riffing on the common theme “b*mb”. Here come the answers!

1. In what year was the first air-dropped bomb used? Five bonus points if you can name the aircraft first used as a bomber and in what war.
   Although balloons were used for military purposes as early as the Battle of Fleurus in 1794, they were used purely for observation and reconnaissance. It wasn’t until powered heavier-than-air aircraft came into being that anyone thought to drop bombs with them. The first time this happened was in 1912 during the First Balkan War, when the Bulgarians sent a German-built Albatros F.2 to drop grenades (adapted to make them heavier and more aerodynamic) onto a Turkish railway station.
2. What is Bamber Gascoigne’s first name?
   Arthur. He’s the descendant of a late 18th-century MP, Bamber Gascoyne. Born in 1935 and educated at Eton, Magdalene College, Cambridge and Yale, he presented University Challenge for the whole of its original run on Granada TV from 1962 to 1987. He was also the “celebrity witness” for Kit Williams’ 1979 treasure hunt book Masquerade, which challenged the reader to identify the location of a golden hare buried somewhere in Britain at a location known only to Williams and Gascoigne.
3. What kind of deer is Bambi?
   This is a slightly trick question. Most people are likely to think of Bambi as the star of a Disney animated film, which had him as a mule deer. However, the film was based on a 1923 novel by Austrian author Felix Salten, Bambi, a Life in the Woods, in which Bambi was a roe deer. Disney’s change was made to suit the US audience, as roe deer are not native to North America. However, they’re widespread in Europe, to the extent that there are even urban roe deer in British cities including Bristol and Glasgow, where they favour cemeteries.
4. In which country was the skeleton of “bambiraptor” discovered in 1993?
   “Bambiraptor” – full name, Bambiraptor feinbergi – was found near Montana’s Glacier National Park in the US by 14-year-old fossil enthusiast Wes Linster. It was named partly for Bambi, partly for its raptor characteristics and partly after the wealthy couple, Michael and Ann Feinberg, who bought the skeleton and arranged for its public display in a Florida museum. It was a particularly exciting find, both because about 95 per cent of the skeleton was complete and because it supports research into the evolution of birds from dinosaurs.
5. Which country has Bambara as one of its several national languages?
   Mali. Mali’s official language is French, but there are a dozen national languages, of which Bambara is the most widespread. Approximately 80% of Mali’s population of 19.3 million (2018 census) speak it as their first language or as a lingua franca. It’s a prominent member of the Mande family of languages, of which there are about 60-70, spoken in the southern Sahara region of West Africa by 30-40 million people.

How did you get on? Why not let us know?