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Churchill College Quiz, 2011
Round One: Scientists and Science at Churchill
1: Bob Edwards has been awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on IVF; what was the name of the first "test tube" baby, and (for a bonus point?) how old is she?Answer: Louise Brown, born 25 July 1978 - ie she's 32.
2: Which three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work on the structure of DNA? For a bonus point - which year was it awarded?
Answer: Francis Crick, James Watson and Maurice Wilkins. 1962.
3: In the grounds of which Cambridge college was a sculpture erected to celebrate the discovery of the structure of DNA?
Answer: Clare.
4: Which Austrian-born scientist, who collaborated in the discovery of nuclear fission, had to flee Nazi Germany in 1938 because of her Jewish ancestry?
Answer: Lise Meitner.
5: Alec Boksenberg, Fellow of Churchill, worked on the Hubble Space Telescope and the College held an exhibition of images from it in 2000. When was the telescope launched?
Answer: 1990.
6: What is the recommended storage temperature and humidity for frequently consulted archival materials, according to BS 5454? This is designed to slow deterioration and prohibit mould and insect growth but to allow for safe handling of the material by readers.
a) 18-21 degrees C, 50-65 per cent RH
b) 16-19 degrees C, 45-60 per cent RH
c) 12-15 degrees C, 40-55 per cent RH
Answer: b) 16-19 degrees C, 45-60 per cent RH.
7) Which substance present in commercial newspaper pulp increases the vulnerability to acid catalysed hydrolysis (yellowing) the most when a newspaper is left on a windowsill for a couple of weeks?
a) hemicelluloses
b) bleach
c) lignin
Answer: c) lignin.
Round Two: Churchill and his college
1: Timothy Spall played Churchill in the film "The King's Speech". Which of the following actors has not played Churchill?a) Richard Burton
b) Robert Hardy
c) Timothy West
d) Albert Finney
e) Peter Ustinov
Answer: e) Peter Ustinov.
2: Hugh Franklin attacked Churchill with a dog-whip in support of what cause in 1910? For a bonus point - he is the uncle of which individual whose papers are held at the Archives Centre?
Answer: Women's suffrage/votes for women. Franklin was a member of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage and was imprisoned more than once for his participation in protests, including this attack and a later attempt to break the windows of Churchill's house in Eccleston Square. He was the uncle of the crystallographer Rosalind Franklin, "The Dark Lady of DNA".
3: Where was Churchill holidaying when he first discussed the idea of founding a university or college (which became Churchill College)?
a) Italian Riviera
b) Sicily
c) Switzerland
Answer: b) Sicily.
4: What did Churchill enjoy for the first time whilst in Cuba in 1895?
a) Tequila
b) A cigar
c) Salsa dancing
Answer: b) A cigar.
5: How did Churchill celebrate his 39th birthday?
a) Quietly at home with his wife and family
b) Flying lessons
c) Building a wall at his house, Chartwell.
Answer: b) Flying lessons. Churchill did build a wall at Chartwell, and was actually a card-carrying member of the bricklayers' union, but this happened some years later, in the 1920s.
6: In 1922, Churchill's campaign for re-election as MP for Dundee was hampered by what illness? (Clue: it was the same illness which Edward VII had suffered from 20 years earlier, causing his coronation to be postponed).
a) Measles
b) Appendicitis
c) Syphilis
Answer: (b) appendicitis. Churchill later reminisced that "in the twinkling of an eye I found myself without an office, without a seat, without a party, and without an appendix." It is still hotly debated whether or not Churchill's father suffered from syphilis.
7: Which famous bacteriologist is rumoured to have saved Churchill from drowning?
Answer: Sir Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin. According to the story, Churchill is saved from drowning in a Scottish lake by a farm boy named Alex. A few years later Churchill telephones Alex to say that his parents, in gratitude, will sponsor Alex's otherwise unaffordable medical school education. Alex graduates with honours and in 1928 discovers that certain bacteria cannot grow in certain vegetable moulds. In 1943, when Churchill becomes ill in the Near East, Alex's invention, penicillin, is flown out to effect his cure. Thus once again Alexander Fleming saves the life of Winston Churchill. Sadly, not only was Churchill not treated with penicillin at all, but the ages of Churchill and Fleming (or Fleming's father) do not support the various accounts circulated; Alexander Fleming was seven years younger than Churchill, and there is no record of Churchill nearly drowning in Scotland at that or any other age; or of Lord Randolph paying for Alexander Fleming's education.
Round Three: Archive Pot Luck
1: In 1993, the College ball was James Bond themed, under the title "ThunderBall". Which actor played 007 in the film of that name?For a bonus point, which singer recorded the eponymous title song?
Answer: Sean Connery. Bonus: Tom Jones.
2: "Operation Moonlight Sonata" was the German codename for a devastating bombing raid on which city?
a) Bristol
b) London
c) Coventry
Answer: c) Coventry.
3: Which of these did King George V collect?
a) stamps
b) coins
c) postcards
Answer: a) stamps.
4: The Hailsham diaries held at the Churchill Archives Centre have been conserved using the "Fisherizing" technique of housing single-sheet material of predominantly uniform format. Where was this conservation technique first developed?
a) Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
b) British Library, London
c) Bodleian Library, Oxford
Answer: c) The Bodleian.
5: What was the original name given to the Open University?
a) The People's University
b) The Free University
c) The University of the Air
Answer: c) The University of the Air. Michael Young, Hon Fellow of Churchill College, was one of the founders of the Open University.
6: In 2012, in an initiative which the Archives Centre is very proud of, the Churchill Papers held at Churchill Archives Centre are going to be published online by the publishers of the Harry Potter books. What is the name of the publishing firm?
a) Bloomsbury
b) Macmillan
c) Penguin
Answer: a) Bloomsbury.
7: In January 2009, George Bush hosted a dinner at the White House for Barack Obama and the three surviving former US Presidents. If David Cameron were to host a similar dinner for his predecessors, which of them would be invited?
Answer: Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, John Major, Margaret Thatcher.