General Knowledge - Very Difficult XIV

Aconitum, also known as aconite, monkshood, leopard's bane, devil's helmet, or blue rocket, is a genus of over 250 species of flowering plants belonging to the family Ranunculaceae. It is extremely poisonous and legend has it, it came from the spit of Cerberus. What other name is it known by?

The very first Doodle was published in 1998 as a quick way for Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to let people know they would be out of office for what week-long, large-scale desert event in Nevada?

The 1995 movie The Usual Suspects directed by Bryan Singer takes place in New York City and what other city?

The name of a 1961 science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem. It follows a crew of scientists on a space station research facility as they attempt to understand an extraterrestrial intelligence, which takes the form of a vast ocean on the titular alien planet. It was made into a film in 1972 in the Soviet Union, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky.

The Beslan school siege, also referred to as the Beslan school hostage crisis or the Beslan massacre, was an Islamic terrorist attack that started on 1 September 2004. It lasted three days, and involved the imprisonment of more than 1,100 people as hostages, ending with the deaths of 334 people, 186 of them children, as well as 31 of the attackers. In what country did this occur?

Due to the presence of tiny air sacs called alveoli, which is the only organ in the human body that can float in water?

What is the largest lizard native to the USA?

What Country music legend once smoked weed with President Jimmy Carter's son Chip on the roof of the White House in 1978?

Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno was a dictator and military officer who was the de facto ruler of what country from 1983 to 1989? He had longstanding ties with American intelligence agencies before the U.S. invasion of this country removed him from power.

Dr. Byron Henry McKeeby (1867-1950) was a dentist from Pennsylvania. What 1930 oil painting by the American Regionalist artist Grant Wood did he model for? Hint - it depicts a Midwestern farmer and his daughter standing in front of their home.

Roquefort is a type of french ______ said to have strong, tangy flavour.

Spanning from Germany’s Black Forest to the Black Sea, which is the only major river in Europe that flows from west to east?

Leading a Scottish rebellion against the English army of Edward I, who fought—and lost—at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298?

To make up for its lack of blubber, which marine mammal has the thickest fur of any animal, up to 1 million hair follicles per square inch? A sea ____.

Gangs of New York is a 2002 film by Martin Scorsese. The film is set in 1863, when a long-running Catholic–Protestant feud erupts into violence, just as an ____ immigrant group is protesting the threat of conscription during the Civil War.

Derived from an Arabic word for “blowing” or “blasting wind,” haboob describes which type of weather event?

"______ _______" is an Arabic greeting that means "peace be upon you". It is a traditional greeting among Muslims and is often used in social and worship settings.

What is the better known name of far-right thug, Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon, a British anti-Islam campaigner and one of the UK's most prominent far-right activists, who since October 2024 he has been serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court?

On 6 August, a Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later on the 9th August, __ ___was dropped on Nagasaki. Over the next two to four months, the effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000 to 166,000 people in Hiroshima and 60,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki

______ is a large 1937 oil painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Prominently featured in the composition are a gored horse, a bull, screaming women, a dead baby, a dismembered soldier, and flames. The painting depicts the bombing of _______, a town in the northern Spain by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

Vacas is a 1991 Spanish film, written and directed by Julio Médem. The film is set in rural Basque Country and follows the intertwined story of three generations of two families from 1875 to 1936. It was Médem's first film and for it he won the 1993 Goya Award as Best New Director. What does Vacas means what in English?

Solito is a memoir by Javier Zamora, published in 2022. The memoir tells a story of nine-year-old Zamora on his journey from a small town in __ ______ to the United States to reunite with his parents.

An American sci-fi writer who won several awards for her works, including Hugo, Locus, and Nebula awards. She wrote Parable of the Sower (1993), Kindred (1979), Parable of the Talents (1998) and Dawn (1987).

Raising the Flag on ___ _____ is an iconic photograph of six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of __ ____ in the final stages of the Pacific War. Taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, the photograph was published in Sunday newspapers two days later and reprinted in thousands of publications.

A form-fitting foundation garment that encircles the lower torso, extending below the hips, and worn often to shape or for support.

A stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, this clothing item described a stiff fabric made of horsehair and cotton or linen which was used to make underskirts and as a dress lining.

Flowers that bloom once a year and then die are called annuals. Flowers that grow and bloom over the spring and summer, die back every autumn and winter, and then return in the spring are called ________?

A non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. It is a widely available over-the-counter drug sold under various brand names, including Tylenol and Panadol.

The world’s oldest continuously running webcam, FogCam has documented the weather in which West coast U.S. city since 1994?

What American writer wrote On The Road in the mid 1950s on a 120 feet long scroll as to keep a continuous, unending stream of consciousness narrative to the book?

____ ______ is a 1994 novel by Joseph Heller, written as a sequel to the popular Catch-22. It takes place in New York City in the 1990s, and revisits some characters of the original who fought in World War Two, including Yossarian, Milo Minderbinder and Chaplain Tappman.

Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima (1931 - 2023) was a leader of the Mau Mau rebellion against British colonialism in _____ in the 1950s. She was the only woman to attain the rank of field marshal in the Mau Mau.

Hiroo Onoda and his men he spent nearly 30 years on Lubang Island in the Philippines after World War Two. He believed the war was still ongoing until he was finally persuaded to come out in 1974. He was from what country?

The royal family of Jordan is the ________ dynasty