5. Sir Harry Vane, one of the few dissenters to be beheaded by Charles II.
OZ
2. Titus Flavius Vespasianus was the ninth Roman Emperor, who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD. He was the founder of the short-lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 AD and 96 AD. Vespasian (9-79) was descended from a family of equestrians which rose into the senatorial rank under the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Although he attained the standard succession of public offices, holding the consulship in 51, Vespasian was a successful military commander, partaking in the Roman invasion of Britain in 43, and subjugating the Judaea province during the Jewish rebellion of 66. While Vespasian was preparing to besiege the city of Jerusalem during the latter campaign, emperor Nero committed suicide, plunging the Roman Empire into a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. After Galba and Otho perished in quick succession, Vitellius became emperor in mid 69. In response, the armies in Egypt and Judaea themselves declared Vespasian emperor on July 1. In his bid for imperial power, Vespasian joined forces with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria, who led the Flavian forces against Vitellius, while Vespasian himself gained control over Egypt. On 20 December, Vitellius was defeated, and the following day, Vespasian was declared emperor by the Roman Senate. Little factual information survives about Vespasian’s government during the ten years he was emperor. His reign is best known for financial reforms following the demise of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the successful campaign against Judaea, and several ambitious construction projects such as the Colosseum. Upon his death on 23 June 79, he was succeeded by his eldest son Titus.
3. Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476) In Romanian history, Vlad is usually referred to as “Tepes” (pronounced Tse-pesh). This name, from the Turkish nickname “kaziklu bey” (“impaling prince”), was used by Ottoman chroniclers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries because of Vlad’s fondness for impalement as a means of execution. The epithet, which echoed the fear that he instilled in his enemies, was embraced in his native country. No evidence exists to suggest that Vlad ever used it in reference to himself. By contrast, the term “Dracula” (or linguistic variations thereof) was used on a number of occasions by Vlad himself in letters and documents that still survive in Romanian museums. Vlad began his six-year period of rule in 1456, just three years after Constantinople fell to the Turks. It was inevitable that he would finally have to confront the Turks, as the small principality of Wallachia lay between Turkish controlled Bulgaria and the rest of central and eastern Europe. Vlad precipitated the anger of the Sultan by refusing to honour an earlier arrangement to pay an annual tribute and to supply young Wallachian men for the Turkish army. After a period of raiding and pillaging along the Danube border, full-fledged war broke out during the winter of 1461-62. His exploits drew the attention of several European rulers, including the Pope himself. The Turks launched a full counter-offensive. Badly outnumbered, Vlad employed every possible means to gain an advantage: drawing the enemy deep into his own territory through a strategic retreat, he burned villages and poisoned wells along the route; he employed guerrilla tactics, using the local terrain to advantage; he even initiated a form of germ warfare, deliberately sending victims of infectious diseases into the Turkish camps. On 17 June 1462, he led a raid known in Romanian history as the “Night Attack.” But the Sultan’s army continued onwards and reached the outskirts of Vlad’s capital city. There Vlad used his most potent weapon — psychological warfare. The following is an account from the Greek historian Chalkondyles of what greeted the invaders: “He [the Sultan] marched on for about five kilometres when he saw his men impaled; the Sultan’s army came across a field with stakes, about three kilometres long and one kilometre wide. And there were large stakes on which they could see the impaled bodies of men, women, and children, about twenty thousand of them, as they said; quite a spectacle for the Turks and the Sultan himself! The Sultan, in wonder, kept saying that he could not conquer the country of a man who could do such terrible and unnatural things, and put his power and his subjects to such use. He also used to say that this man who did such things would be worthy of more. And the other Turks, seeing so many people impaled, were scared out of their wits. There were babies clinging to their mothers on the stakes, and birds had made nests in their breasts.”
4. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Florentine artist, one of the great masters of the High Renaissance, celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. His profound love of knowledge and research was the keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavours. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the fields of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics—anticipated many of the developments of modern science.
9. Rudolph Valentine (1895-1926) was an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon. Known as the “Latin Lover”, he was one of the most popular international stars of the 1920s, and one of the most recognized stars of the silent film era. He is best known for his work in The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans. As a child, Valentino was reportedly spoiled and troublesome. His mother coddled him while his father disapproved of his behaviour. He did poorly in school, and was eventually enrolled in agricultural school where he received a degree. After living in Paris in 1912, he returned to Italy. Unable to secure employment, he departed for the United States in 1913.
Arriving in New York City, Valentino soon ran out of money and spent a period of time on the streets. He eventually befriended Chilean heiress Blanca de Saulles who was unhappily married to prominent businessman John de Saulles, with whom she had a son. Whether the two actually had a romantic relationship is unknown, but when the couple divorced, Valentino took the stand to support Blanca de Saulles’ claims of infidelity on her husband’s part. Following the divorce, John de Saulles reportedly used his political connections to have Valentino arrested, along with a Mrs. Thyme, a known madam, on some unspecified vice charges. The trial and subsequent scandal was well publicized, following which Valentino could not find employment. Shortly after the trial, Blanca de Saulles fatally shot her ex-husband during a custody dispute over their son. Fearful of being called in as a witness in another sensational trial, Valentino left town, joining a travelling musical that led him to the West Coast. By 1919, Valentino had carved out a career in bit parts in Hollywood. It was a bit part as a “cabaret parasite” in the drama The Eyes of Youth that caught the attention of screenwriter June Mathis, who thought he would be perfect for her next movie.
On August 15, 1926, Valentino collapsed at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City, New York. He was suffering from appendicitis and gastric ulcers which required an immediate operation. The operation was a success but Valentino’s condition had become so aggravated by then that peritonitis set in and spread throughout his body.
Christina
Sorry! None of the above 🙂
10. Vaclav Klaus, former president of the Czech Republic??
OZ
Ahem. G’mornin’, Boadicea, Ma’am.
OZ
Good Morning OZ! Sorry – No!
Bugger!
OZ
You really will say that when you find out who he is! Bearsy reckons he’s soooo easy!
I suggested #10, but told Boadicea that everyone would recognise him instantly. How wrong can a Bear be? 😕
Yeah, well! He may well say that, but it helps to be married to the question-mistress.
7. Victor Hugo – Frog scribbler.
OZ
There is a Frog Scribbler there – but not no 7!
10. Victor Borge.
Araminta
10. Victor Borge (1909-2000) was born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke Rosenbaum, were both musicians. His father was a violist in the Royal Danish Orchestra and his mother was a pianist. Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. He played his first major in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow’s Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous “stand up” act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts. Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes.
When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. He travelled to America on the USS American Legion, the last neutral ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland, and arrived August 28, 1940. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother. Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee’s radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.
10. Bolleaux – Victor Borge. A hero of mine!
OZ
#7 looks like Guiseppe Verdi, the composer
Bolleaux!
OZ
CWJ
7. Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901) was an Italian composer, mainly of opera. He was the most influential member of the 19th century’s Italian School of Opera. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture – such as “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto and Libiamo ne’ lieti calici from La traviata. Oftentimes scoffed at by the critics, in his lifetime and today, as catering to the tastes of the common folk, overly simple in chromatic texture and shamelessly melodramatic, Verdi’s masterpieces dominate the standard repertoire a century and a half after their composition.
OK #8 is Victor Hugo?
OZ
#5 – Diego Velazquez – Lithping Sthpanish painter.
OZ
OZ No! and No! 🙂
Bugger! Do I at least get 10/10 for effort?
OZ
OZ
You do!
8. Jules Verne, well, I think so, anyway!
Araminta
Yes!
8. Jules Verne (1828-1905), French writer and pioneer of science fiction, in Nantes, France. His parents were of a seafaring tradition, a factor which influenced his writings. As a boy, Jules Verne ran off to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship, but he was caught and returned to his parents. In 1847 Jules was sent to study law in Paris. While there, however, his passion for the theatre grew. Later in 1850, Jules Verne’s first play was published. His father was outraged when he heard that Jules was not going to continue law, so he discontinued the money he was giving him to pay for his expenses in Paris. This forced Verne to make money by selling his stories. After spending many hours in Paris libraries studying geology, engineering, and astronomy, Jules Verne published his first novel Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863). Soon he started writing novels such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1866), and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870). Because of the popularity of these and other novels, Jules Verne became a very rich man. In 1876, he bought a large yacht and sailed around Europe. His last novel The Invasion of the Sea appeared in 1905. Jules Verne died in the city of Amines on March 24, 1905.
I think 6 is Alessandro Volta, after whom the unit of electrical potential is named.
Good evening. Sorry to arrive late at the feast. It’s that pesky bowling!
No.
🙂
I really feel I should know the answers to numbers 1 and 5 too, Boadicea but my brain hurts!
FEEG
It is indeed!
6. Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) was born in Como, Italy, into a noble family. Volta was a physicist and pioneer in the study of electricity. “Volt,” named after Count Volta, is a measurement of electricity. Count Volta also made discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. His most famous invention, however, is the first battery. The idea came from Luigi Galvani, an anatomist. Galvani was dissecting a frog when the frog’s leg began to twitch. Galvani thought it was because of some type of electrical action in the vicinity, such as lightening. Volta tried to duplicate the experiment, and he did on a clear day when there was no lightening. Through experimentation, Volta realized that the two different metal objects holding the frog leg might be the source of the action. Over a period of several years he worked out that the wet muscle tissue conducted a current between the two different type of metals. Volta modified this effect to produce the first continuous flow of electric current. Around 1800, he invented a wet battery called a Voltaic Pile. The Voltaic Pile consisted of discs of copper and zinc separated by discs of paper or cardboard (soaked in salt water). Attached to the top and bottom of this “Pile” was a copper wire. When Volta closed the circuit, electricity flowed through the pile. Volta’s battery was later refined by other scientists, and the French emperor, Napoleon, made Volta a “Count” for his discovery.
1. Vercingetorix. I always knew thar having to read and translate Caiesar’s ‘Gallic Wars’ woud come in handy one day.
Good Morning John!
Araminta – I’m absolutely certain that you know number 5!
Boadicea, in re Volta, ‘pile’ is Frog for ‘battery’.
John
Well done – I’ve yet to find one use for my mistranslations of that most boring of books!
1. Vercingetorix (82-46 BC) was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix came to power in 52 BC, when he raised an army and was proclaimed king at Gergovia. He soon established an alliance with other tribes and took control of their combined armies, leading them in Gaul’s most significant revolt against Roman power. Vercingetorix surrendered to the Romans after being defeated at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, after which he was imprisoned for five years. In 46 he was paraded through Rome as part of Caesar’s triumph before being executed. Known primarily through Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Vercingetorix’s revolt is frequently used as a heroic example of Gallic virtue and resolve.
… in tres partes divisa est …
Boa, sorry about the rubbish typing. It comes from working a full day and then bowling, having got up before the crack of dawn to watch my overnight recording of England thrashing Australia A in fast forward mode.
It will only get worse. One week to the Ashes and counting.
Wild guess, which I am sure is wrong
5. Vasco da Gama.
No problems, John! I doubt I’ll be able to drag Bearsy away from the TV next week either!
Araminta
Much nearer to home that that! John Mackie might even recognise this one!
Hello again.
Look I know that Mrs M is not an author but she does love your quiz and she said George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham and alleged close personal friend of Jamie VI and I as soon as she saw No 5.
And I know she’s not wrong.
Mrs M
You’re absolutely right!
5. George Villiers (1592-1628), 1st Duke of Buckingham , was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover of King James I of England and one of the most rewarded royal courtiers in all history. He was born in Brooksby, Leicestershire in August 1592, the son of the minor gentleman Sir George Villiers (1550-1604). His mother, Mary (1570 – 1632), daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, who was left a widow early, educated him for a courtier’s life, sending him to France with Sir John Eliot. Villiers took very well to the training; he could dance well, fence well, and speak a little French. In August 1614, Villiers, reputedly “the handsomest-bodied man in all of England,” was brought before the king, in the hope that the king would take a fancy to him, diminishing the power at court of then-favourite Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset.
Boadicea's Chariot 
2. Vespasian, Roman Emperor
3. Vlad the Impaler, East European psychopath
4. Leonardo da Vinci, Italian brainbox.
OZ
1. Vortigern
9. Rudolph Valentino – silent movie knob-throb.
OZ
5. Sir Harry Vane, one of the few dissenters to be beheaded by Charles II.
OZ
2. Titus Flavius Vespasianus was the ninth Roman Emperor, who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD. He was the founder of the short-lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 AD and 96 AD. Vespasian (9-79) was descended from a family of equestrians which rose into the senatorial rank under the emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Although he attained the standard succession of public offices, holding the consulship in 51, Vespasian was a successful military commander, partaking in the Roman invasion of Britain in 43, and subjugating the Judaea province during the Jewish rebellion of 66. While Vespasian was preparing to besiege the city of Jerusalem during the latter campaign, emperor Nero committed suicide, plunging the Roman Empire into a year of civil war known as the Year of the Four Emperors. After Galba and Otho perished in quick succession, Vitellius became emperor in mid 69. In response, the armies in Egypt and Judaea themselves declared Vespasian emperor on July 1. In his bid for imperial power, Vespasian joined forces with Gaius Licinius Mucianus, the governor of Syria, who led the Flavian forces against Vitellius, while Vespasian himself gained control over Egypt. On 20 December, Vitellius was defeated, and the following day, Vespasian was declared emperor by the Roman Senate. Little factual information survives about Vespasian’s government during the ten years he was emperor. His reign is best known for financial reforms following the demise of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the successful campaign against Judaea, and several ambitious construction projects such as the Colosseum. Upon his death on 23 June 79, he was succeeded by his eldest son Titus.
3. Vlad the Impaler (1431-1476) In Romanian history, Vlad is usually referred to as “Tepes” (pronounced Tse-pesh). This name, from the Turkish nickname “kaziklu bey” (“impaling prince”), was used by Ottoman chroniclers of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries because of Vlad’s fondness for impalement as a means of execution. The epithet, which echoed the fear that he instilled in his enemies, was embraced in his native country. No evidence exists to suggest that Vlad ever used it in reference to himself. By contrast, the term “Dracula” (or linguistic variations thereof) was used on a number of occasions by Vlad himself in letters and documents that still survive in Romanian museums. Vlad began his six-year period of rule in 1456, just three years after Constantinople fell to the Turks. It was inevitable that he would finally have to confront the Turks, as the small principality of Wallachia lay between Turkish controlled Bulgaria and the rest of central and eastern Europe. Vlad precipitated the anger of the Sultan by refusing to honour an earlier arrangement to pay an annual tribute and to supply young Wallachian men for the Turkish army. After a period of raiding and pillaging along the Danube border, full-fledged war broke out during the winter of 1461-62. His exploits drew the attention of several European rulers, including the Pope himself. The Turks launched a full counter-offensive. Badly outnumbered, Vlad employed every possible means to gain an advantage: drawing the enemy deep into his own territory through a strategic retreat, he burned villages and poisoned wells along the route; he employed guerrilla tactics, using the local terrain to advantage; he even initiated a form of germ warfare, deliberately sending victims of infectious diseases into the Turkish camps. On 17 June 1462, he led a raid known in Romanian history as the “Night Attack.” But the Sultan’s army continued onwards and reached the outskirts of Vlad’s capital city. There Vlad used his most potent weapon — psychological warfare. The following is an account from the Greek historian Chalkondyles of what greeted the invaders: “He [the Sultan] marched on for about five kilometres when he saw his men impaled; the Sultan’s army came across a field with stakes, about three kilometres long and one kilometre wide. And there were large stakes on which they could see the impaled bodies of men, women, and children, about twenty thousand of them, as they said; quite a spectacle for the Turks and the Sultan himself! The Sultan, in wonder, kept saying that he could not conquer the country of a man who could do such terrible and unnatural things, and put his power and his subjects to such use. He also used to say that this man who did such things would be worthy of more. And the other Turks, seeing so many people impaled, were scared out of their wits. There were babies clinging to their mothers on the stakes, and birds had made nests in their breasts.”
4. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) Florentine artist, one of the great masters of the High Renaissance, celebrated as a painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. His profound love of knowledge and research was the keynote of both his artistic and scientific endeavours. His innovations in the field of painting influenced the course of Italian art for more than a century after his death, and his scientific studies—particularly in the fields of anatomy, optics, and hydraulics—anticipated many of the developments of modern science.
9. Rudolph Valentine (1895-1926) was an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon. Known as the “Latin Lover”, he was one of the most popular international stars of the 1920s, and one of the most recognized stars of the silent film era. He is best known for his work in The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. His death at age 31 caused mass hysteria among his female fans. As a child, Valentino was reportedly spoiled and troublesome. His mother coddled him while his father disapproved of his behaviour. He did poorly in school, and was eventually enrolled in agricultural school where he received a degree. After living in Paris in 1912, he returned to Italy. Unable to secure employment, he departed for the United States in 1913.
Arriving in New York City, Valentino soon ran out of money and spent a period of time on the streets. He eventually befriended Chilean heiress Blanca de Saulles who was unhappily married to prominent businessman John de Saulles, with whom she had a son. Whether the two actually had a romantic relationship is unknown, but when the couple divorced, Valentino took the stand to support Blanca de Saulles’ claims of infidelity on her husband’s part. Following the divorce, John de Saulles reportedly used his political connections to have Valentino arrested, along with a Mrs. Thyme, a known madam, on some unspecified vice charges. The trial and subsequent scandal was well publicized, following which Valentino could not find employment. Shortly after the trial, Blanca de Saulles fatally shot her ex-husband during a custody dispute over their son. Fearful of being called in as a witness in another sensational trial, Valentino left town, joining a travelling musical that led him to the West Coast. By 1919, Valentino had carved out a career in bit parts in Hollywood. It was a bit part as a “cabaret parasite” in the drama The Eyes of Youth that caught the attention of screenwriter June Mathis, who thought he would be perfect for her next movie.
On August 15, 1926, Valentino collapsed at the Hotel Ambassador in New York City, New York. He was suffering from appendicitis and gastric ulcers which required an immediate operation. The operation was a success but Valentino’s condition had become so aggravated by then that peritonitis set in and spread throughout his body.
Christina
Sorry! None of the above 🙂
10. Vaclav Klaus, former president of the Czech Republic??
OZ
Ahem. G’mornin’, Boadicea, Ma’am.
OZ
Good Morning OZ! Sorry – No!
Bugger!
OZ
You really will say that when you find out who he is! Bearsy reckons he’s soooo easy!
I suggested #10, but told Boadicea that everyone would recognise him instantly. How wrong can a Bear be? 😕
Yeah, well! He may well say that, but it helps to be married to the question-mistress.
7. Victor Hugo – Frog scribbler.
OZ
There is a Frog Scribbler there – but not no 7!
10. Victor Borge.
Araminta
10. Victor Borge (1909-2000) was born Børge Rosenbaum in Copenhagen, Denmark, into a Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke Rosenbaum, were both musicians. His father was a violist in the Royal Danish Orchestra and his mother was a pianist. Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying under Olivo Krause. He played his first major in 1926 at the Danish concert-hall Odd Fellow Palæet (The Odd Fellow’s Lodge building). After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous “stand up” act, with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts. Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-Nazi jokes.
When the Nazis occupied Denmark during World War II, Borge was playing a concert in Sweden, and managed to escape to Finland. He travelled to America on the USS American Legion, the last neutral ship to make it out of Petsamo, Finland, and arrived August 28, 1940. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother. Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge, and, in 1941, he started on Rudy Vallee’s radio show, but was hired soon after by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall.
10. Bolleaux – Victor Borge. A hero of mine!
OZ
#7 looks like Guiseppe Verdi, the composer
Bolleaux!
OZ
CWJ
7. Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (1813-1901) was an Italian composer, mainly of opera. He was the most influential member of the 19th century’s Italian School of Opera. His works are frequently performed in opera houses throughout the world and, transcending the boundaries of the genre, some of his themes have long since taken root in popular culture – such as “La donna è mobile” from Rigoletto and Libiamo ne’ lieti calici from La traviata. Oftentimes scoffed at by the critics, in his lifetime and today, as catering to the tastes of the common folk, overly simple in chromatic texture and shamelessly melodramatic, Verdi’s masterpieces dominate the standard repertoire a century and a half after their composition.
OK #8 is Victor Hugo?
OZ
#5 – Diego Velazquez – Lithping Sthpanish painter.
OZ
OZ No! and No! 🙂
Bugger! Do I at least get 10/10 for effort?
OZ
OZ
You do!
8. Jules Verne, well, I think so, anyway!
Araminta
Yes!
8. Jules Verne (1828-1905), French writer and pioneer of science fiction, in Nantes, France. His parents were of a seafaring tradition, a factor which influenced his writings. As a boy, Jules Verne ran off to be a cabin boy on a merchant ship, but he was caught and returned to his parents. In 1847 Jules was sent to study law in Paris. While there, however, his passion for the theatre grew. Later in 1850, Jules Verne’s first play was published. His father was outraged when he heard that Jules was not going to continue law, so he discontinued the money he was giving him to pay for his expenses in Paris. This forced Verne to make money by selling his stories. After spending many hours in Paris libraries studying geology, engineering, and astronomy, Jules Verne published his first novel Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863). Soon he started writing novels such as Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864), From the Earth to the Moon (1866), and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870). Because of the popularity of these and other novels, Jules Verne became a very rich man. In 1876, he bought a large yacht and sailed around Europe. His last novel The Invasion of the Sea appeared in 1905. Jules Verne died in the city of Amines on March 24, 1905.
I think 6 is Alessandro Volta, after whom the unit of electrical potential is named.
Good evening. Sorry to arrive late at the feast. It’s that pesky bowling!
No.
🙂
I really feel I should know the answers to numbers 1 and 5 too, Boadicea but my brain hurts!
FEEG
It is indeed!
6. Count Alessandro Volta (1745-1827) was born in Como, Italy, into a noble family. Volta was a physicist and pioneer in the study of electricity. “Volt,” named after Count Volta, is a measurement of electricity. Count Volta also made discoveries in electrostatics, meteorology and pneumatics. His most famous invention, however, is the first battery. The idea came from Luigi Galvani, an anatomist. Galvani was dissecting a frog when the frog’s leg began to twitch. Galvani thought it was because of some type of electrical action in the vicinity, such as lightening. Volta tried to duplicate the experiment, and he did on a clear day when there was no lightening. Through experimentation, Volta realized that the two different metal objects holding the frog leg might be the source of the action. Over a period of several years he worked out that the wet muscle tissue conducted a current between the two different type of metals. Volta modified this effect to produce the first continuous flow of electric current. Around 1800, he invented a wet battery called a Voltaic Pile. The Voltaic Pile consisted of discs of copper and zinc separated by discs of paper or cardboard (soaked in salt water). Attached to the top and bottom of this “Pile” was a copper wire. When Volta closed the circuit, electricity flowed through the pile. Volta’s battery was later refined by other scientists, and the French emperor, Napoleon, made Volta a “Count” for his discovery.
1. Vercingetorix. I always knew thar having to read and translate Caiesar’s ‘Gallic Wars’ woud come in handy one day.
Good Morning John!
Araminta – I’m absolutely certain that you know number 5!
Boadicea, in re Volta, ‘pile’ is Frog for ‘battery’.
John
Well done – I’ve yet to find one use for my mistranslations of that most boring of books!
1. Vercingetorix (82-46 BC) was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars. Vercingetorix came to power in 52 BC, when he raised an army and was proclaimed king at Gergovia. He soon established an alliance with other tribes and took control of their combined armies, leading them in Gaul’s most significant revolt against Roman power. Vercingetorix surrendered to the Romans after being defeated at the Battle of Alesia in 52 BC, after which he was imprisoned for five years. In 46 he was paraded through Rome as part of Caesar’s triumph before being executed. Known primarily through Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Vercingetorix’s revolt is frequently used as a heroic example of Gallic virtue and resolve.
… in tres partes divisa est …
Boa, sorry about the rubbish typing. It comes from working a full day and then bowling, having got up before the crack of dawn to watch my overnight recording of England thrashing Australia A in fast forward mode.
It will only get worse. One week to the Ashes and counting.
Wild guess, which I am sure is wrong
5. Vasco da Gama.
No problems, John! I doubt I’ll be able to drag Bearsy away from the TV next week either!
Araminta
Much nearer to home that that! John Mackie might even recognise this one!
Hello again.
Look I know that Mrs M is not an author but she does love your quiz and she said George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham and alleged close personal friend of Jamie VI and I as soon as she saw No 5.
And I know she’s not wrong.
Mrs M
You’re absolutely right!
5. George Villiers (1592-1628), 1st Duke of Buckingham , was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover of King James I of England and one of the most rewarded royal courtiers in all history. He was born in Brooksby, Leicestershire in August 1592, the son of the minor gentleman Sir George Villiers (1550-1604). His mother, Mary (1570 – 1632), daughter of Anthony Beaumont of Glenfield, Leicestershire, who was left a widow early, educated him for a courtier’s life, sending him to France with Sir John Eliot. Villiers took very well to the training; he could dance well, fence well, and speak a little French. In August 1614, Villiers, reputedly “the handsomest-bodied man in all of England,” was brought before the king, in the hope that the king would take a fancy to him, diminishing the power at court of then-favourite Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset.
Rats!
Yes, well done Mrs M!
🙂 !!
I suppose I have sort of heard of him, Boadicea; gulp! 🙂
I thought you might have done, Araminta!
‘W’ and ‘Y’ should be a doddle – Can’t wait for ‘X’ and ‘Z’.
OZ
Boa, like Arrers, I was looking for old Vasco too. But I didn’t arrive until this morning. Not hasty enough. 😦
Ja well, I’m more disappointed that there are none left for me to ‘research’ this morning 😉
Mission accomplished prior to midnight my time has to be some sort of record!