On July 26, 1940, Warner Brothers released the Looney Tunes animated short film A Wild Hare, featuring the debut of Bugs Bunny in his familiar incarnation. Earlier embryonic versions of the character had appeared in prior cartoons. This date also brings a treasure trove of trivia: our daily quiz covering 20 questions on general knowledge and sport, with answers that reveal fascinating facts about history, culture, and games.
General Knowledge Quiz Answers
An RAF wing traditionally consists of three squadrons. The word "ketchup" is derived from the Malay (Malaysian) language. Germany became the first country to send a man-made object into space in 1944 (within three years either side). In Olympic archery, the archer stands 70 metres from the target. The village of Coton in the Elms in Derbyshire holds the distinction of being the furthest point inland from the sea in England, at 70 miles (113 km).
In your kitchen, an occlupanid is a plastic bread tag. According to John Daniel, who coined the term in 1994, he created a parody website called the Holotypic Occlupanid Research Group (HORG), playfully treating tags as parasitic organisms. The word combines Latin occludere (to close) and panis (bread). The currency used in the United States prior to adopting the US dollar in 1792 was the Spanish dollar (piece of eight). To convert a UK size 8 shoe to US size, simply add half a size. Trigger's real name in the BBC1 sitcom Only Fools and Horses was Colin Ball. At the start of a game of draughts, 40 squares are not covered by pieces.
Sport and Games Trivia
In professional boxing, the weight class between flyweight and featherweight is bantamweight. In bridge, a hand with no cards in a particular suit is called a void (not a chicane, which applies to the trump suit). The Kentucky Derby is traditionally run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Lucy Bronze was the first English player to finish in the top three in the voting for the Ballon d'Or Féminin.
Alain Prost was driving for McLaren when he became the first French driver to win the Formula 1 World Championship in 1985. In horseracing, a female horse is classed as a filly until the age of four. The rules of Aussie rules football were first agreed at a meeting in Melbourne in the 1850s (specifically 1859). Muhammad Ali fought George Foreman in the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" on 30 October 1974.
In the men's Olympic decathlon, the second-to-last event is traditionally the javelin throw. In the board game Cluedo, Dr Orchid replaced Mrs White in 2016.
More Quirky Facts
This day also prompts other questions: What is Disney's first full-length animated feature? (Answer: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937). A barbel is a type of fish. The official language of Egypt is Arabic. Mahjong is played with 144 tiles featuring winds, seasons, and flowers. Hong Kong-born actor Jackie Chan starred in the Rush Hour series. The Montgolfier Brothers developed the hot air balloon. Bob Hawke was Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 to 1991. Of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was located south of modern Baghdad. Botany is the study of plants. The most northerly capital city in the world is Reykjavik, Iceland.
