local quiz

[CLARE LOUISE]

in which country was the bicycle invented?

who made the first man-powered flight which crossed the english channel?

which magical land did author l frank baum create?

in which country did the first passenger railway open in 1831?

which famous painter designed the film sets for the hitchcock film 'spellbound'?

who discovered the pacific ocean?

what is a hurricane called west of the international dateline?

[kettledrum]

Frank Baum - (The wizard of) OZ
Salvador Dali did the dream sequence in Spellbound

[JerryB]

First man-powered aircraft to fly across the English Channel.

The Kremer Prize for the Channel crossing was won by Bryan Allen, who flew the Gossamer Albatross from Folkestone, England, to Cap Gris-Nez, France, in 2 hr., 55 min. (June 12, 1979).

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004537.html

[JerryB]

Typhoon: A hurricane in the north Pacific west of the International Date Line. Sometimes the word is used to refer to any tropical cyclone, no matter what its wind speed. It has been used to refer to tropical cyclones in the South Pacific or Indian Ocean, but this use is not considered to be correct today.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/hurricane/glos sary.htm

[EverClean]

The Pacific Ocean was discovered by John Peter Pacifiic (1542-1599) and he named his discovery after himself. There have been several challenges to this, notably by Henry Maddox Billy (1550-1600) who wished to name it the Billy Ocean and George William Henry Locum (1520-1576) who wished to name it the Locum Ocean but eventually it became known as the Pacific Ocean.

[sarumite]

The invention of bicycle is outlined in following site:

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/inventors/pag e/b/bicycle.shtml

[prospector]

Bicycle invention ----

Some history books will state that Pierre and Ernest Michaux, the French father and son team of carriage-makers, invented the first bicycle during the 1860s. Historians now disagree and there is evidence that the bicycle is older than that. However, historians do agree that Ernest Michaux did invent the modern bicycle pedal and cranks in 1861.

Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn - Early Bicycles
The German Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbronn invented the "Laufmaschine" or "Running Machine", a type of pre-bicycle. The steerable Laufmaschine was made entirely of wood and had no pedals; a rider would push his/her feet against the ground to make the machine go forward. Sauerbronn's bicycle was first exhibited in Paris on April 6, 1818. The celerifere was another similar early bicycle precursor invented in 1790 by Frenchmen, Comte Mede de Sivrac, however, it had no steering.

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/b lbicycle.htm

[shammydodger]

I love ones such as "who discovered the pacific ocean?" because the conventional answer generally tends to be some western european, totally ignoring the fact that people indigenous to countries bordering, or islands within, the pacific might, just might, have had the ability to look over the local cliff top and go "bl00dy hell, there's an ocean out there!" (With an accent, of course).

[EverClean]

Wales claim to have the first passenger railway but it pre-dates 1831. I dont know how to link but try here-

http://www.mumblestrain.co.uk/intro_1.html

[1066tk]

in which country was the bicycle invented?
Ans : France

who made the first man-powered flight which crossed the english channel?
Ans: Bleriot

which magical land did author l frank baum create?
Ans: The Land of OZ (As in the wizard of)

in which country did the first passenger railway open in 1831?
Ans: England

who discovered the pacific ocean?
Ans: Ferdinand Magellan

what is a hurricane called west of the international dateline?
Ans: Typhoon

[mike b]

first European to sight the Pacific usually regarded as Balboa, several years before Magellan...