The book of general ignorance

A Quite Interesting Book THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE The Noticeably Stouter Edition John Lloyd and John Mitchinson Table of Contents Title Page FOREWORD | Stephen Fry FO(U)R(E) Words | Alan Davies INTRODUCTION | John Lloyd How many wives did Henry VIII have? How many nostrils have you got? Where is the driest place on earth? Where are you most likely to get caught in a hailstorm? Where is the highest mountain? What’s the name of the tallest mountain in the world? What’s the largest living thing? What’s the biggest thing a blue whale can swallow? Which bird lays the smallest egg for its size? How long can a chicken live without its head? What has a three-second memory? What’s the most dangerous animal that has ever lived? Do marmots kill people? How lemmings die? What chameleons do? How polar bears disguise themselves? How many galaxies are visible to the naked eye? What man-made artefacts can be seen from the moon? Which of these are Chinese inventions? Where did Marco Polo come from? What is Croatia’s most lasting contribution to world business? Who introduced tobacco and potatoes to England? Who invented the steam engine? Who invented the telephone? What’s quite interesting about Scotland, kilts, bagpipes, haggis, porridge, whisky and tartan? Where does Chicken Tikka Masala come from? Is French toast from France? Who invented champagne? Where was the guillotine invented? Where was ‘La Marseillaise’ written? How many prisoners were freed by the storming of the Bastille? Who said, ‘Let them eat cake’? How well you know the Swiss? What does a St Bernard carry round its neck? What goes hunk-hunk? What noise does the largest frog in the world make? Which owl says ‘Tu-whit, tu-whoo’? What did Darwin to dead owls? Can barnacles fly? When does ‘ring-a-ring o’ roses’ date from? What were Nelson’s last words? Which eye did Nelson wear his eye-patch on? How many senses does a human being have? How many states of matter are there? What is the normal state of glass? Which metal is liquid at room temperature? Which metal is the best conductor? What’s the densest element? Where diamonds come from? How we measure earthquakes? What’s the commonest material in the world? What does the Moon smell like? Does the Earth go round the Moon or the Moonround the Earth? How many moons does the Earth have? How many planets are there in the solar system? How would you fly through an asteroid belt? What’s in an atom? What’s the main ingredient of air? Where would you go for a lungful of ozone? What colour is nicotine? What speed does light travel at? How moths feel about flames? How many legs does a centipede have? How many toes has a two-toed sloth? How many eyes does a no-eyed, big-eyed wolf spider have? How many penises does a European earwig have? Which animals are the best-endowed of all? What’s a rhino’s horn made from? Which African mammal kills more humans than any other? Where most tigers live? What would you use to overpower a crocodile? What is the bravest species of animal? Name a poisonous snake What’s three times as dangerous as war? What killed most sailors in an eighteenth-century sea battle? Which war killed the highest proportion of British soldiers? What’s the word for Napoleon’s most humiliating defeat? Who blew the nose off the Sphinx? What’s the name of the Piccadilly Circus statue in London? What did Nero while Rome burned? What’s more likely: being killed by lightning or by an asteroid? How many people died in the Great Fire of London? How did Roman Emperors order the death of a gladiator? What was interesting about the birth of Julius Caesar? What’s a vomitorium for? What did the Romans like to wear? What happened to most people accused of witchcraft in England? What is the Number of the Beast? Where does the word ‘assassin’ come from? Which crime did Burke and Hare commit? What are chastity belts for? What was Tutankhamun’s curse? Where does the V-sign come from? What did feminists with their bras? What colour is the universe? What colour is Mars? What colour is water? What colour was the sky in ancient Greece? How much of the Earth is water? Which way does the bathwater go down the plughole? What camels store in their humps? Where camels come from? Who is America named after? How many states are there in the USA? Who was the first American President? What were George Washington’s false teeth made from? Whose official motto is e pluribus unum? Why deaf Americans feel at home in Paris? How the Cherokee pronounce ‘Cherokee’? What did Buffalo Bill to buffaloes? How does the US government care for its precious sequoia groves? Where was baseball invented? How did the game of rugby begin? What’s the only sport invented entirely in the USA? What you call someone from the United States? What was Billy the Kid’s real name? What we have Thomas Crapper to thank for? What was Mozart’s middle name? How did Mark Twain get his name? What was the surname of the Swiss Family Robinson? How did Nome in Alaska get its name? What is the name of the capital city of Thailand? What’s the world’s largest city? What’s the largest lake in Canada? What’s the single largest man-made structure on Earth? How many times can you fold a piece of paper in half? Where’s the coolest place in the universe? When did the most recent Ice Age end? Who lives in igloos? Would you call someone an Eskimo? How many words Eskimos have for snow? What did human beings evolve from? Who coined the phrase ‘the survival of the fittest’? Who invented the ball-point pen? What we use to write on a blackboard? Where does the equals sign come from? What did Robert Bunsen invent? What’s made of celluloid? Who invented rubber boots? What Edison invention English speakers use every day? Was the first computer bug a real insect? What is the most likely survivor of a nuclear war? What’s the best use for Marmite? Which is the hottest part of a chilli? Where tulips come from? How many crocuses does it take to make a kilo of saffron? What can you tell about a man from his shoe size? What drives human sperm wild? Why racing cyclists shave their legs? What was the first invention to break the sound barrier? What kind of music charms snakes most? What are violin strings made from? What’s the best floor of a building to throw a cat from? Why did the dodo die out? What buries its head in the sand? What’s at the middle of a pearl? Where gorillas sleep? What’s the commonest bird in the world? What’s the ‘sport of kings’? What’s Britain’s smallest bird? What animal are the Canary Islands named after? What’s the smallest dog in the world? How dogs mate? How did Catherine the Great die? What surprised John Ruskin on his wedding night? How long your fingernails and hair grow after death? What did Atlas carry on his shoulders? How high is Cloud Nine? What makes champagne fizz? What shape is a raindrop? What produces most of the earth’s oxygen? What were First World War German uniforms made from? What sophisticated mechanism enabled the first successful landing on an aircraft carrier at sea? How many muscles you have in your fingers? Who discovered penicillin? Is a virus a germ? What causes stomach ulcers? What does your appendix do? What does your appendix do? What is the worst thing to eat for tooth decay? What are guinea pigs used for? What was the first animal in space? Which has the most neck bones, a mouse or a giraffe? How long have the Celts lived in Britain? Who was the first man to circumnavigate the globe? Who was the first to claim that the Earth goes round the Sun? Who invented the Theory of Relativity? What shape did Columbus think the Earth was? What shape did medieval people think the Earth was? Who first discovered that the world was round? Why bees buzz? What has the largest brain in comparison to its size? How much of our brains we use? What colour is your brain? What effect does alcohol have on brain cells? What dolphins drink? What was James Bond’s favourite drink? What shouldn’t you drink if you’re dehydrated? What contains the most caffeine: a cup of tea or a cup of coffee? Why was the dishwasher invented? What kind of fruit are Jaffa Cakes made from? What digestive biscuits do? How was Teflon discovered? Which organisation invented Quaker Oats? What shouldn’t you twenty minutes after eating? How does television damage your health? What newborn babies like best? How much sleep should you have every night? What will be the biggest killer in the world by 2030? What illness British doctors treat most often? Is the answer to depression just to ‘walk it off’? Which country has the world’s highest suicide rate? Which uses more muscles, smiling or frowning? Was Hitler a vegetarian? Which nation invented the concentration camp? In what year did World War II end? Who was the most dangerous American in history? What valuable commodity gives the US the legal right to seize foreign territory? Which aeroplane won the Battle of Britain? When did the last survivor of the Crimean War die? How many dog years equal one human year? How long is a day? What’s the longest animal? What happens if you cut an earthworm in half? What’s the loudest thing in the ocean? Why are flamingos pink? What colour is a panther? What makes an animal see red? What colour were the original Oompa-Loompas? What colour were Robin Hood’s tights? What rhymes with orange? What colour are carrots? Do carrots help us see in the dark? What bananas grow on? What is coffee made from? Which of the following are berries? Which of the following are nuts? Who goes gathering nuts in May? What’s inside a coconut? What did Captain Cook give his men to cure scurvy? Who discovered Australia? What does ‘kangaroo’ mean in Aboriginal? What is ‘pom’ short for? What’s the biggest rock in the world? What were boomerangs used for? What’s wrong with this picture? Which religion curses people by sticking pins into dolls? What are you doing when you ‘do the Hokey-cokey’? What’s the unluckiest date? How many Wise Men visited Jesus? Where does Santa Claus come from? What Bugs Bunny, Brer Rabbit and the Easter Bunny have in common? What were Cinderella’s slippers made from? Where loofahs come from? What’s the strongest wood? What you get if you suck your pencil? Have you ever slid down a banister? Olympics, modern 1, Olympus Mons, see Mount Olympus Oompa-Loompas orange original, orang utans orange, words rhyming with Orkney, polar bear in osmium ostriches 1, owls on the Ark colour-blindness of eaten by Darwin eyes of sounds of oysters ozone 1, 2, Palin, Michael Panama 1, Panama hats, origins of panthers, colour of papacy paper, possible number of folds in paper clip, invention of Papua New Guinea cannibalism in 1, lack of colour words Parker, David Parker, Hyde Parkes, Alexander Parr, Catherine Parton, Dolly Pascal, Blaise Pasteur, Louis Paterson, William Patrick, Saint Paul, Saint Paul I, Czar of Russia 1, peanuts pearls, middle of Pedro, King of Castile pencils, consequences of sucking on penicillin, discovery of penises baculi barnacles in the Bible blue whales 1, European earwigs length of, related to shoe size replaced by sandwich Penn, William Penny Post, invention of Pepys, Samuel Perey, Marguerite Periander Pérignon, Dom Perovski, Count Lev perovskite Perrault, Charles 1, Perseus, virgin birth of Peru 1, 2, 3, Peter the Great Pheidippides philtrum phorids Piccadilly Circus, name of statue Pierce, Franklin pineapples Pinker, Stephen Pisa, Rustichello da pistachios planets naming of number of plaster of Paris naming of Pliny the Elder 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Plunket, Saint Oliver Plunkett, Roy Plutarch Pluto 1, 2, 3, Poe, Edgar Allan poisons antitdote to arsenic ethyl gasoline and Nero and newts and snakes in tobacco Poland 1, 2, polar bears 1, 2, Polo, Marco 1, ‘pom’, as nickname pomegranate 1, Pony Express porridge, origins of Portugal 1, 2, 3, potatoes evolutionary path of introduction of 1, nicotine in 1, Potemkin, Grigori Alexandrovich Procopius proprioception Prozac Prussia Ptolemy II Puerto Rico 1, puma 1, punctuation Punxsutawney Phil Pythagoras Quaker Oats, creation of Quinion, Michael rabbits 1, raindrops, shape of Raleigh, Walter Rama I, King of Thailand Randolph, Peyton raspberries rats, colour-blindness of Recorde, Robert Red Jungle Fowl, chickens descended from Redi, Francesco Reed, Carol reindeer antler loss in domestication of speed of Remarque, Erich Maria Reyburn, Wallace 1, rhinoceroses, horns of Richardson, Lucy Richter, Charles Richter scale rickshaw, invention of ‘ring-a-ring o’ roses’, origin of Roberts, Brushy Bill Robin Hood rock, biggest Romania Rome, ancient Britons considered cannibals carrots as aphrodisiacs fashions in dress gladiators in names for British naming conventions Nero and the fire and number thirteen postal service running-with-a-ball game vomitoria Roosevelt, Robert Roosevelt, Theodore 1, Ross, Ronald Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 1, Rowbotham, Samuel Birley Royal Society rubber boots, invention of rubidium 1, Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, gender of rugby Rugby School 1, Rumsey, H J Ruskin, Effie Ruskin, John Russia 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Russian Roulette Sahara 1, sailors, biggest sea battle killer of Sa’im al-dahr St Bernards, uses for St John’s Wort St Vincent, Earl Salmon, William Sandwich, Earl of Santa Claus, origins of Santorini, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Giovanni Schönbein, Christian 1, Scobie, Jonathan Scotland arrival of whisky in Celts in 1, Eskimos in inventions from Jacobite rebellion in last country invaded by Scott, Dr Scott, Ridley Scott, Walter Scoville, William L Scoville Scale Selkirk, Alexander Sellers, Isaiah 1, Seltzer, David Semmelweiss, Ignaz Seneca the Younger September 1, 2001 2, Sequoyah 1, serial killer, history’s first Seychelles sheath-tailed bat Shaftesbury, 1th Earl of Shakespeare, William sharks sheep 1, 2, 3, and violin strings Shenton, Samuel Shistov, Lev shistovite shoes, the fitting of shrimps, noise of Silk Road silver, as best metal conductor Sinbad the Sailor Skinner, B F sleep, healthy amount of sloths as most dangerous animal metabolism of three-toed two-toed 1, Slovakia, smallest dog from smallpox 1, smoking 1, 2, 3, snakes charming of poisonous, not venomous probability of a bite rattlesnakes on 1970s TV tolerant of poison snow, Eskimo words for soccer Solanges, Comte de solanine sound barrier, first invention to break South Africa 1, 2, South America 1, 2, cannibalism in flamingos in guinea pigs in peanuts in Spanish pronunciation in South China tigers 1, Spain 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, cannibalism in pronunciation in, and the ‘lisp’ Spam Spears, Britney Spencer, Herbert sperm and division of labour of dogs sensitivity to scents sperm whales Sphinx spiders 1, 2, spirulina Spitfire ‘sport of kings’ squirrels, fur of stamps stars Boomerang Nebula names of constellations Olbers’ paradox shape of visible steam engine, inventor of stomach ulcers, cause of Stone Age peoples, habitats of strawberries Strutt, William John, Lord Rayleigh Stuart, Gilbert Suetonius suicide rate, highest Sundblom, Haddon 1, superconductors 1, superstitions, and pragmatism ‘survival of the fittest’, coining of term Sweden 1, 2, suicide rate in Swiss Family Robinson, surname of Switzerland biscuits in inventions of St Bernards Swiss rolls synaesthesia Tammann, Gustav Tanzania tartans, origins of Taylor, David Taylor, Montague Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich tea 1, 2, teeth celluloid 1, decay of, and bacteria dental statistics (modern) Washington’s false teeth 1, 2, ‘Waterloo teeth’ Teflon, discovery of telephone, inventor of television, effects on health Tennant, Smithson Thailand 1, capital of chicken ancestor in Theory of Relativity, inventor of thermoception Thom, Charles Thoreau, Henry David Thule Tibet tigers age of, when dangerous highest concentration of see also South China tigers tobacco chemicals in introduced to England as a medicine unusual fertilisers for as world’s biggest killer togas Tokyo toothpaste, bears and Tour de France Toynbee, Arnold Trafalgar, Battle of transport car accidents 1, hydrofoil railways rickshaws Treaty of Madrid Treaty of Versailles trees ‘anti-greenhouse effect’ and loofahs ozone released from role of forest fires in thunderstorms 1, world’s most useful Truman, Harry S tsunamis 1, tulips, origins of tungsten Turkey 1, 2, 3, turkeys farming techniques origins of Turner, Herbert Hall Turner, J M W 1, Tutankhamun, curse of Twain, Mark Tyson, Mike United Nations 1, United States 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 advertising in banning of Inuit baseball in basketball invented in bison in bra-burning legend bubonic plague in champagne and 1, cockfighting in concentration of tigers in declarations of war depression in earthquakes in egg industry in first president forest management in founding of New York guano-snatching gypsum in homes hailstorms in Hokey Pokey, as dance log cabins in loofahs in Mike the chicken in military use of dolphins most dangerous American 1, names for citizens of national motto Native American languages 1, nature of ‘biscuits’ in number of states in number thirteen in sign language suicide rate in tall buildings (nineteenth century) television watching in see also Civil War (US) universe colour of storage space in Ursa Major USSR cinemas in Cold War Vaaler, Johann Van Gelder, Lindsay Vatican 1, Venezuela venom 1, ventriloquism Vesalius, Andreas Vespucci, Amerigo Victoria, Queen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, videocassettes, rival formats Vietnam War 1, Vikings violin strings 1, Viotti, Giovanni Battista Virgil 1, viruses, as distinct from bacteria vitamin C Vitruvius volcanoes 1, 2, Voltaire 1, vomitoria voodoo dolls V-sign, origins of Vulović, Vesna Wagner, Richard Waldseemüller, Martin Wales 1, Celts in 1, equals sign from Wallace, Lew Wallace, William Walpole, Robert Warren, Robin Washington, George false teeth of 1, 2, water colour of direction down the drain of and Earth’s mass as electrical conductor fresh water as ice sterilised by silver Waterloo, Battle of 1, Webb, Jane Loudon weightlessness, and flies Welles, Orson Wellington, Duke of nationality of whales 1, 2, see also blue whales; sperm whales Wharton, Drs whau tree whips whisky, origins of white matter Whyte, Major Wilde, Oscar 1, Wilhelm II, Kaiser William, Prince William the Conqueror, name of Wilson, Woodrow wind speeds Wise Men witchcraft Wolfe, Tom wood cannon ball splinters from lightest strongest World Trade Center World War I 1, acronyms from battlecruisers 1, landing on aircraft carriers uniforms made of nettles World War II 1, 2, carrier pigeons in carrots as disinformation Hawker Hurricane in paperclips as resistance symbol popularity of Spam silence regarding thumbs-up signal year of its ending worms 1, as longest animal in pearls survive amputation survive Shuttle disaster wrens wrestling, naked Wright, Steven 1, Wyss, father and sons Yeager, Chuck yellow fever Yemen Yorkshire terrier 1, zenzizenzizenzic, as failed neologism Zeus Zheng He Zoloft Zoroastrianism About John Lloyd and John Mitchinson QI first aired on BBC2 in September 2003 with John Lloyd producing and John Mitchinson masterminding the research John Lloyd has a broadcasting background As a radio producer he devised The News Quiz and To the Manor Born, before moving to television to start Not the Nine O’Clock News, Spitting Image and Blackadder John Mitchinson is from the world of books The original Marketing Director of Waterstone’s, he became Managing Director of Cassell, where he published the Beatles, Michael Palin and Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable The two Johns both keep hens and drink in the same pub in rural North Oxfordshire Also by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson THE BOOK OF ANIMAL IGNORANCE ADVANCED BANTER: THE QI BOOK OF QUOTATIONS The QI Book of The Dead THE QI ‘E’ ANNUAL THE QI ‘F’ ANNUAL THE QI ‘G’ ANNUAL THE QI ‘H’ ANNUAL Also by John Lloyd (with Douglas Adams) THE MEANING OF LIFF THE DEEPER MEANING OF LIFF Copyright First published in 2006 by Faber and Faber Ltd Bloomsbury House 74–77 Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DA This Noticeably Stouter ebook edition first published in 2010 All rights reserved © QI Ltd, 2006, 2009 Illustrations © Mr Bingo, 2006, 2009 The right of QI Ltd to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly ISBN 978–0–571–27378–2 ... fervently in the possibility of change THE BOOK OF GENERAL IGNORANCE The Noticeably Stouter Edition By ignorance the truth is known Henry Suso [1300–65], The Little Book of Truth How many wives did... be the distance of a mountain’s peak from the centre of the Earth Because the Earth is a flattened rather than a perfect sphere, the equator is about 21 km (13 miles) further from the centre of. .. 400 of them are members of the Anopheles family, and, of these, 40 species are able to transmit malaria The females use the blood they suck to mature their eggs, which are laid on water The eggs