1.    Born Israel Baline in Mogilyov, Russia, name the American composer who wrote the scores for nineteen Broadway shows and eighteen films, including "Top Hat" (1935), "Follow The Fleet" (1936) and "Easter Parade" (1948).

2.   Often cast as the hero's sidekick or rival, name the actor, born in Carmen, Manitoba, who appeared in the films "Mildred Pierce" (1945), "A Star Is Born" (1954) and "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" (1958).

3.    Who was the British adventurer who, in 1966-67, sailed around the world alone in a 55ft. sailing yacht, the "Gypsy Moth IV"?

4.    Who was the noted American ventriloquist and radio comedian whose career in vaudeville, radio and films spanned almost 60 years, and whose characters included Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd and Effie Klinker?

5.    Who was the American long jumper who, by jumping 26 feet 11.25 inches on 12 August 1960, broke by three inches the world record set by Jesse Owens 25 years earlier, and on 16 July 1961 became the first man to jump more than 27 feet? 

6.   A Communist from the age of 14, who was the Czechoslovak Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, arrested in January 1951 accused of espionage activities and imprisoned in Hungary:  later rehabilitated, he left Czechoslovakia in 1963 and, with his wife, Lise, wrote an account of his ordeal, "L'Aveu", which was made into a film in 1970 by Costa-Gavras? 

7.    Who was the New Zealand-born English master of the short story, whose collection "The Garden Party" (1922) includes "At The Bay", "The Voyage", "The Stranger" and the classic "Daughters of the Late Colonel", a subtle account of genteel frustration?

8.    Name the poet, born on 30th May 1835 in Leeds, Yorkshire, who succeeded Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as Poet Laureate.

9.   Born in Richmond, Virginia, who was the American novelist whose realistic depictions of life in her native Virginia helped direct Southern literature away from sentimentality and nostalgia, and whose series of novels depicting the social and political history of Virginia since 1850, began, in 1900, with "The Voice of the People"?

10.   Having four years earlier been awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Glory, who, in 1993, appeared opposite Julia Roberts in "The Pelican Brief", and as small-time personal injury lawyer, Joe Miller, in "Philadelphia"?

11.   Who was the American civil-rights leader, Baptist Minister and politician, born on 8 October 1941 in Greenville, South Carolina, who became the first black person to make a serious bid for the U.S. Presidency (in the Democratic Party's nomination races in 1983-84 and 1987-88)?

12.   Name the American singer and actress whose first four albums, released between 1985 and 1992, amassed global sales in excess of 86 million copies, and who is the cousin of singer Dionne Warwick.

13.   The 16th President of the United States of America (1861-65), who was known as "The Rail-Splitter" or "The Great Emancipator"?

14.   Who was the English novelist, journalist, sociologist and historian, best known for such science fiction as "The Time Machine" and "The War of The Worlds" and comic novels, including "Tono-Bungay"?

15.   Name the American comedian and master of the one-liner, who performed in vaudeville and on radio before moving to television, where he portrayed the wisecracking buddy on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961-66),  and who died on 28 October 1996.

16.   Who, the daughter of a blacksmith, born Amy Lyon in Great Neston, Cheshire, and wife of the British Envoy to the Kingdom of Naples, became the mistress of the British naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson?

17.   Name the Canadian romantic novelist, best known for "Anne of Green Gables" (1908), a sentimentalised but often charming, story of a spirited, unconventional orphan girl who finds a home with an elderly couple.

18.   The recipient of 1945 Nobel Prize for Peace for his part in organising the United Nations, who was the U.S. Secretary of State (1933-44), whose initiation of the reciprocal trade programme to lower tariffs, set in motion the mechanism for expanded world trade in the second half of the 20th century?

19.   Who was the English chronicler and Benedictine monk (c.1199-1259), noted for his "Chronica Majora", a history of the world from the Creation to the mid-13th century?

20.   Name the drummer who, together with Scott Engel and John Maus, formed The Walker Brothers in Los Angeles in 1964.

21.   Born Emily Marie Bertelson, in Marysvale, Utah, who was the former Miss Utah, born of Mormon parentage, whose films include "Force of Evil" (1948), "The Narrow Margin" (1952) and "The Killing" (1956)?

22.   Elected President of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1899 and of the British Association six years later, who was the English astronomer, born in Downe, Kent, who championed the theory that the Moon was once part of the Earth, until it was pulled free to form a satellite?

23.   Who was the American political activist, co-founder (with Bobby Seale) of the Black Panther Party (originally called Black Panther Party for Self-Defense), who was found shot dead on a street in Oakland, California in August 1989?

24.   Who was the Lithuanian-born French novelist whose novels mix humour with tragedy and faith with cynicism, and include "The Colours of the Day" (1953) and "The Dance of Genghis Cohn" (1968)?

25.   Nominated for an Oscar for her touching performance as a marathon dancer in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" (1971), who was the British actress who wrote a highly successful children's tale "In Search of Unicorns"?

26.   Which American male vocalist's only U.K. Top Ten hit record was "Hang On In There, Baby" in 1974?

27.   Who was the English merchant who commanded the first English vessel to reach the East Indies, and who established the first English trading post in South East Asia?  In 1588 he served under Sir Francis Drake as commander of the "Edward Bonaventure" against the Spanish Armada.

28.   Born on 2 March 1769 in Little Britain, New York, who was the American political leader who saw the potential in the proposal for a canal from Buffalo, on the eastern shore of Lake Erie, to Albany on the upper Hudson, passing through the gap in the mountains in the Mohawk Valley region (the Erie Canal)?

29.   Name the English poet (c.1575-1635), whose "Godfrey of Bulloign or the Recoverie of Jerusalem" (1600), was a free translation of "Gerusalemme liberata", an epic poem by his Italian contemporary Torquato Tasso.

30.   Who was the English physicist, born on 6 September 1908 in Nottingham, England, who invented the quartz crystal ring clock and the first practical atomic clock, these devices being capable of measuring more accurately than any previous clocks?

Your Full Name

Town and Country

Your Email address