Trivia Bits 15 June

 

The basalt formation known as the Giant’s Causeway is located in Northern Ireland.

In geography, a cataract is a large powerful waterfall

The 9.2 inch naval gun at O'Hara's Battery, Gibraltar, was capable of firing shells from Europe to Africa. The battery was in use during World War II and was last fired during training exercises in 1976.

In music theory, a diatonic scale has eight notes composed of seven pitches and a repeated octave, and are the foundation of the European musical tradition.

MIlla Jovovich played Leeloo in the 1997 movie The Fifth Element directed by Luc Besson and co-starring Bruce Willis and Gary Oldman.

Novelist Mary Angela Dickens, the oldest grandchild of Charles Dickens, died in 1948 on the 136th anniversary of his birth.

The Spanish treasure fleet was destroyed in the Battle of Vigo Bay on 23 October 1702 during the opening years of the War of the Spanish Succession.

In 1980, Queen Juliana abdicated from the throne of the Netherlands.

Non-standard poker hands in five-card draw are determined by house rules and may have colourful names like Little Bobtail and Round the Corner Straight.

The Vietnamese prison camp that American POW’s referred to as the Hanoi Hilton was at Hoa Lo.

Shatrunjaya, hills located by the city of Palitana, in Bhavnagar district, Gujarat, India, is a sacred site for Jains, containing hundreds of Palitana temples.

Ojos del Salado, reportedly the world’s highest active volcano at 6,893 m (22,615 ft), is on the border of South American countries Argentina and Chile.

The second wife of Henry VIII was Anne Boleyn who was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right.

Major sewing machine manufacturer, Singer, was first established as I.M. Singer & Co. in 1851 by Isaac Merritt Singer with New York lawyer Edward Clark.

Mario Cavaradossi and Baron Scarpia are characters from Giacomo Pucccini’s operaTosca which premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900.

The British plan for the Battle of Bazentin Ridge in 1916, was dismissed beforehand by one French commander as "an attack organized for amateurs by amateurs".

Clifford Brown was best known for playing jazz trumpet with two of his compositions, Joy Spring and Daahoud becoming jazz standards.

The 1936 famous photo known as The Falling Soldier was taken by Robert Capa, a Hungarian war photographer and photojournalist.

The first actor to play Dr Who was William Hartnell who played the coveted role from 1963 to 1966.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Vice President Selina Meyer in the HBO television comedy series Veep.