Show off your knowledge: 15 interesting questions from the program “What? Where? When?"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Answer how heated rods were used in German bars and why the British added tea to milk, and not vice versa.

– 1 –

In 1928, the editor of the popular Ogonyok magazine, Mikhail Koltsov, instructed his employee to prepare a funny selection of jokes, riddles, puzzles, charades. What was the name of this employee?

The entertainment strip for the magazine was prepared by employee Viktor Mikulin. In order to somehow give a title to the collections that he was compiling, editor Mikhail Koltsov came up with the word "quiz" - "on behalf of Victor and the last letters of the surname."

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– 2 –

“Not handsome, but not bad-looking, neither too fat nor too thin; one cannot say that he is too old, but not so that he is too young. What is this literary hero?

Swindler and former official Pavel Ivanovich Chichikov from Gogol's Dead Souls.

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– 3 –

A lot can be made from this herb: sausage, cheese, milk, butter and even gasoline. What is it called?

Soy.

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– 4 –

Guess the riddle: what grows the more, the more is taken away? The answer starts at the end and ends at the beginning.

Pit.

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– 5 –

“I don't like boastful dinners, Where are a hundred gluttons, not knowing the conversation, They chew and sleep. Why such sodom?

Do you want the mind, the imagination

Brought lunch into a happy fermentation, So that the spirit plays with the playing wine, How did the experts in Hellas bequeathed?

Try to have guests at the table

No less Kharit in number, The number of Kamen did not exceed you."

Based on the information from the last two lines of Baratynsky's poem, tell me how many guests should have been invited to dinner?

Three ancient Greek goddesses of fun and joy of life were called Harites, and nine muses were called stones. This means that there should be no less than three and no more than nine guests at dinner.

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– 6 –

Inside the black box is the products of the Volgograd plant. It is made from Novgorod paper, Indonesian rubber and local powder. But nobody wants to use what they end up with. What's in the black box?

Mustard plasters.

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– 7 –

The pirate ship Walrus, commanded by Captain Flint of Treasure Island, was equipped with a full set of items that would allow you to freely approach any ship at close range. What were these items?

In those days, one ship could freely approach another, only if the flags of one state fluttered on their flagpoles. This was used by the Flint pirates, who carried the flags of all countries on board.

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– 8 –

For a long time, the British have been drinking tea with milk, and first they pour milk into a porcelain cup, and only then tea. And this is no coincidence. This tradition has two reasons: firstly, according to the British, if tea is poured into milk, it acquires a unique aroma. And secondly? What is the second reason?

For tea, thin porcelain cups were served, which could crack from boiling water. By pouring tea into milk, the British protected the porcelain from destruction.

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– 9 –

Once Peter I gathered his closest associates: the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Menshikov, the close office of the President-General Count Zotov, the State Chancellor Count Golovkin, Naryshkin's sleeping bag and Field Marshal Trubetskoy. What commission did the king give to each participant in this meeting?

Each of the participants in the meeting, including Peter himself, was responsible for the construction of the bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, they were named after them.

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– 10 –

On March 30, 1858, American Hymen Lipman received a patent for this invention. Lipman even managed to earn $ 100,000 on it, but then the patent office decided that this was not an invention, but a combination of two already known devices with the opposite function. The patent has been revoked. What kind of invention was it?

Pencil with eraser.

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– 11 –

In the mid-80s of the XX century, sparkling water was produced in England under the name "221B". According to the advertising slogan, what did the use of this water contribute to?

221B Baker Street is the address of Detective Sherlock Holmes. The water was designed to activate mental faculties.

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– 12 –

"The father of advertising" David Ogilvy argued that texts printed in light type on a dark background are inconvenient to read, so they should not be used. But there is one exception. The printed matter that Ogilvy advised to do in light print on a black background is in a black box. What is there?

Theatrical programs that are convenient to read in low light during a performance.

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– 13 –

Once, three students - Lydia Koreneva, Alisa Koonen and Lyubov Kosminskaya - decided to give their beloved actor Vasily Kachalov a birthday present, according to which he could immediately guess who the present was from. What is this gift?

Trico - Koreneva, Koonen, Kosminskaya.

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– 14 –

In the 18th and even in the 19th century, every German pub had a fireplace. In front of his open firebox, metal rods were heated on a special device. What were they for?

Previously, the Germans preferred to drink beer warmed up. From time to time they went to the fireplace, took a heated rod and lowered it into a mug.

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– 15 –

In the days of Peter I, after the ball, one could find lost "words" on the floor. What are these "words"?

In those days, there was a special language of flirting at balls, and "words" in it were cosmetic flies glued to the face, chest or shoulders - pieces of black velvet, taffeta or plaster that looked like moles. For example, the front sight between the eyebrows meant "be frank", the front sight on the neck meant "I love you."

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The collection questions are taken from this archive.