Pub Quiz thread

I thought those were Monty Python events rather than Olympic events...

But no. Just to add a confusing clue, it has nothing to do with any specific event, but would likely only happen in a specific kind of event.

 

Harry Hillman (an olympic gold medalist) and Lawson Robertson hold the world record for running the three-legged100 yards sprint in 11 seconds. It wasn't an Olympic event, I have just discovered.

In the 1912 Olympics a Japanese marathon runner suffered from heatstroke. He was taken into a farmhouse by the farmer's family and left for Japan the next day without telling the Olympic authorities. He was invited back to Sweden in 1966 to complete the race and finished with an unofficial time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 8 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds.

 

Impressive - but is it an official record?

 

I guess it must be some discontinued event such as standing long jump or two handed discus throwing ?

 

Yes and no.

It didn't really have anything to do with the event itself, and yes, the specific event has been discontinued, but the sporting 'category' it came under lingers on - which is probably what makes it possible to for the record to still be beaten.

The guy who set the record was a Swede, who had also won two gold and a bronze in the 1908 games. In 1912, he only won one gold and a bronze, but in doing so he beat the previous record - which had been set in 1908 by an Irishman in a different event.

 

I confess to researching this one BB Were they real 'running deer' that were being shot at - if so I can understand why the event disappeared from the agenda. Oscar Swahn became the oldest gold medal winner ever at just short of 65 years of age in the running deer shooting competition.

 

That's the one. Interestingly, the gold he didn't win in 1912 was won by his son.

Over to you.

 

Cheers BB. Rather a difficult one - the town where I live will have certain events tomorrow to mark an anniversary - the only other town doing the same is Wuppertal. The only difference being that Wuppertal is doing it more enthusiastically whereas some of the council here are more reluctant ie. the issue is controversial. There is a connection to Manchester as well though I don't think they are officially marking the event. What anniversary is it ?

 

Is this something to do with Engels? The 200th anniversary of his birth?

 

It is indeed NZ. Although Friedrich Engels was born in Wuppertal his father built a second mill in Engelskirchen (where I live) because the labour was cheaper and the fast flowing water was perfect - originally his father wanted him to take this over, but he opted for Manchester instead (probably a wise choice, and one which shaped a bit of history). However, the Engels family also built their country residence in Engelskirchen. The industrial museum and the town hall are in the former premises of the Ermen and Engels mill. The name Engelskirchen has nothing to do with the Engels family (some descendents of which are still here) and is pure coincidence. Over to you.

 

Thanks Cologne. I think that my great great grandfather had something to do with the mills in Manchester where the Engels family also had connections.

What links Bismark's complaint that Germany exchanged trousers for a button and a PhD in astrophysics?

 

Is this to do with Werner Heisenberg’s visits to Heligoland, as covered in the book ‘Helgoland’ by Carlo Rovelli?

 

Yes. Heligoland is the first link in the chain. It is the button.

 

An unnecessary 'c'?
My sister's step-son gained his PhD in Astrophysics at the Max Planck Institute in Germany - and the correct spelling of Bismark is Bismarck...

 

And Zanzibar was 'the trousers' but I'm still struggling to make the connection.

 

Yes Zanzibar is the trousers - part of the trousers in reality but all that is required for this answer.
Zanzibar is the next link.
So far we have had places but places can't get PhDs. The answer requires a switch to people.
.Two people are the next links.

 

A clue. Think of famous people born in the trousers.

 

The guitarist of Queen, Brian May has a PhD in Astrophysics, and Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar. His family moved there from India, which would have been facillitated by the Island no longer being a German colony (actually it never was a German colony - Germany gave up all further interest in East Africa through this treaty, and Heligoland was considered vital in controlling the entry to the Elbe and the Weser). So the answer has something to do with the band Queen.

 

That's it Cologne. Tanganika was a German colony until the end of the First World War. The Anglo-German Treaty swapped Heligoland and a bit of Bechuanaland (the Caprivi Strip) for British control of a part of the Kenyan coast and Zanzibar becoming a British protectorate. The British realised that Heligoland was undefendable against Germany.
As you say, Freddie Mercury was barn in Zanzibar and his bandmate, Brian May, has a PhD is Astrophysics.

 

Cheers NZ. It is often said that blondes have more fun (pure myth) but in which species of the animal kingdom is exactly the reverse the case and why ?