Kwizz Gig 4 Solution

1. What did composer Maurice Ravel do for harmonica virtuoso Larry Adler?
— In his will Ravel stipulated that Adler (1914-2001) could perform Bolero without ever paying royalties.

2. Which communication tool was invented by Ray Tomlinson in 1971?
— Email. (Yes, 1971.)

3. Why was Marie Grosholtz often to be seen at the foot of the guillotine during The Terror?
— Later becoming famous in England as Madame Tussaud (1761-1850), she used to attend executions and take death masks from the severed heads.

4. What did Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) and William Carlos Williams (1883-1963) have in common?
— Not only were they poets, they were also scientists. Williams was a practising physician and Goethe a botanist and comparative anatomist.

5. Which jazz musician had the given names "Woodrow Charles"?
— Woody Herman, bandleader and clarinettist (1913-87).

6. What was Chunee doing with 152 balls?
— Trying to avoid them. Chunee, an elephant, was the star attraction at Edward Cross' Menagerie in London. In February 1826 he became unmanageable and tried to break out of his cage. It required 152 balls of ammunition, a small cannon and a harpoon to kill him. The carcass was then skinned by nine butchers, and the viscera excised by a group of surgeons. This took all day, and by the time they'd finished the 10,000 pounds of elephant remains had created a nauseating stench in the district, all-pervasive and all too long-lasting.

7. What did Thomas Alva Edison do for his insomnia?
— Believing that insomnia is caused by the donning and doffing of one's clothes, he often slept fully dressed.

8. Which harpsichordist was executed in 1536?
— Mark Smeaton, court harpsichordist and dancer. Henry VIII had him put to death for adultery with Anne Boleyn. In fact, some have suggested that he was the father of Elizabeth I.

9. Why is the military tank so called?
— Developed by the British during World War I, the armoured vehicle was so secret that it was publicly referred to as a water cistern being made for Russian factories. Hence the name, which has been with us ever since.