QI: The Book of General Ignorance - The Noticeably Stouter Edition

by John Lloyd

  nacre 1

  Naismith, James 1

  Namaqua people 1

  names of boys, most popular 1

  Namibia 1, 2

  NASA 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Nast, Thomas 1

  ‘Near Earth’ Asteroids (NEAs) 1

  Near Earth Object (NEO) 1

  neck ties 1

  Nelson, Horatio 1

  eye-patch 1

  funeral 1

  last words 1

  preservation in brandy 1

  and ventriloquism 1

  Nepal 1

  Neptune 1, 2

  Nero 1, 2

  Netherlands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  nettles

  World Stinging Nettle Eating Championship 1

  WWI German uniforms made from 1

  neurons 1, 2, 3, 4

  New Zealand 1, 2

  Newton, Isaac 1

  newts 1, 2

  Nicholas, Saint 1

  Nicot, Jean 1, 2

  nicotine

  colour of 1

  etymology 1

  toxicity 1

  Nile, river 1

  ‘Night before Christmas, The’ (Moore) 1

  nitrogen 1

  Noah 1, 2

  Noah’s Ark, sheep on 1

  nociception 1

  Nome, Alaska, naming of 1

  North America, camels from 1

  Norway 1, 2

  nuclear war, most likely survivor

  of 1

  numbers, unlucky 1

  nuts, definition of 1

  Oates, Titus 1

  ocean, loudest noise in 1

  Olazowa Cave 1

  Olbers, Heinrich 1

  Olbers’ Paradox 1

  Old English Game fowl 1

  Olsen, Lloyd 1

  Olympics, modern 1, 2

  Olympus Mons, see Mount Olympus

  Oompa-Loompas

  orange 1

  original, 1

  orang utans 1

  orange, words rhyming with 1

  Orkney, polar bear in 1

  osmium 1

  ostriches 1, 2

  owls

  on the Ark 1

  colour-blindness of 1

  eaten by Darwin 1

  eyes of 1

  sounds of 1

  oysters 1

  ozone 1, 2, 3

  Palin, Michael 1

  Panama 1, 2

  Panama hats, origins of 1

  panthers, colour of 1

  papacy 1

  paper, possible number of folds in 1

  paper clip, invention of 1

  Papua New Guinea

  cannibalism in 1, 2

  lack of colour words 1

  Parker, David 1

  Parker, Hyde 1

  Parkes, Alexander 1

  Parr, Catherine 1

  Parton, Dolly 1

  Pascal, Blaise 1

  Pasteur, Louis 1

  Paterson, William 1

  Patrick, Saint 1

  Paul, Saint 1

  Paul I, Czar of Russia 1, 2

  peanuts 1

  pearls, middle of 1

  Pedro, King of Castile 1

  pencils, consequences of sucking on 1

  penicillin, discovery of 1

  penises

  baculi 1

  barnacles 1

  in the Bible 1

  blue whales 1, 2

  European earwigs 1

  length of, related to shoe size 1

  replaced by sandwich 1

  Penn, William 1

  Penny Post, invention of 1

  Pepys, Samuel 1

  Perey, Marguerite 1

  Periander 1

  Pérignon, Dom 1

  Perovski, Count Lev 1

  perovskite 1

  Perrault, Charles 1, 2

  Perseus, virgin birth of 1

  Peru 1, 2, 3, 4

  Peter the Great 1

  Pheidippides 1

  philtrum 1

  phorids 1

  Piccadilly Circus, name of statue 1

  Pierce, Franklin 1

  pineapples 1

  Pinker, Stephen 1

  Pisa, Rustichello da 1

  pistachios 1

  planets

  naming of 1

  number of 1

  plaster of Paris 1

  naming of 1

  Pliny the Elder 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Plunket, Saint Oliver 1

  Plunkett, Roy 1

  Plutarch 1

  Pluto 1, 2, 3, 4

  Poe, Edgar Allan 1

  poisons

  antitdote to arsenic 1

  ethyl gasoline 1

  and Nero 1

  and newts 1

  and snakes 1

  in tobacco 1

  Poland 1, 2, 3

  polar bears 1, 2, 3

  Polo, Marco 1, 2

  ‘pom’, as nickname 1

  pomegranate 1, 2

  Pony Express 1

  porridge, origins of 1

  Portugal 1, 2, 3, 4

  potatoes

  evolutionary path of 1

  introduction of 1, 2

  nicotine in 1, 2

  Potemkin, Grigori Alexandrovich 1

  Procopius 1

  proprioception 1

  Prozac 1

  Prussia 1

  Ptolemy II 1

  Puerto Rico 1, 2

  puma 1, 2

  punctuation 1

  Punxsutawney Phil 1

  Pythagoras 1

  Quaker Oats, creation of 1

  Quinion, Michael 1

  rabbits 1, 2

  raindrops, shape of 1

  Raleigh, Walter 1

  Rama I, King of Thailand 1

  Randolph, Peyton 1

  raspberries 1

  rats, colour-blindness of 1

  Recorde, Robert 1

  Red Jungle Fowl, chickens

  descended from 1

  Redi, Francesco 1

  Reed, Carol 1

  reindeer

  antler loss in 1

  domestication of 1

  speed of 1

  Remarque, Erich Maria 1

  Reyburn, Wallace 1, 2

  rhinoceroses, horns of 1

  Richardson, Lucy 1

  Richter, Charles 1

  Richter scale 1

  rickshaw, invention of 1

  ‘ring-a-ring o’ roses’, origin of 1

  Roberts, Brushy Bill 1

  Robin Hood 1

  rock, biggest 1

  Romania 1

  Rome, ancient

  Britons considered cannibals 1

  carrots as aphrodisiacs 1

  fashions in dress 1

  gladiators in 1

  names for British 1

  naming conventions 1

  Nero and the fire 1

  and number thirteen 1

  postal service 1

  running-with-a-ball game 1

  vomitoria 1

  Roosevelt, Robert 1

  Roosevelt, Theodore 1, 2

  Ross, Ronald 1

  Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 1, 2

  Rowbotham, Samuel Birley 1

  Royal Society 1

  rubber boots, invention of 1

  rubidium 1, 2

  Rudolph the Red-nosed

  Reindeer, gender of 1

  rugby 1

  Rugby School 1, 2

  Rumsey, H. J. 1

  Ruskin, Effie 1

  Ruskin, John 1

  Russia 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Russian Roulette 1

  Sahara 1, 2

  sailors, biggest sea battle killer of 1

  Sa’im al-dahr 1

  St Bernards, uses for 1

  St John’s Wort 1

  St Vincent, Earl 1

  Salmon, William 1

  Sandwich, Earl of 1

  Santa Claus, origins of 1

  Santorini, Giovanni 1

  Schiaparelli, Giovanni 1

  Schönbein, Christian 1, 2

  Scobie, Jonathan 1


  Scotland 1

  arrival of whisky in 1

  Celts in 1, 2

  Eskimos in 1

  inventions from 1

  Jacobite rebellion in 1

  last country invaded by 1

  Scott, Dr 1

  Scott, Ridley 1

  Scott, Walter 1

  Scoville, William L. 1

  Scoville Scale 1

  Selkirk, Alexander 1

  Sellers, Isaiah 1, 2

  Seltzer, David 1

  Semmelweiss, Ignaz 1

  Seneca the Younger 1

  September 1, 2001 2, 3

  Sequoyah 1, 2

  serial killer, history’s first 1

  Seychelles sheath-tailed bat 1

  Shaftesbury, 1th Earl of 2

  Shakespeare, William 1

  sharks 1

  sheep 1, 2, 3, 4

  and violin strings 1

  Shenton, Samuel 1

  Shistov, Lev 1

  shistovite 1

  shoes, the fitting of 1

  shrimps, noise of 1

  Silk Road 1

  silver, as best metal conductor 1

  Sinbad the Sailor 1

  Skinner, B. F. 1

  sleep, healthy amount of 1

  sloths

  as most dangerous animal 1

  metabolism of 1

  three-toed 1

  two-toed 1, 2

  Slovakia, smallest dog from 1

  smallpox 1, 2

  smoking 1, 2, 3, 4

  snakes

  charming of 1

  poisonous, not venomous 1

  probability of a bite 1

  rattlesnakes on 1970s TV 1

  tolerant of poison 1

  snow, Eskimo words for 1

  soccer 1

  Solanges, Comte de 1

  solanine 1

  sound barrier, first invention to break 1

  South Africa 1, 2, 3

  South America 1, 2, 3

  cannibalism in 1

  flamingos in 1

  guinea pigs in 1

  peanuts in 1

  Spanish pronunciation in 1

  South China tigers 1, 2

  Spain 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

  cannibalism in 1

  pronunciation in, and the ‘lisp’ 1

  Spam 1

  Spears, Britney 1

  Spencer, Herbert 1

  sperm

  and division of labour 1

  of dogs 1

  sensitivity to scents 1

  sperm whales 1

  Sphinx 1

  spiders 1, 2, 3

  spirulina 1

  Spitfire 1

  ‘sport of kings’ 1

  squirrels, fur of 1

  stamps 1

  stars

  Boomerang Nebula 1

  names of constellations 1

  Olbers’ paradox 1

  shape of 1

  visible 1

  steam engine, inventor of 1

  stomach ulcers, cause of 1

  Stone Age peoples, habitats of 1

  strawberries 1

  Strutt, William John, Lord Rayleigh 1

  Stuart, Gilbert 1

  Suetonius 1

  suicide rate, highest 1

  Sundblom, Haddon 1, 2

  superconductors 1, 2

  superstitions, and pragmatism 1

  ‘survival of the fittest’, coining of term 1

  Sweden 1, 2, 3

  suicide rate in 1

  Swiss Family Robinson, surname of 1

  Switzerland

  biscuits in 1

  inventions of 1

  St Bernards 1

  Swiss rolls 1

  synaesthesia 1

  Tammann, Gustav 1

  Tanzania 1

  tartans, origins of 1

  Taylor, David 1

  Taylor, Montague 1

  Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich 1

  tea 1, 2, 3

  teeth

  celluloid 1, 2

  decay of, and bacteria 1

  dental statistics (modern) 1

  Washington’s false teeth 1, 2, 3

  ‘Waterloo teeth’ 1

  Teflon, discovery of 1

  telephone, inventor of 1

  television, effects on health 1

  Tennant, Smithson 1

  Thailand 1, 2

  capital of 1

  chicken ancestor in 1

  Theory of Relativity, inventor of 1

  thermoception 1

  Thom, Charles 1

  Thoreau, Henry David 1

  Thule 1

  Tibet 1

  tigers 1

  age of, when dangerous 1

  highest concentration of 1

  see also South China tigers

  tobacco 1

  chemicals in 1

  introduced to England 1

  as a medicine 1

  unusual fertilisers for 1

  as world’s biggest killer 1

  togas 1

  Tokyo 1

  toothpaste, bears and 1

  Tour de France 1

  Toynbee, Arnold 1

  Trafalgar, Battle of 1

  transport

  car accidents 1, 2

  hydrofoil 1

  railways 1

  rickshaws 1

  Treaty of Madrid 1

  Treaty of Versailles 1

  trees ‘anti-greenhouse effect’ 1

  and loofahs 1

  ozone released from 1

  role of forest fires 1

  in thunderstorms 1, 2

  world’s most useful 1

  Truman, Harry S. 1

  tsunamis 1, 2

  tulips, origins of 1

  tungsten 1

  Turkey 1, 2, 3, 4

  turkeys

  farming techniques 1

  origins of 1

  Turner, Herbert Hall 1

  Turner, J. M. W. 1, 2

  Tutankhamun, curse of 1

  Twain, Mark 1

  Tyson, Mike 1

  United Nations 1, 2

  United States 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

  advertising in 1

  banning of Inuit 1

  baseball in 1

  basketball invented in 1

  bison in 1

  bra-burning legend 1

  bubonic plague in 1

  champagne and 1, 2

  cockfighting in 1

  concentration of tigers in 1

  declarations of war 1

  depression in 1

  earthquakes in 1

  egg industry in 1

  first president 1

  forest management in 1

  founding of New York 1

  guano-snatching 1

  gypsum in homes 1

  hailstorms in 1

  Hokey Pokey, as dance 1

  log cabins in 1

  loofahs in 1

  Mike the chicken in 1

  military use of dolphins 1

  most dangerous American 1, 2

  names for citizens of 1

  national motto 1

  Native American languages 1, 2

  nature of ‘biscuits’ in 1

  number of states in 1

  number thirteen in 1

  sign language 1

  suicide rate in 1

  tall buildings (nineteenth century) 1

  television watching in 1

  see also Civil War (US)

  universe

  colour of 1

  storage space in 1

  Ursa Major 1

  USSR

  cinemas in 1

  Cold War 1

  Vaaler, Johann 1

  Van Gelder, Lindsay 1

  Vatican 1, 2

  Venezuela 1

  venom 1, 2

  ventriloquism 1

  Vesalius, Andreas 1

  Vespucci, Amerigo 1

  Victoria, Queen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  videocassettes, rival formats 1

  Vietnam War 1, 2

&
nbsp; Vikings 1

  violin strings 1, 2

  Viotti, Giovanni Battista 1

  Virgil 1, 2

  viruses, as distinct from bacteria 1

  vitamin C 1

  Vitruvius 1

  volcanoes 1, 2, 3

  Voltaire 1, 2

  vomitoria 1

  voodoo dolls 1

  V-sign, origins of 1

  Vulović, Vesna 1

  Wagner, Richard 1

  Waldseemüller, Martin 1

  Wales 1, 2

  Celts in 1, 2

  equals sign from 1

  Wallace, Lew 1

  Wallace, William 1

  Walpole, Robert 1

  Warren, Robin 1

  Washington, George 1

  false teeth of 1, 2, 3

  water

  colour of 1

  direction down the drain of 1

  and Earth’s mass 1

  as electrical conductor 1

  fresh water as ice 1

  sterilised by silver 1