If you scroll through these facts and realize that the majority of them are well-known to you, you might have a good chance of excelling in a pub quiz. Or, even you could take it even further and try your hand at World Quizzing Championships.
The event has been going on for 20 years now, taking place in various countries all over the world. The participants that sit down to take the written quiz all do it simultaneously on the first Saturday of June. They take it in two parts, each of them lasting 1 hour.
The topics you have to brush up on are extensive. They are:
- Culture; Architecture, Fine art, Museums, Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, World cultures
- Entertainment; Ballet, Classical music, Film Music, Jazz & World Music, Opera, Pop music, Radio, Television, Theatre (Popular/Musicals)
- History; Civilizations, Current Affairs, Exploration, Famous People, History
- Lifestyle; Costume, Design, Fashion, Food & Drink, Handicrafts, Health & Fitness, Human Body, New Age beliefs, Products & Brands, Social Media, Tourism
- Media; Comic strips, Comic books, Graphic novels, Film, Language, Literature
- Sciences; Exact sciences (Chemistry, Physics etc.), Fauna, Flora, Social sciences
- Sport & Games; Games, Sports, Hobbies & Pastimes, Records & achievements (in context of genre)
- World; Cities, Human Geography Physical Geography, Inventions, Space, Technology, Transport
Here are a couple of sample questions for you:
In many Eastern belief systems, it is an incarnation or representation of a deity or holy man. Younger people will probably be familiar with the word used to describe it, not from religion but from internet chat rooms. Which word?
Unlike most birds which hunt by sight or hearing, this bird has nostrils at the tip of its beak. It uses these to smell and find its food. What is this bird, which known for another reason to most of us?
In 1905, a patent clerk from Bern published a number of articles that changed the world. The year 1905 was later called his ‘annus mirabilis’. Who was this man?
(The answers are Avatar, kiwi, and Albert Einstein)
Once you’ve refreshed your memory, all you need to do is sign up for the event and go take the quiz. That’s all! You don’t need to be a Grand Master level quizzer to earn the right to be there or anything. You don’t even need to go through any qualification rounds. You have as much of a chance to win it as any other person who signed up for it.
But, let’s be honest here. If one would have to bet on a possible winner, one will probably pick one of the names that tend to end up in the top 3 pretty much every year. One of them is Pat Gibson.
Pat Gibson is an Irishman who’s been dubbed one of the smartest people in the world. Back in 2004, he won “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and walked away with 1 million pounds. Since then, the software developer has been participating in numerous quizzing championships, scoring 7 gold, 11 silver, and 7 bronze medals over the years. At the moment, he is the number one ranked quizzer in the world.
Gibson is, of course, not the only shining star of the quiz world. Another big name in the quiz world is Kevin Ashman. He is a proud owner of 17 gold, 13 silver, and 3 bronze medals from the British, European, and World Championships. He might also be familiar to British quiz show enthusiasts as he’s been a champion of Mastermind and Brain of Britain. He’s also one of the panelists on the Eggheads game show.
