Rescue dogs, stolen goods and kids crashing cars – take the Thursday quiz

There is going to be a dog in one of the questions, so here is a cute six-month old puppy to get us started. Photograph: GlobalP/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Welcome again to the Thursday quiz. A smattering of topical questions and some general knowledge challenges await you. It is just for fun and there are no prizes, but let us know how you get on in the comments. There is a hidden reference to Doctor Who in one of the incorrect answer options, which will score you a bonus point if you can spot it. Have fun.

The Thursday quiz, No 54

1. 

   BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: The US army has given back something it stole from the village of San Pietro near Vicenza in northern Italy during the second world war. What was it?

   1. A statue of Saint Peter that used to stand in the village square

   2. A hoard of 337 silver Roman coins belonging to the local museum

   3. A 13-year-old girl's birthday cake stolen from a windowsill

   4. A painting of the Fallen Madonna by Van Clomp that used to hang in the village cafe

2. 

   NAUGHTY NAUGHTY VERY NAUGHTY: A rare copy of a 'wicked' 1631 Bible has been found in New Zealand. Due to an unfortunate typographical error, which of the Ten Commandments has been mangled in it?

   1. Thou shalt kill

   2. Thou shalt commit adultery

   3. Thou shalt steal

   4. Thou shalt covet thy neighbour's ox

3. 

   ORDER IN COURT: The judge in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial was left temporarily lost for words last week after the court was shown the pre-recorded deposition of a doorman who was doing what?

   1. Driving and vaping while giving his testimony

   2. Clipping his finger nails while giving his testimony

   3. Delivering his testimony as a rap

   4. Announcing that he was forming a European Super League™

4. 

   ON THIS DAY AND ALSO IN COURT: Alfred and Albert Stratton were found guilty of murder on 5 May 1905. They were the first men in Britain to be convicted of murder and executed on the basis of what type of evidence?

   1. DNA evidence

   2. Fingerprint evidence

   3. They were caught on camera

   4. Lie detector evidence

5. 

   NOW THAT I OWN THE BBC: That is a 1994 Sparks song where they ponder 'What am I supposed to do with that thing?'. But that's not important right now. Who has secured the TV rights for the England's men's senior football team for the next two years?

   1. Channel 4

   2. ITV

   3. Amazon Prime

   4. Channel 5

6. 

   BOY RACER: A four-year-old boy (not pictured) appears to have got into his parents' car and then crashed it into two parked cars before being found wandering the street in his pyjamas in which Dutch city?

   1. Amsterdam

   2. Rotterdam

   3. The Hague

   4. Utrecht

7. 

   LASSIE COME HOME: In another incident almost tailor-made for the Thursday quiz, a three-legged dog with cancer (not pictured) saved what in a Minnesota river drama?

   1. A baby deer

   2. A baby skunk

   3. A baby otter

   4. A baby elongated muskrat

8. 

   GCSE SCIENCE CORNER: That is enough silliness for one quiz. If a simple electrical circuit contains three resistors in series of 4 ohms, 8 ohms and 2 ohms in that order and nothing else, what is the total resistance?

   1. 4 divided by 8 divided by 2 to give 0.25 ohms

   2. The average of the three resistors to give 4.6 ohms

   3. The sum of the three resistors to give 14 ohms

   4. The value of the largest resistor, giving 8 ohms

9. LITERATURE: Jose Eduardo Agualusa's 2012 novel A General Theory of Oblivion is based on a true story about a Portuguese woman who walls herself into her apartment just before which African country gained independence in 1975?

   1. Angola

   2. Zimbabwe

   3. Cape Verde

   4. Guinea-Bissau

10. 

    FIBONACCI NUMBERS: First described in Indian mathematics, and forming a sequence where each number is the sum of the two preceding ones, F₁₁ is 89. It was in 89BC that Cicero ended his service in the Roman army. But what was Cicero's full name?

    1. Marcus Tullius Cicero

    2. Augustus Tullius Cicero

    3. Publius Tullius Cicero

    4. Lucius Tullius Cicero

11. 

    CITIES IN DISGUISE: Which Scandinavian city has previously been known as Ánslo, Christiania and Kristiania?

    1. Trondheim

    2. Oslo

    3. Halden

    4. Tromsø

12. 

    WHY THE LONG FACE?: What was the Scottish name of Merida's faithful horse companion (not pictured) in the 2012 Disney/Pixar movie Brave?

    1. Macbeth

    2. Duncan

    3. Malcolm

    4. Angus

13. 

    ALLONS-Y: The website Wiki Voyage lists 23 locations visited by the fictional Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days. No 14 is San Francisco, but when did construction start on the Golden Gate bridge?

    1. 1873

    2. 1893

    3. 1913

    4. 1933

14. 

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY: It is Henry Cavill's birthday today. Happy birthday, Henry. But what is the name of the character he plays in The Witcher?

    1. Count de Luverten

    2. Geralt of Rivia

    3. Emhyr var Emreis

    4. Henry van Statten

15. 

    MUSIC: Ric Parnell, the drummer in the movie This Is Spinal Tap, has sadly passed away. Which 1981 hit single did he play on?

    1. Hey Mickey by Toni Basil

    2. Shaddap You Face by Joe Dolce Music Theatre

    3. Japanese Boy by Aneka

    4. Sat in Your Lap by Kate Bush

Solutions

1:C - Repentant American soldiers have presented an Italian woman with a birthday cake to make up for the one their predecessors stole from her as it cooled on a windowsill 77 years ago. An emotional Meri Mion, who turned 90 last week, said she had not been expecting the cake, although she clearly remembered the moment the one baked for her 13th birthday 'disappeared'., 2:B - The omission of the word 'not' in that commandment led to the printers being summoned to see King Charles I and stripped of their printing licence. Only about 20 copies are believed to have survived. The Thursday quiz, no stranger to crucial typographical errors, extends its sympathies., 3:A - Alejandro Romero’s pre-recorded testimony from his phone camera sparked laughter from the jury when he started driving and vaping while recounting the details of what he knew. At one point he expressed his frustration at being dragged into the case and said he didn't want 'to deal with this any more'. After the clip was shown in court, Judge Penney Azcarate said: 'I just got to say I’ve never seen that before. I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen that.', 4:B - The right thumbprint of Alfred Stratton matched one found on a cash box at the scene of the crime. It came five years after the Belper Committee in the UK had recommended the use of fingerprinting. The first known murder case to be solved with fingerprint evidence forcing a confession is believed to have been in Argentina in 1892., 5:A - Channel 4 has taken over as broadcast partner from ITV and Sky, and the deal will start with England's matches in June. You can tell from his face that Ron still has no word on who has secured the lucrative television rights for the European Super League™ though., 6:D - He got a cuddly toy from an ambulance crew and a hot chocolate from the police before they discovered the abandoned car, which was registered to his parents. He then demonstrated to police that he knew how to start it and drive it., 7:C - Gus the dog swam into the St Croix river in Lakeland after spotting the newborn otter struggling. 'He came to shore and he had something in his mouth, and it turned out to be a very tiny otter,' the dog’s owner, Cleo Young, said., 8:C - Adding resistors in series always increases the total resistance, as the current has to pass through each resistor in turn., 9:A - Portugal's colonial relationship with Angola began in 1484 when explorer Diogo Cão reached the area. In the novel, Ludovica Fernandes Mano's only connection to the outside world for many years comes from a radio and a messenger pigeon that she traps. Angola's civil war started after independence and continued until 2002., 10:A - He was a Marcus, with a distinguished career in politics and lots of writing to his name by the time he was murdered on Mark Antony's instructions., 11:B - Harald Hardrada established Ánslo as a trading place and, after its destruction, a new settlement was named Christiania and later Kristiania after King Christian IV. It became Oslo in 1925 when it was expanded to include the original site of Ánslo as well., 12:D - According to the Pixar wiki, Angus 'can be balky, stubborn and faint-hearted at times, but is ultimately a devoted and faithful friend to Merida'., 13:D - As symbolic of San Francisco as it is, the Golden Gate bridge is less than 100 years old, having opened in 1937, after construction started – in the face of some opposition from local residents and the incumbent ferry company – in January 1933., 14:B - A legendary witcher of the School of the Wolf who, according to the lore of the series, was active throughout the 13th century, Cavill gets to channel his most extreme 'Oh really must I?' disgruntlement about absolutely everything in the series., 15:A - He contributed the drums to this track which was an international hit and criticised in some quarters for having obscene lyrics. Parnell also played with Atomic Rooster, as well as appearing as Mick Shrimpton in the Spinal Tap movie.

Scores

1. 0 and above.

   We hope you had fun! Let us know how you got on in the comments

• If you do think there has been an egregious error in one of the questions or answers, please feel free to email martin.belam@theguardian.com, but remember, the quiz master’s word is always final, and you don’t want him to release the hounds.