h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sorry! Ada Lovelace was the first programmer. She worked with Charles Babbage in the design and programming of his difference engine, although the machine never got built in their lifetime. She was the daughter of the famous poet, Byron.

O I C

Clive

Yes, it's a guess, and it's wrong.

Correct, Byron is the poet (not Shelley). Ada did more than work with Babbage. She was married to him. And she was Ada, Countess of Lovelace.

Ada Lovelace was a model for all programmers to aspire to - she let the project overrun so much that she actually died without completing it and wrote so little actual documentation that nobody could carry on the project

There is a programming language called Ada, named after Ada, Countess of Lovelace, wife of Charles Babbage, daughter of Lord Byron.

And went *way* over budget. She was the Ted Nelson of her day. Well, actually Babbage was, rather than Ada.

And now I know the answer to 16, the only British athlete to win an Olympic medal. Found on the web 5 minutes ago.

Only one left that I don't have an answer to: 22 "He is for the gallows..."

Dammit, she was Byron´s daughter? Pretty girl anyway.

Well, the quiz is now in. I have 49 correct answers (I found two of the ones I thought were right were wrong at the last moment, but I got them in time)

The final question I still have no (definitive) answer to is:

"He is for the gallows in this world and the fires of hell in the next" were reputedly the words of the midwife. To whom was she referring?

I will be given the answer in 6 days time, but I'd like to find it before then.

Dave

Good luck with the quiz.

Just in the meanwhile I've trawled the depths and asked some friends if they could think of any answers. Here are their suggestions...

1.) Do bank notes count as cheques? Small print: "I promise to pay the bearer...etc." So was it the first chief of the Bank of England?
15.) Queen
18.) Russia (or USSR)
24.) Hull docks
25.) The Grand National?
27.) One half of the Smith & Wesson gun partnership?
28.) Sherlock Holmes? (!)
31.) Winston Churchill, in his role as a Boer War correspondent before priministerial duties
43.) John Keats (apprentice barber-surgeon)
47.) The person who first circum-navigated the globe. Was that Raleigh?
50.) Shergar (Horse)

Clive ...can't wait to find out what the answers really are....

(1) No, bank notes don't count. It has to be a cheque, written and signed.

(15) Nope.

(18) Nope.

(24) Correct!

(25) Nope.

(27) Nope.

(28) Nope.

(31) Nope.

(43) Nope.

(47) Nope.

(50) Nope.

Well, we've got one more correct answer, anyway! Well done!

I'll go and tell Chris he'll be pleased!

The kudos garned from a correct answer. Glee

The question "Where is the Land of Green Ginger?". The answer Dave has accepted as correct is "Hull Docks". There is some sort of shopping centre by this name in Hull, but is this the correct answer?

There are two books of this name. One is by Winnifred Holtby. It is about a woman living on a farm in Yorkshire. I haven't read it so I don't know what the name represents. The other is by Noel Langley and is a children's story about what happened to Aladdin after he got rich and settled down. In it, the Land of Green Ginger was a flying land which was located somewhere in the Arabian desert. So there's another "correct" answer!

Point taken, but Hull is known as the Land og Green Ginger, and is the only *real* place that is known by that name. The reason is because of William Wilberforce, the spice and slave trader. The Green Ginger was fresh ginger route that he imported from the orient.

I'd not come across the Aladdin reference before. Interesting. I can't find anything by Noel Langley except a book about the Edgar Cayce mysteries. Ho hum.

I stand by my answer, though. I suspect the Winnifred Holtby book name refers to Hull, and given it's the only *real* place the answer is, in some sense, more correct. Your mileage may vary.

Hi guys! So come on don't leave us in suspence forever. What were the answers?????

Clive

Hi Clive,

I've only just re-registered since h2g2 came back. I'll post the answers in a few days.

Dave

Thanks Dave.