Total Quiz X, part 1

Total Quiz X, part 1, summary

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Summarizing, quoting TJK quoting me...

 Questions and Answers

Q1: 1)What was the original family name of the one who won at the Pyramids and near Ulm? 2)What is the literal meaning of that name? 3)How was hat meaning used at that time for a joke? (by Serge L)
A1:  1)Buonaparte, later gallicized to Bonaparte (without the "u") to cover his Corsican origins. 2)Corsican is a dialect of the Italian group, and the original meaning should have been something like "from a good stock", but in current Italian it also means "the most part" "a good deal of", "good part"
 3)With reference to the fact Napoleonic troops used to confiscate and bring to France treasures and works of art in the lands they conquered, Italians (Sources do not agree on the inventor of this joke, which maybe originated either in Venice or Rome or Naples or elsewhere) started to say "Tutti i Francesi sono ladri? No, ma Buonaparte s�!" (=Are all Frenchmen thieves? no, but the most part/Bonaparte yes!) This double sense works in French too: "Quand l�arm�e de Bonaparte a envahi l�Italie, les italiens commentaient : Tous les fran�ais ne sont pas des voleurs, ma� Buonaparte" http://www.anthropologieenligne.com/pages/12/12.3.html There was also another variant: "Napoleon saw a peasant who was working in a field and asked � Hey , peasant, is it true or not that all Italians are thieves?� The peasant, who realised his life was on the line, answered, �Sir, all, no, but the most part (bonaparte) yes!� Napoleon, realizing the intelligence of the peasant, spared his life and continued on his way." As you can see, Napoleon was considered either both French and Italian, due to his Corsican origin. N.B. the battles mentioned are: July 21st 1798: Battle of the Pyramids, French troops overcame Egyptians on the ground. A great success, partially compromised by the fact that the French fleet was defeated some days after (August 1st) by English admiral H. Nelson. October 20th, 1805: Battle of Ulm, where Napoleon, by manoeuvring his forces around the 40,000 Austrians in the city of Ulm and cutting their supply lines, forced General Karl Mack into an untenable situation. 

Those who answered partially: fastspawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli, Tulla Che, Tem�jin, Book of Faith, glinert

Q2: Admiral who led his fleet through the 3 oceans and many sees only to find humilating defeat which have induced his government to make peace. What is the name of the admiral? (by TJK)
A2: Admiral Rojdestvensky, the defeat the well-known Tsushima battle, http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Marina/8163/Tsushima.htm
Those who answered completely: , fastspawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli, Tulla Che, Tem�jin, Kapikulu, glinert

Q3: Which American president called himself Cyrus? (by Cyrus Shahmiri)
A3:  Harry S. "I am Cyrus" Truman
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Dawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli, Tulla Che, Book of Faith, KhaKhan

Also, as Serge and others noticed, the 10th president of the United States was actually named Cyrus. Thus being pretty sure he also called himself by that name, I accepted Cyrus Griffin as an answer

Q4: What were the Xiongnu states founded in Northern China? (by ihsan)

A4: Houzhao, Xia, Beiliang and Loulan
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Dawn,  Tulla Che, Tem�jin, Kapikulu, glinert

Realizing too late that this question is *very* broad, I felt obliged to accept any answer giving a few Xiongnu states, such as the Qianzhao and others.

Q5: Who became the first astronaut/cosmonaut of his/her country, by answering a commercial advertisement, and taking part to a foreign space program? (by Serge L)
A5: British Chemist Helen Slater http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/sci/sol/experts/helen/page1.htmIt's worth to notice that UK still has no astronaut official national program, differently from most other developped countries.
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Dawn, Tulla Che, Book of Faith

Q6: What was the full name of the leader who had lead the resistance against Italians in the inner desert during the First World War and who had later became the king of his country?
A6: Sayyid Muhammad Idris Leader of the Sanusi Brotherhood and later king of Libya
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli, Tem�jin, Book of Faith
Those who almost answered completely: Book of Faith

Transcriptions from Arabic may vary, as pointed out, and I accepted different variants.

Q7: Which germanic king have been converted form arianism to catholicism in 560 AC ? (by TJK)
A7:  Suevian king Ariamir (Suevian Kingdom have been conquered by Visigoths in 585 AC)

However. Sources are not entirely consistent, and some claim Theodomir, king of the Suebi, converted in 560. Other sources claim Theodomir was in fact the same person as Ariamir, and other claim they were brothers. Anyhow, I have also accepted Theodomir.
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Tulla Che

Q8: In his bestselling book "War and Peace", Lew Tolstoi describes the Russian wars with Napoleon. For the 1812 campaign he wrote that the first French unit to enter Moscow were the Hussars of W�rttemberg. Why is it impossible and what was really the first French unit to enter Moscow in 1812? (by Temujin)
A8: W�rttemberg had no hussars at all (<- ;D, Styr had fun reading imaginative answers on this question). The first unit was 10th Regiment of Hussars of Duchy of Varsovia commanded by colonel Umi�ski (not a part of the Vistula Legion).
Those who answered partially: fastspawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli

Q9: One member of this family of "dogs" was the patron of one of the most famous writers of the Renaissance. This family was also a powerful one, but the son of the mentioned patron went too greedy for land. Though dogged and initially succesful, he lost much of the family empire and marked the start of its fall - the last family lords were two of his great-grandsons who were deposed by a republic built on stakes. Which family am I talking about? (by styrbionr)
A9:della Scala, rulers of Verona.[/c] The males of the family often wore canine names, such as Cangrande (Big-Dog), Mastino (Mastiff) and Cansignore (Lord Dog) and the like. The writer and his patron were Dante Alighieri and Cangrande della Scala respectively. Mastino II overextended himself and started the downfall of the once large North-Italian domain, and the last lords were the brothers Brunoro and Antonio, who was dethroned by the Venetians conquering Verona.

Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Dawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli

Q10: A ship, named after an old Celtic town. Crossing the Atlantic ocean in a large fleet, she was singled out and crippled by three smaller ships, and eventually sank by her companions in order to prevent the enemy to capture her cargo - a large load of gold, supposed payment for arms and ammunition. The name of the ship? (by styrbionr)
A10: a British cruiser, the venerable HMS Edinburgh. Escorting a convoy in the North Atlantic she was struck by German torpedoes in April 1942 and isolated from the convoy. Attacked by three German destroyers, she was severly crippled and sunk by her own companions - she was carrying Russian gold, payment for American arms and ammunition. The gold was salvaged in 1981.
http://www.mg002b3988.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/edinburgh.htm
http://www.hmsedinburgh.co.uk/

Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L

Q11: This Czar had noisy habit of ringing bells around the countryside. (by Glinert)
A11:  Feodor I the Bellringer http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/fyodor1/fyodor1_bio .htm

Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Dawn

Q12: Which Byzantine succesor state recaptured Byzantium from Venice. (by glinert)
A12:  The Empire of Nicaea
Those who answered completely: fastspawn, Serge L, Dawn, Mixcoatl Toltecahtecuhtli, Tulla Che, Tem�jin, Book of Faith, Kapikulu, KhaKhan

edit: �sch, the colour codes are changed.