Death is the subject today, something that comes to all of us sooner or later. As before the correct answer will turn green when it’s clicked upon and expanded to give more information. The incorrect answers will turn red giving the correct explanation.
1. Even in death, Steve Marsh received a parking ticket. Why?
He was buried beneath a replica marble headstone of a BMW
CORRECT In May 2010 Steve Marsh, a BMW fanatic was buried beneath a £50,000 1-tonne life-sized marble replica M3 convertible in Manor Park Cemetery and a parking ticket was affixed to the windscreen.
He was a funeral director and his hearse was double-parked
WRONG In May 2010 Steve Marsh, a BMW fanatic was buried beneath a £50,000 1-tonne life-sized marble replica M3 convertible in Manor Park Cemetery and a parking ticket was affixed to the windscreen.
The night he died his car had been stolen and parked on a red route
WRONG In May 2010 Steve Marsh, a BMW fanatic was buried beneath a £50,000 1-tonne life-sized marble replica M3 convertible in Manor Park Cemetery and a parking ticket was affixed to the windscreen.
2. Why did Pawel Modzelewski’s demise go unnoticed?
Tradition has it that anyone sleeping in Polish Club is left undisturbed
WRONG On 19 January 2009 Pawel Modzelewski travelled the 19 bus for six hours unnoticed after dying the previous day and was left in the garage overnight.
He died on a bus and was found the next day in the bus garage
CORRECT On 19 January 2009 Pawel Modzelewski travelled the 19 bus for six hours unnoticed after dying the previous day and was left in the garage overnight.
Before the Underground changed he lay undisturbed going around the Circle Line for a whole day
WRONG On 19 January 2009 Pawel Modzelewski travelled the 19 bus for six hours unnoticed after dying the previous day and was left in the garage overnight.
3. Why did the death of Martial Bourdin start a riot?
He blew himself up
CORRECT In February 1894 in Greenwich Park anarchist, Martial Bourdin accidentally blew himself en route to blowing up the Royal Observatory. His funeral sparked riots by 15,000 near the Autonomie Anarchist Club, 6 Windmill Street.
He was killed by the police
WRONG In February 1894 in Greenwich Park anarchist, Martial Bourdin accidentally blew himself en route to blowing up the Royal Observatory. His funeral sparked riots by 15,000 near the Autonomie Anarchist Club, 6 Windmill Street.
He was assassinated on the Government’s order
WRONG In February 1894 in Greenwich Park anarchist, Martial Bourdin accidentally blew himself en route to blowing up the Royal Observatory. His funeral sparked riots by 15,000 near the Autonomie Anarchist Club, 6 Windmill Street.
4. Why does 9 Curzon Place, Mayfair hold a curious London reputation for death?
Ghosts who reputedly committed suicide to haunt the premises
WRONG Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place was where Cass Elliot of Mamas and Papas died in 1974 of a heart attack. The flat was on loan from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Four years later, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon died in the same room. They were both aged 32 years.
It was the scene of a gangland massacre in the 1950s
WRONG Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place was where Cass Elliot of Mamas and Papas died in 1974 of a heart attack. The flat was on loan from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Four years later, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon died in the same room. They were both aged 32 years.
Two rock stars have met their demise here
CORRECT Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place was where Cass Elliot of Mamas and Papas died in 1974 of a heart attack. The flat was on loan from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Four years later, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon died in the same room. They were both aged 32 years.
5. How did the Necropolis Railway Company offer to transport the dead?
It offered first, second and third class one-way tickets
CORRECT The Necropolis Railway Company transported coffins from Waterloo to Brockwood Cemetery customers could choose between first, second and third class.
It offered viewing windows in its carriages for mourners to pay their respects as the train passed by
WRONG The Necropolis Railway Company transported coffins from Waterloo to Brockwood Cemetery customers could choose between first, second and third class.
The train driver wore a dark suit along with black gloves, a hatband and cravat
WRONG The Necropolis Railway Company transported coffins from Waterloo to Brockwood Cemetery customers could choose between first, second and third class.
6. On 17th October 1814 eight people met an untimely and unusual end, but what was the cause of their demise?
The Great London Earthquake
WRONG Beer was the drink of choice as the water was often unsafe. The demand led to brewers constructing huge vats as an economical way of producing the beverage. One such vat burst its hoops which in turn ruptured nearby vats. Eventually, more than 323,000 gallons became a tsunami drowning 8 people. The Dominion Theatre stands on the site of the ill-fated Horseshoe Brewery.
The Great Beer Flood
CORRECT Beer was the drink of choice as the water was often unsafe. The demand led to brewers constructing huge vats as an economical way of producing the beverage. One such vat burst its hoops which in turn ruptured nearby vats. Eventually, more than 323,000 gallons became a tsunami drowning 8 people. The Dominion Theatre stands on the site of the ill-fated Horseshoe Brewery.
The Great London Fireworks Display
WRONG Beer was the drink of choice as the water was often unsafe. The demand led to brewers constructing huge vats as an economical way of producing the beverage. One such vat burst its hoops which in turn ruptured nearby vats. Eventually, more than 323,000 gallons became a tsunami drowning 8 people. The Dominion Theatre stands on the site of the ill-fated Horseshoe Brewery.
7. Which London cemetery is divided into a western half and an eastern half by Swains Lane?
Kensal Green
WRONG Perhaps the best-known cemetery in London, Highgate is the final resting place for many famous people, including Karl Marx, George Eliot and Michael Faraday.
Brompton
WRONG Perhaps the best-known cemetery in London, Highgate is the final resting place for many famous people, including Karl Marx, George Eliot and Michael Faraday.
Highgate
CORRECT Perhaps the best-known cemetery in London, Highgate is the final resting place for many famous people, including Karl Marx, George Eliot and Michael Faraday.
8. What is unusual about the memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery to the 19th-century circus performer Andrew Ducrow?
There is a marble elephant on the top of it
WRONG Originally decorated with stone sphinxes painted in bright colours that have since faded, Ducrow who was an equestrian performer and the proprietor of the famous Astley’s Amphitheatre in the middle of the 19th-century, has one of the most elaborate of all the mausoleums in Kensal Green Cemetery.
The inscription on it is written in Sanskrit
WRONG Originally decorated with stone sphinxes painted in bright colours that have since faded, Ducrow who was an equestrian performer and the proprietor of the famous Astley’s Amphitheatre in the middle of the 19th-century, has one of the most elaborate of all the mausoleums in Kensal Green Cemetery.
It is decorated with stone sphinxes
CORRECT Originally decorated with stone sphinxes painted in bright colours that have since faded, Ducrow who was an equestrian performer and the proprietor of the famous Astley’s Amphitheatre in the middle of the 19th-century, has one of the most elaborate of all the mausoleums in Kensal Green Cemetery.
9. Whose ‘auto-icon’ still sits in a glass-fronted case in University College, London, more than a century-and-a-half after he died?
Jeremy Bentham’s
CORRECT When moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he left a will with specific instructions on the ‘disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame’. His skeleton was to be ‘clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me’ and seated upright on a chair, under a placard reading ‘Auto Icon’. Bentham further suggested that his corpse might then be able to preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers. He attends every UCL Council meeting and is always recorded as ‘present but not voting’, except when the Council is split on a motion. On those rare occasions, he gets a vote, and always votes in favour of the motion, due to his mischievous personality.
John Stuart Mill’s
WRONG When moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he left a will with specific instructions on the ‘disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame’. His skeleton was to be ‘clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me’ and seated upright on a chair, under a placard reading ‘Auto Icon’. Bentham further suggested that his corpse might then be able to preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers. He attends every UCL Council meeting and is always recorded as ‘present but not voting’, except when the Council is split on a motion. On those rare occasions, he gets a vote, and always votes in favour of the motion, due to his mischievous personality.
Benjamin Disraeli’s
WRONG When moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he left a will with specific instructions on the ‘disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame’. His skeleton was to be ‘clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me’ and seated upright on a chair, under a placard reading ‘Auto Icon’. Bentham further suggested that his corpse might then be able to preside over regular meetings of his utilitarian followers. He attends every UCL Council meeting and is always recorded as ‘present but not voting’, except when the Council is split on a motion. On those rare occasions, he gets a vote, and always votes in favour of the motion, due to his mischievous personality.
10. What ‘first’ did Colonel Pierpoint admire before he died?
The first pedestrian crossing
WRONG At his expense in 1864 Colonel Pierpoint had London’s first traffic island constructed in St. James’s Street opposite his club in Pall Mall. On its completion, his excitement (and possible inebriation) encouraged him to dash across the road to admire his contribution to society. Alas, he was knocked down and killed by a passing cab.
The world’s first traffic island
CORRECT At his expense in 1864 Colonel Pierpoint had London’s first traffic island constructed in St. James’s Street opposite his club in Pall Mall. On its completion, his excitement (and possible inebriation) encouraged him to dash across the road to admire his contribution to society. Alas, he was knocked down and killed by a passing cab.
The first traffic light
WRONG At his expense in 1864 Colonel Pierpoint had London’s first traffic island constructed in St. James’s Street opposite his club in Pall Mall. On its completion, his excitement (and possible inebriation) encouraged him to dash across the road to admire his contribution to society. Alas, he was knocked down and killed by a passing cab.
Chancery Lane takes its name from the 14th century Court of Chancery administered by the Lord Chancellor’s personal staff, the Chancery
Charing Cross was a hamlet known as Charing derived from Anglo-Saxon word cerring meaning ‘bend’ its position by a large bend in the Thames
Canning Town once had no roads, pavements, drains, fresh water, houses built below high tide level behind embankments were damp and flooded
The London Silver Vaults opened 1876 survived a direct hit by a German bomb in World War II that completely obliterated the building above
Jeremy Sandford’s much acclaimed 1966 BBC play Cathy Come Home directed by Ken Loach was partly filmed on Popham Street, Islington
Kensington Olympia opened in 1886 as the National Agricultural Hall on the site of a vineyard and market gardens in Kensington High Street
Chesham the start for the Tube Challenge visiting all stations on the network in the fastest time first completed in 1959 latest 16 hours 29 minutes 57 seconds
The original Tube escalators ended with a diagonal so it finished sooner on the right leading to the etiquette of standing on the right
Cannon Street was known as Candelwrichstrete meaning ‘candle maker street’ after the many candlestick makers that had set up residence
Olympia proved popular with King Edward VII who requisitioned a private suite as a secret rendezvous for liaisons with his many mistresses
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