MUTC Inter-house Quiz. What happened in 2021?

On 10 January 2021, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un was elected general secretary of the Workers Party of Korea. Who did he replace?

• His late father, Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, but held the office for a decade posthumously

• His late grandfather Kim Il-Sung, who died in 1994, but held the office for 27 years posthumously

• His uncle Jang Song-thaek, who was executed for treason in 2014

• His sister Kim Yo-jong, who became a social media star in 2020

2021 saw one of the world’s most popular games, Minecraft, surpass 140m users. Its gameworld is now estimated to be 3.6bn square kilometres. Approximately how many times could this contain the planet Earth?

• Three

• Four

• Seven

• 25

Answer explanation

It would, in fact, rank as the fifth largest planet in our solar system, behind only Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Adele’s long-awaited album, 30, was the bestselling LP of 2021. But just how bestselling was it in its first week of release?

• It outsold the rest of the Billboard Top 10 combined

• It outsold the rest of the Billboard Top 20 combined

• It outsold the rest of the Billboard Top 40 combined

• It outsold the rest of the Billboard Top 50 combined

Having been postponed by the pandemic, Euro 2020 finally got under way in June and was the highest-scoring in the tournament’s history. Despite this, goals by which method outstripped Ronaldo’s top-scoring tally of six goals?

• Penalties

• Own goals

• Goals disallowed by video-assisted refereeing

• All of these

Matt Hancock resigned from the government in 2021, after being caught on CCTV breaching social distancing rules with Gina Coladangelo. As well as having been non-executive director of the Department of Health and Social Care, she is also the niece of which former Arsenal goalkeeper?

• David Seaman

• Pat Jennings

• Bob Wilson

• John Lukic

Turkish man Beyhan Mutlu made news in September for which unlikely reason?

• He unknowingly joined a search party that had been formed to find him after he’d become lost in a forest while intoxicated

• He declared himself “the Emperor of Batman” and held an armed standoff with the Turkish army

• He finished his 12-year attempt to eat an entire train carriage, piece by piece

• He was found in possession of 14 long-missing Romanov family Fabergé eggs

Merriam-Webster had no such hesitation and named “vaccine” its word of the year, but from which Latin word does it come?

• Vacca, “cow”

• Vaco, “to be free from”

• Vacuus, “empty or void”

• Vaccilo, “to be in a weak condition”

Answer explanation

Vacca, meaning cow, derived from its being developed to combat cowpox.

Squid Game, a Korean-language series about a dystopian and murderous televised competition, was the unexpected streaming hit of 2021. But what show did it replace as Netflix’s most streamed show ever?

• Friends

• Bridgerton

• Money Heist

• Tiger King

In February, Larry the cat celebrated his 10-year anniversary living at which famous building?

• Buckingham Palace

• St Paul’s Cathedral

• 10 Downing Street

• Westminster Abbey

Answer explanation

Larry the Cat has lived at 10 Downing Street since February 2011 and was brought in by then Prime Minister, David Cameron. Larry holds the title of 'Chief Mouser' at the Prime Minister's home, due to his brilliant mouse catching skills!

In March, the sea shanty Wellerman reached Number 1 in the UK charts! Which social media platform popularised the sea-faring tune?

• Instagram

• Twitter

• TikTok

• Snapchat