Christmas quiz questions: The headlines of 2021

The past 12 months have been a whirlwind. See how much you were paying attention with Chris Maume’s 2021 quiz

(BBC/Channel /Getty/PA )

1. Who are these people, and how did they make the news in 2021?

2. In January, 31 people in east London were fined a fixed penalty of £200 each for having their hair cut in contravention of Covid regulations. What was their job?

3. Which head of state, whose time in office became mired in controversy, was toppled in a coup in February?

4. The online retailer Asos acquired three high street brands in February for more than £300m, but did not retain any of the 70 stores. What were the brands?

5. What happened to the Ever Given in March?

6. About what did recollections “vary” in March?

7. What, in public terms, lasted from 1pm on Sunday 18 April until 10.45pm on Tuesday 20 April?

8. Published in April, Patrick Radden Keefe’s book Empire of Pain was about which family and their company?

9. In April, what historical first was achieved by the Nasa helicopter Ingenuity?

10. In May, where was Ryanair Flight 4978, operated by its Polish subsidiary Buzz, forced to land?

11. Who became golf’s oldest major winner when he won the US PGA at Kiawah Island in May?

12. What happened at Champlain South Towers in June?

13. Which serving president was assassinated in his own home in July?

14. What were women allowed to attend in July without a male guardian for the first time?

15. Which disputed TB victim died in August?

16. Which TV duo won an industry award for the 20th year in a row in September?

17. A year after his death, who was reported to have been buried minus his heart in order to discourage tomb theft?

18. Who in November was Sweden’s first what, initially for a few hours only?

19. Who in November stepped down from the company he founded in 2006? According to The Times, “His daily regime involves eating only between the hours of 6.30pm and 8.30pm on weekdays, and not at all on weekends. He starts the day with an ice bath and then walks five miles to work. He meditates for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. He claims that his restricted lifestyle gives him laser-sharp focus, contributing to his success.”

20. How in December did Ajaz Patel join an exclusive club? The other two members are Jim Laker and Anil Kumble.

Tap here for answers

1.
a) Pen Farthing, whose efforts to airlift animals out of Kabul attracted controversy.
b) Patsy Stevenson, whose arrest at the Clapham Common vigil for Sarah Everard made the front pages.
c) Giuseppe Dell’Anno, winner of The Great British Bake-Off.
d) Jess de Wahls, the embroidery and textiles artist. The removal of her works from the Royal Academy shop led to a backlash, resulting in their reinstatement and an apology.
e) Max Verstappen, who beat Lewis Hamilton to the Formula 1 drivers’ world title in the last lap of the last race after a season held by many to be the most dramatic in the sport’s history.
f) Sarah Rainsford, the BBC journalist whose expulsion from Moscow made headlines, thanks in part to her emotional final report.

2. They were all Metropolitan police officers, who invited a barber to Bethnal Green police station for a mass haircut session.
3. Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar. In December she was sentenced to four years in jail, subsequently reduced to two, on charges of inciting dissent and violating Covid-19 protocols.
4. Topshop, Topman and Miss Selfridge.
5. The ship ran aground in the Suez Canal and was stuck for six days.
6. The allegations of racism in the royal family made by the Sussexes in their interview with Oprah Winfrey.
7. The proposed football European Super League. Although the ESL waited a couple of days before suspending the operation, the end effectively came with the withdrawal of the English clubs on Tuesday evening.
8. The Sackler family, owners of Purdue Pharma, and their central role in the US opioid epidemic.
9. Part of the Mars 2020 mission, it performed the first powered flight on another planet.
10. Minsk National Airport in Belarus; the flight was escorted by a fighter jet to the airport, where the opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega were arrested.
11. Phil Mickelson, at 50 years, 11 months and seven days; he displaced Julius Boros, who was 48 when he won the PGA in 1968.
12. The condominium, in Surfside, Florida, suffered a partial collapse, resulting in 98 deaths.
13. Jovenel Moïse, president of Haiti. The killers struck around 1am; his wife Martine was also shot, but survived.
14. The day of Hajj in Mecca. Women were required only to be members of trustworthy groups.
15. Geronimo the Alpaca, who reportedly tested positive for TB and despite a legal campaign by his owner he was put down. Like the test result, the post mortem results were disputed.
16. Ant and Dec – Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – were voted Presenters of the Year by the public for the 20th successive year at the National Television Awards.
17. Diego Maradona: the claim was made by the journalist Nelson Castro, who said the footballer’s heart had been removed because of a reported plot by fans of Gimnasia, rivals of his beloved Boca Juniors, to raid his grave.
18. Magdalena Andersson was elected prime minister of Sweden on 24 November, but resigned shortly after when her budget was defeated. Five days later she was re-elected by two votes in the Riksdag.
19. Jack Dorsey of Twitter.
20. The left-arm spinner took all 10 wickets in an innings, for New Zealand, for 119 runs, in the second Test against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India went on to win the match by 372 runs.

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