Illuminati-R-Us

Who was the next Byzantine emperor, after Ioannis VI?

(This one has appeared at IRU before, but can always recycle a classic like this one.)

He's dead now, but I'm sure he was fine then.

MM_Dandy folks, he'll be here all week! :D

Is this to do with applying numbering to emperors known by family names? My knowledge gets a bit sketchy after the Comneni, but John Kantakouzenous was preceded and succeeded by John Palaiologos. John K is number VI and John P is number V.

Heid the Ba' wrote:MM_Dandy folks, he'll be here all week! :D

Is this to do with applying numbering to emperors known by family names? My knowledge gets a bit sketchy after the Comneni, but John Kantakouzenous was preceded and succeeded by John Palaiologos. John K is number VI and John P is number V.

I'd say we have a winner! John V was the emperor after John VI.

I knew that my honours degree in Byzantine History would be useful one day . . .

Heid the Ba' wrote:I knew that my honours degree in Byzantine History would be useful one day . . .

I sincerely hope this was not your finest moment ...

(Never heard of them.

Heid the Ba' is up.

How many times has a US rider won the Men's Road Cycling World Championship?

Well, I know there was at least one who was supposed to be quite good.

So, I'll make a wild guess, and say five.

There have been several US riders who were quite good, and a couple who still are.

Not five.

About all I can do is guess other numbers randomly.

Ten.

Lower.

It was won by the man you are thinking of in 1993. It hasn't been won by a US rider since him.

The first US rider to win it was also the first US winner of the Tour de France.

In that case, I wil guess one :)

Ah, too obscure. Contrary to the Armstrong Media Machine, he is not the the first or only US rider to win the TdF.

OK, my choices then are two, three, four, six, seven, eight, or nine. Unless you're going to pull some stunt like counting a tie as one half :P

As far as I know there has never been a tie.* The only minor stunt is that the number of US winners and the number of US wins is not the same. It is at the lower end of your scale.

* I have a nagging feeling that Fausto Coppi's brother was involved in a tie in a race, but it might not have been the Worlds.

Three?

I couldn't name any US cyclist who's participated in the Tour de France and/or the Worlds other than Armstrong, though.

Correct. Greg LeMond won it twice, Armstrong once.

MM_Dandy wrote:Three?

I couldn't name any US cyclist who's participated in the Tour de France and/or the Worlds other than Armstrong, though.

You can't name then, you can just answer the question correctly :)

I'd say you're up.

Oh, splendid idea! Now whenever I'm requested to "Name this or that person/thing/place," my answer will always be "George."

And now, for the trivia:
St. Andrew Falls on the Mississippi River at Minneapolis recedes at what rate?

Bonus:
St. Andrew Falls is the sole remnant of what massive waterfall, located in present-day St. Paul?

Wild guess, one metre per year.

Too metric, a foot a year?

That's true. A waterfall in Minnesota wouldn't recede at a metric rate.

Bah! I've buggered it! The name of the falls is St. Anthony, not St. Andrew.

With that in mind, I'll say that neither figure given is correct, and not to worry about any particular system. If Google can't convert it, I'll let you know.

More tidbits:
St. Anthony Hydro plant, built in 1882, is currently the only industrial draw on the falls.

The massive waterfall from the bonus question existed some 12,000 years ago, and estimates for its size range from 2,500 ft to 10,000 ft across and 175 ft to 200 ft high.

Ah! If conversions are not an issue, I guess a Flemish ell.