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2024 IS DRAWING to a close and a new year will soon be upon us.
So what better time to look back at all the offbeat and unusual stories which made the news this year.
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From failed Willy Wonka experiences to lookalike contests, how well do you remember these news items from the year past?
Willy’s Chocolate Experience went viral after the Glasgow event inspired by Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka went massively awry.
What was this character, who is absent from the traditional Willy Wonka plotline, called?
The Masked Avenger
The Unknown
Scary Spice
The Enigma
In January, a Sesame Street character posed a simple question: “How is everybody doing?” It garnered close to 20,000 replies and over 220 million views.
What character went viral for checking in on his followers?
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Cookie Monster
Big Bird
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Oscar the Grouch
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Elmo
Kamala Harris had a ‘Brat Summer’ and Brat was even chosen as Collins Dictionary word of the year.
But who popularised the word this year with her album Brat?
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Cardi B
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Charli XCX
Chappell Roan
CMAT
During the US presidential campaign, Democrats (including VP pick Tim Walz) used what word to insult Republicans?
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Creepy
Weird
Freaky
Stupid
In April, two horses, one of whom was blood-covered, galloped through the streets of central London.
They were UK military horses who bolted during a rehearsal. What was the name of the grey horse that was covered in blood?
Tennyson
Trojan
Vida
Quaker
Was this year a leap year?
Yes
No
In March, Pierce Brosnan was hit was a $500 dollar fine for entering an off-limits area.
He pled guilty and apologised for his “impulsive mistake”. Where had he trespassed?
Yellowstone Park
Yosemite National Park
Grand Canyon
Great Smoky Mountains
Which country won this year's Eurovision Song Contest?
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Sweden
Switzerland
Finland
Ukraine
‘Comedian’ is a piece of modern art in which a banana is affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape, exactly 160 centimetres from the floor. It sold at a Sotheby’s auction for $6.2 million in November.
It was bought by crypto bro Justin Sun: What did he do with it?
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Bin it
Blend it
Freeze it
Eat it
Last month, a Paul Mescal lookalike contest was held in Dublin ahead of the premiere of Gladiator II. Which lookalike contest sparked the 2024 craze?
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18 Comments
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@offside again: the banana in the duct tape should not be forgettable in fact it should be a reminder that there is always an insecure arsehole out there willing to do anything to gain publicity. A vulgar display of wealth from the noveau riche.
Unusual would be mass organised starvation, annihilation of a people and flattening of an entire country in order to repopulate with another people.
Not a banana taped to a wall and auctioned to some dope.
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: unfortunately not unusual. But xmas greetings to Putin and Filatov. And lets hope it’s their last.cracker joke: why are there so few good russians? Because the only good Russian is a dead Russian
@Padraic O’ Sullivan: unusual would be to be attacked, suffer the greatest loss of life in nearly 80 years, have your citizens kidnapped and not want to remove the cause of this outrage, and get your people back.
I remember the Holyhead event. Not for the event itself but for the totally false press releases happily regurgitated by the Journal with no “fact checking “
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