Well, it's been a day without a response, so I'll go ahead and do the reveal:
1) Jibariqua got this one. There was a patent issued in Italy in 1865 for a machine that could cut pasta on the diagonal.
2) The giant panda is currently classified as a bear, and is entirely herbivorous (likely gets the occasional insect in its bamboo, but it's the bamboo it's deliberately eating)
3) Stevie played a Moog bass for most of the 70's, while Ray played a Rhodes or Fender-Rhodes on most of the Doors' studio albums and all of their live shows.
4) SVC correctly identified hops as the key difference. I read in Zymurgy ages ago that before the quasi-standardization of brews late 19th century), beer was brewed with hops and ale used spices or other things to take the edge off the maltiness. (I would've thought the opposite, for example, Jane Austen talks about "spruce beer" in one of her books.)
5) This one shocked me. The fire was in Indonesia, I'm pretty sure on Borneo. It didn't only burn trees, but the soil is peat, an incredible carbon sink, which also burns.
6) SandrasGuy correctly identified acquiring the rights to the space above the land all around the earth above which the moon passes.
7) chj01 and KnightBridgeAZ rang in with Mendelssohn and began a stimulating discussion.
8) SVCBeercats begins a run with National Novel Writing Month. My daughter finished her book on the 28th, with two days to spare.
9) eebmg and SVC point out that the higher the blackbody temperature, the cooler the light appears.
10) Souchong tea has very large leaves (as opposed to pekoe).
chj got both 11 and 12. I thought I might stump everyone with Ray Thomas, who was a really really good harmonica player.
13) jibariqua has gotten this far by avoiding the bite of the slow loris. They're so cute. . .
14) Ohio GF makes an appearance along with jib and SVC
15) jib's on a roll. Rebecca is dead and the young wife is never named.
16) Alydar and SVC both got the masterpiece. I enjoyed the discussion that ensued.
17) This is one of the wassailing carols. Folks would shoot a bird (I think often a wren) and dress it up and parade it around singing the song. In some homes, folks would say "Please to see the king" and would give the revelers a nip in exchange for seeing their "king". See the carols thread for a great rendition.
18) I think pretty much everyone got Westley or the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride.
19) j66kicker got this one. I'm fascinated by names of colors, professions, locations, etc. that are very different-sounding names in different languages. I'll probably include one in each quiz for awhile.
20) Knight and SVC got the derecho.
