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     Volume 4 Issue 63 | September 16, 2005 |


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Trivia

Mixed bag: History

1. The US State of Virginia is named after which Queen?
*Mary
*Virginia
*Elizabeth I
*Victoria
2. Arequipa, Peru, contains the remains of a young woman known as Juanita. Who was she?
*One of the mummies found on the Nazca plateau
*The patron Saint of Peru
*A sacrifice to the gods
*A consort to an Incan emperor
3. Who was the first female prime minister of a Muslim country?
*Tansu Ciller
*Sheikh Hasina Wajed
*Srimavo Bandaranaike
*Benazir Bhutto
4. Who won the Haitian election held under United Nations supervision in 1990?
*Brigadier-General Raoul Cedras
*Jean-Bertrand Aristide
*Marc Bazin
*"Papa Doc" Duvalier
5. Who was Alexander the Great's closest companion and second-in-command of his empire?
*Krateros
*Harpalos
*Hephaistion Amyntoros
*Philotas son of Parmenion
6. Which Athenian was credited with devising the military strategy that led the Greeks to a decisive victory over the Persians at Salamis in 480 BC?
*Alcibiades
*Pericles
*Miltiades
*Themistocles
7. What was the "press gang" which operated in England at the time of the Napoleonic Wars (and earlier)?
*The early group of journalists who reported on the wars
*Men who roamed ports seizing civilians for enforced Naval service
*An unscrupulous band of merchants who went about selling copies of the Gutenberg Bible
*A mob of criminals led by the notorious murderer Edward Press
8. Which of these great buildings was NOT built during the 17th century?
*Taj Mahal
*St Louis des Invalides
*Palace of Versailles
*St Basil's Cathedral
9. In what year did William Wallace attack and sack the city of York?
*Never
*1302
*1297
*1299
10. I was born in 1918 to a Romanian peasant family. I was active in the Communist Party, rising to become the president of my country. I had a reign of terror lasting until 1989, when I was overthrown by a popular uprising, and executed along with my wife. Who am I?
*Todor Zhivkov
*George Hagi
*Nicolae Ceausescu
*Benito Mussolini
11. What is the symbol of the Thai monarchy?
*A keris (ceremonial dagger)
*An elephant
*A tiger
*A lotus
12. The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao-Tze founded the system of belief known as Taoism. What does the name Lao-Tze mean?
*Teacher
*Warrior-poet
*Leader
*Mountain stream
13. Which was the most famous of the Indian "hill stations", known as the summer capital of the British Raj?
*Ootacamund
*Simla
*Darjeeling
*Maxwell Hill
14. What was the capital of the Nabatean kingdom, which existed circa 300 BC in what is now the Middle East?
*Sumer
*Petra
*Ur
*Antioch
15. Who were the first Westerners to land in Japan?
*English
*Dutch
*Portuguese
*Americans
16. What were the four ancient capitals of China?
*Beijing, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Luoyang
*Nanjing, Beijing, Shanghai, and Manchuokuo
*Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xi'an
*Hangzhou, Kaifeng, Xi'an, and Guangzhou
17. Noted for his strict discipline, Rev. Samuel Marsden was known as "The Flogging Parson of Parramatta". I would argue, however, that he should be better known for another one of his achievements. What is it?
*Introducing sheep to New Zealand
*Introducing cricket to Australia
*Hanging Ned Kelly
*Being the first to surf at Bondi
18. Who was the first English explorer to land in Australia?
*James Cook
*William Dampier
*Dirk Hartog
*Matthew Flinders
19. Timbuktu is perhaps the most significant city in the history of West Africa. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
*It still exists, but is at risk of being destroyed by the expansion of the Sahara desert
*It was an intellectual and spiritual centre of the Islamic World
*It was founded in 1270 AD as the capital of the Songhai Empire
*It was a major center of trade on the trans-Saharan trade route
20. Before it gained independence from Britain, Zimbabwe was named after a British imperialist and business magnate. Who was it?
*Tiny Rowland
*Cecil Rhodes
*John Bull
*Arthur Wellesley

Answers
1. Elizabeth I.
Queen Elizabeth was known as the "virgin Queen" and thanks to the fervour with which England explored and colonised the world during her reign, had many things named after her. These include Virginia, the Virgin Islands and "crassostria virginica", a breed of oyster.
2. A sacrifice to the gods.
Juanita was sacrificed along with two boys in order to prevent a volcanic eruption near Arequipa.
3. Benazir Bhutto.
Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988, following the footsteps of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She led Pakistan again between 1993-1996. Tansu Ciller was the prime minister of Turkey in the same period, while Sheikh Hasina gained leadership of Bangladesh in 1996. Srimavo Bandaranaike was prime minister of the mainly Buddhist nation of Sri Lanka.
4. Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The Brigadier-General seized power not much later, Marc Bazin was the civilian leader installed by the military in 1992. "Papa Doc" was the Haitian dictator who ruled from 1957 to 1971.
5. Hephaistion Amyntoros.
Alexander and Hephaistion had been friends since childhood, studying together under Aristotle at his school in Mieza. Harpalos was another close friend, and was Alexander's treasurer, but absconded with a small army and a war-chest to Athens. He was later captured and killed. Philotas, son of Alexander's general Parmenion, was executed for masterminding a plot to assassinate Alexander. Krateros was Alexander's other second-in-command (and a rival of Hephaistion).
6. Themistocles.
Pericles was the great Polemarch (military leader) of Athens. Alcibiades was the general who succeeded Pericles, and led the Peloponnesian War - until he defected to the Spartan side, anyway. Miltiades was the Athenian general who masterminded the victory at Marathon.
7. Men who roamed ports seizing civilians for enforced Naval service.
The press gang basically kidnapped able-bodied men for the war effort. Although the concept had been in existence for centuries, sets of rules had evolved within the press-ganging field by the Napoleonic era.
8. St Basil's Cathedral.
Ivan the Terrible commissioned the construction of St Basil's to commemorate his victory over the Tartar Mongols in 1552. It was promptly built between 1555 and 1561. According to legend, Ivan had the architect blinded after its completion so that he could never build anything to match its beauty.
9. Never.
William Wallace never actually attacked York. This is one of the facts that the otherwise excellent film "Braveheart" gets completely wrong!
10. Nicolae Ceausescu.
Mussolini ruled Italy (but died in similar circumstances to Ceausescu). Todor Zhivkov was the communist dictator of Bulgaria. George Hagi was a Romanian footballer. Somewhat unusually for an Eastern European, perhaps, Ceausescu had a love for rugby, and founded the Romanian Rugby Federation - the national squad are regular participants in the World Cup.
11. An elephant.
The elephant is the royal animal of Thailand, and all elephants in the nation belong to the King. They were widely used for military purposes throughout Thai history, and were one of the primary mechanisms by which the Thai monarchs held onto power. King Rama V famously offered American President Lincoln elephants to aid him in the Civil War.
12. Teacher.
Lao-Tze is Mandarin for "teacher". The philosopher's real name was Mo Di.
13. Simla.
Maxwell Hill is the oldest hill station in Malaysia. Ootacamund and Darjeeling are also Indian hill stations, but Simla was where the British colonials flocked to cool off during the sweltering Indian summers. India was partly governed from Simla during summer.
14. Petra.
The Nabateans were an early Arabian civilisation. Petra, the "Rose-Red City", lay on a trading route between Damascus and Arabia. The Nabateans were annexed by the Roman Emperor Trajan in 106 AD and Petra was inexplicably abandoned in 551 AD.
15. Portuguese.
The Portuguese landed on Tanegashima Island in 1543 introducing the Japanese to cakes and firearms, which were welcomed.
16. Beijing, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Luoyang.
Many, many cities have been the capital of one or another of China's dynasties. These are traditionally known as the four ancient capitals because they have had that role several times in Chinese history.
17. Introducing sheep to New Zealand.
In New Zealand sheep now outnumber people fourteen to one. Kiwis owe a lot to this man!
18. William Dampier.
It was Dampier - part buccaneer, part scientist, who landed in 1688 and suggested further exploration after taking home a number of botanical specimens. Captain Cook was the first Englishman to land on the east coast, which he did in 1770. Flinders came along even later in 1795. Dirk Hartog beat them all, landing in 1616, but he was Dutch.
19. It was founded in 1270 AD as the capital of the Songhai Empire.
Timbuktu was founded around 1100 BC as a trading post due to its proximity to both the Sahara and the Niger river. It first rose to prominence under the Mali Empire due to its position on the trans-Saharan trade route. It traded primarily in salt from mines in the Sahara, and slaves and gold coming down the Niger. Timbuktu was conquered in 1468 by the Songhai who made it a centre for learning by establishing the University of Sankore, in its day the largest university in Africa.
20. Cecil Rhodes.
Zimbabwe was originally named Rhodesia after Cecil Rhodes, founder of the De Beers diamond mining company, who was heavily involved in its development. He is also well known for the Rhodes Scholarships that he established in the final version of his will. Tiny Rowland is a more recent media magnate. John Bull is a caricature. Arthur Wellesley was the Duke of Wellington.

 

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