Quizzical Inclination [2]

Answer: Atlantic

Found in the South Atlantic due west of Angola, Saint Helena is a remote British Overseas Territory nearly two thousand kilometres away from any continental landmass. Though originally discovered by the Portuguese, the location would become a small port for the British East India Company. Napoleon Bonaparte would end up in Saint Helena in exile in 1815 following his surrender at the Battle of Waterloo.

He would remain there for the final six years of his life, dying there in 1821. Though his body was buried there as well, it was claimed by France in 1841 and brought to Paris to rest in Les Invalides.

Answer: Airplane

A planned city through and through, Brasília was constructed closer to the middle of Brazil to avoid concentrating all of the nation's population and resources to the coast. Prior to the 1960s, Rio de Janeiro (and Salvador before it) acted as the coastal capital city.

The Plano Piloto, upon which the city was based, was shaped like an airplane with streets fanning out from a central axis. The reasoning behind this was multifaceted; in addition to being able to segment different regions for government buildings, landmarks, residences, and commercial sectors, it provided for a simpler sense of navigation.

The modernist approach brought on by Lúcio Costa was chosen because of its simplicity and its potential for easy growth.

Answer: Japan

Having opened in 1964, the Shinkansen high-speed train system operates in Japan running its services across most of the mountainous nation. Notably fast, exceedingly punctual, and famously safe, the Shinkansen has long been considered a gold-standard for rail travel, managing to connect the majority of Japan's most-populated city centres and improving inter-city economies as a result.

The technology behind the Shinkansen's rail gauges and trains has been so successful that it's also been used in Taiwan, China, and the UK.

Answer: Pinocchio

Though all of these films were released in quick succession after the groundbreaking "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" hit screens in the late 1930s, the classic Italian children's story "Pinocchio" was the first amongst them, showing up on screens in February 1940 while "Fantasia" released in November of the same year. "Dumbo" would release in 1941, "Bambi" in 1942, and "The Three Caballeros" in 1944. "Pinocchio" won two Oscars upon its release-- both for music.

It would be the first animated film to win any Academy Awards, though the Best Animated Feature category wouldn't exist until the 2001 ceremony.

Answer: Hindi

The word 'jungle' originally comes from the Sanskrit-then-Hindi word 'jangala', which actually used to refer to dry land but, along with other regional languages in the Indian subcontinent, came to refer to unkempt wilderness. Naturally, much of this region was, at one time, covered in tropical rainforests.

'Shampoo' is another one from India, having derived from the word 'champo', which implies 'pressing or kneading'. Shampoo itself was first made in the Indus Valley region, but not sold in commercial stores until the 19th century.

'Pyjamas', both the name and the items, come from India as well, having been adopted and popularized by British colonists and coming into and out of fashion worldwide ever since.

Answer: The Sea of Galilee

Found in the north of Israel, the Sea of Galilee is one of the many bodies of water in the Middle East to share the distinction of being amongst the lowest in the world, actually being the lowest freshwater lake on the planet. Important as a Biblical destination, this body of water is the site of pilgrimage for many Christian travellers to the region.

It was, after all, the place where Jesus is alleged to have walked on water. The city of Tiberias, one of the Jewish holy cities, can be found on its western shore (hence the alternative name).

Answer: Domrémy

Located in the northeast of France, east of Paris, the town of Domrémy would end up being slightly-renamed to Domrémy-la-Pucelle after Joan's death in the 15th century, a reflection of her being the so-called 'the Maid of Orléans'. The truth is that she never hailed from Orléans; she did aid in the siege there, however, joining the army forces there during the Hundred Years War when she was only seventeen years old.

She was killed two years later, burned at the stake in Rouen for heresy. She would be canonized as a saint in 1920.

Answer: 50 miles

Constructed over the course of a decade starting in 1904, the Panama Canal was one of the most important engineering feats of its day, managing to cut time for sea travel, especially for shipping, down by seven thousand miles as seafarers would otherwise have been required to travel around the entirety of South America.

This instead allowed boats to pass across the Americas at their narrowest point (fifty-one miles), passing to and from the Pacific and the Caribbean. Passing through the locks here takes under twelve hours.

Answer: Bulgarian

Christo's works were often visually and physically impacting, designed to have the audience reflect on spaces and objects affected by his influence, whether that meant wrapping them in massive swaths of curtains and canvas or blocking them entirely with barrels.

Originally wrapping beaches and mountains with canvas in the 1960s, he would go on to hide away Pont Neuf, Paris' oldest bridge, in 1985 and the Reichstag in Berlin in 1995. Born in Bulgaria in 1935, he would end up residing in New York City until his death in 2020.

Answer: Polyethylene

One of the most commonly-made plastics, polyethylene would become one of the most useful for consumers, being made into products like plastic wrap and bottles after its accidental discovery in the end of the nineteenth century. Naturally, there is debate about whether or not this was a good thing; by the twenty-first century, polyethylene would account for a third of all single-use plastics creation in the world, contributing to growing waste and manufacturing concerns.

It's not a substance that's easily biodegradable, so care needs to be put into recycling on a regular basis.