Dr. Livingstone, I presume? Multiple Choice Quiz | People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What was the name of the famous road travelled by Marco Polo?

Answer: The Silk Road

Marco Polo, a merchant from the Venetian Republic, is widely regarded as having introduced Europeans to Central Asia and China through his work "Il Milione" (or "Books of the Marvels of the World"). His travels along the Silk Road marked one of the earliest expeditions along this path by an European.

Modern visitors to Venice are still reminded of the explorer's link with the city upon arrival in the Marco Polo International Airport.

2. The voyage that is most commonly agreed to be the first post-Viking voyage to the New World from northern Europe and which formed the basis of England's claim to Newfoundland was led by which Genoese born explorer, whose name is generally anglicized?

Answer: John Cabot

John Cabot (or Giovanni Cabotto) was born circa 1450 and was initially accepted into the religious confraternity of St. John the Evangelist. However, Cabot eventually became an explorer and gained a Royal Patent from England to start a voyage from a northerly latitude in an attempt to reduce the time it would take to cross the Atlantic. Eventually, Cabot succeeded in crossing the Atlantic, and landed in Newfoundland and claimed it in the name of England.

3. Although not often considered a classical explorer, this world-renowned mountaineer died in 2008. Lesser-known achievements of this man include reaching the South Pole and using a jet boat to go from the mouth to the source of the Ganges. Featured on the $5 New Zealand banknote, who was the first non-Asian to successfully climb Everest?

Answer: Edmund Hillary

On the 29th May 1953, Sir Edmund Percival Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first people ever to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Since then, they are often cited as some of the most influential people of the 20th century. On the 50th anniversary of their achievement, their sons also climbed Everest together.

In August 2011, the south ridge of New Zealand's highest mountain, Mt. Cook, was renamed Hillary Ridge, after the man who first conquered the mountain in 1953.

4. Scottish-born explorer Mungo Park was the first Westerner to encounter Lake Chad.

Answer: False

Following the failed (and fatal) attempt by Daniel Houghton to find the course of the Niger River, the African Association (at the recommendation of Sir Joseph Banks) turned to Mungo Park, a trained surgeon and co-founder of the Linnean Society of London (the world's first society dedicated to taxonomy). On the 21st July 1796, he finally found the Niger River at Segou. Subsequent expeditions gave Park the chance to trace large section of the river.

However, in 1806, faced with an unusable canoe and hostile natives, Park and his companions committed suicide by jumping into the river.

5. This was the first European explorer to reach the Pacific Ocean overland in the New World. In addition to founding the first settlement in Colombia, Santa Mar�a la Antigua del Dari�n, who was the first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama?

Answer: Vasco N��ez de Balboa

Initially reaching the Americas through the expedition of Rodrigo de Bastidas, Vasco Nunez de Balboa explored the western Caribbean before settling for some years as a pig farmer. After Ferdinand II of Spain separated the Isthmus of Panama into two regions, de Balboa moved to Colombia and founded the first settlement in the region of the modern-day country.

After a stint as a conquistador, in which he achieved the crossing of the Isthmus that made him famous, he was arrested by Pizarro as a usurper and in January 1519, was found guilty and decapitated!

6. Sir Francis Drake, who completed the second circumnavigation of the world between 1577 and 1580, was the commander of the English fleet during the Spanish Armada.

Answer: False

Although possibly the most famous of the British sailors during the battle (and the most celebrated in popular culture), Francis Drake was not the in command of the English fleet. That was the function of Lord Howard of Effingham as Lord High Admiral of England.

In addition to the fame the Spanish Armada provided, Drake is also well known for circumnavigating the world in the Golden Hind and his attack on the Spanish port of Cadiz. Drake died of dysentery whilst attacking San Juan, Puerto Rico in January 1596.

7. This Danish explorer in the employ of the Russian Navy was requested by Peter the Great to discover the extent of the eastern Russian landmass. This led to the Great Northern Expedition that resulted in Alaska being claimed for the Russian Empire. Name this explorer who has both a strait and sea named after him.

Answer: Vitus Bering

Known in the Russian Navy as Ivan Ivanovich, Vitus Bering was the first European to visit Alaska and its Aleutian Islands. In addition to the eponymous strait and sea, Bering also has an island, glacier and land bridge named after him. His Great Northern Expedition (or Second Kamchatka Expedition) navigated the entirety of the Northern Passage from the North Sea to Alaska along the whole of the northern Russian shore.

8. Known for his discovery of the Northwest Passage as well as beating Captain Scott to the South Pole, Roald Amundsen disappeared on the 18th June 1928 whilst flying a rescue mission. However, what nationality was Amundsen?

Answer: Norwegian

Whilst best known for being the first to reach the South Pole (and less so for finally finding a safe route through the Northwest Passage), Amundsen was among the first people to reach the North Pole. He was also one of the first people to fly over the North Pole in an airship.

9. Born in modern-day Idaho, in 2000 a one US dollar coin was issued in honour of this explorer. Although her name is often a subject of dispute, she is still best known as the woman who led Lewis and Clark on their expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Name this Native American explorer.

Answer: Sacagawea

A Lemhi Shoshone woman, Sacagawea was pregnant at the time at which Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (of the Corps of Discovery) arrived at her home in modern-day North Dakota. Nicknamed Janey, she led Lewis and Clark along rivers (including the Columbia) and across the Rockies before finally reaching the Pacific Ocean.

She later settled in St. Louis, Missouri before dying probably in 1812, though there are claims that she returned to her native tribe and lived till 1884!

10. Identify this Hawaiian-born individual who served as the American delegate to the First Pan American Scientific Congress in 1908. However, he is best known as the politician credited with announcing the existence of the Inca (Quechua) citadel of Machu Picchu in 1911.

Answer: Hiram Bingham

In addition to finding Machu Pichu, Bingham also was the 54th Governor of Connecticut and served as a preceptor under Woodrow Wilson at Princeton. After marrying the grand-daughter of Charles Tiffany of the eponymous jewellery company, he served nine years as a republican US Senator for Connecticut. When he died in 1956, he was interred at Arlington National Cemetery.

Source: Author jglane

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Dr. Livingstone, I presume? Trivia Quiz

In October 1871, the immortal "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" was uttered by Stanley, upon finding the lost David Livingstone. He is now one of history's best known explorers. This quiz is about some of the brave people who explored the globe.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>