Beyond the Blue Horizon Trivia Quiz

Answer: Johann Strauss II

"The Blue Danube", the common English name for the German "On the Beautiful Blue Danube", was composed in 1866 by the Austrian musician Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) known as Johann Strauss Jr, the Younger, the Son and "The Waltz King".

After Strauss II had written it, the poet Joseph Weyl added the words. Subsequently minor changes were made to an orchestral version, which was presented in 1867 at the World Fair in Paris. Since this date it has been one of the most popular pieces of classical music.

The instrumental version is the most commonly performed today. Its performance lasts around ten minutes, having a seven-minute main piece, followed by a three-minute coda. Stanley Kubrick used this song in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey", in 1968.

Answer: Silver

Argyria is an abnormal condition caused by ingestion or excessive inhalation of silver chemical compounds, over a long period, several months or years. In severe cases, the skin, eyes, nails, internal organs and gums of humans or other animals that have been exposed become blue or blue-gray, especially the parts exposed to sunlight. That color change is permanent.

The word argyria comes from the Greek word "argyros" which means silver.

Answer: Africa

The Tuareg are a Berber ethnic confederation, with about three million people, living in the Saharan region of North Africa, the majority in Niger. They are nomads, their language has the same name as the people and their main religion is Islam.

They are called the Blue People because men over the age of 25 use the main Tuareg symbol, the blue "tagelmust", the combined turban and veil. The tagelmust is made with very light cotton fabric, is about 18 feet long, and is dip-dyed indigo blue. They are usually worn in multiple layers on the head (only the eyes are not covered) and around the neck to protect men from the rigors of the sun and desert sands.

Answer: Gastronomy

"Le Cordon Bleu" or "The Blue Ribbon" is an international group of institutions, located in various parts of the world, with the aim of providing a high level of instruction in culinary and hospitality. The program aims to combine innovation, creativity and tradition, through a methodology that includes hands-on learning.

In the last few decades "Le Cordon Blue" has gone from a Parisian cooking school to an international network of culinary and hospitality institutions, but still being the guardian of the French culinary technique.

Answer: Barnett Newman

The painting "Onement VI" was created by the American painter Barnett Newman (1905-1979), one of the greatest figures of abstract expressionism and also of the color field painters. Newman stated that he found his maturity when he created "Onement I", the first work in which he used the vertical band, or zip, to define the spatial structure of his work.

Initially he used several colors but later the colors were pure and flat. The zip simultaneously divides and joins the parts of the composition and remains Newman's signature mark.

Answer: Australia

The current Australian flag was flown for the first time in 1901, when the winners of a contest to design a flag for the country were announced.

The flag has a blue background and on it are the Union Jack, the Crux and the Commonwealth Star. On the upper left corner is the Union Jack, representing the history of British settlement. Below the Union Jack is a white star with seven points representing the Federation, the union of the six Australian states and the Northern Territory. On the right side of the flag are five white multi-pointed stars in the form of the Southern Cross constellation, which symbolizes Australia's geographical location, since this constellation can only be seen from the Southern Hemisphere.

Answer: Facebook, Ford and Dell

Facebook, Inc. was founded by Mark Zukerberg and some of his colleagues at Harvard College; it has been an online media and social networking service since 2006. The name of the company comes from "web directory" or "face book" found in American universities consisting of photos and personal information of students. Ford Motor Company, known as Ford, was founded by Henry Ford, 1903, and has become one of the largest vehicle manufacturing companies, with factories in many countries. Dell Inc. is an American multinational, founded by Michael Dell, 1984, dedicated to computer technology that develops, sells and supports related products and services.

It is known for its innovations in supply chain management and electronic commerce. All of these companies have the color blue in their logos.

Answer: Turkey

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, was built in Istanbul, Turkey, in the early 17th century by Sultan Ahmed I to show the power of the Ottomans. The upper area is decorated with about 20,000 handmade Iznik style ceramic tiles, in which cobalt blue is the predominant color.

More than 200 stained glass windows with beautiful designs admit natural light, today assisted by chandeliers. The Blue Mosque is the largest mosque in Istanbul and is a religious symbol for Muslims.

Answer: False

False. The nazar is a type of amulet that is believed to protect people, environments, etc. against the "evil-eye". It is believed that the evil-eye is a curse launched through looking with negative intentions when a person is unaware. To avoid the effects of evil-eye, people use charms and decorations with eye-like symbols named nazars.

In Turkey, a typical nazar is an "eye-bead", characterized by a blue glass field with a blue or black dot superimposed on white or yellow center and looks like a wide-open eye.

The color blue is believed to be the color of protection. The belief is the eye-bead filters out negative energies and if it breaks it must be replaced immediately because it has lost its protective capacity.

Answer: Peru

In 1901, Roger David Casement (1864-1916) was appointed as the British consul in the Congo Free State where he investigated the atrocities committed against workers in that colony by the Belgian king, Leopold II; the result of this investigation appears in the Casement Report of 1904.

In 1906, the Foreign Office sent Casement as consul to Brazil and later appointed him to join the commission created to investigate the situation of workers in the Peruvian Amazon Company (PAC), a registered company in Britain that had a British board and numerous stockholders. Casement went to Putumayo, Peru and his observations appear in the "British Bluebook: Correspondence Respecting the Treatment of British Colonial Subjects and Native Indians Employed in the Collection of Rubber in the Putumayo District. (Presented to both houses of Parliament by command of His Majesty, July, 1912)".