Seventh Time Lucky Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eta

Alpha and beta, from which we derive the word alphabet to describe a system of writing that involves symbols for individual sounds, are the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. The phrase "alpha and omega", meaning the beginning and the end, or the totality of something, is a clue to the fact that omega is the last (24th) letter of the Greek alphabet. Greek introduced the concept of including separate symbols for the sounds we call vowels. Earlier alphabets had either only shown the symbols for consonants, or used symbols such as dots and dashes to indicate where a vowel was placed in the word.

Answer: Colossus of Rhodes

All of the members of this list were located in the region of the Mediterranean, which the Greeks seemed to consider was the only part of the world that mattered, so the Great Wall of China was not even considered, although it certainly existed at the time.

The Colossus of Rhodes was the last to be built, being completed around 280 BCE, and the first whose date of destruction can be verified, by an earthquake in 226 CE. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon may or may not have ever existed - there is no archaeological evidence of them, but they have been described by writers. If they were indeed real, they were built sometime around 600 BCE, and destroyed during the first century CE.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was the first of the seven to be built, and the only one that still survives.

The other members of the list were the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Temple of Artemis (which Antipater particularly admired), and the Statue of Zeus.

Answer: Baha'i

Baha'i, like Islam, sets aside Friday as a day of worship. Seventh Day Adventists are one of the few Christian groups to observe it on a Saturday, in line with Judaic practice. Most modern countries with a working week of six days have a non-working day selected according to the practice of the dominant religion. Some conflate two different traditions to produce a two-day weekend, but this practice is not universal. And to add to the confusion, some cultures consider the first day of the week (as they usually list the days) to be the day that has been set aside for religious observances. Hence, Sunday may be the day of worship, but people who recite the days of the week start with Sunday, and end with Saturday.

Baha'i, established by the Bab in 1844, drew on Persian tradition in the development of its calendar, which is currently composed of 19 months, each comprising 19 days, plus some extra days (called intercalary days) inserted to make it coincide with a solar year. The year starts at the time of the vernal equinox in the northern hemisphere (March 20 or 21). The names of months and days were chosen to have significance - when translated into English, the first month of the year is Splendour, while the last month (a month of fasting) is Glory, for example. Starting with the day which is called Saturday in English, the days of the Baha'i calendar translate into English as Glory, Beauty, Perfection, Grace, Justice, Majesty and Independence.

Answer: Those who have committed acts of violence

There are nine circles (but a number of them have subdivisions within them), starting with Limbo, which is reserved for the unbaptised and for virtuous non-Christians. Then come four circles that correspond with what are sometimes called venial sins: lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. The four innermost circles are reserved for heretics, violent criminals, fraudsters, and traitors. (Dante's sense of the relative severity of these may seem strange to contemporary thought.) In the very centre is the Devil/Lucifer/Dis/Satan, trapped below the waist in a lake of ice. The seventh level, allocated for crimes of violence, is divided into three sections. Those who have been violent against others find themselves immersed in boiling blood; those whose violence was directed against themselves (suicides) are transformed into trees from which Harpies feed; those whose violence was against "God, Nature and Art" (by which is meant blasphemers, sodomites and usurers) suffer appropriate punishments in a desert of burning sand.

Note: the opinions expressed here about values and the concept of sin are those expressed by Dante, not the quiz author.

Answer: Libra

Most people associate the signs of the zodiac with the constellations of the same name which are located in roughly the same part of the sky as that designated for their sign, but this is not quite correct, as the constellations vary a good deal in size, and the part of the sky assigned to each zodiac sign subtends an arc of 30 degrees, one-twelfth of a circle. Since the equinox that marks the beginning is on the 21st or 22nd of March, all the remaining signs start on a similar time of their respective months. Taurus and Gemini follow immediately after Aries, and Capricorn is at Christmas.

Answer: Trial by jury

This is not the place to discuss these at depth - if you're interested, there are any number of books, written at varying levels of complex discussion, available. The Bill of Rights was added to help settle argument between different groups who were concerned about the process of federalisation, and the power that might be given to a central government to the detriment of local groups. While the seventh amendment is not one that gets a lot of discussion, the incorrect options are referred to often enough that they are known around the world. The first amendment guarantees freedom of speech (and a whole lot more); the second amendment states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed"; the fifth amendment is quoted on television and movie court scenes so often that people from as far away as Australia use the phrase "I plead the fifth" when they don't want to answer a question.

The seventh amendment reads: "In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law." In other words, it only applies to civil cases in a federal court, or federal courts reviewing state cases, not to cases brought under state laws. The $20 minimum has never been changed, despite the fact that $20 is a much less significant sum now than at the end of the 18th century.

Answer: Physical strength

All of the abilities commonly attributed to a seventh son of a seventh son relate to psychic, not physical, powers. Details vary from place to place (and in the many works of literature and film which draw on the tradition). In some cases, they are said to be inherent in the child; in others, they can be acquired by the child. To qualify as a seventh son, the son must be part of an intact sequence of sons, with no daughters interrupting it.

A daughter can, however, come after the seventh son without destroying his potential powers.

Answer: Ti

Starting with "Do, a deer, a female deer", you can count on your fingers until you reach "Ti, a drink with jam and bread". The first systems allocating syllables to the notes of a scale used Ut for the first one, but in English that was changed to Do.

The seventh syllable was originally Si, but changed in English usage in the 19th century, leading to the current names being Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti. Most youngsters using them to practice singing the correct intervals will finish with a final Do, completing the octave.

In music theory, the seventh note of a major (Ionian) scale is called the leading tone of the scale.

Answer: Chinese

Qixi, which is also called Chinese Valentine's Day and the Magpie Festival, is a celebration that recalls the legend of 'The Weaver Girl and the Cowherd', according to which the two lovers were exiled to opposite sides of the Milky Way as the stars Vega and Altair, because their marriage had angered one or more of the gods (details vary in different versions). Once a year all the world's magpies fly to the skies (as symbolised by the star Deneb, the third corner of the grouping known as the Summer Triangle) to form a bridge across the Milky Way, and they are reunited for the day.

The festival is a special one for lovers and newlyweds. There are similar celebrations in some other countries, including Tanabata in Japan and Chilseok in Korea.

Answer: Broadway

Broadway runs at an angle, rather than following the north-south pattern of most of the avenues on Manhattan (with streets usually running east-west). This means that, as it crosses them, the intersections are not at neat right angles. Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue at a small enough angle so that there is an extensive expanse of wide road, extending from 42nd Street north to 47th Street.

It was originally called Longacre Square, but was renamed in 1904 when the New York Times moved its offices into the Times Building at 1 Times Square. (You know, the building on which we all watch the ball dropping on New Year's Eve to indicate that the new year has arrived in NYC.) Although the newspaper moved about ten years later to another nearby building, the names remain.