This Is the Iron Age Trivia Quiz

Answer: Game of Thrones

In the multiple-award-winning HBO series "Game of Thrones" - based on George R.R. Martin's fantasy saga "A Song of Ice and Fire" - the Ironborn are the natives of the Iron Islands, a rugged, barren archipelago off the western coast of Westeros. Modeled on the Vikings, they are seafarers and raiders, much feared by the people who live on the coasts of the continent. The Ironborn are ruled by House Greyjoy, whose sigil is a gold kraken on a black field, and whose motto is the rather ominous "We Do Not Sow". Unlike most of the inhabitants of Westeros, the Ironborn do not follow the Faith of the Seven, but worship a sinister deity known as the Drowned God. One aspect of the Ironborn's harsh culture is "paying the iron price" - that is, seizing something from a defeated enemy rather than paying or trading for it (the "gold price", which is considered shameful).

The fire-breathing dragon in the photo hints at the three dragons that play a prominent role in "Game of Thrones". The much-coveted throne central to the plot, made of swords melted by dragonfire, is also called the Iron Throne.

Answer: Boston

"Old Ironsides" is the nickname of USS Constitution, the magnificent vessel shown in the photo - one of the two oldest ships still in commission (the other being the legendary HMS Victory). The nickname was given to the ship during the War of 1812, after its victorious battle against HMS Guerričre on 19 August 1812. A three-masted frigate with 44 guns, USS Constitution was built in the 1790s, extensively repaired in the 1830s (thanks to the popularity of the poem dedicated to her by Oliver Wendell Holmes), and retired from service in 1881. In the early years of the 20th century, a public campaign saved Old Ironsides from being used as target practice and then left to sink by a public campaign, after which Congress authorized her restoration in 1925. In July 1931, USS Constitution was recommissioned, and embarked on a 3-year world tour - after which she returned to her home port of Boston to serve as a museum ship. The ship underwent several bouts of restoration during the 20th century, and in 1997 was able to sail to celebrate her 200th anniversary. USS Constitution is now berthed at the terminus of the Freedom Trail at Boston Navy Yard (formerly known as Charlestown Navy Yard), where she is open to visitors all year round.

At the time of writing, USS Constitution is the oldest commissioned ship still afloat, as HMS Victory (which is over 30 years older, and much larger) has been in dry dock at Portsmouth since 1922.

Answer: fairies

In ancient times, some of the properties of iron led people to believe that the element had magical powers. Indeed, in the folklore of many countries iron (especially "cold iron", or meteoric iron, which can be worked without the use of heat) was believed to be particularly effective in warding off fairies, witches and other malevolent spirits. The custom of nailing horseshoes to doors is related to the belief that iron would prevent any unwanted supernatural guests from entering a building - though later it became also a form of good luck charm. Building an iron fence around a cemetery was believed to contain the souls of the dead, and children's beds often had iron frames to prevent fairies from stealing children and swapping them with fairy offspring. In many cultures, meteoric, or "sky", iron was also believed to have special properties.

In spite of their literary appearances as benevolent entities (like the "fairy godmother"), in many folk traditions fairies are often seen as ambiguous towards humans, if not explicitly malevolent like witches - hence the need for protection. For instance, fairies were believed to be the cause of various diseases, or to lead travellers astray with lights (the phenomenon known as "will-o'-the-wisp"). In medieval ballads such as "Tam Lin" or "Thomas the Rhymer", the Queen of the Fairies is portrayed as dangerous and deadly as well as beautiful, and associated with Hell and the Devil.

The photo is an illustration from Andrew Lang's "The Red Romance Book" (1905), a collection of heroic tales and legends.

Answer: Motörhead

Released on 17 April 1982, "Iron Fist" was the final album of the classic Motörhead lineup of Lemmy Kilminster (bass and vocals), "Fast" Eddie Clarke (guitar), and Phil "Philthy Animal" Taylor (drums). Clarke, who had co-produced the album, left a few months after its release, during the US leg of the band's world tour; he was replaced by former Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson. The album's title-track was released as a single two weeks before the album.

The photo shows an engine (also called a motor). Of the three incorrect choices, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest are also English, while AC/DC are from Australia. One of Black Sabbath's most famous songs is titled "Iron Man" (1970), while Judas Priest released the album "British Steel" in 1980.

Answer: Bismarck Archipelago

The Bismarck Archipelago is located in the sea of the same name, off the northeastern coast of New Guinea. It is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea, and includes the two large islands of New Britain and New Ireland. First settled between 40,000 and 30,000 years ago, the archipelago was first visited by a European (Dutch explorer Willem Schouten) in 1616. In 1884, it was annexed to the protectorate of German New Guinea, the first part of the German colonial empire, and named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898).

The scion of a noble Prussian family, Bismarck was the mastermind of German unification (1871). His nickname of "Iron Chancellor" stemmed not only from his strong-willed personality and unparalleled political and diplomatic mastery, but also from his most famous speech, made in 1862, which became known as "Blood and Iron" ("Blut and Eisen"). In this speech, made in 1862, Bismarck maintained that the unification of Germany would only be achieved by "blood and iron" rather than speeches and majority decisions.

The photo shows a portrait of Otto von Bismarck, painted by Franz von Lenbach when the Chancellor was 75 years old. There are a number of other places named after the Iron Chancellor, including the state capital of North Dakota.

All the island groups listed as incorrect answers are located in the South Pacific.

Answer: railway

While the English word "railway" emphasizes the structure on which trains run, other European languages emphasize the material this structure is made of. Thus, "railway" is "chemin de fer" in French, "ferrocarril" in Spanish, "ferrovia" in Italian and Portuguese, "Eisenbahn" in German, and "rautatie" in Finnish - all compound words meaning "iron road/path". "Fer" and "ferro" come from "ferrum", the Latin word for "iron" (hence the use of Fe as the symbol for the element); the German "Eisen" is closely related to the English "iron", while the Finnish "rauta" probably comes from the Old Norse word for hematite, the most important iron ore.

The earliest railways were made of wood, then, in the late 1760s, cast iron was introduced, though it proved unsatisfactory because it was prone to breaking under heavy loads. Steel rails replaced iron rails in the late 19th century, when the introduction of the Bessemer process enabled the production of steel at a much lower cost than before.

Steam locomotives were described in the past as "iron horses" - a phrase that now is applied to motorcycles.

Answer: Jack London

Though not as well-known by the general public as "White Fang" or "The Call of the Wild", "The Iron Heel" shows a different facet of Jack London's work - one that is heavily influenced by his socialist beliefs. Published in 1908, the novel represents one of the earliest examples of modern dystopian fiction. Unlike later dystopian novels, however, "The Iron Heel" is not concerned with technological advances, but rather concentrates on political and social issues.

The novel is based on a fictional manuscript (found by a historian hundreds of years later) written by Avis, an upper-class woman who, through her meeting with Ernest, a militant socialist who becomes her husband, becomes aware of the horrors of the exploitation of labour. The story - set in the San Francisco Bay Area - chronicles the rise of the titular "Iron Heel", an oligarchy of ruthless robber barons, in the United States, where it rules for three centuries. The Iron Heel is finally overthrown by revolution, and replaced by the Brotherhood of Man: however, neither Avis nor Ernest will see it. The first attempt at rebellion fails, and Ernest is captured and executed, while Avis disappears, leaving her manuscript incomplete.

"The Iron Heel" was reportedly a major influence on George Orwell's "1984", whose iconic quote about the future looking like a boot stamping on a human face forever is sharply reminiscent of the title of London's novel.

The photo shows a beautiful view of the City of London from the South Bank.

Answer: polio

Also known as tank ventilator, the iron lung is a large horizontal cylinder - enclosing most of a person's body, except the head - used to stimulate breathing through variations in the air pressure in the enclosed space. This machine is typically used in cases when the muscle control necessary for the function of breathing is lost, either due to disease or poisoning. The iron lung works as a negative-pressure ventilator, simulating the mechanics of breathing (i.e. chest and lung expansion and contraction) in a healthy human being. The first modern iron lung, the Drinker tank (named after one of its inventors) was developed in the US in 1928; the machine's first use was on an 8-year-old polio patient. During the polio outbreaks of the 1940s and 1950s, thousands of these devices were produced to help mostly young polio sufferers to recover from respiratory failure brought about by a paralyzed diaphragm. With the eradication of polio in developed countries, and the advent of more effective methods of mechanical ventilation (such as positive-pressure ventilation, in which air is pushed into the airway), iron lungs have been rendered largely obsolete.

Other medical conditions that in the past would have required the use of an iron lung are botulism (caused by a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum), coal gas poisoning, and the bites of snakes with neurotoxic venom.

Answer: Hittites

The Hittite Empire developed between 1600 and 1180 BC in the central part of the Anatolian Peninsula, in present-day Turkey; at its height, it encompassed most of the peninsula, as well as parts of the Levant (historical Syria) and upper Mesopotamia. The centre of the empire was the city of Hattusa, or Hatti; the name "Hittites" comes from their identification with a group of people mentioned in the Bible. The Hittites spoke an Indo-European language, and used a variation of the cuneiform script. They also seem to have been a warlike people, who placed a lot of emphasis on military might; their most famous engagement was the Battle of Kadesh, fought in 1274 BC against the Egyptians led by Ramses II. Around 1180 BC, during the transition period known as the Bronze Age Collapse, the Hittite Empire splintered in a number of smaller independent kingdoms that later became part of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Though the Hittite Empire flourished during the Bronze Age, this ancient people have been long considered the initiators of the Iron Age, as they began manufacturing iron tools and weapons around 1400 BC, possibly even earlier, as evidenced from some iron fragments (dating from 2200-2000 BC) that contain amounts of carbon. Some scholars have advanced the theory that the Hittites had discovered a smelting process that would allow them to obtain iron from ore, rather than from meteorites. The rise of the Empire has been attributed to the Hittite monopoly on ironworking, which made them more powerful in a military context. In any case, the spread of the smelting process in the Ancient Near East eventually led to the beginning of the Iron Age in that part of the world.

The Assyrians were originally from Mesopotamia, the Elamites from present-day Iran, and the Etruscans from Italy.

Answer: Imelda Marcos

A former beauty queen from an impoverished family, Imelda Marcos was the wife of Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. In spite of the country's difficult economic and political situation, Imelda spent enormous amount of government money on parties, travelling and extravagant shopping sprees: in fact, the Marcoses ended up in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest-ever theft from the government. Some of the couple's ill-gotten wealth has been recovered, though the full extent of their wealth is still unknown. When Imelda and her husband left the Philippines, after Marcos' deposition in 1986, it was revealed that she had amassed a huge collection of jewelry, art and other valuable objects - as well as at least 1,000 pairs of shoes (hence the photo). Ferdinand Marcos died in 1989, during the family's exile in Hawaii. In 1991, Imelda and her children were allowed to return to the Philippines by Corazon Aquino, who had been elected President after Marcos was ousted.

The notorious Imelda's nickname of "Iron Butterfly" was reportedly coined by a foreign journalist after the First Lady described herself as a "butterfly emerging from its cocoon" - probably referring to her rags-to-riches story. Another explanation for the nickname is Imelda's preference for dresses with butterfly sleeves. The adjective "imeldific" was coined in Philippine English to mean "ostentatious and vulgar" - a reflection of the former First Lady's tastes.

Jiang Qing is the only lady on the list who would qualify as a "first lady", as she was Mao Zedong's fourth wife.