Breezing through the 2010s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Queen Elizabeth II

Elizabeth was the eldest child of King George VI and ascended the throne on 6th February 1952 after his death. She is married to Prince Phillip, the Duke of Edinburgh and together they have four children - Charles, Anne, Andrew and Edward. On 9th September 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning British monarch, surpassing Queen Victoria, the previous holder of the title. On 6th February 2017, she became the first British monarch to celebrate a Sapphire Jubilee (65th anniversary of her coronation).

Answer: United Kingdom

In 1973, the United Kingdom joined the European Communities (EC) which eventually morphed into the European Union (EU). Since the global financial crisis of the late 2000s, there was growing discontent among sections of the population in various members of the European Union on diverse factors ranging from the loss of jobs to austerity measures applied on countries with high debt and the increased support required from the well performing economies.

In July 2016, the United Kingdom held a referendum on continuing the country's membership within the EU.

In a move that surprised economists and other political observers around the world, 52% of the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. This move was termed the Brexit combining the words 'British' and 'exit'.

Answer: China

China introduced the one-child policy in 1980 but 30 years later it was blamed for an ageing workforce and a gender imbalance, resulting in many more men than women. The year 2013 saw the easing of the policy which allowed married couples to have two children under the condition that one parent must have been an only child.

The law was further eased in 2015 to allow all married couples to have two children.

Answer: Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in 1927, was inaugurated in April 2005. Only eight years later, in February 2013, he resigned as leader of the Catholic Church, the first since Gregory XII in 1415. His reasoning for the decision was declining health due to old age - he was almost 86. Benedict succeeded Pope John Paul II and preceded Pope Francis.

Answer: MH370

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared without a trace in March of 2014. The flight left Kuala Lumpur with 239 passengers on board bound for Beijing. More than a year after the disappearance of the aircraft part of a wing was found washed up on Reunion Island, east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. Many theories exist in relation to what happened to the aircraft.

Answer: Edward Snowden

Edward Snowdon, computer analyst and former employee of the CIA and US government contractor leaked confidential information revealing several global surveillance programs run by the NSA and other intelligence organisations. Intelligence files from several countries were copied and leaked as well as those from the USA - it was estimated that over 1.7 million files were downloaded. Snowdon said not all documents were handed over to journalists, with him claiming to evaluate every document that was.

Answer: Osama bin Laden

Osama bin Laden was a Saudi millionaire who formed the al-Qaeda, an organization first founded to fight against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In 2001, bin Laden and al-Qaeda took responsibility for the 9/11 terror attacks in the USA. This led to Osama being on the top of various 'Most Wanted' lists.

In May 2011, the USA announced that he had been tracked to a house in Abbottabad in northeastern Pakistan and killed during a covert operation.

Answer: South Korea

On 16th April 2014, MV Sewol which was carrying 476 people and was enroute from Incheon to Jeju in South Korea capsized. A number of the passengers were secondary school students from a local school. The South Korean Coast Guard and other fishing boats and commercial vessels managed to rescue around 172 of the passengers aboard the ill-fated ferry; however, 304 people lost their lives.

The high number of casualties coupled with the number of children involved led to widespread anguish across the country and this incident is regarded as one of the worst disasters to strike South Korea.

Answer: Julia Gillard

A leadership spill in 2010 Australian politics resulted in Australia's first female Prime Minister. Julia Gillard was the first woman to hold the positions of both Deputy Prime Minister and Prime Minister, although not at the same time. Gillard was born in Wales and migrated to Australia with her parents at an early age.

She was involved in politics at the University of Melbourne and graduated with both Law and Arts degrees before becoming a lawyer and partner of a law firm in the late 1980s. Julia Gillard became Australia's 27th Prime Minister when the previous Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, resigned. Three years later, in 2013, another leadership spill saw Gillard lose her position to the man she succeeded in the first place.

Answer: Haiti

The January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti killed somewhere between 100,000 and 316,000 people (depending on the source). In the twelve days following the quake more than 52 aftershocks were recorded with magnitudes over 4.5. Widespread destruction on the island devastated the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with aid flown in from around the world.

Unfortunately, morgues in the country couldn't handle the sheer number of bodies so mass graves had to be used to keep disease at bay.