History Around the World 11 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Oslo

The city of Oslo was founded by King Harald III in 1048 and became Norway's capital under Harald V in the 14th century. The name Óslo (or Áslo) derives from Old Norse and means either "Meadow at the Foot of a Hill" or "Meadow Consecrated to the Gods". In 2009, Oslo was the world's most expensive city, and in 2011 was ranked second behind Tokyo.

Answer: Bill Clinton & Ulysses S Grant

Born in 1961, Barack Obama was 47 when first inaugurated. Born in 1917, Kennedy was 43 when he became President in January 1960. Theodore Roosevelt was born in 1858 and also took office aged 43 following the assassination of William McKinley in 1901. The only other 20th-Century President younger than Obama was Bill Clinton, who was born in 1946 and took office aged 46 in 1993.

The youngest pre-20th century President was Ulysses S Grant, born in 1822 and aged 46 when he took office in 1869. Of the alternatives, George W Bush and Herbert Hoover were both 54, James Garfield was 49, and Thomas Jefferson was 57.

Answer: Vienna

During the period of the Habsburg Empire, which covered much of Eastern and Central Europe, German was the language of commerce and government and was also widely spoken in towns and villages. Before the division of the Austro-Hungarian Empire following WWI, Vienna had a population of more than 2 million, which was larger than any city in Germany. (Berlin was larger if you include the contiguous built-up areas, but Vienna had more people living within the city.) Today Vienna's population is around 1.7m, about half that of Berlin. During the mid-late 19th century, more than 5 million Germans emigrated, mostly to the USA. Today, the USA is home to between 1-2 million German-speaking people, although only in North and South Dakota is German the most common language spoken at home (after English).

Other countries with significant German-speaking populations are Brazil (as many as 3 million by some estimates) and Argentina (about 1.4 million).

Answer: Catherine Howard

Born in 1485, Catherine of Aragon married Henry's elder brother, Arthur Prince of Wales, when she was just 15. Arthur died in 1502 and Catherine married Henry in 1509, aged 23. At the time of their marriage, Anne of Cleves was 24, Jane Seymour 28 and Catherine Parr 31.

The date of Anne Boleyn's birth is not known (it was somewhere between 1501 and 1507), so she was anywhere from 25 to 32 when she married Henry in 1533. Catherine Howard, though, was the youngest when she was married. Although her exact birth date is unknown, it was sometime during 1523.

She married Henry in July 1540, so she would have been 16 or 17 at the time. However, barely 18 months later, in February 1542, he had her beheaded before she had even turned 20.

Answer: 12th

Born with the name Temujin in the Khentii Mountains in Mongolia, probably in 1162, he effectively founded the Mongol Empire by uniting the nomadic tribes of northeast Asia . He was the first "great Khan" (i.e. emperor) of what would (after his death) become the largest contiguous empire in the history of man.

He became "Supreme Khan of the Mongols" in the Spring of 1206 and by the time of his death in 1227 his empire covered much of China and central Asia.

Answer: Slavery

Centered on the city of Dubrovnik (Ragusa in Italian and Latin) in Dalmatia (today in southern Croatia), the Republic of Dubrovnik was a maritime republic that existed from 1358 until 1808. Its demise came about when it was conquered by Napoleon. Staunchly Roman Catholic, the Rebublic's government was liberal in character and showed its concern for justice and humanitarian principles by adopting a flag with the word "Libertas" (freedom) on it.

In 1416 it became the first European state to impose restrictions on the slave trade.

Answer: Winchester

Although now only a modest city with a population of around 40,000, Winchester is still the capital of the historic county of Hampshire and was once the capital of England. Originally the site of an Iron Age hill fort now known as "Oram's Arbour", Winchester was established as the Roman town of Venta Belgarum in approximately 70 A.D. -- it became the major market site of the local Belgae tribe, hence the name which meant "Market of the Belgae".

Answer: Thailand

Ayutthaya replaced Sukhothai as the capital of the Kingdom of Siam during the reign of King U Thong in the middle of the 14th Century. Within 250 years it had a population 300,000 and by 1700 it was one of the world's largest cities with close to a million inhabitants. Both the city and the kingdom were destroyed by the Burmese Army in 1767. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the ruins of the former capital are preserved in the Ayutthaya Historical Park located in the Chao Phraya River valley some 75 miles north of Bangkok.

Answer: Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius aka Mark Antony was born in Rome in 83 B.C. He was a friend and supporter of Julius Caesar, his mother's cousin, and an early ally of Octavian. The "Final War of the Roman Republic" was fought between forces of the two former allies. Octavian won and went on to become the Emperor Augustus whilst Antony and his lover, Cleopatra, both committed suicide.
It was Antony's fourth marriage, to Octavia, sister of Octavian, (Cleopatra was his fifth wife) that produced the important blood lines through his two daughters (curiously both named Antonia).

Answer: None

You may remember that Tony & Cherie Blair had four children. Three of them were born prior to their father becoming PM in 1997 but their son, Leo, was born whilst he was Prime Minister. Leo was not born, though, until May 2000, and he was the first child born to the serving Prime Minister since 1849. Thus, there were no Prime Ministerial children born during the whole of the Century that began in 1900. For the record, Lord John Russell was the Prime Minister who produced offspring whilst in office in 1849.