Mixed Bag of World History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth was known as the "virgin Queen" and thanks to the fervour with which England explored and colonised the world during her reign, had many things named after her. These include Virginia, the Virgin Islands and "crassostria virginica", a breed of oyster.

Answer: A sacrifice to the gods

Juanita was sacrificed along with two boys in order to prevent a volcanic eruption near Arequipa.

Answer: Benazir Bhutto

Benazir Bhutto became prime minister of Pakistan in 1988, following the footsteps of her father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. She led Pakistan again between 1993-1996. Tansu Ciller was the prime minister of Turkey in the same period, while Sheikh Hasina gained leadership of Bangladesh in 1996. Srimavo Bandaranaike was prime minister of the mainly Buddhist nation of Sri Lanka.

Answer: Jean-Bertrand Aristide

The Brigadier-General seized power not much later, Marc Bazin was the civilian leader installed by the military in 1992. "Papa Doc" was the Haitian dictator who ruled from 1957 to 1971.

Answer: Hephaistion Amyntoros

Alexander and Hephaistion had been friends since childhood, studying together under Aristotle at his school in Mieza. Harpalos was another close friend, and was Alexander's treasurer, but absconded with a small army and a war-chest to Athens. He was later captured and killed. Philotas, son of Alexander's general Parmenion, was executed for masterminding a plot to assassinate Alexander. Krateros was Alexander's other second-in-command (and a rival of Hephaistion).

Answer: Themistocles

Pericles was the great Polemarch (military leader) of Athens. Alcibiades was the general who succeeded Pericles, and led the Peloponnesian War - until he defected to the Spartan side, anyway. Miltiades was the Athenian general who masterminded the victory at Marathon.

Answer: Men who roamed ports seizing civilians for enforced Naval service

The press gang basically kidnapped able-bodied men for the war effort. Although the concept had been in existence for centuries, sets of rules had evolved within the press-ganging field by the Napoleonic era. See http://www.nelsonsnavy.co.uk/broadside7.html for more information.

Answer: St Basil's Cathedral

Ivan the Terrible commissioned the construction of St Basil's to commemorate his victory over the Tartar Mongols in 1552. It was promptly built between 1555 and 1561. According to legend, Ivan had the architect blinded after its completion so that he could never build anything to match its beauty.

Answer: Never

William Wallace never actually attacked York. This is one of the facts that the otherwise excellent film "Braveheart" gets completely wrong!

Answer: Nicolae Ceausescu

Mussolini ruled Italy (but died in similar circumstances to Ceausescu). Todor Zhivkov was the communist dictator of Bulgaria. George Hagi was a Romanian footballer. Somewhat unusually for an Eastern European, perhaps, Ceausescu had a love for rugby, and founded the Romanian Rugby Federation - the national squad are regular participants in the World Cup.

Answer: An elephant

The elephant is the royal animal of Thailand, and all elephants in the nation belong to the King. They were widely used for military purposes throughout Thai history, and were one of the primary mechanisms by which the Thai monarchs held onto power. King Rama V famously offered American President Lincoln elephants to aid him in the Civil War.

Answer: Teacher

Lao-Tze is Mandarin for "teacher". The philosopher's real name was Mo Di.

Answer: Simla

Maxwell Hill is the oldest hill station in Malaysia. Ootacamund and Darjeeling are also Indian hill stations, but Simla was where the British colonials flocked to cool off during the sweltering Indian summers. India was partly governed from Simla during summer.

Answer: Petra

The Nabateans were an early Arabian civilisation. Petra, the "Rose-Red City", lay on a trading route between Damascus and Arabia. The Nabateans were annexed by the Roman Emperor Trajan in 106 AD and Petra was inexplicably abandoned in 551 AD.

Answer: Portuguese

The Portuguese landed on Tanegashima Island in 1543 introducing the Japanese to cakes and firearms, which were welcomed.

Answer: Beijing, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Luoyang

Many, many cities have been the capital of one or another of China's dynasties. These are traditionally known as the four ancient capitals because they have had that role several times in Chinese history.

Answer: Introducing sheep to New Zealand

In New Zealand sheep now outnumber people fourteen to one. Kiwis owe a lot to this man!

Answer: William Dampier

It was Dampier - part buccaneer, part scientist, who landed in 1688 and suggested further exploration after taking home a number of botanical specimens. Captain Cook was the first Englishman to land on the east coast, which he did in 1770. Flinders came along even later in 1795. Dirk Hartog beat them all, landing in 1616, but he was Dutch.

Answer: It was founded in 1270 AD as the capital of the Songhai Empire

Timbuktu was founded around 1100 BC as a trading post due to its proximity to both the Sahara and the Niger river. It first rose to prominence under the Mali Empire due to its position on the trans-Saharan trade route. It traded primarily in salt from mines in the Sahara, and slaves and gold coming down the Niger. Timbuktu was conquered in 1468 by the Songhai who made it a centre for learning by establishing the University of Sankore, in its day the largest university in Africa.

Answer: Cecil Rhodes

Zimbabwe was originally named Rhodesia after Cecil Rhodes, founder of the De Beers diamond mining company, who was heavily involved in its development. He is also well known for the Rhodes Scholarships that he established in the final version of his will. Tiny Rowland is a more recent media magnate. John Bull is a caricature. Arthur Wellesley was the Duke of Wellington.

Answer: Ptolemy

He was her younger brother, and their marriage was a ritual one which conformed to Pharaonic tradition. Notwithstanding their close relationship, the marriage was not particularly happy, with Cleopatra eventually ordering Ptolemy to be killed.

Answer: Felix Dzerzhinski

He was head of the Cheka from 1917-1921, and later headed the two similar organizations which followed it.

Answer: St Francis Xavier

St Francis Xavier was a Jesuit missionary who travelled through Asia, and is buried in the coastal town of Goa, where his body is said to be miraculously preserved. Other saints who are also patrons of India include St Thomas the Apostle and the Virgin Mary.

Answer: Crimean War

The first Victoria Crosses are said to have been struck from the bronze of two Chinese cannons captured from the Russians at the siege of Sevastopol.

Answer: Babylonians

The Egyptians were the first to make glass objects for use, but did so by moulding glass. The Babylonians, in 250 BC, first discovered that molten glass could be blown into shapes.