More Acronyms from History Trivia Quiz

Answer: SPQR

SPQR is an acronym for "Senate and People of Rome." The "Q" is for "-que" in Latin (an enclitic particle), meaning "and," thus, "Senatus Populusque Romanus." "Roma" is the Latin and Italian name of Rome. TGIF is "Thank God it's Friday" and FDIC is the "Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation."

Answer: Jesus Christ

"INRI" is Latin for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" and was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek during the crucifixion of Jesus. This inscription was placed on the cross, according to John 19:19.

Answer: Tennessee Valley Authority

The TVA set up dams on the Tennessee River and many of its tributaries, bringing much-needed flood control as well as hydroelectric power to a vast rural area of Tennessee and surrounding states.

Answer: European Theater of Operations

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Allied Commander for the ETO. He would later become President of the United States. Many of the American servicemen who served under "Ike" no doubt voted for him twice.

Answer: Thailand, Pakistan, and the Philippines

With its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, SEATO (The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization) was made up of eight nations at its height: the USA, Australia, New Zealand, France, and the UK, in addition to the three correct answers. In addition, South Vietnam and Laos were protected states of SEATO, a condition which proved ultimately ineffective for South Vietnam. SEATO itself expired on 30 June 1977.

Answer: SLA

The Symbionese Liberation Army was a short-lived revolutionary group in California whose main claim to fame was the abduction of Patty Hearst as well as a couple of murders and robberies. It was founded in 1973 by prison escapee Donald DeFreeze. He and several key members were killed in a shoot-out with police in May of 1974.

SNCC was the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and SDS was the Students for Democratic Society, two civil rights organizations of the 1960s which became associated with radical activities.

SCLC is the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization working for civil rights for Blacks. It was closely associated with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was a key element in the Civil Rights Movement of the Sixties and after.

Answer: Angola

The MPLA is the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola, a Soviet-backed independence movement founded in 1956. Led by Agostinho Neto, it established the Angolan government when the nation gained its independence in 1975, and Neto became its first president. After the election of 2012, it held 175 of the 220 seats in the National Assembly.

UNITA is the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. It was founded in 1966 by Jonas Savimbi. It abandoned armed struggle after Savimbi's death in 2002. It is Angola's second-largest political party and held 16 seats in the National Assembly after the elections of 2008.

FNLA is the National Liberation Front of Angola, a guerilla movement founded in 1954. It was backed by the USA, Israel, France, China, Algeria, and Tunisia, among others. It reorganized as a political party in 1972, but won only three seats in 2008.

Answer: PLO

When the PLO, or Palestine Liberation Organization, was founded in Egypt in 1964, its expressed goal was to restore Palestine to the Palestinian people through armed struggle. In ten years, it became the sole recognized representative of Palestinians by over 100 countries. In 1993 the PLO rejected violence and terrorism and recognized Israel's right to exist. In return, Israel recognized the organization as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

OPEC is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OAS is the Organization of American States, and the UAR was the short-lived union of Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961.

Answer: KGB

The KGB was the security agency, like America's CIA, for the Soviet Union. CSA was the Confederate States of America, the seceding states that fought against the United States in its Civil War between 1861 and 1865. The IRA is the Irish Republican Army.

The BRD (Bundesrepublik Deutschland), or Federal Republic of Germany, also known as West Germany, was one of the two states into which Germany was divided during the Cold War.

Answer: NSDAP

NSDAP stands for "Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei," or "National Socialist German Workers' Party." In 1920 it emerged from the DAP, or German Workers' Party, which began in 1919. Hitler took the party over in 1921. And the rest is history.

The IRA, or Irish Republican Party, was formed in 1917 and has taken several forms since. It sought first, the independence of Ireland from Britain, and subsequently the union of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland.

The ICFTU is the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, which emerged in 1949 from earlier trade unions. Its main office was in Brussels. In 2006 it dissolved, merging into the ITUC, or International Trade Union Confederation.

ANZUS refers to a 1951 treaty for collective security between Australia, New Zealand, and the USA.