The Writing's on the Wall Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thebes

The ancient city of Thebes (and modern day Luxor) was (is) located approximately 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the Nile. It was inhabited from approximately 3200 BC, until the city was sacked by the Assyrians in 664 BC.

The Luxor Temple, along with another set of Theban ruins known as Karnak, were named a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 1979.

Answer: The Eiffel Tower (France)

Hopefully the French gave it away and you chose the Eiffel Tower. Constructed in 1889 for the World's Fair, it was named for its designer, Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923). At the time of its construction, the Eiffel Tower's 324 metre height made it the tallest man-made structure on earth, surpassing the Washington Monument. It held the record for 41 years, when the Chrysler Building in New York overtook it.

Each of the towers given as options in this question are iron lattice towers, and the Tokyo Tower specifically looks very similar to the Eiffel Tower, albeit a bit more colourful.

Answer: Tian'anmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace)

There are six gates in the walls of Beijing's Imperial City, and Tian'anmen is the primary one. Tian'anmen is on the south wall, and it is flanked by two other gates, the Left Chang'an Gate and the Right Chang'an Gate. The other three, of course, are Dong'anmen (east), Xi'anmen (west), and Di'anmen (north).

The Imperial City was the seat of power for the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and within the walls of the Imperial City lies the Forbidden City, built between AD 1406 and 1420.

Answer: Berlin

Following the German defeat at the end of the Second World War, the occupying forces split the German capital city (Berlin) into four sectors. As post-war tensions between the Soviet Union and the West began to rise, it was never more evident than in Berlin. The Soviet sector of Berlin came to be known as East Berlin, while the French, British and American sectors became West Berlin.

Beginning August 13th, 1961, the East German government constructed a wall that completely surrounded West Berlin, a distance of 155 km in total. Since the city was fully within the portion of the country held by the Soviets at the end of the war, West Berlin became an island within the Eastern Bloc country.

On November 9th, 1989, the Berlin Wall was finally opened for good, as political tides turned drastically for the Soviets and the Eastern Bloc. Within the space of a year, albeit with many problems to work through, East and West Germany (and East and West Berlin) were reunited into one country on October 3rd, 1990.

Answer: The CN Tower (Canada)

The CN Tower was completed in 1976, built by the Canadian National (CN) Railway Company. It became both the tallest free-standing structure and the tallest tower in the world, surpassing the Moscow's Ostankino Tower at the time. Two different structures took the two records away from the CN Tower in 2010 - The Burj Khalifa (Dubai, UAE) became the tallest free-standing structure, and the Canton Tower (Guangzhou, China) became the tallest tower, a record that only lasted two years when the Tokyo Tower was completed in 2012.

Aside from the total height of the tower, the CN Tower also boasted the world's highest observation deck, originally called the 'Space Deck', then later changed to 'Sky Pod', at a height of 447 metres. With the completion of the Shanghai World Financial Center, this record was broken with that building's observation deck at 474 metres.

Answer: The Lascaux Caves (France)

The Lascaux Caves in southwestern France were discovered in 1940 by Marcel Ravidat, and by 1948, it was opened to the public for viewing, bringing in an average of 1200 visitors per day. By the mid-1950s, the stream of visitors had caused enough of a change to the interior climate of the caves that the paintings were visibly damaged, and new lichens were growing. In 1963, the caves were closed to the public, and the wall-paintings were restored and preserved.

The site holds more than 2000 drawn figures of various animals, humans, and other abstract symbols. It is believed that they date from the Paleolithic era, approximately 17,300 years ago.

Answer: The Colosseum

The construction of the Colosseum began in AD 70 while Rome was under the reign of Emperor Vespasian and completed ten years later while Titus ruled. Some more work was done while Domitian was emperor. These three emperors made up the Flavian Dynasty (as per their family name of Flavius), and for that reason the Colosseum carries their name.

The partially collapsed outer wall dates back to an earthquake in the 14th century, and further 'damage' was caused over many years of stripping the amphitheatre of much of its stone and metalwork.

Answer: Buckingham Palace

This particular decoration is found gracing the official London residence of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip (Duke of Edinburgh). It also happens to be the official London residence for the Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and the Earl and Countess of Wessex (Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones).

Buckingham Palace was originally built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703, although it was much smaller then. The core building (originally called Buckingham House) received many additions and renovations over the subsequent three centuries to bring it to its current grandeur.

Answer: False

Lenin's Tomb is actually located in Red Square in Moscow, where his embalmed body has been on display since 1924. As an instrumental part of the many political upheavals that changed Imperial Russia into the Soviet Union, Lenin's place in Russian (and Soviet) history is unquestioned. Even after the dissolution of the USSR in the 1990s, the popular support for maintaining Lenin's Mausoleum and the continuing preservation of his body remains strong.

Answer: The Lincoln Memorial (Washington, DC)

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, and the one that saw his country through the Civil War and the beginning of the end of slavery in North America. The Lincoln Memorial is located on the National Mall across from the Washington Monument and features the gigantic statue of Lincoln seated beneath the words "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

The Gettysburg Address inscription can be found within the Memorial building in the south chamber. The north chamber has an inscription of his inaugural address.