Where in the World? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Seoul, South Korea

Hyundai Motor Group is the parent organization of Kia Motors. Founded on June 9, 1944, the corporation has its HQ in Seoul, South Korea. Kia is South Korea's second best-selling car. In 1992, Kia Motors America incorporated to sell cars in the United States. In February 1994, Kia Motors America, located in Irvine, California, began competing in the U.S. auto market.

Answer: Atlanta, Georgia

Originally, Coca-Cola, developed by pharmacist Dr. John Pemberton, was to be sold as a patent medicine. The company introduced the product in 1888 and it was distributed at soda fountains as a soft drink. The Coca-Cola Company, a multinational beverage organization, is housed in Atlanta, Georgia. Among the corporation's other products are Sprite, Fanta, Minute Maid and Dasani.

Answer: Menlo Park, California

If you've seen the film "The Social Network", you'll be acquainted with the machinations leading to the development of Facebook, Inc. This is a social network founded on February 4, 2004 in Cambridge, Massachusetts by Mark Zuckerberg, et al. The headquarters is in Menlo Park, California (part of Silicon Valley).

The original purpose of Facebook was to allow Harvard students to communicate with each other but, as I'm sure you know, it has gone far beyond that scope.

Answer: Yokohama, Japan

Nissan Motor Company Ltd. is a Japanese car manufacturer located in Nishi-Ku, Yokohama, Japan. Aside from the Nissan automobile, the company also produces Infiniti and Datsun. Masujiro Hashimoto founded the company in 1933. In 1999 Nissan formed a partnership with French car maker Renault, named the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Nissan is the largest selling Japanese brand name in Russia, China and Mexico.

Answer: Battlecreek, Michigan

I imagine that Will Keith Kellogg had no idea what he was starting when he toasted his first corn flake. The company was founded as Kellogg's Toasted Corn Flakes in 1906 in Battle Creek, Michigan. In 1922, the corporation's name was shortened to the Kellogg Company.

The multinational entity has since expanded to include cookies, crackers, frozen waffles, etc. Other brand names under the Kellogg umbrella are Eggo, Pringles and Sunshine Biscuits. In 2001, Kellogg acquired the Keebler Company (and, I imagine, their elves).

Answer: Wolfsburg, Germany

Volkswagen, translated as "People's car", is a German car company, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company was founded in 1937, at Hitler's request, to make an auto designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The Volkswagen Group has been the world's largest seller of automobiles. From 1938 to 2003, the company produced an economy car called the Volkswagen Beetle (or VW bug) which was a small, rounded, two-door, four passenger car, with the motor in the back.

The company has continued to update and expand their line of cars, e.g., the Golf, Passat and Scirocco.

Answer: Northfield, Illinois

Kraft Foods is a multinational corporation which produces mostly processed foods. Originally, Kraft Food, Inc. was founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1923. However, with mergers and acquisitions, this company became defunct in 2012. It has subsequently evolved into Mondelez International which is the snack division, and Kraft Heinz keeping the grocery products.

The latter company's headquarters are located in Northfield, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

Answer: Vevey, Switzerland

Anyone out there old enough to remember Farfal, the talking dog who was the mascot for Nestle's Quik? "N-E-S-T-L-E-S, Nestle's makes the very best...chocolate." Nesquik, launched in 1948, was a product of Nestle, a world-wide food and drink business founded in 1866 (not a typo) as a condensed milk company.

Headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestle is one of the largest food companies in the world. They have expanded into baby food, bottled water, breakfast cereals, dairy products, etc. Additionally, they have become one of the main shareholders of L'Oreal cosmetics (because "I'm worth it").

Answer: Irving, Texas

John D. Rockefeller started it all with Standard Oil founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1870. In 1911, the Supreme Court ruled that the company was in violation of the Sherman-Antitrust Act, and Standard Oil was forced to break up into smaller entities. In 1999, Exxon (formerly Standard Oil of New Jersey) merged with Mobil (formerly Standard Oil of New York) and, once again, became an industry giant. ExxonMobil has its headquarters in Irving, Texas.

In 2014, it was the second most profitable company in the 'Fortune 500'.

Answer: London, United Kingdom

Unilever is a British-Dutch consortium which sells consumer goods. It has joint headquarters located in both London, United Kingdom and Rotterdam, Netherlands. The company was created in a merger which occurred in 1930, with its predecessors being the soap-maker Lever Brothers and the margarine-maker Margarine Unie.

The company's corporate acquisitions are impressive, e.g., Lipton, Cheesebrough Ponds, Best Foods, Ben & Jerry's and Alberto-Culver.