General Knowledge - Very Difficult XXII

Now popularly used for weight loss, the semaglutide branded as Wegovy was originally developed and branded as Ozempic to treat which disease?

Technically called a lemniscate, what does this symbol ∞ represent?

US born musician Moby, whose real name is Richard Hall, took his stage name because he believed he was a distant relative of which author?

Drawing millions of party-loving tourists each year, which island was once home to Privilege, the world’s largest nightclub?

Considered to be civilization’s first writing system, cuneiform has been traced back to the 4th millennium BCE and attributed to which people?

Charles de Gaulle (1890 – 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the ____ _____ ______ against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Republic from 1944 to 1946 to restore democracy in France.

Marxist revolutionary Rosa Luxemburg was executed at the age of 47, alongside Revolutionary socialist Karl Liebknecht, also 47, in Berlin by members of what right wing Germany paramilitary unit?

The Battle of ______ was a pivotal naval engagement in the Pacific Theater of World War II, it took place from June 3-7, 1942, and resulted in a decisive US victory that crippled Japan's ability to launch further large-scale offensive operations.

In 476, the Germanic barbarian king _____ deposed the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire in Italy, Romulus Augustulus.

Largest German state in size, and the second most largest German state in regards to population.

The smallest German state, both in area and population.

In November 1995, the city of Bombay was officially renamed to _____?

The name of the psychotic, violent judge in the 1985 book Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

The name of the fictional artificial intelligence character and the main antagonist in the 2001 a Space Odyssey

The name of the character in the 1987 American war film Full Metal Jacket, who after struggling under their abusive drill instructor, kills the drill instructor and then himself with a shotgun. Private ___.

Chinua Achebe, best known for his books Things Fall Apart (1958) & Arrow of God (1964) is perhaps the most famous novelist of what country?

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, best known for his books A Grain of Wheat (1967) & Petals of Blood (1977) is perhaps the most famous novelist of what country?

Dambudzo Marechera, best known for his book The House of Hunger (1978) is perhaps the most famous novelist of what country?

The two species of camels are the dromedary camel (one hump), also known as the Arabian camel, and the ____ camel (two humps).

The most prestigious university in Paris.

The "_____ Jungle" was a notorious refugee camp in France, that existed from 2015 to 2016, attracting global attention during the European migrant crisis.

The most western province-level division of China is ____ located in the northwest of the country. It is a vast region of deserts and mountains & home to many ethnic minority groups, including the Turkic Uyghur people.

Thomas Sankara was a Marxist revolutionary and Pan-Africanist who became President of _______ _____from 1983, when he took over in a coup, until his assassination in 1987.

Amílcar Lopes Cabral (Also known by the nom de guerre Abel Djassi,) was a agricultural engineer, political organizer, and diplomat. He was one of Africa's foremost anti-colonial leaders, influenced heavily by Marxism. He led the nationalist movement of _____ ______ and was shot dead on 20 January 1973, at the age of 48, about eight months before _____ _____'s unilateral declaration of independence

Denis Mukwege is a gynecologist and Pentecostal pastor who founded and works in Panzi Hospital in Bukavu, where he specializes in the treatment of women who have been raped by armed rebels. Mukwege is from what country?

In 2018, Mukwege and Iraqi human rights activist Nadia Murad were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict". Murad is a survivor of a genocide by ISIS in 2015, she is from the _____ ethnic group.

The largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone is the _____comprising 35.5% of the population, followed by the Mende at 31.2%.

Two months after the mysterious 1898 sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, the U.S. declared war on which country?

Straddling Tanzania and Uganda, which is the second largest freshwater lake in the world, trailing only Lake Superior? Lake _____.

Written by an unknown author, what is the longest epic poem in Old English, with more than 3,000 lines?

Marcel Proust (1981-1922) was a French novelist, best known for his 3000 page masterpiece À la recherche du temps perdu (Remembrance of Things Past or __ ______ __ ___ _____), a pseudo-autobiographical novel told mostly in a stream-of-consciousness style.

In 1704 Peter the Great standardized which unit of currency as a coin made of 28 grams of silver?

The term "Potemkin village" refers to a facade or deception, originating from a story about Grigory Potemkin, a Russian statesman, who allegedly erected fake villages along the Dnieper River to impress Empress ______ the Great during her 1787 journey.

One of French author Victor Hugo's most famous books - was made into a disney film in 1996. The ________ __ ____ _____.

A French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. He was known to hang around existentialist circles in the 50s, being friends with Jean Paul Sartre & Simone de Beauvoir. He was also a petty criminal and homosexual. His major works include the novels The Thief's Journal and Our Lady of the Flowers and the plays The Balcony, The Maids and The Screens.

Sharing many elements with Hindi, Urdu is an official language of which country?

Warriors of what civilisation in antiquity would typically carry shields and long spears, fighting shoulder to shoulder in a formation called a phalanx?

In 2021 the prime minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, said “May you continue to shine like a diamond” as she declared which artist a national hero?

Often used for its abrasive cleaning power, which rock is formed by rapidly cooled lava made porous from released vapors?

Edwidge Danticat, best known for her book Breathe, Eyes, Memory (1994) is perhaps the most famous novelist of what country?