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1. What was the original purpose of the Taj Mahal?
Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, built the Taj Mahal to house the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal - his favorite wife
Armory
Mausoleum
Mosque
Palace
2. What was the capital of the Byzantine Empire?
Alexandria
Constantinople
Jerusalem
Rome
3. Which came first?
The Paleolithic is the early part of the Stone Age, lasting from about 3 million years ago until about 10,000 B.C.
The Bronze Age
Classical Antiquity
The Neolithic
The Paleolithic
4. What did Costa Rica abolish in 1949?
Fossil fuels
Its military
Slavery
Taxes
5. What was the Tunguska event of 1908?
A giant explosion in Siberia probably caused by a meteor impact
A rebellion in Austria
The mysterious disappearance of a ship in the Caribbean
6. What was a dreadnought?
The HMS Dreadnought was launched in 1906. It was so influential that future battleships with similar capabilities were informally referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships were "pre-dreadnoughts"
A demon in Norse mythology
An elite German soldier
A type of battleship
7. Which of these crops DIDN'T come from the New World?
Hemp
Maize
Tobacco
Tomatoes
8. What decade was known as "gay" in America and "naughty" in Britain?
1720s
1890s
1920s
1960s
9. What was Abraham Lincoln doing when he was assassinated in 1865?
Giving a speech
Inspecting the troops
Walking on the grounds of the White House
Watching a play at Ford's Theatre
10. Who theorized that, as food levels rise, population levels grow to meet them - thereby ensuring most people will always be poor?
This was almost always true throughout history until the time of the Industrial Revolution
G. W. F. Hegel
David Livingstone
Thomas Robert Malthus
Adam Smith
11. Who was the first animal to orbit the Earth?
The Soviets had not yet invented a way to come down from orbit, so Laika's trip was a suicide mission
Ham the chimpanzee
Laika the dog
Yuri Gagarin the human
12. Where did Karl Marx spend most of his adult life?
Berlin
Buenos Aires
London
Moscow
13. Compared to 50 years ago do French people drink more or less wine?
French wine consumption per capita has fallen by more than half in the last 50 years
Less
More
14. What country was formerly known as Southern Rhodesia?
Greece
Kenya
Uruguay
Zimbabwe
15. What did the Qing dynasty force all men to do when they took over China in the 1600s?
The "queue" was a hated symbol of loyalty and submission to the Qing regime, who were Manchu invaders not Han Chinese
I like how Laika's trip is referred to as a 'suicide mission', suggesting she was fully aware of what the trip entailed and made the decision to do it!
I thought that Malthus was a fakeout because I’ve only ever learned about his theory that food couldn’t keep up with population. This idea is much more interesting and should also be taught about him in schools
Good quiz. For the last question, you might want to consider wording it, "When the Qing dynasty took over China in the 1600s, what did it force all men to do," or something along those lines. In its current wording, a reader might not know if the Qing took over China or if the men did.
Does Thomas Robert Malthus go by Robert or Thomas, because in all writing I have seen it said Thomas. This probably sounds really accusatory, but I am just genuinely wondering. Does anybody know? (Pls don't attack me)
As a ""new-worlder"", the formulation of the one about the crops it's a bit tricky, as technically these crops (else than hemp) DIDN'T come from ""New World"", as they were already in the ""New World"". A more general perspective is required.
"Which of these crops WASN'T domesticated in the Americas?" might be an optimal option.
I was confused by the wine question because I interpreted it as total wine consumption in France, not per capita (which I think would be a helpful specification in the clue), but even then it's still markedly less than 50 years ago.
"Which of these crops WASN'T domesticated in the Americas?" might be an optimal option.