| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| This politician was compared to Lucifer by Horace Mann after the "Seventh of March" Speech. This politician, who offered a defense of his alma mater, Dartmouth, before the Supreme Court, lost his New England senate seat after defending the Compromise of 1850. For ten points, name this Massachusetts politician who formed the "Great Triumvirate" with Henry Clay and John Calhoun. | Daniel Webster |
| The last British prime minister to simultaneously serve in this position was Stanley Baldwin. Before Jeremy Hunt, the most recent holder of this position previously worked for Goldman Sachs and was central to Britain’s COVID-19 response. Often considered the second most-powerful position in British politics, for ten points, name this office, once held by Rishi Sunak, responsible for the Royal Treasury. | Chancellor of the Exchequer (prompt on "Chancellor" or "Second Lord of the Treasury"; do not accept "Treasurer") |
| Norman forces in this conflict were led by Bohemond of Taranto. The Sultan of Rum, Kilij Arslan, led a cavalry ambush against several participants in this event. Godfrey of Bouillon [[bwee-YOHN]] founded the Kingdom of Jersualem in the aftermath of this event. For ten points, name this holy war called by Pope Urban the Second at the Council of Cleremont, which was supported by the chant "Deus Vult.” | First Crusade (prompt on “Crusade”) |
| In this opera's aria "Jurons, jurons par nos dangers," men from Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden swear to join a rebellion against the Austrians. The overture to this opera evokes a cavalry charge heralded by trumpets in its "March of the Swiss Soldiers," and its protagonist shoots an apple off his son's head. For ten points, name this final opera by Gioachino Rossini based on the legend of a Swiss folk hero. | William Tell (or Guillaume Tell; or Guglielmo Tell; or Wilhelm Tell) |
| This location was named for the fourth son of King George the Third, who was also the father of Queen Victoria. The capital of this location is named for Britain's longest-serving queen consort, and that capital hosted the conferences that led to Canadian confederation. For ten points, identify this province that hosted the Charlottetown Conferences. | Prince Edward Island (or PEI) |
| This member of the Fascist Grand Council turned down a free trip on the Titanic because he preferred the stenographer on the Lusitania. This man founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company. Earning a 1909 Nobel prize in Physics, for ten points, who is this Italian engineer considered the inventor of radio? | Guglielmo Marconi (or Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi) |
| The All-American Route to this event went through the port of Valdez in an attempt to evade customs controls. Sam Steele kept order during this event while leading a group of Mounties. Participants in this event traveled through towns like Skagway and Dyea [[DY-yee]] on their way to Dawson City. For ten points, name this event in which thousands of prospectors settled in northwest Canada. | Klondike Gold Rush (or Yukon Gold Rush; prompt on partial answers) |
| This was the last in a series of battles in which “Howlin' Mad” Smith denounced insufficient artillery support. This battle, which was planned as Operation Detachment, was denounced by admiral William Pratt as strategically useless. For ten points, name this early 1945 battle that expelled Japan from one of the Volcano Islands, after which Joe Rosenthal took an iconic picture of a flag being raised on Mount Suribachi. | Battle of Iwo Jima |
| During this dynasty's reign, the Grand Canal was extended to reach Beijing, and this dynasty was forced to deal with the Red Turban Rebellion. This dynasty expanded China to its greatest imperial extent, and it was established by a man also known as Emperor Shizu, a member of the Borjigin clan. This dynasty attempted to invade Japan twice, but failed due to the kamikaze winds. Established by Kublai Khan, for ten points, name this Mongol dynasty of China. | Yuan Dynasty (accept Yuán Cháo; or Great Yuan) |
| This dynasty that followed the Yuan was well known for its white and blue porcelain and vases. | Ming Dynasty (accept Great Ming) |
| A branch of this system based in Kansas City was once headed by Herman Cain, and sponsors the Jackson Hole Symposium. This system, created by Woodrow Wilson after the Panic of 1907, was formerly headed by Janet Yellen. This system, which acts as the "lender of last resort" within the United States, is currently headed by Jerome Powell. For ten points, name this central banking system of the U.S., which sets interest rates. | Federal Reserve (accept The Fed) |
| The Federal Reserve was formerly headed by this woman, the first to do so. She has also been the secretary of the treasury since 2021. | Janet Yellen (or Janet Louise Yellen) |
| The death of this man’s admiral, Dragut, led to the failure of his siege of Malta. This man killed his eldest son, Mustafa, on the advice of Rustem Pasha, an action also blamed on his wife, Hurrem. This man won a great victory at Mohacs [[MOH-hahtch]], securing Ottoman domination of Hungary. For ten points, name this powerful ruler of the Ottoman Empire who besieged Vienna in 1529. | Suleiman the First (accept Suleiman the Magnificent; or Suleiman the Lawgiver; or Ḳānūnī Sulṭān Süleymān; both portions required) |
| Before losing at Malta to the Knights Hospitaller, Suleiman besieged them successfully on which largest island of the Dodecanese? | Rhodes (or Ródos) |
| After another object was broken by King Pelinore, this object was created at the Isle of Apples. This object’s sheath protected its wielder from ever bleeding, and as payment for this object, the Lady of the Lake demanded the head of Balin. This object was caught by a mysterious hand after being thrown into a lake by Sir Bedivere. For ten points, name this legendary sword used by King Arthur. | Excalibur (or Caliburn) |
| The story of Excalibur is related in English in the 15th century work Le Morte d'Arthur, written by this English knight. | Thomas Malory |
| After returning home, this man was either murdered by Aegisthus or killed in a bathtub by his wife. Heinrich Schliemann claimed he discovered this man's funeral mask, a gold artifact discovered in Mycenae. Iphigenia, Elektra, and Orestes were children of, for ten points, what leader of the Greeks during the Trojan War who was betrayed by his wife, Clytemnestra? | Agamemnon |
| Electra is the subject of two classic Greek tragedies, one by Euripides and the other by this playwright, whose other works include Oedipus Rex and Antigone [[an-TIH-goh-nee]] | Sophocles |
| Stanislaw Karubin killed one enemy during this battle by flying close overhead and forcing him into the ground. Karubin was a member of Number 303 Squadron, one of sixteen Polish squadrons involved in this battle, for which the Dowding Radar System was used by the defending side. The Luftwaffe battled the Royal Air Force in, for ten points, what 1940 aerial campaign over a namesake European island? | Battle of Britain (prompt on “the Blitz”) |
| Winston Churchill named the Battle of Britain during this speech, the third of three notable speeches in 1940, following "Blood, Toil, Sweat and Tears" and "We shall fight on the beaches." | "This Was Their Finest Hour" |
| One leader in this military engagement previously served as a decoy in the 1866 Fetterman Fight, and another leader in this battle later joined Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. After a failed charge at this battle, one commander resorted to a defensive position until he was joined by Frederick Benteen. That man, Marcus Reno, failed to support a general who died on a namesake hill. For ten points, name this battle, also known as Custer’s last stand. | Battle of Little Bighorn (accept Battle of Greasy Grass; accept Custer’s Last Stand before “Custer”) |
| At the Battle of Gettysburg, George Custer’s Michigan Cavalry Brigade defeated the superior forces of this Confederate cavalry general, considered to be the “eyes” of Robert E. Lee’s army. | J.E.B. Stuart (or James Ewell Brown Stuart) |
| As an infant, this god was given the realm of Alfheim as a teething gift. While fighting Beli, this god lost his sword and had to use a deer antler to fight. Along with his father, Njord [[NYORD]], this god was taken as a hostage following the war of the Aesir and Vanir. This god owned the folding ship Skidbladnir and the golden boar Gullinbursti. For ten points, name this Norse fertility god, the brother of Freyja. | Freyr (or Frey; do not accept or prompt on “Freya” or "Freyja") |
| The stories of Freyr and the other Norse gods are told in two Medieval Icelandic works, the Poetic and the Prose, examples of what genre of collected Icelandic mythology? | Edda (accept Poetic Edda; accept Prose Edda) |
| Was a president who starred opposite a chimp in Bedtime for Bonzo? | Ronald Reagan (or Ronald Wilson Reagan) |
| Was known as “America’s Poet” and composed “O Captain! My Captain!” to memorialize Abraham Lincoln? | Walt Whitman |
| Was Lyndon Johnson’s vice president and the Democratic nominee in 1968? | Hubert Humphrey (or Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr.) |
| Composed the musicals Assassins and Sweeney Todd? | Stephen Sondheim (or Stephen Joshua Sondheim) |
| Starred in The Great Dictator, an early "talkie" satirizing Adolf Hitler? | Charlie Chaplin (or Charles Spencer Chaplin, Jr.) |
| Was the first Republican vice president? | Hannibal Hamlin |
| Concurrent North American conflict during which the Battle of Quebec took place. | French and Indian War |
| Prussian leader who gained power following the War of the Austrian Succession. | Frederick the Great (or Frederick the Second; accept “Friedrich” in place of "Frederick"; prompt on "Frederick") |
| Native American confederacy that included the Oneida and Mohawk, which allied with the British. | Iroquois Confederacy (or Haudenosaunee; accept Iroquois League; accept Six Nations) |
| Modern country in which the Sieges of Madras and Plassey took place. | Republic of India (or Bharatiya Ganarajya) |
| "Great Commoner" who devised a plan for Britain to seize all of France while serving as Prime Minister in the 1760s. | William Pitt the Elder (or 1st Earl of Chatham; prompt on "Pitt"; do not accept or prompt on "Pitt the Younger") |
| Lake on which an outnumbered Montcalm was able to defeat the British at the 1758 Battle of Ticonderoga. | Lake Champlain |
| Title that Haile Selassie took in 1930, similar to the titles that Julius Caesar and Napoleon held. | Emperor of Ethiopia |
| Pirate-infested country in the Horn of Africa which Aden Adde [[AH-deh]] led during a rare period of stability from 1960 to 1967. | Federal Republic of Somalia (or Jamhuuriyadda Federaalka Soomaaliya; or Jumhuriyat as Sumal al Fidiraliyah) |
| Country, formerly the Gold Coast, that was the site of the 1948 Accra riots. | Republic of Ghana |
| Man who united Tanganyika and Zanzibar into Tanzania in 1964. | Julius Nyerere |
| Country for which Patrice Lumumba served as first prime minister before his 1961 murder. | Democratic Republic of the Congo (accept D. R. Congo; do not accept or prompt on Republic of Congo) |
| Small nation in Southern Africa where Hastings Banda led a totalitarian one-party state until 1994. | Republic of Malawi (or Dziko la Malawi) |
| Soldiers under this man were forced to halt during the Battle of Siffin after this man's opponent, Mu'awiya, put pages from the Quran on the tips of spears. Earlier, this man defeated (+) Muhammad’s widow, Aisha, at the Battle of the Camel following a dispute over punishing the assassins of his predecessor, Uthman. (*) For ten points, name this Rashidun leader and last of the “rightly guided caliphs,” whose early followers became the Shia minority of Muslims. | Ali ibn Abi Talib |
| Two answers required. These people began one year by forcing the surrender of King Boabdil. These people issued the Alhambra (+) Decree, which mandated Jewish subjects to convert to Christianity or leave the country. As a sign of their faith, these people established the Tribunal of the Holy Office of the (*) Inquisition. For ten points, identify these two people who signed the Treaty of Tordesillas [[tor-deh-SEE-yass]] with Portugal and unified Spain through their marriage. | Ferdinand and Isabella (accept Ferdinand the Second of Aragon and Isabella the First of Castile; prompt on partial answers) |
| After the Apollo 1 fire, this man questioned James Webb about the leaked Phillips Report. During one primary, this man criticized rival Gary Hart’s policy ideas with the phrase “where’s the beef.” This man selected (+) Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate, making her the first woman on a presidential ticket of a major party. (*) For ten points, name this vice president under Jimmy Carter who was trounced by Ronald Reagan in the 1984 presidential election. | Walter Mondale (or Walter Frederick "Fritz" Mondale) |
| During one conflict in this region, Pavel Grachev stated that only “an incompetent commander” would order tanks into one city before doing just that while intoxicated on his birthday. At the end of a war in this region Dzhokar Dzudayev was killed in an air strike. In the (+) 1990’s three Battles of Grozny were fought in a war in this region. (*) For ten points, name this predominantly Muslim region of Russia that tried to break away from that country, a region on the north slope of the Caucasus Mountains. | Chechnya |
| This ethnic group, which was targeted in the Sayfo Massacre, claims descent from an empire that honored such deities as Shamash and Ashur. This ethnic group’s Christians fall into Aramean, Chaldean, and (+) Syriac sects, and its members are descended from an empire once ruled by Sennacherib and Sargon the Second. Named for a realm that established its capital at (*) Ninevah, for ten points, what is this ethnic group of indigenous Mesopotamians whose homeland is in northern Iraq? | Assyrians (accept Sūrāyē; or Suryoye; or ʾĀṯōrāyē) |
| R.F. Foster claimed this game was inspired by the Persian game of As-Nas, and the expansion of this game in the U.S. was facilitated by boatmen on the Mississippi River. The legislature of a certain state claims that (+) Robstown was the site at which one this game's variants was first introduced. The five-card stud variant of this game was popularized during the Civil War. (*) For ten points, name this card game, for which a namesake World Series has been held since 1970. | Poker (accept various types of poker like Texas Hold 'Em Poker; Five Card Stud Poker; prompt on types of poker that do not mention the word Poker e.g. Texas hold'em"; prompt on "Cards" or "Playing Cards") |
| Livadia Palace was one of the sites of this event, which was sometimes codenamed Argonaut. At this event, one leader said "the question of (+) Poland was one of honor" and agreed to a later-abandoned plan for (*) free elections. This event marked the first time a US president visited the Soviet Union. For ten points, identify this 1945 conference that was attended by the Churchill, Truman, and Stalin in Crimea. | Yalta Conference (accept Crimea Conference before "Crimea" is read; accept Argonaut before mentioned) |
| A bill signed during the presidency of this man that outlawed polygamy in federal territories was the Edmunds Act. A prominent biography of this man by Thomas Reeves is titled The Gentleman Boss. A bill passed during this president’s tenure originally applied to ten percent of federal (+) jobs. That bill, which aimed to combat the spoils system, was the (*) Pendleton Act. For ten points, name this Republican president who was the vice president and successor of James Garfield. | Chester Alan Arthur |
| A senator from this U.S. state, Claude Pepper, was nicknamed “Red” for his supposed communist sympathies after visiting the USSR. The grandson of the winningest baseball manager in history, (+) Connie Mack the Third, served in the Senate from this state before losing his position to Bill (*) Nelson. For ten points, name this U.S. state whose senators have included former governor Rick Scott and Senator Marco Rubio. | Florida |
| The common name for this five-week battle on the Western Front in 1944 and 1945, officially the Ardennes Offensive, was coined to describe the shape of the Allied front line. | Battle of the Bulge |
| This goddess is associated with a location where the dragon Nidhogg chews on the corpses of murderers and oath-breakers (+) below the three roots of Yggdrasil. This goddess is the sister of Fenrir and Jörmungandr [[YOR-mun-GAHN-dur]], and she is one of the offspring of Angrboda and Loki. (*) For ten points, identify this Norse goddess of the underworld, whose name is used interchangeably with her dark abode. | Hel |
| The first iteration of this championship game was played in 1967, during which the winning team was coached by Vince Lombardi, who would later name its trophy. | Super Bowl (accept Super Bowl One; accept AFL-NFL World Championship Game) |