| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| This thinker’s work The Sand Reckoner is the most comprehensive surviving source for Aristarchus’ heliocentric theory. He was the first to develop formulas for the volume and surface area of a sphere and invented a namesake “screw” used for raising water, but his “death ray” did not actually sink a fleet attacking his home, Syracuse. For ten points, name this scientist who supposedly ran through the streets shouting “Eureka!” after discovering the principle of buoyancy. | Archimedes of Syracuse |
| Prior to this event, the owner of Green Springs Plantation had tried to acquire warriors from the Pamunkey queen Cockacoeske. Joseph Ingram failed to rally this movement after its leader died of dysentery. It grew from fear of Native American attacks and ended with the hangings of 23 rebels. For ten points, name this 1676 rebellion against Virginia Governor William Berkeley in which Jamestown was burned to the ground. | (Nathaniel) Bacon’s Rebellion |
| In this battle, an I-168 sank the USS Hammann, which was picking up survivors from a ship captained by Elliot Buckmaster; that ship lagged behind the Enterprise and Hornet. The USS Yorktown was lost, but four Japanese carriers were destroyed in, for ten points, what decisive American victory, the turning point of the Pacific theater of World War II? | Battle of Midway |
| This scientist beat Emile Berliner to the patent of the carbon transmitter and is attributed with creating the world’s first industrial research and development lab, found in West Orange, New Jersey. The quote “genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration” is attributed to this Wizard of Menlo Park. For ten points, name this prolific inventor of the phonograph, movie camera, and incandescent light bulb. | Thomas Edison |
| Michael Servetus believed that the soul could be found in this body system and was the first to correctly describe its function in the lungs. Marcello Malpighi confirmed a hypothesis about this system made by a 17th century English physician about how two major components were connected. Robert Jarvik developed a replacement for the major organ of this system, which was studied by Galen and William Harvey. For ten points, name this body system consisting of the heart, blood, and blood vessels. | circulatory system or cardiovascular system (prompt on blood or similar descriptions before mentioned at the end) |
| This organization controlled the Saarland for 15 years before a referendum supported German rule. It did nothing in response to the Mukden incident, after which Japan withdrew from this organization. The U.S. Senate’s refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles meant that the U.S. never joined this organization. For ten points, name this international body that was unable to prevent World War II and was replaced by the United Nations. | League of Nations |
| This composer popularized a percussion-heavy style music inspired by Janissary bands with an opera in which Belmonte rescues Konstanze from Pasha Selim’s harem. He included heavy Masonic symbolism in an opera in which Tamino overcomes a series of trials with the help of the title woodwind. For ten points, name this composer of The Abduction From The Seraglio and The Magic Flute. | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| One of these objects was taken by Vladimir Putin from Robert Kraft, who has earned four of them as an owner. The 1972 design symbolically includes 17 diamonds, and their designs often include gems and diamonds in the shapes of Roman numerals and the Vince Lombardi trophy. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots has four of, for ten points, what type of personal jewelry given to players and staff of teams who win the NFL championship? | Super Bowl ring (prompt on ring or Super Bowl trophy, prize, etc.; do not accept Vince Lombardi trophy) |
| One play depicting this event shows Giles Corey being executed with stones. Thomas Danforth and John Hathorne were heavily involved in this event, which was caused by the fits of Abigail Williams and Betty Parris, who were supposedly under the spell of slave Tituba. The Crucible depicted, for ten points, what 1690s event in which a Massachusetts town executed people for supposedly practicing magic? | Salem Witch Trials |
| This family’s crest pictures a red cow eating grass against a yellow background. One member of this family hosted an orgy in the Banquet of the Chestnuts. That man, the enemy of Girolamo Savonarola, had formed the League of Venice to oppose Charles VIII’s invasion of Italy. That man’s son had embarked on the Romagna campaign, and was the inspiration for Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince. For ten points, name this Italian family whose members included Cesare and Pope Alexander VI. | Borgia family |
| A 1948 expiration date was set for a mandate for this region and a corresponding memorandum regarding Transjordan established by the League of Nations. Since the 1993 Oslo Accords, parts of this region have been governed by a namesake National Authority currently led by Mahmoud Abbas. For ten points, name this Middle Eastern region, home to a state that competes over claims on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as a potential “two-state” solution, with Israel. | Palestine |
| The State of Palestine was declared by this organization, considered a terrorist group by the U.S. until 1991. | Palestinian Liberation Organization or PLO |
| The neighborhood of Marble Hill was separated from this island by the construction of a canal in 1895. Its original source of fresh water, Collect Pond, was landfilled and became the site of the Five Points slum. This island’s neighborhood of Battery Park City was built from land excavated from a Minoru Yamasaki-designed skyscraper project, and a low-lying area in the north of this island became a center of African-American culture. For ten points, what island in New York City is home to Harlem and the World Trade Center? | Manhattan |
| Battery Park City was built on the banks of what river, which separates Manhattan from New Jersey? | Hudson River |
| The patronage of Gushi Khan increased the power of the holders of this position. A delegate of one holder of this position was forced at gunpoint to ratify the Seventeen Point Agreement. Men who hold this position are thought to be incarnations of Avalokiteshvara. The current holder of this position, Tenzin Gyatso, currently lives in exile in India. For ten points, name this position, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. | Dalai Lama |
| This other form of Buddhism, which uses koans to teach Buddhist principles, is commonly practiced in Japan | Zen Buddhism (prompt on Mahayana Buddhism) |
| This position was ended by the Peace of Pressburg, which also created the Confederation of the Rhine. One holder of this position stood in the snow outside Canossa to do penance, and the successor to this position was decided by the prince-electors. These men were crowned by popes until 1530, and the phrase “sacrum” was added to this title by a man who fought the Lombard League. For ten points, name this position, which was held by Charles V and Frederick Barbarossa. | Holy Roman Emperor (or Romisch-deutscher Kaiser; or Romanorum Imperator) |
| A 1356 decree known by this color was issued by Charles IV to set the number of electors to select the Holy Roman Emperor at seven. | Golden Bull of 1356 [accept Bulla Aurea] |
| At least two governors of this state have publicly refused to return a Virginian Confederate flag won at the Battle of Gettysburg. One, the current governor, endured a state government shutdown in 2011; the other was former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura. For ten points, name this state where Mark Dayton of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party governs from St. Paul. | Minnesota |
| In 2007, 13 people died when this disaster struck Interstate 35 in Minneapolis, leading to calls for increased funding for infrastructure. | a bridge collapsed into the Mississippi River |
| This company’s John Archbold was almost assassinated in 1915 at Cedar Cliffs by members of the IWW. One of this company’s founders, Henry Flagler, is the namesake of the Florida east coast Railway. Muckraker Ida Tarbell wrote a history of this company, which was dissolved after it was found to be violating the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1911. For ten points, name this petroleum company that was created by John D. Rockefeller. | Standard Oil Company |
| Standard Oil is an example of this economic scenario which occurs when a single company or enterprise is the only provider of a commodity or service. | monopoly |
| This man documents his experiences traveling in China in his collection “In Time of War: A Sonnet Sequence with a Verse Commentary.” One poem by this author asks “Who can reach the deaf?/Who can speak for the dumb?” and begins in “one of the dives/On Fifty-Second Street”; that poem declares “We must love each other or die.” “Funeral Blues” was written by, for ten points, what poet who memorialized the beginning of WWII in his poem “September 1, 1939?” | W (ystan) H (ugh) Auden |
| ”September 1, 1939” states that this ancient Greek historian knew “All that a speech can say about/About Democracy,” alluding to his record of Pericles’ funeral oration in his most famous work. | Thucydides |
| The Senussi opposed French influence on this continent in the early 20th century. The Battle of Gazala was fought near a northern port on this continent, Tobruk, during the Western Desert Campaign; that campaign culminated in the Second Battle of El Alamein, where Erwin Rommel’s forces were forced to retreat to this continent’s northernmost country, Tunisia. For ten points, name this continent where an Allied World War 2 campaign pushed the Germans out of Libyan and Egyptian deserts. | Africa |
| Erwin Rommel was known as the “Desert” one of these crafty animals. | (Desert) Fox |
| The capital of Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi ruled until 2011? | Tripoli |
| The largest city in Morocco and setting of a classic 1943 film? | Casablanca |
| The site of a U.S. Embassy in Libya that was attacked on September 11, 2012? | Benghazi |
| The former Phoenician colony whose earth was supposedly salted in 146 BCE? | Carthage |
| The city in central Mali home to the Sankore Madrassa, popularly believed to be hard to reach? | Timbuktu |
| The home of the Great Library, a Wonder of the Ancient World? | Alexandria |
| The site of a 1956 general strike and bombings of a milk bar and other French civilian targets by the FLN? | Algiers |
| The site of an Egyptian battle that Winston Churchill called “perhaps the end of the beginning?” | El Alamein Spanish-American War During the Spanish-American War, who or what was... |
| The Caribbean island, with capital Havana, that gained independence from Spain after the war? | Cuba |
| The U.S. battleship sunk in Havana harbor, triggering the war? | USS Maine |
| The future U.S. President who was second-in-command of the Rough Riders? | Theodore Roosevelt |
| The treaty that ended the war? | Treaty of Paris |
| The July 1st battle in which the Rough Riders and Buffalo Soldiers took Kettle Hill? | San Juan Hill (or San Juan Heights) |
| The Admiral of the Navy who won the Battle of Manila Bay? | George Dewey |
| The Asian archipelago where Emilio Aguinaldo fought with, then against, the U.S.? | Philippines |
| The Army Chief of Staff and surgeon whose brigade included the Rough Riders? | Leonard Wood Modern British PMs Which British Prime Minister from the 20th and 21st centuries... |
| Is the current PM? | David Cameron |
| served during most of World War II, offering nothing but “blood, toil, tears, and sweat?” | Winston Churchill |
| was known as the Iron Lady? | Margaret Thatcher |
| attended the 1919 Paris Peace Conference and helped organize the Treaty of Versailles? | David Lloyd George |
| signed the Munich Agreement with Hitler, proclaiming “peace in our time”? | Neville Chamberlain |
| replaced his predecessor as the new Labour PM at the 1945 Potsdam Conference? | Clement Attlee |
| was criticized for sending troops to Iraq in 2003? | Tony Blair |
| was comparably less criticized for sending troops to Iraq in 1991? | John Major |
| One man involved in this event used the name John Johnson, and people involved in this event took shelter at the Holbeche House. Francis (+) Tresham and Thomas Wintour were executed for their role in this event, and the plan for this event was uncovered in an anonymous letter sent to Lord (*) Monteagle. Robert Catesby served as the leader behind this event, which saw Guy Fawkes discovered guarding ammunition. For ten points, name this plot to blow up the British Parliament and assassinate James I. | Gunpowder Plot (or Treason) |
| A radiator of this color can be seen in the lower left Edward Hopper’s Automat, and a flag of this color flies atop of the mast of Bosch’s Ship of Fools. Gauguin painted a symbolic (+) Christ of this color, which joins black, red, and blue as the only colors in most (*) Piet Mondrian [PEET MOHN-dree-AHN] works. For ten points, name this primary color featured in Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. | yellow (accept gold or bronze before “Bosch” is read) |
| This man took riverboats from Cairo, Illinois across the Mississippi river in his first battle as commanding officer, the Battle of Belmont. He caused Nathan (+) Bedford Forrest to flee Fort Donelson, where he demanded Simon Buckner’s immediate surrender. His troops defended the (*) Hornet’s Nest at a battle where Albert Sidney Johnston was killed. For ten points, name this victorious general at the Battle of Shiloh who earned the nickname “Unconditional Surrender,” partially for his initials. | Ulysses S. Grant |
| TANAPA manages this mountain’s Lemosho trail. First summited by Hans Meyer, it consists three connected cones: Shira, Mawenzi, and one renamed by (+) Julius Nyerere to celebrate his nation’s independence, Kibo. This mountain’s Arrow Glacier doesn’t exist anymore, and all the ice on (*) its Uhuru Peak is expected to disappear by 2060. For ten points, what dormant, snow-capped volcano in Tanzania is the highest point in Africa? | Mount Kilimanjaro |
| According to William of Poitiers, Pope Alexander II gave a papal banner to one leader prior to this battle. That leader led an attacking force landed in Pevensey, even though they intended to land in the (+) Isle of Wight. The other side in this battle had a defensive position on Senlac Hill, where one losing leader was shot in the (*) eye. This battle is depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry, which shows the death of Harold Godwinson. For ten points, name this 1066 victory for William the Conqueror, who afterward would establish Norman rule of England. | Battle of Hastings |
| This god turned Caenis into a man so that she could become a warrior, and this god was angered when (+) Laomedon refused to pay him for building the walls of Troy. This god was defeated by (*) Athena in a contest for the patronage of Athens when her gift of the olive tree was judged superior to his gift of a saltwater spring. For ten points, name this Greek trident-wielding god of the sea. | Poseidon |
| One of this man’s first acts as Prime Minister was the First Agrarian Reform, which expropriated large sugar plantations for redistributions to peasants. Before coming to power, he was denied counsel in a trial over a failed (+) July 26th attack on the barracks at Moncada; at that trial, this man proclaimed “Condemn me; it does not matter. History will (*) absolve me.” After overthrowing Fulgencio Batista, this man ruled for half a century until passing power to his brother Raul in 2008. For ten points, name this longtime dictator of Cuba. | Fidel Castro |
| Ben Shahn created a painting depicting these people in coffins titled for their Passion. Mario Buda probably assisted in the Wall Street (+) bombing two days after the indictment of these men, who were defended by Fred Moore for the (*) murder of Alessandro Berardelli during a Massachusetts robbery in 1920. For ten points, name these two Italian anarchists whose death sentences were criticized worldwide as being politically motivated. | Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti |
| In response to this event, Mossad launched Operation Wraith of God and Operation Spring of Youth. This event’s perpetrators demanded the release of Andreas Baader and (+) Ulrike Meinhoff, the founders of the Red Army Faction, and it was codenamed Operation Iqrit and Biram after villages depopulated by the (*) Haganah. For ten points, name this event that saw members of Black September kill 11 Israeli coaches and athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in a certain German city. | Munich Massacre |
| What island off the coast of Italy is home to Cosa Nostra, a notorious crime syndicate often called “the Mafia?” | Sicily |