| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| This island was first settled by the Dorset culture, before being discovered by Eric the Red. This island is where US forces built Thule [[TOO-lee]] Air Force base to monitor possible incursions of Soviet bombers coming across the Arctic Ocean. For the point, name this large North Atlantic island, which has sought autonomy from mainland Denmark, which still controls it, despite being a tiny fraction of its size. | Greenland |
| After one incident during this war, the crew of the USS Vincennes were awarded combat action ribbons despite almost 300 civilian casualties. A man nicknamed “Chemical Ali” conducted the al-Anfal Genocide during this war, including a gas attack on the city of Halabja [[hah-LAHB-jah]]. For the point, name this eight-year-long Middle Eastern war of the 1980’s between countries led by Ruhollah Khomeini and Saddam Hussein from Tehran and Baghdad respectively. | Iran-Iraq War (accept in either order) |
| In “The Monsters and the Critics,” this author argued that Beowulf should be considered as a poem and not just a historical document. The legends and myths written by this author, whose books used invented languages like Sindarin and Entish, were collected by his son into The Silmarillion. For the point, name this English author of the Lord of the Rings series. | J. R. R. Tolkien (or John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) |
| This island’s last native kingdom was the Dutch-aligned Kingdom of Kandy, which was absorbed into the British Empire. This island has seen multiple conflicts between the Hindu minority Tamils and the Buddhist majority Sinhalese. For the point, name this island nation south of India previously known as Ceylon. | Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (accept Ceylon before mentioned) |
| This explorer discovered an island midway between South Africa and Antarctica and named it after Captain Marc-Joseph Marion. This man's attempt to kidnap a Hawaiian king led to his death after being struck in the head by a kahuna. For the point, name this 18th- century British explorer who names a strait separating the two major islands of New Zealand. | James Cook (accept Cook Strait) |
| This person is the only man to have been elected governor of two separate U.S. states, and he was the only foreign head of state to serve in the U.S. senate. This man, who signed the Treaties of Velasco with General Santa Anna, achieved victory at the Battle of San Jacinto. For the point, identify this man who lends his name to Texas's largest city. | Samuel Houston |
| This man’s most-well known legal doctrine was mirrored in the Roman Lex Talionis. This ruler, who succeeded his father, Sin-Muballit, names a decree that issues harsh punishments such as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” For the point, name this Babylonian king who was best known for his namesake law code. | Hammurabi (accept Hummurabi’s Code) |
| This man responded to “A Call for Unity,” written by a white clergyman, in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Before he was to attend a strike supporting sanitation workers, this man was assassinated outside his Memphis hotel room by James Earl Ray. For the point, name this civil rights leader who, at the Lincoln Memorial, gave the "I Have a Dream" speech. | Martin Luther King Jr. (or Michael King Jr.) |
| On 2008, NASA beamed this band's song, "Across the Universe," into space. Pete Best was the original drummer of this band, who, in February 1964, made their first onscreen appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. The "British Invasion" was kick-started by, for the point, what English rock band whose members included Paul McCartney and John Lennon? | The Beatles |
| This nation’s Government-in-Exile was led by Jan Sramek and Edvard Beneš [[BEH- nesh]]. Vladimír Mečiar [[MEH-chee-ahr]] and Václav Klaus governed the two portions of this country that split in the 1992 Velvet Divorce. For the point, name this historical Central European nation that split into two countries governed from Bratislava and Prague. | Czechoslovakia (or Československo; do not accept “Czech Republic”, “Czechia”, or “Slovakia”) |
| In one speech, this man noted a coincidence that Sir Francis Drake died 390 years prior to the day the Challenger exploded. In another speech, given in West Berlin in 1987, this man told Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall." For the point, name this man who served as the 40th U.S. president from 1981 until 1989. | Ronald Reagan (or Ronald Wilson Reagan) |
| This figure’s troops massacred men at Wexford and Drogheda. After members of the Long Parliament were arrested, this man helped orchestrate the Barebones Parliament and led the New Model Army. For the point, name this man who became Lord Protector of England after helping to depose Charles the First of England. | Oliver Cromwell |
| This man responded to criticism by saying “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.” This man, who asked “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?" wrote the autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom. The newspaper The North Star was founded by, for the point, what abolitionist, whose namesake “narrative” detailed his escape from slavery? | Frederick Douglass |
| Irène Némirovsky died at this site before completing her set of five novels titled Suite française. The Monowitz factory was run by IG Farben at this site, whose liberation by Soviet troops became an international holiday. A sign reading “Work makes you free” stands at the gate of, for the point, what Nazi concentration camp located in a namesake Polish town? | Auschwitz Concentration Camp (or KL Auschwitz; or KZ Auschwitz) |
| The first race riots to occur in this city were the 1833 Blackburn Riots, which resulted in the namesake couple fleeing to Toronto. This city is the birthplace of Motown Records, and it is the headquarters of manufacturers like General Motors and Ford. For the point, name this Michigan city which during the mid 20th century became the "automobile capital of the world." | Detroit |
| One of these animals was reportedly fed to members of the Explorer’s Club in 1951. Some legends claim that these animals are large moles that die aboveground, and Güyük Khan may have used a throne made from these animals, which survived on Wrangel Island until 1700 BCE. For the point, name these large, fur-covered extinct mammals that lived during the Pleistocene. | Woolly Mammoth |
| This man's marriage to Katharina von Bora set a precedent for clerical marriage. This native of Wittenberg believed that faith in Christ brought salvation and refused to renounce his beliefs despite demands by Charles the Fifth and Pope Leo the Tenth at the Diet of Worms [[VURMS]]. For the point, name this author of the Ninety-five Theses who launched the Protestant Reformation. | Martin Luther |
| Game show host Chuck Barris claimed to work for this organization in his memoir Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The "Family Jewels" documents leaked in the 1970s discussed this organization's Operation Northwoods, which was intended to disrupt institutions in Cuba. George H. W. Bush once served as the director of, for the point, what primary external spy agency of the United States? | CIA (or Central Intelligence Agency) |
| While serving in Congress, this politician convinced the House to use the money in James Smithson’s will to found the Smithsonian Museum. An alliance between this politician and Henry Clay was labeled as a “corrupt bargain” by supporters of Andrew Jackson. For the point, name this sixth president of the U.S. and son of a Founding Father. | John Quincy Adams (prompt on “Adams”) |
| A man who served as vice president under this president won an Academy Award for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Paul Hodge and Michael Hodge wrote a musical about the presidency of this man, whose character is introduced by his wife, Hillary. For the point, name this Democratic U.S. President whose administration oversaw most of the 1990s. | Bill Clinton (or William Jefferson Blythe III) |
| This city contains the Blue House, at which a head of state was assassinated in the 10- 26 incident. This city served as the capital of the Baekje, as well as a dynasty that referred to this city as Hanseong. The Joseon Dynasty had its capital at, for the point, what city that is the birthplace of K-pop and is the capital of South Korea? | Seoul Special City (or Hanyang; accept Hanseong before mentioned) |
| The ransacking of this city by Wat Tyler and his army led to Richard the Second negotiating concessions with the peasantry. The murder of Thomas Beckett prompted the construction of this city's namesake bridge, which crosses the Thames [[TEMZ]]. The coronation of Elizabeth the Second took place in, for the point, what English city, the site of Westminster Abbey? | London (accept London Bridge) |
| Thomas Hutchinson promised to investigate this event, leading to a pamphlet partly titled The Late Unhappy Disturbance. Thomas Preston and his men were arrested after this event for killing Crispus Attucks and four others. For the point, name this 1770 "Massacre" in which British troops fired upon an agitated crowd in the commons of a New England city. | Boston Massacre |
| A so-called “Republic” of these people based in the Bahamas was ended when King George the First issued a proclamation for suppressing them. Mary Read and Anne Bonny were female examples of these people, whose ships flew the Jolly Roger flag. For the point, name these seafaring thieves who included Blackbeard and Captain Kidd. | Pirates (accept Privateers; accept Republic of Pirates; accept word forms; prompt on “Sailor (s)” or similar answers) |
| The phrase “sold down the river” originated from a slave market in this state that exported victims to the Deep South along the Ohio River. Like Maryland and Missouri, this state retained slavery while remaining in the Union as a border state. For the point, name this U.S. state, whose slave trade was anchored by Lexington and Louisville. | Kentucky |
| Since 2019, the North Base Camp used for this task has been closed by the Chinese government. In 1999, the body of George Mallory was found after he perished while attempting this feat in 1924. Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary first accomplished, for the point, what task, which involves scaling the world’s tallest mountain? | Climbing Mount Everest (accept obvious equivalents) |
| Parts of this landmark were donated by Gene Autry and Warner Brothers Records for a 1978 restoration project. In 1932, Peg Entwistle fell to her death after jumping from this landmark, which originally included the letters "L-A-N-D" at the end. For the point, name this Los Angeles sign that is a symbol for the film industry. | Hollywood Sign (or Hollywoodland Sign) |
| A retired construction worker from this nation built the Parc Garell, a labyrinth made out of natural landscape along the River Fluvià. Manuel de Falla [[fah-YAH]] composed a set of nocturnes titled Nights in the Gardens of [this nation], which is the site of Antoni Gaudí’s [[GOW-dees]] best-known works. For the point, name this Iberian nation that contains the unfinished Sagrada Família church in Barcelona. | Republic of Spain |
| Part of this statue was damaged by Napoleon’s troops near the city of Giza. This structure houses the Dream Stele [[STEEL-eh]] which was made to legitimize the rule of Thutmose the Fourth. For the point, name this statue in Giza with the body of a lion and the head of a human. | Great Sphinx of Giza |
| One holder of this position said “But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?” before his execution. Two men named Gordian held this position, which was claimed by five men in 193 CE, including a man who bought it from the Praetorian Guard. For the point, identify this position first held by Augustus. | Roman Emperor (prompt on "Emperor"; prompt on "Leader of Rome" or similar answers) |
| The State Committee for the State of Emergency led a failed August Coup against this man. This leader, who implemented the Sinatra Doctrine, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War through his policies of glasnost and perestroika. Succeeded by Boris Yeltsin, this was, for the point, what final leader of the Soviet Union? | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| This man replaced the atheistic Cult of Reason with the Cult of Supreme Being. Jacque- Louis David sketched this member of the Committee of Public Safety prior to his execution during the Thermidorian Reaction. For the point, name this Jacobin leader, the architect of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. | Maximilien Robespierre (or Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre) |