| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| ROYAL HISTORY: What material names the 60-year jubilee of a monarch, a milestone that was celebrated by Queen Elizabeth the Second in 2012? | Diamond (accept Diamond Jubilee) |
| WORLD EVENTS: In 1930, the Estadio Centenario in Montevideo was the first host for the Finals of what major event, whose 2022 iteration concluded in Lusail, Qatar? | FIFA World Cup |
| EXECUTIONS: What king was executed by anti-royalists during the French Revolution, alongside his wife, Marie Antoinette? | Louis the Sixteenth (prompt on “Louis”) |
| DEFUNCT NATIONS: Erich Honecker was the longest-serving president of what Communist nation, which was dissolved after the fall of the Berlin Wall? | East Germany (or Ostdeutschland; accept German Democratic Republic; or GDR; accept Deutsche Demokratische Republik; or DDR, prompt on “Germany”; do not accept “West Germany” or “FRG”) |
| EAST-WEST CONFLICTS: What illicit substance was the namesake of a series of wars between the United Kingdom and China that resulted in the signing of the Unequal Treaties? | Opium (accept Opium Wars) |
| WORLD'S FAIRS: What Midwestern American city was the host of the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, an event that featured the public debuts of the Pledge of Allegiance, Juicy Fruit gum, and the Ferris wheel? | Chicago |
| OBSOLETE TITLES: Prior to being deposed, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was the last person to hold what regal title in Iran? | Shah (prompt on “King”) |
| PHILOSOPHERS: What philosopher of Ancient Greece was put to death by consuming hemlock after being found guilty of corrupting the youth of Athens? | Socrates |
| GREAT DEBATES: What U.S. senator from Illinois was the opponent of Abraham Lincoln in a series of 1858 debates concerning a variety of issues, including the Kansas-Nebraska Act? | Stephen A (rnold) Douglas |
| TUTORS: What student of Plato wrote works such as the Nicomachean Ethics and tutored Alexander the Great? | Aristotle |
| TEST SITES: What atoll of the Marshall Islands was the site of a series of nuclear tests conducted by the United States between 1946 to 1958? | Bikini Atoll |
| INDIGENOUS PEOPLES: The Treaty of Payne’s Landing officially ended a series of conflicts named for what native people of Florida? | Seminoles |
| CIVIL WAR HISTORY: What Mississippi stronghold was besieged by Union forces under General Ulysses Grant on July 4th, 1863? | Vicksburg (accept Siege of Vicksburg) |
| INTERNATIONAL LINES: What color denotes the line that divides the Greek and Turkic peoples of Cyprus, as well as a fortified Zone of Baghdad? | Green (accept Green Zone) |
| FAMOUS ASCENTS: What Nepalese sherpa saved the life of Sir Edmund Hillary, with whom he became the first to ascend to the top of Mount Everest? | Tenzing Norgay (accept either underlined portion; or Namgyal Wangdi) |
| PHYSICISTS: What Italian physicist successfully performed the first nuclear chain reaction in 1952 at the University of Chicago? | Enrico Fermi |
| OUTLAWS: What was the surname of brothers Frank and Jesse, both who founded a namesake "gang" that operated out of Missouri starting in 1861? | James (accept Frank James; accept Jesse James) |
| PRESIDENTS IN POP CULTURE: What man became president of his country after starring as a teacher who becomes president of his country on the Ukrainian television show, Servant of the People? | Volodymyr Zelenskyy (or Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy) |
| INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS: What country fought alongside Nazi Germany in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union, which this country also opposed in the Winter War? | Republic of Finland |
| MESOAMERICA: Tikal was the capital of what Mesoamerican civilization that built step-pyramids such as El Castillo at Chichén Itzá? | Maya Civilization (accept Mayan Civilization) |
| GERMAN CITIES: What German city was the site of the church where Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses? | Wittenberg |
| MILITARY TERMS: What term was given to an Indian soldier fighting under the British Raj, a term that gained international prominence following an incident in which a group of these soldiers rebelled in a namesake mutiny? | Sepoys |
| APPALACHIA: What passage of the Wilderness Road near Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky was blazed by Daniel Boone? | Cumberland Gap |
| STRANGE SUCCESSIONS: Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro claims his ascension to power was blessed by “a little bird” who visited him on behalf of what man, Maduro’s predecessor? | Hugo Chávez (or Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías) |
| OPERA: Arturo Toscanini served as conductor for the post-World War Two re-opening of what Milan opera house, which originally opened in 1778 with an opera by Antonio Salieri? | La Scala (or Teatro alla Scala) |
| INTERNATIONAL TREATIES: Signed in 1494, what treaty marked an agreement between Portugal and Spain concerning the ownership of colonies and territories, chiefly those in the New World? | Treaty of Tordesillas |
| MARXISTS: Rosa Luxemburg was a member of what Polish political party, which shared its name with the Marxist term for the working or labor class? | Proletariat |
| LANDMARKS: Jimmie was the first name of the American aviator who flew over what major South American landmark in Venezuela, which flows from the Auyán Tepui? | Angel Falls |
| FEMINISM: Rebecca Walker coined the term third-wave feminism in an article discussing what woman, who testified in 1991 regarding allegations of improper behavior by then-Supreme Court candidate Clarence Thomas? | Anita Hill (or Anita Faye Hill) |
| RULING FAMILIES: Syria has been led since 1970 by members of what ruling family, which includes father and son Hafez and Bashar? | al-Assad (accept Hafez al-Assad ; accept Bashar al-Assad) |
| FORMER NAMES: During colonial rule, what country of Southern Africa was known as the Bechuanaland Protectorate? | Republic of Botswana |
| MIDDLE EASTERN HISTORY: What was the name of the 2005 revolution in Lebanon that occurred following the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri? | Cedar Revolution |
| CUBAN HISTORY: What president of Cuba was deposed in 1958, leading to more than 40 years of Communism under Fidel Castro? | Fulgencio Batista (or Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar; or Rubén Zaldívar) |
| FRENCH DYNASTIES: The House of Bourbon was a cadet branch of what major French dynasty that produced Philip the Fair, Saint Louis, and Louis the Fourteenth? | Capetian Dynasty (or House of Capet) |
| COLONIAL GOVERNORS: What man was deposed as governor of New South Wales in the Rum Rebellion, nearly 20 years after he had been overthrown by mutineers on the HMS Bounty? | William Bligh |
| INTERNATIONAL PRESS: Doha, Qatar contains the headquarters of what major media company, which also founded the first English-language news channel based in the Middle East in 2006? | Al Jazeera English |
| THE ART OF WAR: What Italian author wrote a treatise titled The Art of War, in addition to a book praising Lorenzo di Piero de Medici, the Duke of Urbino? | Niccolo Machiavelli (or Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli) |
| ASIAN POLITICS: What is the surname of “Bongbong”, the recently elected president of the Philippines and son of former president Ferdinand and first lady Imelda? | Marcos (accept Bongbong Marcos; accept Ferdinand Marcos; accept Imelda Marcos) |
| DEADLY PLANTS: What herb was the subject of a genocide perpetrated by Rafael Trujillo against tens of thousands of Haitian citizens in the northwest of the Dominican Republic? | Parsley (accept Parsley Massacre) |
| AMERICAN HOLIDAYS: What U.S. state is the subject of a 1991 Public Enemy song that rips the state for being the last to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday? | Arizona (accept "By the Time I Get to Arizona") |
| FEMALE LEADERS: What country elected the world's first female prime minister, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who later served under her daughter, President Chandrika Kumaratunga? | Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (accept Ceylon) |
| BOHEMIA: One prominent square in Prague is named for what man who served as duke of Bohemia in the tenth century, prior to his assassination by his brother, Boleslaus the Cruel? | Wenceslaus the First (or Good King Wenceslaus; accept Vaclav the Good) |
| IRISH HISTORY: What colorful name was given to the law enforcement officers of the Royal Irish Constabulary who were known for their brutality and fierce repression of Irish independence? | Black and Tans |
| NAVAL BATTLES: What naval battle resulted in the defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the hands of Octavian and Marcus Agrippa? | Battle of Actium |
| AFRICAN PARTIES: The Spear of the Nation was an offshoot of what party that supported anti- Apartheid activist and South African President Nelson Mandela? | African National Congress (or ANC; accept South African Native National Congress) |
| EUROPEAN EXPLORERS: What Portuguese explorer is usually credited as the first European to discover Brazil, although he was assisted by significantly more experienced navigators such as Bartolomeu Dias? | Pedro Álvares Cabral (or Pedro Álvares de Gouveia) |
| CRIMINALS: What Australian bushranger was known for his homemade suit of bulletproof armor, which he wore in a deadly shootout with police in 1880? | Ned Kelly (or Edward Kelly) |
| AFRICAN EXPANSION: What diverse ethnolinguistic group names a theorized migration and expansion of people and languages from the Atlantic-Congo family that took place across Central and Sub- Saharan Africa, starting in 3000 BCE? | Bantu (accept Bantu Migration or Bantu Expansion) |
| SCIENTIFIC SPOUSES: What is the surname of anthropologists Mary and Louis who discovered paleolithic tools at Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania? | Leakey (accept Mary Leakey; accept Louis Leakey) |
| CHINESE GOVERNMENT: During his historic visit to China, Richard Nixon met with what premier who served as head of government under Chairman Mao from 1949 until 1976? | Zhou Enlai |
| THE LAST EMPEROR: At fewer than three years old, what man was placed on the throne as the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty in 1908? | Puyi (or Aisin-Gioro Puyi; or Yaozhi) |
| ESPIONAGE: With a name inspired by a Virginia county, what spy ring provided intelligence to George Washington during the American Revolution, including information involving Benedict Arnold's intent to surrender West Point? | Culper Spy Ring |
| AFRICAN KINGDOMS: What modern nation was home to an elite, all-female group of warriors known as the Dahomey Guard? | Republic of Benin |
| ROMAN SOCIETY: What specific group of people, who were tasked with maintaining the fire of a goddess of the hearth, were sentenced to be buried alive if they ever broke their vows of chastity? | Vestal Virgins (prompt on partial answers) |
| AMERICAN LEGISLATION: Also known as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States, what 1941 act was signed by Franklin Roosevelt to provide aid to friendly nations on the basis that said aid would provide for defense of the United States? | Lend-Lease Act |
| HISTORICAL PLOTS: What was the name of the 1586 plot that targeted Queen Elizabeth the First before it was discovered by Sir Francis Walsingham? | Babington Plot |
| ARCHAEOLOGISTS: What archaeologist excavated the Turkish city of Hisarlik, a site now believed to be the ancient city of Troy? | Heinrich Schliemann |
| ROYAL WEDDINGS: American actress Grace Kelly became princess of Monaco after marrying what member of the House of Grimaldi, the third of his name? | Prince Rainier the Third (regnal number not required, but if given, it must be correct) |
| AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES: Thomas Jefferson and John Tyler graduated from what university, the second-oldest in the United States after Harvard? | College of William & Mary (or The College of William and Mary in Virginia; or W&M) |
| HISTORY OF MEDICINE: Born in 129 CE, what Greek physician and surgeon wrote texts on anatomy that were largely accepted for over 1,000 years? He might have also been remembered as a philosopher had many of his works in this vein not been destroyed in a fire at the Temple of Peace. | Galen (or Aelius Galenus; or Claudius Galenus; or Galen of Pergamon) |
| ITALIAN HISTORY: What was the name of the 1943 raid in which German paratroopers successfully liberated Benito Mussolini from a prison in the Apennine Mountains? | Gran Sasso Raid (or Operation Oak; or Unternehmen Eiche) |
| PARLIAMENTS: What nation's parliament, the Seimas, was founded in 1922, though its predecessors date back to negotiations hosted by national hero Mindaugas the Great in the late fourteenth century? | Republic of Lithuania |
| SEPARATISTS: What breakaway state declared independence from Nigeria in 1967, leading to a civil war that pitted the state against forces from Nigeria, Egypt, and East Germany? | Biafra (accept Nigerian-Biafran War or Biafran War) |
| NATURAL DISASTERS: What South American country contained the epicenter of the 1960 Valdivia Earthquake, which measured an all-time high 9.5 on the Richter scale? | Republic of Chile |
| CONGOLESE HISTORY: What man served as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo prior to his 1961 assassination by officials in Katanga, in coordination with Belgium and the U.S.? | Patrice Lumumba (or Patrice Émery Lumumba; or Isaïe Tasumbu Tawosa) |
| MONARCHS IN COMBAT: What battle of the War of the Austrian Succession is most notable for George the Second's presence as the last seated British monarch to lead troops into battle? | Battle of Dettingen |
| ISLANDS OF OCEANIA: Named for the French explorer who is credited with its discovery, what island of Papua New Guinea was the site of a U.S. campaign against Japanese invaders during World War Two? | Bougainville (or Bogenvil; accept Bougainville Campaign) |
| NATIVE GUIDES: What was the name of the Nahua woman who served as interpreter, translator, and guide for Hernán Cortés during his conquest of the Aztecs? | La Malinche (or Marina; or Malintzin) |
| FOOD HISTORY: The croissant was allegedly invented in what city to celebrate a 1683 defense by John the Third Sobieski against Ottoman forces? | Vienna |
| ONFERENCES: What Ecuadorian city hosted a namesake conference in 1822 where José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar held a summit to discuss the course of South American independence? | Guayaquil (accept Guayaquil Conference) |
| ISLAMIC HISTORY: Known as the "Companion of the Cave," what father-in-law to the prophet Muhammad was made the first of the Rightly Guided Caliphs of the Rashidun Caliphate? | Abu Bakr (or Abū Bakr ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbī Quḥāfa) |
| AMERICAN FACTIONS: What pro-slavery faction opposed the Free Staters during the 1850s civil conflict known as “Bleeding Kansas”? | Border Ruffians |
| UGANDAN HISTORY: What man has led Uganda as president since 1986, a position he held after leading the uprisings that deposed Milton Obote and Idi Amin? | Yoweri Museveni (or Yoweri Kaguta Museveni) |
| LONG ENGAGEMENTS: What was the name of the 1899 to 1913 conflict fought between the U.S. and a namesake Muslim group of the Philippines? | Moro Rebellion |
| LONG-TERM LEADERS: Considered the longest-serving non-monarch in the world, what man has led Cameroon as president since he was first elected in 1982? | Paul Biwa (or Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo) |
| SOUTH ASIAN CONFLICTS: What was the codename for the 1971 operation in which the forces of Pakistan repressed Bengali separatists in an event that began the Bangladesh genocide? | Operation Searchlight |
| DISPUTED TERRITORIES: What nationalist group, of the Sahrawi people, was founded in 1973 and fought Morocco for control of Western Sahara from 1975 until 1991? | Polisario Front (or Frente Polisario; or Frelisario; or Polisario, or Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río) |
| NEW ZEALAND: Succeeded by Helen Clark, what woman served from 1997 until 1999 as the first female prime minister of New Zealand? | Jenny Shipley (or Jennifer Mary Shipley; or Jennifer Robson) |
| TERRORIST BOMBINGS: What Italian city was the site of a terrorist bombing in 1980 that was perpetrated by the neo-Fascist organization known as the “Armed Revolutionary Nuclei”? | Bologna |
| ANCIENT CAPITALS: What ancient city in modern Turkey contained the Lion Gate and served as the capital of the Hittite Empire? | Hattusa (or Ḫattuša; or Hattusas) |
| AFRICAN MONARCHS: What woman was known for her isolationist and xenoskeptic policies during her 1828 to 1861 reign as queen of Madagascar? | Queen Ranavalona the First (or Rabodoandrianampoinimerina; or Ramavo; or Ranavalo- Manjaka the First; prompt on "Mad Monarch") |
| CHINESE LEADERS: What Chinese military officer attempted to make himself the Hongxian Emperor in 1915, one year before he briefly assumed control of the government as the first president of Taiwan? | Yuan Shikai |
| OVERSEAS MILITARY OPERATIONS: What Somali general was targeted by Operation Gothic Serpent, a 1993 U.S. military operation that included the Black Hawk Down incident? | Mohamed Farrah Aidid (or Mohamed Farrah Hassan Aidid) |
| BROTHERHOODS: What was the name of the brotherhood who conducted a series of namesake raids beginning in 1866 with the goal of holding Canada hostage to secure Irish independence from Britain? | Fenean Brotherhood |
| ASIAN KINGS: What man served as king of Cambodia from 1941 until 1955, before the rise of the Khmer Rouge, and again from 1993 until 2004? | Norodom Sihanouk (or Samdech Euv; prompt on "Norodom") |
| HISTORIC TITLES: Comparable to a palatine, what title was used for warlords in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, particularly those in Romanian-controlled territories and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth? | Voivode (or Voievod; or Voevod; or Voivoda; or Vojvoda; or Wojewoda) |
| NICARAGUA: What woman served as president of Nicaragua from 1990 until 1997, making her the first elected female head of state in the Americas? | Violeta Chamorro (or Violeta Barrios Torres de Chamorro) |
| ANCIENT KINGS: What last native Mesopotamian king was the final ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire before its fall at the hands of the Persian Empire in 539 BCE? | Nabonidus |
| ABDICATIONS: What Japanese princess gave up her imperial title in October of 2021 in order to marry a commoner? | Princess Mako (or Mako Komuro; or Komuro Mako; or Princess Mako of Akishino) |
| FOREIGN FORCES: What Nepalese soldiers have been involved in conflicts, such as the Gallipoli Campaign, the Third Afghan War, and World War Two? | Bukhara (or Buxoro) |
| ERAS OF TURMOIL: What unstable era of civil war in Colombia began in 1948 with the assassination of presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán? | La Violencia |
| MARITIME REPUBLICS: What was the name of the 1358 to 1808 republic on the Adriatic Sea that was centered on Dubrovnik in modern Croatia? | Republic of Ragusa |
| AFRICAN SCHOLARS: What Berber explorer and traveler of the fourteenth century wrote of his voyages in The Rihla? | Ibn Battuta (or Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah) |
| GUERILLA WARFARE: Also known as the Anti-British National Liberation War, what was the name of the 1948 to 1960 conflict, in which Malaysia fought the British Commonwealth? | Malayan Emergency (or The Emergency) |
| INFLUENTIAL LEADERS: After a costly civil war, what three-time president made the decision to abolish Costa Rica's military in 1948? | José Figueres Ferrer (or José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer) |
| ASIAN KINGDOMS: What Thai kingdom existed from 1351 to 1767 and included the reign of King Narai the Great, who sent a notable embassy to open up diplomatic ties with France? | Ayutthaya Kingdom |
| KENYA: Along with the Meru and Emba, what was the primary ethnic group that stood up to the King's African Rifles and British colonialism during the Mau Mau Rebellion? | Kikuyu People (prompt on “Bantu”) |
| EGYPTIAN MYTH: Parts of the body of Osiris were consumed by a fish named for what Egyptian city, where a collection of ancient papyri were first discovered in 1898? | Oxyrhynchus |
| THE HUNS: Flavius Aetius and Theodoric the First defeated the forces of Attila at what 451 CE battle, which forced the Huns to cease their expansion and withdraw from Gaul? | Battle of Catalaunian Plains |
| KURDS: What was the name of the genocidal 1988 campaign that Saddam Hussein launched against the Kurds, which included chemical warfare and mass graves? | Anfal Campaign |