| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| After his death, this man was placed in a sarcophagus filled with honey. He was nearly killed at the Battle of Granicus, and built a causeway to the island city of Tyre. After the death of this rider of Bucephalus, his empire was divided by the Diadochi. Darius III and the Persian Empire were defeated by, for the point, what son of Phillip II, who reigned over Macedon and grew it into one of the world’s largest empires? | Alexander the Great (or Alexander III of Macedon) |
| A poet from this country wrote “Afternoon of a Faun,” which inspired a composer from this country to write a Prelude to it. That composer from this country also wrote a three-movement suite inspired by the sea, as well as the piano piece “Clair de Lune.” For the point, name this home country of Stephane Mallarm´e [stef-AHN mal-ar-MAY] and Claude Debussy [deh-boo-SEE]. | France |
| Brahmagupta’s formula finds this value for cyclic quadrilaterals in a way similar to Heron’s formula, which finds this quantity for triangles. Another formula that finds this quantity for a triangle finds one half of the product of an altitude and its base. Square units are used to measure this quantity. For the point, name this quantity that, like perimeter, can express the size of a two-dimensional polygon. | area |
| This author of 20 Hours 40 Minutes wrote the memoir The Fun of It, which was published by her husband, George Putnam. This first president of the Ninety-Nines club was with Fred Noonan in a Lockheed Electra when she made a failed attempt to reach Howland Island. For the point, name this explorer who disappeared in 1937, five years after becoming the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. | Amelia (Mary) Earhart |
| This city contains the Monastery of the White Clouds which is located a few blocks south of its Capital Museum. This city’s Marco Polo Bridge contains hundreds of stone lions and spans the Yongding River. One area of this city is entered through the Meridian Gate, and another entrance to that section of this city is the Tiananmen. The Forbidden City is located in, for the point, what capital city of China? | Beijing |
| This novel’s protagonist disguises himself as Lord Wilmore and Abb´e Busoni while he anonymously repays Monsieur Morrel’s kindness, and he brings disgrace to Baron Danglars. This novel’s title character wraps himself in Abb´e Faria’s death shroud to escape from the Chˆateau d’If [sha-toh DEEF] prison, and he seeks revenge against his former business partners, who stopped his marriage to Merc´ed`es. For the point, name this novel about Edmond Dantes, written by Alexandre Dumas. | The Count of Monte Cristo |
| An alkane with n carbon atoms has 2n plus 2 atoms of this element. Henry Cavendish discovered this element through distillation, naming it inflammable air, or phlogiston. This element’s isotopes include tritium, with two neutrons, and the one-neutron deuterium, found in heavy water. Burning this gas produces water, which inspired its Greek-derived name. For the point, name this gaseous element whose atomic number is 1, making it the lightest element. | hydrogen (or H) |
| After the death of Uzziah, Isaiah described seeing these creatures with six wings. One of these creatures, named Moroni, revealed the golden plates to Joseph Smith, and another one told Zechariah to name his son John. One of these creatures informed Mary that she would give birth to Jesus, and is considered an “arch” one. For the point, name these heavenly messengers of the Abrahamic God, such as Michael and Gabriel. | archangel (accept seraphim or seraphs until “Moroni” is read; do not accept “prophet”) |
| This team won a 2015 playoff game when Antoine Vermette was assisted by Teuvo Teravainen [toy-voh terra-vye-nen]. In 2015, Gary Bettman declared this Joel Quenneville-coached team a “dynasty” while handing the Stanley Cup to its captain, Jonathan Toews [TAYVS], for the third time in six years. Corey Crawford and Patrick Kane play for, for the point, what NHL team whose 2015 championship was celebrated in Soldier Field, the home of NFL’s Bears? | Chicago Blackhawks (accept either) |
| This country used the Mukden Incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria. The Doolittle Raid bombed this country’s capital. Its emperor gave the Jewel Voice Broadcast to announce its surrender after the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For the point, name this country that fought the U.S. in the Pacific theater of World War II. | Empire of Japan |
| Fossil records of this kingdom’s major phyla, such as Porifera, arise during the Cambrian Explosion. This eukaryotic kingdom is made up of multicellular organisms whose cells lack cell walls. Members of this kingdom are divided according to whether they have radial or bilateral symmetry, which helps classify starfish and birds. For the point, name this kingdom of living things, contrasted with kingdoms that contain monerans and plants. | Animalia (accept animals; accept Motazoans) |
| At this battle, one side’s forces were lured from Senlac Hill by the other side’s false retreats. A shieldwall formed by housecarls repelled opposing cavalry during this battle. The loser of this battle had defeated Tostig at Stamford Bridge but took an arrow to the eye here, a scene depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. Harold Godwinson lost, for the point, what battle to the Normans under William the Conqueror in 1066? | Battle of Hastings |
| In 2013, a chemical explosion in this state’s town of West killed fifteen people. 2008’s Hurricane Ike and the “Hurricane of 1900” both struck this state’s city of Galveston, and in 1953, a tornado killed over 100 people in Waco. In 2005, many victims of Hurricane Katrina left Louisiana and sheltered in the Astrodome in this state’s most populous city, Houston. For the point, name this largest of the lower 48 U.S. states, whose capital is Austin. | Texas |
| One author with this surname wrote the novels Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Authors with this last name published the poetry collection Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. An author with this surname wrote about the love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, and her sister wrote about Bertha Mason’s husband Mr. Rochester marrying Jane Eyre. For the point, name this surname shared by English authors Anne, Emily, and Charlotte. | Bront¨e (accept Anne, Emily, or Charlotte Bront¨e) |
| This state defended a Supreme Court case upholding the Grange laws against the grain warehouse firm of Munn and Scott. Protests for 8-hour work days at the McCormick plant took place in this state, which hosted seven debates between Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. For the point, name this Midwestern state where the 1886 Haymarket Square riots broke out in Chicago. | Illinois |
| A hafiz is someone who has memorized this book according to proper tajwid, or pronunciation rules. A section of this work nicknamed “The Clot” commands, “Read in the name of the lord who created you,” and was revealed in the cave Hira during the Night of Power by the angel Jibreel. This holy book is divided into 114 surahs, which were given to the prophet Muhammad. For the point, name this holy book of Islam. | al-Quran |
| This object’s 1769 transit was observed by Mikhail Lomonosov in Russia and James Cook in Tahiti. This celestial body’s landmass is divided into two regions, Ishtar Terra and Aphrodite Terra. Its atmosphere is 96% carbon dioxide with trace amounts of sulfur dioxide, keeping surface temperatures on this planet at hundreds of degrees Celsius in a “greenhouse effect”. For the point, name this second planet from the Sun. | Venus |
| This man starred alongside Johnny Depp as Arnie in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Starring opposite of Claire Danes, this man played the best friend of Mercutio in Romeo + Juliet. A character played by this man is promised “I’ll never let go” by Rose as she drifts aboard a door after the sinking of the Titanic. For the point, name this actor who recently won an Oscar for his role of Hugh Glass in The Revenant. | Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio |
| In one poem, this man wrote about “the great star” that “droop’d in the western sky in the night.” He began another poem by saying “our fearful trip is done” and “the prize we sought is won.” Those poems were both written in memory of Abraham Lincoln and are titled “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” and “O Captain! My Captain!” This man wrote “I celebrate myself, and sing myself” in “Song of Myself.” For the point, name this American poet of Leaves of Grass. | Walter “Walt” Whitman |
| For a given mass of gas in Gay-Lussac’s Law, this quantity is assumed constant. Non-SI units for this quantity include the cord and the hogshead. Fluid displacement is used to measure this quantity, which is fixed for solid and liquid samples, but varies for gases based on the container’s size. Density is equal to the mass of an object divided by, for the point, what physical quantity that measures the three-dimensional space that an object occupies? | volume |
| This artist’s fresco La Disputa shows religious figured debating transubstantiation, and decorates a wall in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. This artist painted Jesus and John the Baptist holding the title bird in front of Mary in Madonna of the Goldfinch. This man’s namesake room in the Vatican also contains a painting that shows Euclid, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, and a large number of other thinkers. For the point, name this Italian Renaissance artist of The School of Athens | Raphaello Sanzio da Urbino (accept either underlined name) |
| The protagonist of one of this author’s novels accepts a gift from Bishop Myriel, and uses the name Monsieur Madeleine when he saves a man who is trapped under a cart. Gavroche is shot in front of a barricade in a novel by this author, in which Fantine’s daughter Cosette marries Marius. This author created Inspector Javert, who chases Jean Valjean. For the point, name this author of Les Mis´erables. | Victor Marie Hugo |
| When using this numerical system, the number “23” is used to finish stating Avogadro’s number. One benefit of this system is the ease of counting significant digits, as trailing zeroes are not written. In this system, there is never more than one digit to the left of the decimal point. For the point, name this mathematical notation that, contrasted with standard notation, that writes the numeral 100 as “one times ten to the second power.” | scientific notation |
| This event was caused by a power surge leading to the destruction of Unit 4, leading to the creation of the Red Forest and evacuation of the city Pripyat. The initial explosion killed two workers, and its subsequent fallout mostly affected Belarus. For the point, name this 1986 disaster which saw the meltdown of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. | Chernobyl nuclear disaster (or accident, meltdown, explosion, etc.) |
| Inga trees grow well in this biome and are used in an alternative to slash-and-burn agriculture that has cleared space for coffee and sugarcane plantations. In this biome, dense tree cover creates a tall canopy that prevents sunlight from reaching the understory or floor and does not lose its leaves annually, unlike a jungle. For the point, name this tropical biome that dominates the region around the Amazon River. | tropical rainforest (do not accept or prompt on forest) |
| In this novel, Sambo and Quimbo whip the title character to death. While on a steamship heading to New Orleans, the title character of this novel rescues Augustine’s daughter, Eva St. Clare, from drowning. Eliza runs across the frozen Ohio River in this novel to save her son, and Simon Legree exemplifies the cruelty of slaveowners. For the point, name this Abolitionist novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe. | Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly |
| A paradox concerning this process was analyzed by Kenneth Arrow. This process is termed Condorcet [con-dorr-SAY] if the winner could individually defeat all opponents; to determine this, a full order-of-preference ballot is usually necessary. Canada is considering abolishing the “first past the post” method for, for the point, what civic process carried out at the U.S. federal level every two years to determine the members of the House of Representatives? | voting (accept word forms; accept elections) |
| This human organ contains Kupffer cells that decompose red blood cells, and it produces glycogen and albumin. This organ has a large right lobe, and can be regenerated from a small transplanted piece. This organ, connected to the pancreas and gallbladder, is the location of bile production and can cause jaundice when affected by hepatitis. For the point, name this largest human organ, in which alcohol abuse can cause cirrhosis. | liver |
| The orchestrator of this piece simply wrote “Wait for nod” in the score to indicate when the composer would finish an improvised piano section. Ross Gorman’s warmup routine became the opening to this piece at its premiere. Rattling trains inspired the composition of this work, which blended classical music with jazz. A clarinet glissando opens, for the point, what 1924 George Gershwin rhapsody? | Rhapsody in Blue |
| This poet of “Still I Rise” called upon humanity to “face your distant destiny” in her poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” which she read for Bill Clinton’s inauguration. This poet wrote about a “fearful trill / of things unknown / but longed for still” in a poem whose title recalls her first autobiography and claims that the title animal “sings of freedom.” For the point, name this African-American poet of “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” | Maya Angelou (or Marguerite Annie Johnson) |
| Seven-Macaw is defeated in this myth system by the sons of a man who was decapitated in a ball game against the lords of the underworld. This myth system’s holy book is the Popol Vuh, and the deities “One-Death” and “Seven-Death” rule Xibalba [shee-BALL-bah] in this myth system before being defeated by Xbalanque [sh-bah-LON-kay] and Hunahpu. The Hero Twins appear in, for the point, the myth system of what Mesoamerican civilization, whose calendar was thought to predict the end of the world? | Mayan Mythology (accept Mayan Empire; prompt on “Mesoamerican” before mention) |
| Rutherford B. Hayes’ wife Lucy was given a nickname showing her support for this cause. The WCTU supported this cause, as did the hatchet-wielding Carrie Nation. This policy was repealed by Franklin D. Roosevelt by the 21st Amendment after it was originally instituted by the 18th Amendment. Bootleggers supplied speakeasies in violation of, for the point, what policy whose supporters wanted to ban the sale of rum and beer? | Prohibition (or temperance; accept descriptions of the banning of alcohol before mentioned) |
| A section of this work is titled “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” and follows the rescue of Portly, a young Otter, by a water vole named Ratty. A gang of Weasels take over an ancestral hall in this novel after its owner is jailed for reckless driving. Badger and Mole temporarily live in Toad Hall in, for the point, what novel by Kenneth Grahame about the wealthy, reckless Toad of Toad Hall? | The Wind in the Willows |
| In 2003, this state became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. In March 2016, this state’s city of New Bedford was the site of a speech by former President Bill Clinton; that speech was controversially held outside a polling place during its March 1st primary, which was narrowly won by Hillary Clinton. This state’s Senators have included Elizabeth Warren and Ted Kennedy. For the point, name this New England state where governor Charlie Baker serves in Boston. | Massachusetts |
| Parabolic projectile motion is the combination of this phenomenon with constant horizontal motion. Earth’s atmosphere technically makes this phenomenon impossible due to drag, but at terminal velocity, objects are often said to be experiencing this phenomenon anyway. For the point, name this state of motion in which an object’s acceleration is exactly 9.8 meters per second squared downward, since gravity is the only force acting on it. | free fall |
| This short story’s unnamed narrator reads about Ethelred conquering a dragon in the book The Mad Trist, and hears an accompanying “grating sound” from far below him that turns out to be the opening of a tomb’s iron door. The deaths of Madeline and Roderick trigger the physical crumbling of the title home in this short story. For the point, name this short story by Edgar Allan Poe about the destruction of both a bloodline and the title structure. | The Fall of the House of Usher |