| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| This trail was first mapped by Walter Goodwin, but it closed for five decades until Joe Redington Jr. could find a way to clear out the snow. Gunnar Kaasen traversed this trail during the Great Race of Mercy. In 1925, a diphtheria-stricken town was saved by a crucial serum run on this trail whose final leg was led by Balto, a Siberian Husky. For the point, name this historic trail that connected Seward and Nome over hundreds of miles of Alaskan wilderness and is commemorated by an annual dog sled race. | Iditarod Trail (accept Seward-to-Nome Trail before “Seward” is read) |
| This man dictated an infamous letter to the Pope decrying him as the “false monk Hildebrand.” OppositiontothismangrewafteralightningstrikeonUtrechtCathedralwasviewedasdivinepunishment. Matilda of Tuscany convinced her guest, Pope Gregory VII, to end a feud with this man, who had been excommunicated for appointing his own bishops. The Investiture Controversy was triggered by, for the point, what Holy Roman Emperor who, in 1077, repented in the snow outside Canossa Castle? | Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor (prompt on Henry) |
| A 7th century AD scholar named Virgilius Maro wrote the Epitomae and Epistolae, textbooks for this subject. The Ars Asporii was used in Ireland to teach this subject to local priests. Aelius Donatus, author of a popular Ars Minor and Ars Major, taught rhetoric and this subject to Saint Jerome, who used that knowledge in the 4th century to create the Vulgate. Linguists study the evolution of the Romance languages from, for the point, what classical language, the official language of the Catholic Church? | Latin (prompt on “language” before mentioned; prompt on “grammar” by asking the player “in what language?”) |
| The Yozma tax incentive program was created by this politician, who died while ironically carrying a paper with a song telling how it is impossible to bring a dead person back to life. This leader crushed Palestinian resistance with the “Iron Fist” policy during the First Intifada. Operation Thunderbolt on Entebbe Airport was ordered by this Prime Minister, who joined Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat as 1994 Nobel Peace Prize laureates. Golda Meir was succeeded by, for the point, what Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated in 1995? | Yitzhak Rabin |
| This ruler is believed to be the subject of the Streatham and Houghton portraits, two works that may have been recreated after this ruler’s death. After being deposed, this monarch was aided at the execution by Sir Thomas Brydges and was added to Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, a Protestant propaganda book. In a painting of this ruler by Paul Delaroche, she kneels in white and reaches hesitantly for the chopping block that was used for her execution in the Tower of London in 1554 on the orders of Mary I [first]. For the point, name this “Nine Days’ Queen” who briefly succeeded Edward VI [sixth] as queen of England. | Lady Jane Grey (accept Jane Dudley) |
| While searching for a navigable path along this river, an explorer stated “I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.” John Kirk served as the botanist for that mission along this river, which failed to move inland in part due to the Cahora Bassa Rapids. This river, called the “Great River” by the Tonga people, forms the eastern border of the Caprivi Strip. David Livingstone was the first European to see the Victoria Falls on, for the point, what fourth-longest river of Africa that forms the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe? | Zambezi River |
| The losing vice-presidential candidate in this election year was a newspaper magnate who later served as Secretary of the Navy. James Farley punned on the phrase “as Maine goes, so goes the nation” in this election year, whose losing candidate wasn’t saved by the endorsement of Jesse Owens. In this election year, a Kansas governor lost in a landslide, 523 to 8 in the Electoral College. For the point, name this year in which Alf Landon lost the presidential election to incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt. | US presidential election of 1936 |
| Before conning gold miners in the Klondike, “Soapy” Smith operated a prize soap racket in this city. Jonathan Cox and William Larimer founded this city at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the South Platte River. In 1972, this city became the first, and so far only, city to decline an invitation to host the Olympic Games. The “Carnation Gold Rush” took place in this largest city in the Front Range Corridor, whose suburbs include Littleton and Aurora. The Pike’s Peak Gold Rush triggered the settlement of, for the point, what capital city of Colorado? | Denver |
| In 1969, this football team drafted basketball player Morris Stroud to play tight end and to stand under the goalposts on opponent field goal attempts to try to swat the ball away, a move that never worked but was banned anyway. The owner of this team, Lamar Hunt, tried to corner the silver market in 1980. Hank Stram coached this team to victory in Super Bowl 4, the last game before the NFL-AFL merger. The record for loudest crowd in an outdoor stadium was set in 2014 at this team’s Arrowhead Stadium. Andy Reid coaches and Patrick Mahomes plays for, for the point, what NFL team in western Missouri? | Kansas City Chiefs (accept either or both names) |
| The documentary A Film Unfinished details an unfinished propaganda film focusing on this location. A Heroes’ Monument in this location was ironically built with materials that Albert Speer planned to use. Mordechai Anielewicz [an-yell-eh-vitch] led a resistance organization that was put down by Ju¨rgen Stroop during a 1943 uprising in this location; many of the survivors were sent to the Treblinka extermination camp. Over 400,000 Jews were forced to live in, for the point, what location, the largest of its kind, in the capital of Poland? | Warsaw ghetto (prompt on Warsaw and other partial answers) |
| A ruler of these people led a Pacific Ocean expedition and supposedly found the “fire” and “outer” belt. Qullqa warehouses were built by this empire, whose rulers included Topa and Pachacuti. Upon being given a Bible, a ruler of this empire failed to realize its use and began the Battle of Cajamarca; that ruler filed the Ransom Room with gold. Atahualpa led, for the point, what empire based at Cuzco in the Andes Mountains of Peru? | Incan Empire (accept Incas) |
| A rival of this leader, Blucher Philogenes, was decapitated and had his head packed into a pail of ice so this leader could talk with it. This ruler told his militia to hunt down black dogs because he believed Clement Barbot could transform into one. The Tonton Macoute helped enforce this man’s rule, which was propped up by a cult of personality in which this man claimed to be a loa spirit from Voodoo culture. This man’s son Jean-Claude succeeded him after his 1971 death. For the point, name this dictator of Haiti. | Franc¸ois Duvalier (accept Papa Doc Duvalier; prompt on Duvalier) |
| A race riot in this state was instigated by Charles B. Aycock, who was later elected governor of this state with the help of the “Secret Nine.” Clarence “Curly” Harris refused to serve protesting students in this state, where Alfred Waddell burned down The Daily Record, a newspaper owned by African-American Alexander Manly, during an 1898 race riot. Black students from A&T University conducted a protest at a Woolworth’s counter in, for the point, what state, the site of the 1989 Wilmington insurrection and the Greensboro sit-in? | North Carolina |
| Jacques Benveniste’s experiments with antibodies indicated this substance had a namesake “memory,” a finding that could not be replicated with double-blind experiments led by Nature editor John Maddox. Nathan Zohner called this substance an “unrecognized killer” in a 1997 study that assessed the gullibility of high school students. The Fleischmann-Pons experiment erroneously claimed that products of cold fusion were made by the electrolysis of a “heavy” type of this substance composed of deuterium and oxygen. “Dihydrogen monoxide” is a supposedly “scary” name for, for the point, what liquid that NASA hopes to find on Mars? | water (accept dihydrogen monoxide before read) |
| This battle was supposed to be won with the Hagen Plan, which was never put into action. The sectors of Georgette, Gneisenau, and Blucher-Yorck were targeted during this battle, which began with stormtroopers sneaking past enemy lines in Operation Michael. Erich Ludendorff was the planner of this offensive, which was known as the Kaiserschlacht in Germany and culminated in the Second Battle of the Marne. For the point, name this 1918 offensive named for the season in which it took place. | Spring Offensive (s) (accept Ludendorff Offensive before mentioned; accept Kaiserschlacht Offensive before mentioned) |
| A prominent musician claimed that if this city’s Stavisky riots prevented her students from attending their private lessons, they weren’t cut out for music anyway. The composer of Pell´eas et M´elisande was denied a public funeral in this city due to bombing in World War I. A 1926 visit to Maurice Ravel inspired George Gershwin to include taxi horns in a concerto titled An American in this city. The Rite of Spring infamously premiered in, for the point, what home of Nadia Boulanger and Claude Debussy, the French capital city? | Paris |
| Francis Hopkinson helped revitalize a society that this man founded with members of his Leather Apron Club. This founder of the American Philosophical Society hired Lewis Timothy as the first librarian in America. Temperance and silence are among the thirteen virtues described in this man’s autobiography. The glass harmonica and bifocals were among the inventions of, for the point, what Philadelphia Founding Father, the first U.S. Ambassador to France? | Benjamin Franklin |
| The Newport controversially slipped past the Aigle, taking the record of being the first vessel to pass through this waterway. Plans for this waterway to change hands were made during the Protocol of Sevres. Because of the dust they accumulated, a fleet of ships trapped by the closure of this waterway became known as the “Yellow Fleet.” Anthony Eden was forced to resign after authorizing a paratrooper attack on this waterway. Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized, for the point, what Egyptian waterway that links the Mediterranean and Red Seas? | Suez Canal |
| This man’s policies were written on wooden tablets known as axones so that no one would be unaware of them. The Council of Four Hundred was originally established by this man through the usage of lots. This man became one of the first to punish homicide and manslaughter differently, though he prescribed death as a punishment for stealing cabbage. Solon would later repeal most of the laws passed by, for the point, what infamously harsh 7th century BC Athenian lawmaker? | Draco |
| This author discussed his trips to the Gulf of California with marine biologist Ed Ricketts in the book The Log from the Sea of Cortez, and he depicted the life of the pirate Henry Morgan in his first novel, Cup of Gold. A character becomes a fugitive after seeing Jim Casy killed for leading a strike at a peach orchard during the Dust Bowl in another novel by this man. Tom Joad and his family flee Oklahoma in, for the point, what American author’s The Grapes of Wrath? | John Steinbeck |
| This diplomat convinced Georgia to become a protectorate in the Treaty of Georgoviesk. Tauride Palace was constructed to celebrate this figure’s diplomatic feats. The Black Sea Fleet was created by this man after his conquest of the Crimea. This man was responsible for founding the city of Sevastopol, but was accused of creating fake villages in the Ukraine in order to impress the tsarina. For the point, name this lover of Catherine the Great who was the namesake of a Russian warship whose men mutinied in 1905. | Grigory Potemkin |
| In this conflict, Henry Pate was captured at the Battle of Black Jack and subsequently exchanged for the winning commander’s two imprisoned sons. Sharps rifles known as “Beecher’s Bibles” were delivered during this conflict. Failed attempts to resolve this conflict included the Lecompton Constitution and Topeka Constitution. John Brown perpetrated the Pottawatomie Massacre during, for the point, what 1850s conflict in which border ruffians and free-staters fought over a popular sovereignty vote in a Midwest state? | Bleeding Kansas |
| This dynasty’s founder executed the chancellor Hu Weiyong and established the Embroidered Uniform Guard police to secure power. After achieving victory at the Battle of Lake Poyang, Hongwu was able to establish this dynasty at the end of the Red Turban Rebellion. This dynasty expanded its influence by sending Zheng He on several voyages to Africa. For the point, name this dynasty that became the last ethnic Chinese dynasty when it replaced the Yuan. | Ming Dynasty |
| This ruler was almost killed by James Hadfield at the Drury Lane Theatre. This ruler’s prime minister, Lord Bute, faced rumors of an affair with this king’s mother. A Chancellor of the Exchequer under this king names a set of laws that included the Vice Admiralty Courts Act. Charles Townshend served this ruler, whose other prime ministers included George Grenville and Lord North. For the point, name this king of England who suffered from porphyria and ruled during the American Revolution. | George III (prompt on “George”) |
| The most decorated unit in US military history, the 442nd Regiment, was almost solely comprised of this ethnic group during World War II. A Gentlemen’s Agreement between two governments allowed this ethnic group to immigrate to the US, bypassing the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Supreme Court affirmed the ability to persecute these people in Korematsu v. United States. For the point, name this ethnic minority that was imprisoned in American internment camps during World War II. | Japanese-Americans |
| A governor of this state was the chair of the Democratic National Committee when Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008. A public health insurance program in this state is called “Dr. Dynasaur.” This state was once governed by a man whose odd scream after the Iowa caucus hurt his 2004 presidential campaign. This state, once led by Howard Dean, is home to the longest-serving independent in congressional history, a man who won 23 Democratic primaries and caucuses in 2016. For the point, name this New England state represented by Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders. | Vermont |
| This ideology was targeted in Operation Steeplechase, which imprisoned 20,000 suspects in an attempt to flush out the Naxalite movement. The Plain of Jars archaeological site was bombed during a “Secret War” against this ideology. Chin Peng’s attempt to spread this ideology prompted the Malayan Emergency. Parties that adopted this ideology include the Pathet Lao and Khmer Rouge. For the point, name this political ideology that advocates for a proletariat revolution and was practiced by Mao Zedong. | Communism (accept word forms) |
| These men were known for carrying a large vessel known as the Kazan pot during the communal pilav meal. These men were rivals of the Sipahi, who helped Mahmud II disband this group in the Auspicious Incident in 1826. These men were recruited via the devshirme system, in which Christian boys would be kidnapped from their homes as a blood tax. For the point, name this elite unit of Ottoman infantrymen. | Janissary corps (accept Janissaries; prompt on descriptions of Christian Ottoman soldiers) |
| Followers of this man murdered Rebecca Vaughan and her family. The eruption of Mount Saint Helens caused a blueish-green solar eclipse that this man took as a divine message. Thomas Ruffin Gray used conversations in a jail cell to write The Confessions of this man. In his work Children of Darkness, Stephen Oates claims that this man gave an order to “kill all the white people” to begin a raid through Southampton County, Virginia. For the point, name this leader of an 1831 slave rebellion. | Nat Turner |
| This book contains the Song of the Sea, believed to be one of the oldest portions of the Bible. In this book, a man flees to Midian after killing a slavedriver. This book, whose central figure is told to remove his sandals when he approaches the Burning Bush, details ten plagues on Egypt that occur when Pharaoh refuses to release the Hebrews. Archaeologists have found little evidence in the Sinai region to support the historicity of, for the point, what second book of the Old Testament, which describes Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt? | Book of Exodus |
| This man popularized the theory of revolutionary defeatism after heading the leftist faction at the Zimmerwald Conference. This man, who developed the concept of democratic centralism to keep party unity, split with Julius Martov over disagreements about the role of the professional revolutionary. This man theorized how a socialist state would develop in his book The State and the Revolution. The Provisional Government was overthrown by, for the point, what Bolshevik leader who led the first Soviet government? | Vladimir Lenin (or Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov) |