| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| These people conquered their neighbors in a period known as the Mfecane [um-feh-KAH-nay], or Crushing. Under King Cetshwayo, these people fought the battles of Rorkes’ Drift and Isandlwana. They pioneered the tactic of the bu↵alo-horn formation, but the the British eventually defeated these people in South Africa. For the point, identify this African ethnic group that was led by Shaka. | Zulu |
| This man appointed William Robertson as Collector of the Port of New York, forcing a power struggle with Roscoe Conkling. This man defeated Winfield Scott Hancock in the Election of 1880. During one event, this President was attacked by a man who declared “I am a Stalwart of the Stalwarts!” Charles Guiteau [GHEE-toe] assassinated, for the point, what President who was succeeded by Chester A. Arthur? | James Garfield |
| In this country, discontent arose from a wildly uneven salt tax called the gabelle. A series of riots in this country were incited after its grain trade was liberated by Jacques Turgot. A finance minister in this country, Jacques Necker, helped finance its aid to the American Revolution. For the point, name this country where the Flour War protested the policies of Louis XVI [the sixteenth]. | Kingdom of France |
| This man was accused of treason after declaring “[Caesar] had his Brutus, Charles had his Cromwell.” In his most famous speech, this man declared that “Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!” This man asked “is life so dear... as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” For the point, identify this orator who declared “Give me liberty, or give me death!” | Patrick Henry |
| Book 2 of this poem largely consists of a list of boats and their crew, known as the Catalogue of Ships. This poem opens with a dispute over the abducted Chryseis, whom Agamemnon is forced to return. Later in this epic, the corpse of Hector is dragged around the walls of Troy by an enraged Achilles. For the point, name this epic poem by Homer about the Trojan War, set before his Odyssey. | the Iliad |
| This country was the home of a sniper who had lost half his face, the “White Death” Simo Hayha. This country fought the Continuation War in order to regain the Karelian Peninsula. Earlier, this country had developed the Molotov cocktail as well as the Mannerheim Line during the Winter War against the Soviet Union. For the point, identify this country that has a capital at Helsinki. | Finland |
| A battle in this location started after a flag reading “don’t give up the ship” was hoisted aboard the USS Lawrence. In the aftermath of a battle at this location, an American commander wrote the message “we have met the enemy and they are ours.” Oliver Hazard Perry won an 1813 battle on this body of water which allowed American forces to reclaim Detroit. For the point, name this southernmost Great Lake. | Lake Erie (accept Put-in-Bay until Great Lake is read) |
| This city’s First of May stadium is the world’s largest football stadium by capacity. A pyramid-shaped skyscraper in this city known as the Ryugyong was never finished but would have served as a hotel for foreigners. This city’s Mansu Hill monument honors former leaders of the country, such as Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il. For the point, identify the capital of North Korea. | Pyongyang |
| This man was supported by a secret police force called the oprichniki that suppressed the power of the boyars. This man may have blinded the architect of St. Basil’s Cathedral so that he could never produce something so beautiful again. In a furious rage, this man beat his son to death, forcing the ine↵ective Feodor to rule during the Time of Troubles. For the point, name this Russian Tsar known for his cruelty. | Ivan the Terrible (accept Ivan IV; prompt on Ivan) |
| The first holder of this position established a “cutter” service that, in 1915, merged to form the Coast Guard. The Report on Manufactures, as well as a report advocating for public credit, was written by a holder of this position. The first holder of this position was killed in a duel by Aaron Burr. For the point, name this position, first held by Alexander Hamilton, that deals with finances. | Secretary of the Treasury |
| This man was legendarily said to have been born holding a blood clot in his hand. The Khwarezmid dynasty was conquered by this man, who died leading a campaign against the Western Xia. His conquest of China was completed by his grandson Kublai, who founded the Yuan dynasty. The largest empire in history was founded by, for the point, what leader of the Mongolian hordes? | Genghis Khan (accept Temujin) |
| This man’s kingdom was divided up by his grandsons in the Treaty of Verdun. A minuscule version of Latin was developed by Alcuin of York during this man’s reign. Aachen was established as this man’s capital after this son of Pepin the Short was crowned on Christmas Day by Pope Leo III. For the point, identify this king of the Franks who founded the Carolingian Empire. | Charlemagne (accept Charles the Great; accept Charles I) |
| Mary Dyer was hanged in this city for breaking an ordinance outlawing Quakers. The Old South Meeting House was used as the headquarters for this city’s Sons of Liberty. This city’s harbor was closed by the Coercive Acts and had earlier been the site of an event where colonists boarded ships and dumped crates of tea into the water. A namesake tea party occurred in, for the point, what largest city in Massachusetts? | Boston |
| The 13th Legion marched through this body of water after defeating Vercingetorix at Alesia. One man declared “Alea iacta est” , or “the die is cast” after crossing this body of water. This river was the launching point of a march on Rome by a general who declared himself “dictator for life” after defeating Pompey. For the point, name this river crossed by Julius Caesar to begin the Great Roman Civil War. | Rubicon River (accept Rubico; accept Rubicone) |
| This event was stopped by James Park and John Geary who tackled its perpetrator. The victim of this event was shaking hands with visitors at the Temple of Music before being attacked by Leon Czolgosz [chol-gosh]. Theodore Roosevelt became President in the aftermath of, for the point, what event in which the 25th President of the United States was shot in Bu↵alo, New York? | assassination of William McKinley |
| During one mission, this man refused to replace a pilot with Jim Lovell, feeling he couldn’t justify making Lovell the lowest ranking position. This man would have dropped in either Central Bay or the Ocean of Stroms if he failed to reach the Sea of Tranquility. This man declared “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” For the point, name this astronaut, the first man to walk on the moon. | Neil Armstrong |
| This empire consolidated its power after winning the battle of Thymbra against Croesus [crow- EE-sus] of Lydia. The Achaemenid lineage ruled over this empire. This empire established a Royal Road to facilitate communication from Susa to Sardis during the reign of Darius the Great. Cyrus the Great founded, for the point, what empire led from Babylon that encompasses much of present-day Iran. | Persian empire (accept Achaemenid empire before mention) |
| This composer’s 1778 journey to Paris inspired a symphony that his father, Leopold, critiqued as “noisy.” Lorenzo da Ponte collaborated with this man on multiple operas, and Franz Sussmayr completed a requiem mass that this man left unfinished at his 1791 death. For the point, name this Austrian composer, a child prodigy who wrote 41 symphonies and operas like The Magic Flute. | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart |
| Thisman’swifelivedandworkedatVal-Kill,herestate,duringtheirseparation.Thisman’smistress, Lucy Mercer, was present when he died of a brain hemorrhage at his retreat in Warm Springs, Georgia, two months after returning from the Yalta Conference in ill health. For the point, name this 32nd US president who worked to hide his a↵airs from his wife, Eleanor, and to hide his paralysis from polio from the public. | Franklin Delano Roosevelt (accept FDR; prompt on Roosevelt) |
| This country was the site of Operation Ogre, where ETA terrorists murdered the Prime Minister. The Condor Legion bombed the Basque town of Guernica during one war in this country. The Falange seized power in this country after a 1930s civil war resulted in Francisco Franco becoming caudillo. For the point, name this country that is ruled by Felipe VI from Madrid. | Spain |
| This state was the site of the “Runaway Scrape”, a mass migration of civilians fleeing an invading army. Soldiers from this state used the slogan “Remember Goliad!” during the Battle of San Jacinto. This state was the site of the “Lone Star Republic” after declaring independence from Mexico but before being annexed by the United State. For the point, name this state led by men such as Sam Houston and Stephen Austin. | Texas |
| This man “cannot rest until a spirit-dawn shall come” in a Vachel Lindsay poem titled “[this man] Walks at Midnight.” An elegy for this man states that “the great star droop’d in the western sky.” One poem notes how his “lips are pale and still” and instructs him to “rise up and hear the bells.” Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain” was written about the death of, for the point, what US President who was killed in 1865? | Abraham Lincoln (accept “Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight”) |
| This structure was the subject of the Peaceful Revolution in Alexanderplatz. A speech about this structure notes that it should be destroyed “if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.” This structure came down in 1989 after Gorbachev was challenged by Ronald Reagan to “tear down this structure.” For the point, identify this structure that separated East and West Germany. | Berlin Wall (accept Berliner Mauer) |
| At this site, Pierre Doponceau helped translate a set of regulations written in French titled “The Blue Book.” Baron von Steuben successfully trained and reorganized troops at this location despite a lack of food and supplies. The Continental Army retreated to this location after failing to retake Philadelphia from the British. For the point, name this site where George Washington’s army spent the winter of 1777. | Valley Forge |
| These programs included the Castle Bravo initiative at Bikini Atoll. A program of this type was known as the Smiling Buddha and was created to deter Pakistan. The Fat Man and Little Boy were produced under the most famous example of these programs and subsequently dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. For the point, identify this type of bomb-making program exemplified by the Manhattan Project. | nuclear weapons program (prompt on weapons program or other equivalents) |
| This city was the site of a turf war between Irish and Italian groups led by Dean O’Banion and Johnny Torrio. A leader of the North Side Gang, Bugs Moran, was killed in this city during the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. A mobster in this city was nicknamed Scarface and was arrested and sent to Alcatraz on charges of tax evasion. For the point, name this city, the base of operations for Al Capone. | Chicago |
| Howard Florey’s use of this medicine in clinical trials earned him a Nobel Prize that he shared with Ernst Chain, who studied its structure. One man discovered this medicine in London after a Petri dish of Staphylococcus bacteria was left out by an open window. For the point, name this antibiotic that Alexander Fleming discovered in a mold growth in 1928. | penicillin |
| John Co↵ey sneaked o↵ this ship under mailbags at Queenstown. The Belfast-based head architect of this ship, Thomas Andrews, died aboard it. This ship’s captain, Edward Smith, gave confusing orders and failed to give an “abandon ship” order at all during its sinking, which took place in April 1912. For the point, name this ship that was considered “unsinkable” until its maiden voyage, when it struck an iceberg. | RMS Titanic |
| One of these animals traversed the Bay of Baiae to disprove a Thrasyllus prophecy about Rome. At the battle of Hydaspes, one of these animals named Bucephalus was slain. One of these animals named Incitatus was legendarily appointed a consul by Caligula. Roman equestrians were known for their mastery of these animals. For the point, identify these animals that generals often rode into battle. | Horse |
| This event resulted in the destruction of Battleship Row which included ships like the Oklahoma and the Arizona. In the aftermath of this event, Franklin Roosevelt described it as a “day that will live in infamy.” The United States entered World War II following, for the point, what December 7, 1941 surprise attack by Japan against a naval base in Hawaii? | the attack on Pearl Harbor Extra Tossups |
| This case was re-argued after Lewis Powell and William Rehnquist joined the Supreme Court; Rehnquist and Byron White became the only dissenters from Harry Blackmun’s majority opinion. The decision in this case resolved a balancing test between health and privacy by creating a three-trimester framework. For the point, name this 1973 Supreme Court case that protects the right to an abortion. | Roe v. Wade (accept names in either order) |
| The German word for this concept, eisen, was paired with blut in an 1862 speech against Max von Forckenbeck that argued the “great questions of the day” will not be decided through “speeches and majority decisions,” but instead through blood and fighting. For the point, name this metal used in the epithet for Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. | iron (accept “blood and iron”; accept Iron Chancellor) |