Only one more submission, and the final score is thus:
Adler17 13
YNCS 12
Ciceronian 9
thetrooper 8
All very good efforts!
And so for the answers:
1. What was garum?(1 point)
A sauce or condiment derived from fermented fish.
It was very popular in ancient Rome.
2. Which Turkish sultan was so obsessed with fur that he even let the walls and ceilings in the Topkapi palace be covered with it?(2 points)
Ibrahim I (1615 - 1648), aptly nicknamed
the mad.
For more of his outrageous acts, check this out:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kvenjb/madmonarchs/ibrahim1/ibrahim1_bio.htm
3. What event is depicted here? (2 points)
Gaius Mucius Scaevola demonstrating his bravery to king Lars Porsenna. (Yes thetrooper, Lars was a name used by Etruscans)
This is a story told by Livy as a model of Republican virtue and courage facing an adversary. When the Etruscans besieged Rome, Mucius entered their camp and tried to kill Porsenna. He was unsuccessful, however, and was caught. being brought before Porsenna, he showed no fear and demonstrated his contempt for pain and torture by holding his hand into a fire until it was totally burned. This impressed Porsenna so much that he released him. because of this Mucius got the nickname
Scaevola (left-handed).
The painting is by Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.
4. Here follows descriptions of two wedding ceremonies. From which cultures/countries are they? (1 point each):
The first are
Aztecs, the second
Spartans (I guess people with freudian inclinations could get food for thoughts here.)
5. An early American film director was charged for mutiny and imprisoned. Who was it (1 point) and what was the reason for this?(1 point)
Robert Goldstein IV. During World War One, Goldstein directed "The Spirit of '76", a drama with action from the American Revolution in 1916.
Because of the way he depicted the British, a key-ally, and ignoring warnings from the US authorities, he was prosecuted under a wartime Espionage Act and sentenced to three years in prison.
6.Who is this statue depicting(1 point) and in which city can you find it(1 point)?
Frank Zappa. It is to be found in the capital of Lithuania,
Vilnius.
7. What did the Byzantine emperor Justinian II, the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and the Bohemian composer Josef Myslivicek have in common?(1 point)
They all lost their noses. Justinian II extravagance and despotism caused a revolution in which Justinian had his nose cut off before he was exiled, the brilliant astronomer and peasant basher Tycho Brahe lost his nose in a duel as a young man, while "the divine Bohemian" Josef Myslivicek lost his as a result of syphilis.
8.Who was the first king to crusade to the Holy Land?(2 points)
Sigurd Jorsalfar Magnusson (1089? - 1130), king of Norway, led a Norwegian crusade in 1107.While he did most of his fighting in Spain against the Moors, he did indeed reach Jerusalem, hence the nickname Jorsalfar; (Jerusalemfarer).
9.Under which name was Marion Michael Morrison better known?(1 point)
John Wayne. What on earth made his parents give him the name Marion is beyond my imagiation.
10.What is this?(1 point)
A moustache cup.Ever wondered how Nietzsche could enjoy a nice cappucino? This baby is the solution, the little plate protects the moustache from being wet.
11. Who danced away his wedding?(1 point)
Hippokleides, an Athenian nobleman living in the 5th century BC.
According to Herodot, when Hippokleides was a young man, he competed for the hand of the daughter of the tyrant of Sycion, Kleisthenes, remaining with only one rival. Then during a dinner with Kleisthenes he gt a bit too much to drink, and culminating his foolish behaviour with standing on his head kicking with his legs up in the air (keep in mind that underwear was not in use). An angry Kleisthenes told him: "now you danced away your wedding!" upon which Hippokleides simply responded: "Hippokleides doesn't care" which for long remained a common expression in the Greek world.
12. Which country used this flag(1 point) and when(1 point)?
China. It is the flag of the Manchu Emperors, being used from 1872 until 1911.
13. During the Thirty Years War, how was the city Rothenburg ob der Traube saved from the Imperial army?(2 points)
By the so called Meistertrunk, Master Draught. After the town had resisted Tilly's orders of opening the gates and serve as winter quarters for his army, he threatened to execute the council and raze the town. However, on a whim he offered to save the town if someone could drink a whole cup of wine from the huge ceremonial goblet, some 3.5 litres, in one draught. An ex-mayor of the town, Georg Nusch , accepted and baffled everyone by succeding. The event is celebrated in Rothenburg to these days.
I must say that in this heat, I would like to have such a goblet myself...
14.What was the West Port Murders?(1 point)
16 murders commited in Edinburgh 1827 - 1828 by William Burke and William Hare who sold the corpses to the Edinburgh Medical College for dissection.
The principal customer was dr. Robert Knox, herostratically famous as one of the pioneers of modern racism.
15. Whose death is depicted here?(2 points)
This painting of Daumier depicts the death of the poet Sappho, highly acclaimed in her day by some of the foremost men in Greece for her poetry.
According to legend she threw herself from a cliff because of the unrequited love for the male sailor Phaon.
16. Which famous person is this penguin named after?(1 point)
Alexander von Humboldt (1769 - 1859), the great German naturalist and explorer, and younger brother of the equally famous diplomat, linguist, philosopher and politician Wilhelm.
17. Most of posters here use avatars.But what is originally an avatar?(1 point)
The incarnation of an Immortal Being or The Ultimate Supreme Being in Hinduism.
Comments, criticism (negative or positive), or questions are most welcome.
And so, over to you Adler17. 