Researchable PM-based history quiz

[Ciceronian]

Yes, extend the deadline please, then I will be able to submit.

 

[Aion]

Well, I still have only one partial solution from sydhe + Ciceronian who announced to submit.

I'll extend the deadline to friday, at least, and see then if I have received more answers.

Some hints for the picture-based questions: In question 3 you needn't find out all the people. If you have become familiar with the biography of, say, 3 or 4 of them the answer should be quite obvious. Same thing about question 7: The first two cities should be easy to guess. The last two cities are more difficult, but you should be able to find the source of the pictures if you browse a bit around in a popular free-content web-encyclopedia

 

[Aion]

New scoreboard:

Ciceronian 10 points
sydhe 9 points

 

[Aion]

Anyone still interested in participating? If not, I will announce the solution tomorrow.

 

[Richard Cribb]

I will probably submit even if I haven't time for much research, so please don't close it before tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Aion]

Okay, let's say I'll post the answers on monday, so you have the weekend.

 

[Richard Cribb]

Thanks. I don't have so much time for research but I just realized that I know the answers on a couple of them anyway and with some luck I might be able to beat 10 points, who knows?

 

[Aion]

luceafarul tops the scoreboard with 14 points.

Current scoreboard:
luceafarul 14 points
Ciceronian 12 points
sydhe 9 points

EDIT: Corrected addition mistake: Ciceronian has 12 points

I will announce the correct answers tomorrow (monday) when I've returned from school. That will be about 6 PM Central European Time. And this time it's the final deadline

 

[Aion]

DONG - it's 6 PM and the poll is closed. I'm sorry if anybody still wanted to participate, but I've extended the deadline often enough.

So, as there are no new solutions, the scoreboard from my previous post is the final result. Congratulations to luceafarul for winning this quiz! And thanks to all participants. Good effort from all of you.

The Solutions

-1-

An ancient city in present day Syria, which saw its golden age at the turn of the third and second milennium BC until it was sacked by Hammurabi. The supreme goddess of the ancient Iberians. A finnic people native to an autonomous republic in Russia. What do they have in common?

They all bear the name Mari.

-2-

An island of the Caribbean was owned in the 17th century by a duchy in present-day Latvia. Which island? And which duchy

The island of Tobago was a colony of the Duchy of Courland from 1654 to 1689. Strange but true!

-3-

What connects these people?

They were all born in Africa. Congratulations to lucefarul for not only answering correctly but also working out all of the persons!

The persons are:
Nelson Mandela: Quite obvious, I guess.
Dominique de Villepin: The French prime minister and former foreign minister. He became known for his speech in the UN security council, in which he opposed the planned Iraq war. He was born in the Moroccan city of Rabat.
Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was the most important theologian of the early christianity and a neoplatonic philosopher. He was born in the city of Tagaste in Roman North Africa, present day Algeria.
Ibn Battuta (1304-1377), the 'Arab Marco Polo' was an Arab geographer, who travelled across the Islamic world and even as far as China and published his accounts in a book known as 'Rihla' (journey). He was born in Tangier in present-day Morocco.
Freddie Mercury (1946-1991) was the lead vocalist of the British rock band Queen. His parents were Zoroastrians who had emigrated from India to Zanzibar, where Mercury was born with the name of Farrokh Bulsara.
Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) was a prominent figure in Nazi Germany. He was born in Alexandria, Egpyt as the son of a German trader.

-4-

It should be clear which country this is. But why does it have such an irregular form? What name does the north-eastern protrusion have? Explain its history and state whom it got its name from.

The country is Namibia, of course. But that was not the question. The north-eastern protrusion is known as the Caprivi strip. It became part of German South West Africa in 1890 as a result of the Helgoland-Zanzibar-treaty. It was named after the German Chancellor Leo von Caprivi, who negotiated the deal. This was in order to give Germany access to the Zambesi River and enabling a trade route to the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately nobody had told the poor Germans that there are the Victoria Falls in between, so the deal was quite useless...

-5-

This statue can found on the Capitoline Hill in Rome. Whom does it depict? Why was it saved from destruction during the middle ages?

The person depicted is Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The reason, why the statue was saved during the middle ages, was that it was believed to depict Constantine.

-6-

According to Homer's original description in the Iliad, how many feet did the Trojan Horse measure?

Trick question! There is no description of the Trojan horse in the Ilias. Homer's epic ends with the burial of Hector. All later events are additions from later times. The Trojan horse is most notably described in Vergil's Aeneid.

-7-

What do these cities have in common?

Although the first two cities were correctly identified as Naples and Carthage, nobody found the answer. The other cities are Novgorod and Chiang Mai, the second largest city of Thailand. The connection is that the names of all these cities mean 'new city' in the respective languages.

-8-

Where was this statue found?

The Charioteer Statue was found in Delphi.

-9-

Which script is this? Which famous ruler was the first one to use this script for his inscriptions?

A tricky question, which nobody was able to solve. The script is Brahmi. It was the first script used in India, attested from the 3rd century BC. All modern Indian scripts derive from Brahmi. It was first used by the Maurya emperor Ashoka for his famous edicts.

-10-

Which culture does this artefact belong to?

The mask is Carthaginian.

 

[Ciceronian]

Thanks again for the quiz Aion.
I think you overlooked my answer to question 6, which was correct. So I should really have 12 points (not that it matters).

 

[Aion]

Thanks again for the quiz Aion.
I think you overlooked my answer to question 6, which was correct. So I should really have 12 points (not that it matters).

Oops, you should have 12 points of course . I think I made an addition mistake, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to discriminate you . And it doesn't change the result, anyway.

 

[Ciceronian]

Oops, you should have 12 points of course . I think I made an addition mistake, I'm sorry. It wasn't my intention to discriminate you . And it doesn't change the result, anyway.

Yes, I know it doesn't make a difference, but I just want to show my friend luceafarul how close I was to beating him!
So luce, are you going to accept the challenge and make a new quiz? I will surely surely submit if you do!

 

[sydhe]

Darned it, I knew the Trojan Horse isn't in the Iliad. Big bump on my forehead now.

 

[Richard Cribb]

Yes, I know it doesn't make a difference, but I just want to show my friend luceafarul how close I was to beating him!

Oh, you will beat me on many an occasion in due time!

So luce, are you going to accept the challenge and make a new quiz? I will surely surely submit if you do!

I will cook up something, but since I have some urgent calls right now, I will not be able to post it before Thursday/Friday. Especially since the level on those quizes is so high that it takes a bit to produce something which is acceptable at least.
And thanks for your interest, by the way are you going to make one in the non-researchable PM-thread?

Darned it, I knew the Trojan Horse isn't in the Iliad. Big bump on my forehead now.

That makes two of us then! I also knew it but was to lazy to verify. Besides I am a trusting fellow who don't except something as wicked as a trick question...

 

[Ciceronian]

Oh, you will beat me on many an occasion in due time!

Thank you, oh master! For now, I shall learn from you so that I may attain the wisdom of your years.

And thanks for your interest, by the way are you going to make one in the non-researchable PM-thread?

Yes, it's almost finished! I should have it up later today, sorry for the long wait. Like you, I had many pressing issues to attend, I've been writing essays 'til 3am, playing for the College football and pool teams, and much other stuff besides. I've been adding a question or two every day and now it's almost done. There are some quirky questions there and also quite a couple of Classical ones.

That makes two of us then! I also knew it but was to lazy to verify. Besides I am a trusting fellow who don't except something as wicked as a trick question...

I may be called Ciceronian, but I'm also versed in Greek literature. I seem to be the only one who got it! Although I'm kicking myself for not answering #1, I knew both the ancient city and the modern people off the bat. Had I put it down, we would have drawn!

 

[Richard Cribb]

Thank you, oh master! For now, I shall learn from you so that I may attain the wisdom of your years.

Yes, it's almost finished! I should have it up later today, sorry for the long wait. Like you, I had many pressing issues to attend, I've been writing essays 'til 3am, playing for the College football and pool teams, and much other stuff besides. I've been adding a question or two every day and now it's almost done. There are some quirky questions there and also quite a couple of Classical ones.

Excellent. This time I will have the opportunity to submit as well, the last one I had to ditch for a number of reasons. I particulary look forward to the quirky questions.

I may be called Ciceronian, but I'm also versed in Greek literature. I seem to be the only one who got it! Although I'm kicking myself for not answering #1, I knew both the ancient city and the modern people off the bat. Had I put it down, we would have drawn!

Well, you know we expect that sort of thing from a Ciceronian. personally I am not all that happy that I missed Tobago, I am supposed to know that era quite well, but eveidently not well enough...

 

[Richard Cribb]

My conscience demands me to offer you people an apology for being so late, but unfortunately my attention was needed other places.
I am currently working on a quiz, and it should be up in a couple of days.

 

[Richard Cribb]

So finally, the new quiz is here. My apologies, hope there are some interest still out there.
There is a lot of picture this time, and I think it is rather easier than some of the former ones, but that is up to you people to prove...
So here we go:

1. Who is this person (3p)?

2. What event is depicted here(2p)?

3. Which European politician told the foreign minister of the USSR Viacheslav Molotov to be tougher(2p) and what was the circumstances(2p)?

4.Here are 5 persons. What was their names (1 p for each correct identification)?

What did they have in common(1 p)? And what separates one of them from the other(1 p)?

5. What is the name of this military order(2 p)?

And what does the two swords symbolize(2 p)?

6.From which culture are these two artefacts (2 p)?

 

[Richard Cribb]

7.With the help of the following four persons, find the name of another person (2p). Additionaly you get 0.5 p extra for each of the persons you can identify.

8.Here are the coat of arms of four cities. Name the cities(1 p each), and find out what connects them (2 p)

9.What is the name of this cartoon (1 p) and who made it (1 p)?
Explain who all the people are on it (2 p)

10.The Soviet Union participated for the first time in the Chess Olympiads in 1952. What was remarkable with the team they sent to that event (2 p)?

 

[Richard Cribb]

Bonus question:
Which town is these four pics associated with (2 p)?

Since I used so long time to make this, it is just fair that you get reasonable time to solve it. So dead-line is Friday 25. November 18.00 CET. It can be extended on request.
Good luck!