Researchable PM-based history quiz

Adler steps in with 99 points, and 7ronin now has 72 points. They both came close enough to question 1 that I gave them credit. I gave them partial credit for #2, but I was after something even more distinctive. Three people have identified the younger author in #3 and Adler knew the name of his work. Nobody's identified the older work, but Adler came up with an alternate answer which I had to give him credit for. 7Ronin identified 6a. Adler got four of the besieged cities and the years for all eight sieges, and may have gotten another one. (I don't have the answers right here). Strangely, he didn't get the easiest one.

I'll give you another hint on #10, which nobody's come close to. Town number 6 is quite small, and it's the one that appears four times. It's the one thing it's noted for.

7Ronin's asked for more time. Does anyone else? Adler in particular, since he's in the lead?
 
7Ronin gets 6b-e at the last moment to overtake Adler17 by a single point. However, Adler's answer of Sevastopol was indeed correct for #7, so he gets another 11 points and finishes on top.

Final standing:
Adler17 110 points
7Ronin, 100 points
Ciceronian 87 points
Luceafarul 30 points.

I'll post the answers in a few minutes.
 
(1) What do these stars have in common? Alpha Centauri, Beta Hydri, Delta Pavonis, Gamma Pavonis, Epsilon Eridani, Eta Cassiopeiae, Omicron-2 Eridani, Pi-3 Orionis, Tau Ceti, Zeta Tucanae
20 points

These are the primary targets of the Terrestrial Planet Finder mission, which will look for earth-like planets around other stars. (Actually Alpha Centauri A and B are listed as two targets, so these are the top 11 in alphabetical order. Alpha Centauri A and B are targets 1 and 2.) I also accepted the answer that these are nearby stars like the sun that can have earth-like planets, since the Terrestrial Finder Mission, being in the future, is not yet history.


(2) What was the most unusual feature of Egyptian Mathematics?
20 points

The Egyptians (or at least Ahmes) expressed proper fractions as the sum of unit fractions (with the exception of 2/3 which had a special symbol.) So, for example, they would turn 5/13 into 1/3 + 1/20 +1/780, or some equivalent. [Here’s how to do it: the biggest unit fraction smaller than 5/13 is 5/15=1/3, so 5/13=1/3+2/39 (the numerator of 2/39 is what you had to add to 13 to get 15). The biggest unit fraction smaller than 2/39 is 2/40 = 1/20, and 2/39 = 1/20 + 1/780. Since the numerator of the remainder gets smaller at each step, this procedure has to stop eventually.] I don’t know why they had a special symbol for 2/3 because 2/3=1/2 +1/6.

The Egyptians also had additive means for multiplication and division, but that was less distinctive.

(3) For a long time I was considered the first algebraist, although I lived long before the word “algebra” was coined. This was until a work almost two thousand years older than mine was found. Who am I? What is the title of my principal work? What is the title of the older work? Who was the author?
10 points each, 40 total

I am Diophantus and my principal work is the Arithmetica. The older work is the Rhind Papyrus aka the Ahmes Papyrus which is attributed to a scribe named Ahmose or Ahmes.

Adler, however, mentioned the Straßburg tablet, which was discovered a few years before the Rhind papyrus and also has some algebraic element. I don’t think the author of that is known.


(4) Each of the following locations has something in common. What is it? Explain why each location is included.

Each of these is the region where the wild ancestors of a crop are found and presumably where the domestic variety originated


a. The region around Guadalajara, Mexico
Beans

b. The Balsas River Valley in Mexico
Teosinte, hence Maize or Corn

c. Junin Basin in Peru
Quinoa

d. Lake Titicaca basin
Potatoes

e. Abu Hureyra in Syria
Rye

f. Karacadag Hills in Turkey
Wheat
10 points for the common factor, 5 for each explanation, 40 total

(5) In what building is this picture located? Who painted it? It inspired a very famous person from the country where it was located. Who was he, and what work did it inspire?

Ten for location, ten for painter, five for famous person, five for his work, 30 total

It is from a painting at Täby Church in Täby, Sweden The artist was Albertus Pictor. It inspired the chess match between Antonius Block and Death in The Seventh Seal, directed and written by Ingmar Bergman.
 
(6) These are symbols from astrology, alchemy or astronomy. Identify each.

a: This is the alchemist's symbol for arsenic
b: This is one symbol for the dwarf planet Ceres. (There’s more than one version). Ceres was recently in the news when it was declared a planet, and again shortly afterward was declared a dwarf planet.
c: This is one symbol for the asteroid Pallas. (There’s more than one version).
d:This is the alchemist's symbol for antimony.
e: This is the alchemist's symbol for platinum, formed by combining the symbols for gold (the Sun) and silver (the Moon),

It's possible that b and c may have been used at one time for the elements cerium and palladium, which are named after Ceres and Pallas.

Seven points each, 35 total

(7) In a book of 100 important sieges, ten cities appear twice. List the ten cities and the year(s) they were besieged.
Five per city, three per year (If the siege lasted more than one year, you still get three points, but I’ll accept a single year as the answer), 110 total

This question, of course, is easy if you have Besieged by Paul K. Davis, which apparently nobody did. Otherwise you have to guess.
a) Syracuse. 415-13 and 213-212 BC
b) Jerusalem, 70 and 1099
c) Rome, 537-8 and 1849
d) Constantinople, 717-8 and 1453
e) Pavia, 773-4 and 1524-5
f) Paris, 885-6 and 1870-71
g) Vienna, 1529 and 1683
h) Malta, 1565 and 1940-42
i) Quebec, 1759 and 1775-6
j) Sevastopol, 1854-5 and 1941-2
He could certainly have added at least one more siege of Jerusalem (in 589 BC) and two of Constantinople (678 and 1204)


(8) Who is this? Why did she recently become better known? What “religion” was founded in the last 50 years with her as a deity? Who is her opposite as deity?

Five points each, 20 total

She is the Greek Goddess Eris, goddess of discord. She made the news a few weeks ago when the dwarf planet which had been nicknamed "Xena" was renamed Eris in her honor. The “religion” is Discordianism, named after her Latin name, Discordia. Her opposite is Harmonia, the goddess of order.


(9) Who am I? In what country did I originate? A famous ship was named after me. Who became famous because he captured this ship?

Ten points each, 30 total

I am Serapis. I originated in Ptolemaic Egypt. John Paul Jones became famous for capturing HMS Serapis.




a. This map shows the location of certain cities and towns that have something in common. What is it? Identify each location and why it is included. (One place makes it four times.)

As you may have noticed, this quiz was heavily devoted to the history of science, and so is this question. Each of these cities and towns has one or more chemical elements named after it, sometimes indirectly:
1) Strontian, Scotland (strontium)
2) Paris, France (lutetium, after the Latin name, Lutetia)
3) Darmstadt, Germany (darmstadtium, Element 110. By the way, Darmstadt is in Hesse, in whose honor Element 108 was named hassium, and Hesse is in Germany, after which element #32 is named.)
4) Copenhagen, Denmark (hafnium, after the Latin Hafnia)
5) Stockholm, Sweden (holmium, after Latin Holmia)
6) Ytterby, Sweden (yttrium, ytterbium, terbium and erbium)
7) Dubna, Russia (dubnium)


Ten points for common factor
Five for each location (35 total)
Five for why each make makes it (50 total)

b. One city got left out because it is not in Europe. What city is it, and why should it be included?

8) Berkeley, California, United States (berkelium, element 97. Element 98 is californium.)

I’d always thought magnesium and manganese were named after the city of Magnesia in Asia Minor, but it turns out they were named after the district of Magnesia in Thessaly in Greece. Manganese may get its name from the word magnet, but "magnet" also comes from Magnesia.

The countries which have elements named after them are France (francium and gallium, although gallium's discover, Lecoq de Bousbaudran also was making a pun on his own name: Lecoq=rooster=gallus in latin), Germany (germanium), Poland (polonium), and Russia (ruthenium--possibly after Ruthenia, but Ruthenia is a Latin form of Russia). Americium and europium are named after continents, but Americium is also sort of named after the United States. Americium was chosen because Europium is directly above it in the periodic table. A few people still cling to the name columbium for the element niobium. Rhenium is named after the Rhine. Scandium is named for Scandinavia, and thulium is named after Thule, which may also have been Scandinavia. At least seven elements are named for celestial bodies and one--tellurium--is named for the Earth.

Five and five. 95 total for question

440 total for entire quiz
 
You've got a point about Hades. Serapis was a Ptolemaic Hellenization of Osiris and Apis, and since Osiris was a god of the dead, images of Serapis were based on those of Hades (complete with the two-tined fork, which resembles Hades' weapon in the Battle of the Titans, and Cerberus). As a ruler, Hades tended to use a different staff. Serapis' crown looks different than images I've seen of Hades.
 
1.
WE, by God's Grace Emperor of the Great ******, send a letter to the king of ******. Since long ago even the princes of smaller states have sought a peaceful relationship to our bordering territories.
... The Prince of Koryu and his people are very grateful to US, and have visited OUR land, although the relationship between US and them the one of a Master to his servant is, but it is also like the relationship of parents to their children. You surely know that.
WE hope because of that, that you will keep good relations to US. It would be imprudent, not doing this, because war will come inevitable, and who could be interested in that?
Consider this, oh king.
Click to expand...

This is an excerpt of a letter from a monarch to another monarch. Who were the monarchs and the empires they ruled? (25 points each) The letter never arrived the addressed person, but was given to someone else. Who and why? (25 pts.) There are 4 threads and insults in this short passage. Find them (25 points each). That's why the ambassador was nearly killed. By whom? (25 pts.) It came to a war in the following time. But how the war was decided? (25 pts.) The people of the winning force introduced another word into the language. What is it? (25 pts.) Such a kind of victory the winning nation had twice more. When? (25 pts. each) At last the looser was visited by a famous man from far away. Who was that? (25 pts.)

300 points

2. Naval Questions:

a) I was built as the first all big gun ship. But due to the lack of what I was not introduced as such? (25 pts.) Indeed another ship was completed then giving this kind of ships the name. What ship? (25 pts.) This was a surprise for all other nations and all except one could not react. What nation could react and reconstruct what class to cope the new thread? (50 pts.)

100 pts.

b) I am called the Last Pirate, although I was a normal officer in my countries navy. Who am I (25 pts.)? However I got this name because of the ship I commanded. What was this ship called and why it was so unusual? (50. pts.). In another war I safed the city I lived in from destruction. What city was it (25 pts.)?

100 pts.

c) I am a Lineij Korabl (right spelling not granted). What is that? (25 pts). What is my name? (25 pts.) I was sunk by German ships in 1917. What ships and what operation it was(50 pts.)?

100 pts.

300 pts.

3. Who are we? (50 pts.)
We were both palaeontologists. Although we were coming from one country, we met in another one while studying palaeontology there. Which country that was? (25 pts.) We became close friends. However we became bitter foes after what happened? (100 pts.) What is this struggle called? (25 pts.) Give a short summary of the events of this struggle! (50 pts.) At last name 2 of the fossils we described each (50 pts.).

300 pts.

4. Who are we? (25 pts.)
The name I am looking for is of Spanish origin and names a general type of people. What is the origin and what kind of people are we? (50 pts.)
However I am looking especially to the ones of a certain island. We were originally brought to that island as slaves. What island and what nation captured us (50 pts.)? However when the island was lost to an enemy nation soon, we were freed and retreated into the hills of the island. When was it? (25 pts.) There we met the last survivors of the original inhabitants. Name the two people (25 pts.). We united to a new people the name I am looking for. In the next years we had two wars with the new owners of the island. When? (50 pts.) But we did not lose these wars. Name our leader of the first war and tell me what special honours the leader got later. (75 pts.)

300 pts.

5. Who am I?
I was born as the prince of a tribe. What tribe this was and who am I? (50 pts.). But due to several circumstances I entered the army of the enemy I hated. I even got the citizenship and a title of this state. What state and title were them? (50 pts.) I was later sent to a new commander in to an uprising. What commander this was and where did this uprising happen (25 pts.)? Later I followed another man, when he became ruler of my country. Who was this? (25 pts.) In this time my country was splitted in numerous tribes. But all hated the enemy. That's why I secretly tried to make an alliance with all tribes I could get. But this was not so secret as it could be. My uncle was envious, as he thought to be the rightful ruler of my tribe, which he wasn't. So he became a traitor. But because of one personal reason the ruler did not believe him, seeing only a family quarrel. What was this reason and who was the traitor? (50 pts.) So I could go on and make a trap. In the following battle we were able to beat the enemy totally. How is this battle called (25 pts.)? One of my allies treached us, so we had to lead a war against him. Who was this? (25 pts.) However my brother stayed in the enemie's army. Who was his name? (25 pts.). Although my pregnant wife was captured later I was able to beat the enemy also in the following campaign. However I was killed shortly afterwars, most likely by my uncle. So it lasted centuries until my dream of a united motherland became true. Who was this king to fulfil that? (25 pts.)

300 pts.

6. Who/ what are we?
a) Quetzacoatl
b) Axolotl
c) Huitzilopochtli
d) Cipactonal
e) Ahuiatl
f) Xochipilli
g) Toci
h) Patecatl
i) Quilatzli
j) Chicomecoatl
k) Calchiuhcihuatl

25 pts. each

One of them is wrong. Which one (25 pts.)?

300 pts.

7. Who said this and what does it mean? (50 pts. each).

a) Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes.
b) Vae victis!
c) Video meliora proboque deteriora sequor.
d) Alea iacta est.
e) Quo vadis?
f) Hic Rhodus, hic salta!

300 pts each.

8. What are they and what is their astronomical counterpart? (50 pts. each)

a) Ceres
b) Mars
c) Phaeton
d) Deimos
e) Eris
f) Theia

300 pts.

2.400 pts. to get. End of Quiz: Monday, 30th October, 9.00 AM CET.

Adler

P.S.: Small error in question #5 deleted.
 
Adler17 said:
Until now, nobody took part. Why? Is it so difficulty?
Click to expand...
No.
Or are you all too busy with more important things?
Click to expand...
For my part, absolutely. I seem to have taken care of the most pressing issues now though, so I might very well submit next week.
As usual, you have done some sterling work:goodjob: , and I honestly think you deserve better.
And while we are at quizzes, mine is also still open:http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=4570997&postcount=827 so feel free to join the party.
 
I know several of the answers, but I'm not eligible to do the next quiz.
 
Sydhe steps in with 725 points. However he is in one way out of the concurrence as he had the last quiz before. So it is YOUR chance to take the cake. If nobody else will post here I will give the victory to sydhe.

Adler
 
You know, I'd really appreciate it if someone else entered this quiz.:scan:
 
Very well, I finally have some spare time, so give me a couple of more days, and I will participate.
 
Can i provide a few questions? They would be mostly about authors and literature, but i can make them long-winded and have various non-literary trivia in them as well ;)

For example:

This author used to frequent a cafe-bar whose name has something to do with sheep, enabling potentially one to go nearer to them.
Having himself spent sometime observing a sheep, and also a cat, almost simultaneously, he is also remembered for mentioning the world "dog" near the end of one of his novels.

(well it could become more complicated, but it is not straightforward and would need some research :) )
 
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