History Guild General History Quiz 157
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The stories behind the questions
1. Who fought against each other in the Battle of Tours-Poitiers in 732CE?
Franks vs Umayyad Caliphate – The battle of Tours-Poitiers halted the expansion of the Umayyad Caliphate from the Iberian Peninsula into Western Europe. Charles Martel (Charles the Hammer) led the Franks to victory against a Umayyad Caliphate Army under Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi.
2. When was the first University established?
1088 CE – The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students, the the word universitas was coined at its foundation.
3. How old was William Pitt the Younger when he became Prime Minister?
24 – He became the youngest British Prime Minister in 1783. During his time as prime minister the kingdom of Ireland joined with Great Britain, and Britain implemented financial reforms that allowed it to repay the debts incurred during the American Revolutionary War.
4. Killed in 43 BCE, which Roman politician is regarded as the last defender of the Roman Republic?
Cicero – Considered one of Rome’s greatest orators, he tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the establishment of the Roman Empire. He was beheaded on the orders of Mark Antony.
5. Who was the Australian Photographer who accompanied Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition?
Frank Hurley – Hurley was the photographer for both Mawson and Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions, as well as an official Australian photographer during both the First and Second World Wars.
6. Who produced the first maps that utilised latitude and longitude in 150 CE?
Claudius Ptolemy – In his work Geographia, written in the second century CE, Ptolemy revolutionized geography and cartography. He outlined a coordinate system of latitude and longitude for accurate navigation, mapped thousands of areas with their corresponding coordinates, and was the first to use perspective projection to display the globe effectively on a two-dimensional surface. Read more about this here.
7. Which aircraft is this?
Aichi D3A Val – The primary dive bomber of the Imperial Japanese Navy, it bombed Pearl Harbor and U.S. bases in the Philippines on the first day Japan attacked the Allies. They sank more Allied warships than any other Axis aircraft.
8. Which of these battles occurred first?
Battle of the Teutoburg Forest – 9 CE
Battle of Agincourt – 1415
Battle of Crécy 1346
Battle of Hastings 1066
9. Which country was the first to reach a population of 1 billion?
China – Reached 1 billion population in 1981.
India – Reached 1 billion population in 1997.
Pakistan – Current population 231 million.
Nigeria – Current population 218 million.
10. When did the Great Fire of London occur?
1666 – Lasting for 4 days the fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul’s Cathedral. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 87% of the City’s inhabitants.
