History Guild General History Quiz 170
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The stories behind the questions
1. In 1917 which country established an all female military unit called the ‘women’s battalion of death’?
Russia – This was one of 16 all female combat units created by the Russian military in 1917. They saw significant combat prior to the Russian revolution and Russia’s subsequent withdrawal from the conflict.
2. Which of these countries first established a national bank?
England – The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. It was established in 1694 to act as the English Government’s banker. The only country that established an earlier national bank was Sweden, which formed Sveriges Riksbank in 1668.
3. The Sushruta Samhita, a medical textbook written in Sanskrit in India around 600 BC, described how to perform which of the following surgeries?
All of the above – An ancient Sanskrit text on medicine and surgery, it is one of the most important documents on this subject to survive from the ancient world. It contains descriptions of 1,120 illnesses and their treatments.
4. Who painted ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ shown below?
Hieronymus Bosch – A prominent member of the Early Netherlandish painting school his work mainly contains fantastic illustrations of religious concepts. Painted in around 1500, this painting influenced the work of Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
5. When did French colonial rule in Vietnam end?
1954 – In May 1954 the Việt Minh won a decisive victory against French forces at the battle of Điện Biên Phủ. This led to the Geneva Agreements between North Vietnam and France in which France relinquished any claim to territory in the Indochinese peninsula.
6. Which of these regions did humans discover most recently?
Antarctica – 1820
The Galapagos Islands – 1535
Easter Island – 700CE
Greenland – 2500 BCE
7. When did the Titanic sink?
1912 – The Titanic sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
8. Which country saw a long running war between the Sandinistas and the Contras?
Nicaragua – The Contras were groups of former Nicaraguan National Guard that had fled to Honduras and were organized, trained, and funded by CIA elements. These fought against the Sandinistas, a democratically elected socialist political party which had previously a Nicaraguan resistance organization opposed to the hereditary Somoza dictatorship.
9. In 1966 the UN first imposed sanctions on a country. Which country was it?
Southern Rhodesia – The United Nations voted for selected mandatory sanctions, including oil, against Rhodesia in 1966. This was escalated to comprehensive mandatory sanctions in 1968. This was in response to Rhodesia’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence, in which they rejected the British colonial policy of allowing non-white Rhodesians to vote. The white minority of Rhodesia enjoyed a monopoly on political, economic and military force and fiercely defended their position with explicitly racist legislation and draconian oppression of opposition.
10. In 1911 which country became the first to employ powered military aircraft in combat?
Italy – During the Italo-Turkish War Italian Army Air Corps Blériot XI and Nieuport IV monoplanes bombed a Turkish camp at Ain Zara in Libya.
