Weekly History Quiz No.284

The U.S. initiated the Marshall Plan to prevent the spread of communism by revitalising war-torn Western European economies, aiming to create economically successful countries that would be economic and military allies, rather than see communism as appealing. The effect of the plan has been debated in recent times, as its contributions only accounted for about 3% of the combined national income of the recipient countries, and for only three years.

The painting shows the miracle of the healing of a 'madman', on the Canal Grande in Venice. Vittore Carpaccio was influenced by his Venetian compatriots, as well as Early Netherlandish painting.

A team of computer scientists and engineers reported a moth caught between the relay contacts of the Harvard Mark II computer in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Encapsulated in her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, she argued many Nazis committed evil deeds through thoughtlessness and an abdication of individual responsibility.

James Douglas and Sir William Crichton organised the event, where the 16 year old William Douglas, 6th Earl of Douglas, and his younger brother David were invited to dine with the ten year old King James II of Scotland. The two brothers were seized and beheaded, over the protests of the King. James Douglas then inherited the Earldom of Douglas.

The initial description of the condition specified that it was 'extremely debilitating '. A 1987 update was the first time that diagnosis included common behaviour that we would now associate with Autism.

Part of Byzantine Army and the personal bodyguard of the Byzantine emperors from the 10th to the 14th centuries. The guard was initially composed of Varangians, who were Norse settlers who established Kievan Rus state, and who were originally from present-day Sweden.

This was part of the British scorched-earth policy, designed to deny the Boer commandos support. This saw Lord Kitchener order the complete destruction of homesteads, grain stores and crops, and the killing of livestock. The civilian population were herded into the concentration camps, where inadequate food and sanitation saw disease kill thousands.

Fought on the Macedonian front, it saw a British force of around 43,000 men attack around 30,000 Bulgarians, who were in well fortified entrenchments. It was a bloody failure for the British, who suffered around 12,000 casualties.

Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire in 321 BCE after overthrowing the Nanda dynasty, establishing centralized rule across northern India.