Weekly History Quiz No.286

The Italian was one of the founders of a leading strand of the Baroque style.

Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, including English, German, Dutch, Afrikaans, Yiddish and Scots. The common ancestor of all of the languages in this branch is called Proto-Germanic, which was spoken in about the middle of the 1st millennium BC in Iron Age Scandinavia.

Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Theodore Roosevelt took office after William McKinley's assassination in 1901. Harry S. Truman took on the role upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945 from a stroke, following a long period of declining health.

Romania had the fourth largest army of the Axis powers, and played a significant role in the invasion of the USSR. They suffered around 500,000 casualties, and were responsible for the persecution and massacre of 260,000 Jews in Romanian-controlled territories.

The USSR declared war on Japan on the 9th August 1945, with the Soviet invasion of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo. The Soviet entry into the war was a significant factor in the Japanese government’s decision to surrender unconditionally, as it made apparent that the Soviet Union was not willing to act as a third party in negotiating an end to hostilities on conditional terms. The Japanese surrendered on the 3rd September 1945.

Prior to this time the number of representatives had been increased steadily, from an original 65, to the current 435. There are proposals to increase the number of representatives, in order to better represent the US population.

Under Emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98–117 CE, Rome reached its largest territorial extent, stretching from Britain to Mesopotamia.

At sites in eastern Turkey, dating to around 12,000 years ago, the remains of what appear to be brewing vats, combined with images of festivals and dancing, suggest that people were gathering in groups and fermenting grain or grapes. Read about WHY DO WE LIKE TO GET DRUNK?

The Quakers are Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements are generally united by a belief in each human’s ability to experience the light within or see “that of God in every one”. George Fox, son of a Leicestershire weaver, lived through a time of social upheaval and war. He formed the Quakers around 1647, travelling throughout Britain as a dissenting preacher. He was arrested and jailed numerous times for his beliefs.

During the six months after the near simultaneous attacks on Pearl Harbour, the Philippines, Guam, Hong Kong and Malaya, the Allied forces desperately tried to stem the Japanese juggernaut. A string of Japanese victories left them masters of Southeast Asia with a foothold in the South West Pacific.

The US aircraft carriers Lexington and Yorktown and the Australian cruisers, Australia and Hobart, were in the Coral Sea. They were opposed by the Japanese invasion force, including three aircraft carriers. Both sides sustained heavy casualties, with the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku and the USS Lexington both sunk. But the Japanese were forced to withdraw. With the option of a seaborne invasion denied them, the Japanese elected to take Port Moresby via a little known track called Kokoda. Read more about the battle.