History Guild General History Quiz 112
See how your history knowledge stacks up!
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The stories behind the questions
1. Which civilisation lived along the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys?
Sumerian – Read more about the Sumerian civilisation.
2. Before Railways took over in the 1840’s what was the main way goods were transported around Britain?
Canal boats – Similarly to the Railway mania of the 1840’s there was a Canal mania, which was the period of intense canal building in England and Wales between the 1790s and 1810s.
3. Which artist produced these three works?
Paul Gauguin – Gaugin was a was a French Post-Impressionist artist whose work was influential on the French avant-garde and many modern artists, such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.
4. When was the Liberal Party of Australia formed?
1944 – It was founded in 1944 by Robert Menzies as the successor to the United Australia Party.
5. Why is the Domesday book such an important historical document?
It is the oldest public record in England and the most significant historical survey in the history of Europe – Domesday is a manuscript record of the “Great Survey” of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The survey’s main purpose was to determine what taxes had been owed during the reign of King Edward the Confessor, thereby allowing William to reassert the rights of the Crown and assess where power lay after a wholesale redistribution of land following the Norman conquest.
6. The Peace of Nicias ended which conflict?
The Peloponnesian War – Concluded between Athens and Sparta, the Peace of Nicias resulted in a pause in the fighting, with the Decelean War beginning shortly afterwards. This lead to the decisive defeat of Athens at the Battle of Aegospotami in 405 BCE, ending this series of wars.
7. Which capital city was named Kristiania until 1925?
Oslo – Oslo was renamed Kristiania in honour of King Christian IV in 1624, finally returning to the name Oslo in 1925.
8. Which country was Patrice Lumumba Prime Minister of until his assassination in 1961?
Democratic Republic of the Congo – The first prime minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lumumba was killed during a coup supported by the Belgian and United States governments. Following his assassination, he was widely seen as a martyr for the wider pan-African movement. In 2002, Belgium formally apologised for its role in the assassination.
9. What was the estimated population of Australia in 1950?
Population of Australia over time
1901 – 3.8 million
1935 – 6.7 million
1950 – 8.2 million
1975 – 13.9 million
10. How many people died in the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire?
72 – This was the worst UK residential fire since World War II, spreading rapidly up the building’s exterior, bringing fire and smoke to all the residential floors. This was due to the building’s flammable cladding and external insulation having an air gap between them. The fire burned for over 60 hours.
