History Guild General History Quiz 111
See how your history knowledge stacks up!
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The stories behind the questions
1. The Rum Rebellion of 1808 saw the removal of Governor William Bligh from power. Where did this take place?
New South Wales – The Rum Rebellion saw Bligh removed from power by a group of NSW corps officers who didn’t want Bligh to eliminate their lucrative source of income controlling the sale of Rum in the colony. This resulted in Bligh having the ignominious record of losing a command to mutiny on land and sea.
2. The Berlin Airlift saw West Berlin supplied by air by the British and Americans after the Soviets cut the road and rail links from the West. How long did his last?
11 months – Read More about the Berlin blockade and Airlift.
3.What was the first academic project Sigmund Freud carried out?
Attempting to determine the sex of eels – At the age of 17 in 1873, Freud entered the University of Vienna. His intention was to study law, but he instead gravitated towards medicine. HE studied under Darwinist professor Carl Claus, who intended to prove that eels produce sexually, and set out to do this by locating a male eel. Freud was assigned the task of dissecting eels, on his 400th eel he discovered a male.
4. Which of these monotheistic religions was established first?
Judaism – 586 BCE
Christianity – 31 CE
Islam – 610 CE
Mormonism – 1830 CE
5. Which colonial power controlled Cuba until 1898?
Spain – Spain ruled Cuba from the 15th century until the Spanish-American war of 1898, when Cuba became a US protectorate.
6. When were glasses for correcting vision first invented?
1290 CE – The first eyeglasses were made in central Italy, most likely in Pisa, around 1290. They were very expensive to produce and were exclusively used by elites until the 19th century.
7. What was Zimmerit?
A coating on German tanks to prevent magnetic anti-tank grenades from sticking to them – Zimmerit was a paste-like coating used on WW2 German tanks. It produced a non-ferrous covering over the metal armour of the vehicle, providing enough separation that magnetically attached anti-tank grenades would not stick to the vehicle. It was largely unnecessary, as Germany was the only country to use significant numbers of magnetic anti-tank grenades. It is shown below.
8. Which country did the Khmer Rouge rule from 1975-79?
Cambodia – The Khmer Rouge instituted a communist regime that attempted to create an economy without money, as well as executing anyone who was highly educated or otherwise distrusted by the regime. In four years their rule resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million Cambodians, approximately 25% of the population.
9. In 1935 who ordered his people to ‘Hide, strike suddenly, fight the nomad war, steal, snipe and murder singly’?
Haile Selassie – The Ethiopians fought an insurgency against the Italian invaders, and with the assistance of British and Commonwealth forces defeated them in 1941.
10. When was the first comprehensive survey of the coast of Great Britain completed?
1693 CE – The survey was commissioned by Charles II, organised by Samuel Pepys and carried out by Captain Greenville Collins. This was part of a concerted effort to improve Britain’s naval power, which ultimately came to fruition in the following century.
