History Guild General History Quiz 212
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The stories behind the questions
1. Where was the Inca capital?
Cusco, Peru – Centered in Cusco, the Inca Empire extended from modern-day Chile to modern-day Colombia.
2. Which of these countries sent a large expeditionary force to fight on the Allied side during WW2?
Brazil – 25,000 Brazilian soldiers and pilots of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force fought in Italy in 1944 and 1945.
3. European medieval medicine considered the body to have four ‘humours’, being blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and what other substance?
Black bile – Originating in Ancient Egypt or Greece, Hippocrates is usually credited with applying this idea to medicine. The theory considered that someone was healthy when the humours were in the correct proportion to each other, both in strength and quantity, and are well mixed. Medical treatments attempted to achieve this balance.
4. What was Guy Gibson famous for?
Leading the 1943 ‘dambuster’ raid – Leading 617 Squadron on the famous raid, Wing Commander Guy Penrose Gibson, VC, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, was killed later in the war, aged 26.
5. When did Belize become independent?
1981 – Originally a centre of Maya culture, Spanish conquistadors declared it part of the Spanish Empire in 1506. The first British permanent settlement was founded around 1716 and in 1862 it became the colony of British Honduras. While progress toward independence was made from the 1950s onwards, this was hampered by a Guatemalan claim to sovereignty over Belizean territory. Even after independence British troops remained stationed in Belize to deter a Guatemalan attack.
6. When did Australia launch the first Australian designed and built satellite?
1967 – Designed and built by the Australian Weapons Research Establishment and launched from Woomera, this made Australia only the third nation to launch a satellite from their own territory, after the USSR and USA.
7. The 2003-2020 War in Darfur predominantly took place in which country?
Sudan – Beginning when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM or Sudan Liberation Army – SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur’s non-Arab population. It ended in stalemate, with around 300,000 deaths and 3 million people displaced throughout the fighting.
8. Who took over as US President after Richard Nixon’s Resignation?
Gerald Ford – Ford became the first person appointed to the vice presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, when President Nixon resigned in August 1974, Ford immediately assumed the presidency.
9. Who founded the Duchy of Normandy in 911?
Rollo – Vikings had been raiding this region for the preceding century. Rollo reached an agreement with French King Charles III, known as Charles the simple, to rule Normandy in return for defending the region from attack by other Vikings.
10. Which conflict did ‘Wallaby airlines’ operate in?
Vietnam War – Wallaby airlines was the popular name for Royal Australian Air Force Transport Flight Vietnam (RTFV), based on its radio callsign ‘Wallaby’. It flew twin-engined DHC-4 Caribous and was active in Vietnam from 1964 to 1972.
