Weekly History Quiz No.252

Depicting the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, it is one of the most replicated religious paintings of all time.

Munich’s Oktoberfest dates back to 1810 with an event held in honour of Prince Ludwig’s marriage to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen that took place over a five-day period. By the 1880s Oktoberfest had begun to resemble something like the huge feast and drinking session that we recognise today as breweries constructed huge beer tents to cater to the increasing demand.

Bashar al-Assad took power after the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad. Hafez al-Assad had ruled from 1971 to 2000, a combined 53 year rule by the father and son.

Ford Motor enthusiastically worked for the Reich through their manufacturing plants in Germany, producing over 100,000 of the trucks used by the German Army as of 1942. The company also initially resisted calls from President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill to increase war production for the Allies in 1940.

The Boxers were opposed to foreigners, Christianity and Imperialism, and launched attacks on Westerners in China. An eight nation multinational force was formed to resist them, comprising naval and military forces from America, Austro-Hungary, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia. They defeated the Boxers after a short campaign.

Darwin was largely destroyed, 49 people were killed, along with 14 civilians on vessels in the harbour and nearby waters. HMAS Arrow was sunk, with the loss of two of her crew.

Montefiore’s masterful Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East attempts to provide a balanced account of the creation of the Israeli nation and the Palestinian nation. He is guided by a story about the first British governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, who was initially quite popular – with Arabs, Christians, Jews, Muslims, everyone – but within a few months he was hated by all sides. So he went back to London to offer his resignation to the prime minister, David Lloyd George. The PM replied: ‘Well, you’ve got to carry on with your job – but as soon as any one side stops hating you, I’ll sack you.’

Lennon was gunned down in front of his apartment building in New York City at around 10.50pm on 8th December 1980. He was shot in the back four times, by Mark Chapman, a Beatles fan who objected to what he saw as the singer’s hypocrisy.

Thick layers of packed cotton and wool provided impressive protection against enemy arrow fire. The cotton armour was so effective that a soldier could escape unscathed after being struck by multiple arrows, which would become embedded in the material leaving some soldiers with a ‘porcupine’ appearance at the end of battle. As a testament to its effectiveness, some Spanish soldiers adopted cotton armour during their campaigns against the Inca in place of their stifling and heavy steel plates.

Conversion to Christianity in Kerala is documented from the second century, with Indian Christians seeking bishops, patriarchs and relics from Alexandria. There is also the the story of Saint Thomas, who was martyred in India prior to this.