Weekly History Quiz No.277

Descended from the Tudors of Penmynydd, they rose to prominence when Sir Owen Tudor married Queen Catherine of Valois. The first Tudor monarch was Henry VII, who took power in 1485.

Oswald Mosley launched the British Union of Fascists after visiting Benito Mussolini in Italy. It was strongly supported by the Daily Mail and grew to as many as 50,000 members in the 1930s. Nazi German influence and funds led to the party becoming more violent and antisemitic. The party was banned in 1940 and 740 members, including Mosley, were interned for the period of the war.

Although declining from their peak, the Liberal Party governed as part of a coalition for much of the 1930s.

The Communist Party of Great Britain was very active through the 1930s, fighting against the British Union of Fascists at the Battle of Cable Street, and creating the British Battalion of the International Brigades to fight in the Spanish Civil War.

Fought in 1274 BCE between the Hittites to the North and the Egyptians to the South the Battle was somewhat inconclusive. Border conflicts continued for several years before a treaty was signed between the two countries, the earliest in recorded history.

Battle of Cannae - 216 BCE

Battle of Tours - 732 CE

Battle of Hattin - 1187 CE

The mysterious Mexican island Bermeja first appeared on a 1539 map titled ‘El Yucatán e Islas Adyacentes’. First drawn by Alonso de Santa Cruz, it was named Bermeja “as it appears to be to such a colour”, referring to the Spanish word for red. Despite this incredibly detailed description from 1540, no evidence of the island has ever been found. Several expeditions to locate the island, including one by the Spanish army in 1775, failed and it was ultimately removed from world maps in the 20th century following doubts about its existence. The search for the island was revived in 1997 and again in 2009 by Mexican government officials and university researchers in the hope that it would extend the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) further into the Gulf of Mexico. However, the island remained a mystery.

Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippines from Mexico in 1565. Spain conquered the islands, maintaining control until their defeat in the Spanish American War of 1898.

The Edict of Milan gave Christianity legal status and a reprieve from persecution. Christianity became the state church of the Roman Empire in 380 CE with the Edict of Thessalonica.

An author, poet, playwright, and dissident, he became prominent during the in the 1968 Prague Spring protests. He played a major role in the Velvet Revolution that ended communism, becoming president shortly after.

The foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Renaissance, his works are now considered to have been revolutionary and influential on subsequent artists.

In 202 BCE the decisive Battle of Zama took place in North Africa during the Second Punic War, when Roman General Scipio Africanus confronted Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barca. The battle was an even infantry contest for the an extended period, until the Roman cavalry charged into the Carthaginian rear. Their line collapsed and they were massacred.

After uniting the Mongol tribes, Temüjin launched a series of  successful military campaigns that conquered large parts of China and Central Asia. Temüjin formally adopted the title 'Genghis Khan'  in 1206. This may mean universal ruler, but its meaning isn't certain.