When food and animals made history
0Loading crowd target
Questions and sources
When Food and Animals Made History — Daily trivia Friday, October 2, 2026: questions and answers
All 10 questions with answers and explanations. Play this daily
Q 01Colonists angry at a law that made tea cheaper dumped it into which city's harbor?
- APhiladelphia
- BBoston
- CBaltimore
- DSavannah
Show answer
Boston
Boston. The Tea Act undercut smugglers' prices but kept a tax colonists refused to accept, so they dumped the East India Company's tea.
Q 02Which birds raiding Australian wheat farms outlasted soldiers armed with machine guns?
- ACockatoos
- BKookaburras
- CCassowaries
- DEmus
Show answer
Emus
Emus. The army soon pulled out, and its commander said a division with the birds' bullet-carrying capacity could face any army in the world.
Q 03Still recovering from the Trail of Tears, the Choctaw Nation sent famine aid to which country?
- AIreland
- BScotland
- CIndia
- DRussia
Show answer
Ireland
Ireland. In 2017 County Cork unveiled Kindred Spirits, nine steel eagle feathers forming a bowl of food for the hungry.
Q 04Why did Mao's war on sparrows, blamed for eating grain, leave China's crops worse off?
- ACrops went unpollinated
- BInsect pests multiplied
- CTheir droppings had fed the soil
- DPredators turned on livestock
Show answer
Insect pests multiplied
Insect pests multiplied, because sparrows had eaten them too. By 1960 China swapped sparrows off its pest list for bed bugs.
Q 05Which animal fats, rumored to grease cartridges Indian soldiers had to bite, helped spark a revolt against British rule?
- ACow and pig fat
- BPig and goat fat
- CCow and sheep fat
- DGoat and sheep fat
Show answer
Cow and pig fat
Cow and pig fat: beef tallow would defile Hindu soldiers and pork lard Muslim ones.
Q 06Iceland, which has no army, won its Cod Wars with Britain partly by threatening to leave what?
- AThe United Nations
- BThe Commonwealth
- CThe European Union
- DNATO
Show answer
NATO
NATO. Iceland threatened to close a vital NATO base during the Cold War, so the US pressed Britain to give way.
Q 07Britain and the US let which leader settle their 'Pig War', whose only casualty was a pig?
- AQueen Victoria
- BUlysses S. Grant
- CTsar Alexander II
- DKaiser Wilhelm I
Show answer
Kaiser Wilhelm I
Kaiser Wilhelm I. His panel ruled for the US in 1872, yet park rangers still raise the Union Jack over the old British camp.
Q 08Medieval Europe's 'holy fire' poisonings came from a fungus on which crop?
- AApples
- BPotatoes
- CRye
- DPumpkins
Show answer
Rye
Rye. Ergot fungus in rye bread caused the 'holy fire', and a religious order ran hospitals across Europe to nurse its victims.
Q 09France's 'Pastry War' blockaded which country over claims that included a French pastry cook's looted shop?
- AMexico
- BArgentina
- CHaiti
- DAlgeria
Show answer
Mexico
Mexico. French grapeshot at Veracruz cost Santa Anna a leg, and the sacrifice won back his popularity.
Q 10America's 1960s tariff on imported light trucks was payback for European tariffs on which food?
- ABeef
- BBananas
- CChicken
- DCheese
Show answer
Chicken
Chicken. The truck tariff hit Volkswagen's vans and pickups, and it outlasted the US taxes on brandy and potato starch imposed alongside it.
How to play
- One question at a time, four options. Tap an answer to lock it in.
- You see the answer and a short explanation right away.
- Harder questions and faster answers earn more points. Share your score at the end.