Q 01/05

Which painting, stolen from the Louvre in 1911, was recovered in Florence in December 1913?

A) The Lacemaker

B) Mona Lisa

C) Grande Odalisque

D) The Gleaners

Answer · why

B) Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa had been taken by Vincenzo Peruggia, a Louvre worker who had helped build its glass case. Police had even questioned Pablo Picasso over ...

Q 02/05

Which newspaper puzzle did Liverpool-born journalist Arthur Wynne introduce in the New York World in December 1913?

A) Word search

B) Acrostic

C) Anagram

D) Crossword

Answer · why

D) Crossword

The crossword was first printed under the name word-cross. Britain waited until 1924 for a newspaper to run one, when the Sunday Express adapted a Wyn...

Q 03/05

Which US mail service, launched on New Year's Day 1913, was used weeks later to send a baby to his grandmother?

A) Parcel post

B) Air mail

C) Special delivery

D) Registered mail

Answer · why

A) Parcel post

Parcel post carried eight-month-old James Beagle a few miles in a rural carrier's wagon, as he was just under the 11-pound limit. It broke postal rule...

Q 04/05

Which European capital was home at some point in 1913 to Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Tito and Freud?

A) Prague

B) Budapest

C) Vienna

D) Berlin

Answer · why

C) Vienna

Vienna housed all five in one section of the city. Stalin stepped off a train that January with a passport in a false name, while Hitler was a rejecte...

Q 05/05

Which present-day California national park recorded 134°F in July 1913, long listed as Earth's hottest air temperature?

A) Death Valley

B) Joshua Tree

C) Pinnacles

D) Channel Islands

Answer · why

A) Death Valley

Death Valley logged the reading at Greenland Ranch, now called Furnace Creek, though some modern meteorologists doubt it. The same spot had hit its co...