Q 01/05

Which emperor of Mali became legendary for the gold he carried on a 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca?

A) Mansa Sulayman

B) Mansa Musa

C) Idris Alooma

D) Ewuare the Great

Answer · why

B) Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa gave away so much gold in Cairo along the way that his generosity is said to have noticeably shifted its value across Egypt.

Q 02/05

Which North African general marched war elephants over the Alps to invade Roman Italy?

A) Hannibal

B) Jugurtha

C) Masinissa

D) Hamilcar

Answer · why

A) Hannibal

Hannibal won crushing victories at Lake Trasimene and Cannae and occupied most of southern Italy for 15 years, yet he never took the city of Rome itse...

Q 03/05

Which queen of Ptolemaic Egypt is the only ruler of her Greek-speaking dynasty known to have learned Egyptian?

A) Nefertiti

B) Arsinoe

C) Cleopatra

D) Hatshepsut

Answer · why

C) Cleopatra

Cleopatra came from a family that had governed Egypt for generations as Greek monarchs who refused to learn the local tongue. She spoke several langua...

Q 04/05

Which East African sultanate lost history's shortest war, beaten by British warships within 45 minutes?

A) Mogadishu

B) Comoros

C) Harar

D) Zanzibar

Answer · why

D) Zanzibar

Zanzibar's 1896 war began when Sultan Khalid took the throne without British approval. Once his palace came under fire, he fled to the German consulat...

Q 05/05

Which West African republic, settled by Black Americans, named its capital after US president James Monroe?

A) Liberia

B) Sierra Leone

C) Gambia

D) Senegal

Answer · why

A) Liberia

Liberia declared independence in 1847 and is Africa's oldest republic, yet the United States withheld recognition until 1862, during its own Civil War...