Q 01/05

Which American port received the Manila galleons that carried Chinese silk across the Pacific from 1565?

A) Veracruz

B) Acapulco

C) Panama City

D) Callao

Answer · why

B) Acapulco

Acapulco received the galleons for 250 years, until 1815. Their Asian cargo was then hauled overland through Mexico City to Veracruz on the Gulf coast...

Q 02/05

Who became the world's first female prime minister by winning Ceylon's July 1960 election?

A) Chandrika Kumaratunga

B) Sirimavo Bandaranaike

C) Indira Gandhi

D) Benazir Bhutto

Answer · why

B) Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Sirimavo Bandaranaike led her assassinated husband's party to victory in July 1960, a year after his murder. When she took the office for the last tim...

Q 03/05

Which emirate's ruler, Sheikh Zayed, became the first president of the United Arab Emirates when it was founded in 1971?

A) Dubai

B) Sharjah

C) Abu Dhabi

D) Ras Al Khaimah

Answer · why

C) Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi. Six sheikhdoms launched the union on 2 December 1971 and Ras Al Khaimah held out for two more months, while Bahrain and Qatar, invited into...

Q 04/05

Which nation became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century, on 20 May 2002?

A) Brunei

B) Tajikistan

C) Georgia

D) East Timor

Answer · why

D) East Timor

East Timor, officially Timor-Leste, was a Portuguese colony until 1975 and was then held by Indonesia until 1999. Its people voted to leave in a UN-ru...

Q 05/05

Which site, where Ashoka set up a pillar in the 3rd century BCE, is revered as the Buddha's birthplace?

A) Bodh Gaya

B) Lumbini

C) Sarnath

D) Kushinagar

Answer · why

B) Lumbini

Lumbini's pillar records that Ashoka came in person to honour the spot where the Buddha was born. The place was later forgotten for centuries, until t...