Q 01/05

Which action star was born in Brussels?

A) Arnold Schwarzenegger

B) Jean-Claude Van Damme

C) Sylvester Stallone

D) Dolph Lundgren

Answer · why

B) Jean-Claude Van Damme

Jean-Claude Van Damme, 'the Muscles from Brussels', was born in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe in 1960. The City of Brussels itself is only one of the region's...

Q 02/05

Brussels began on an island, and its name most likely means what in Old Dutch?

A) Market by the wood

B) Settlement in the marsh

C) Bridge over the river

D) Fort of the duke

Answer · why

B) Settlement in the marsh

Settlement in the marsh is the usual reading: Old Dutch 'bruoc', marsh, plus 'sella', home. The river that fed the marsh turned so foul that the city ...

Q 03/05

On which river did Brussels grow up?

A) Meuse

B) Dyle

C) Senne

D) Scheldt

Answer · why

C) Senne

Brussels grew up on the Senne; the river's course through the city was covered over between 1867 and 1871 because it had become a health hazard.

Q 04/05

Which work did Karl Marx finish in Brussels in early 1848, weeks before revolution broke out in Paris?

A) Das Kapital

B) The Communist Manifesto

C) The Civil War in France

D) Critique of the Gotha Programme

Answer · why

B) The Communist Manifesto

The Communist Manifesto was printed in London that February, just as revolution broke out in Paris. Days later Belgium's king ordered Marx out of the ...

Q 05/05

Which two languages are official in the Brussels-Capital Region?

A) French and Dutch

B) French and German

C) Dutch and English

D) French and Walloon

Answer · why

A) French and Dutch

French and Dutch are the region's two official languages; historically Dutch-speaking, the city shifted to French from the late 19th century, and the ...