Q 01/05

Which commodity did Mahatma Gandhi walk 240 miles in 1930 to make illegally, defying a British monopoly?

A) Tea

B) Sugar

C) Salt

D) Cotton

Answer · why

C) Salt

Salt was a British monopoly under an 1882 law, so when Gandhi boiled seawater at Dandi he set off civil disobedience by millions of Indians.

Q 02/05

Which territory's 1997 handover to China ended 156 years of British rule there?

A) Hong Kong

B) Shanghai

C) Taiwan

D) Guangzhou

Answer · why

A) Hong Kong

Hong Kong changed hands at midnight on 1 July 1997, after Prince Charles read a farewell speech on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

Q 03/05

Which former British colony left Malaysia in 1965, less than two years after joining it?

A) Brunei

B) Sarawak

C) North Borneo

D) Singapore

Answer · why

D) Singapore

Singapore became a sovereign state on 9 August 1965, and Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew fought back tears at the televised press conference announcing th...

Q 04/05

Which European country annexed the Congo in 1908 from its own king's private rule and governed it until 1960?

A) Portugal

B) Belgium

C) Germany

D) Netherlands

Answer · why

B) Belgium

Belgium took over reluctantly, after public pressure ended the king's personal rule of the Congo Free State, and handed over power on 30 June 1960.

Q 05/05

Which Caribbean nation, born of a revolt by enslaved people, declared independence from France in 1804?

A) Haiti

B) Cuba

C) Grenada

D) Dominica

Answer · why

A) Haiti

Haiti became independent on 1 January 1804 after a revolt that began in 1791, founding a state free from slavery and ruled by former captives.