Q 01/05

In 1932 the Australian military went to war against which animal, and lost?

A) Rabbits

B) Kangaroos

C) Crocodiles

D) Emus

Answer · why

D) Emus

Emus beat the army: soldiers with Lewis guns were sent to cull the birds in Western Australia's Wheatbelt, but the flocks scattered and the commander ...

Q 02/05

The shortest war in recorded history, fought in 1896, lasted roughly how long?

A) Three days

B) Six hours

C) Eleven days

D) About 38 minutes

Answer · why

A) Three days

Britain and the Sultanate of Zanzibar fought it after a disputed succession; the palace was shelled and the new sultan fled before lunch.

Q 03/05

The only shot fired in a 1784 Dutch-Habsburg naval standoff hit what, giving the conflict its name?

A) A steam boiler

B) A church bell

C) A soup kettle

D) A cooking fire

Answer · why

C) A soup kettle

The one Dutch shot struck a soup kettle aboard the Habsburg ship Le Louis, which promptly surrendered; the bloodless 1784 clash on the Scheldt is reme...

Q 04/05

The 1859 Pig War between the US and Britain began when an American farmer shot a pig doing what?

A) Swimming to a British ship

B) Eating his potatoes

C) Chasing his sheep

D) Sleeping in his barn

Answer · why

A) Swimming to a British ship

The pig belonged to a Hudson's Bay Company employee on San Juan Island; the farmer offered $10, the owner wanted $100, and both nations sent troops.

Q 05/05

Which Mexican general lost a leg fighting the French in the 1838 Pastry War and had it buried with military honours?

A) Benito Juárez

B) Porfirio Díaz

C) Santa Anna

D) Agustín de Iturbide

Answer · why

C) Santa Anna

Santa Anna lost Veracruz to the French yet came home a hero, and the wound helped him win back the standing he had lost over Texas.