Q 01/05

The 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas drew its meridian how many leagues west of the Cape Verde islands?

A) 370

B) 500

C) 750

D) 1000

Answer · why

A) 370

The line was later shifted at Portugal's request, which is one reason Brazil speaks Portuguese while the rest of South America speaks Spanish.

Q 02/05

Who was the last reigning Byzantine emperor, killed when Constantinople fell in 1453?

A) Constantine XI Palaiologos

B) John VIII Palaiologos

C) Manuel II Palaiologos

D) Alexios V Doukas

Answer · why

A) Constantine XI Palaiologos

He shared a name with the city's founder, so the empire began and ended with a Constantine.

Q 03/05

Which Ethiopian emperor commanded the army that crushed an Italian colonial force at Adwa in 1896?

A) Yohannes IV

B) Menelik II

C) Haile Selassie

D) Tewodros II

Answer · why

B) Menelik II

Much of his army carried modern rifles imported from France and Russia, which is one reason the result shocked Europe.

Q 04/05

Mansa Musa's gift-giving on his 1324 pilgrimage reportedly sank gold's value in which city?

A) Baghdad

B) Mecca

C) Cairo

D) Damascus

Answer · why

C) Cairo

Chroniclers also claimed he built a mosque every Friday along the route.

Q 05/05

The 1618 Defenestration of Prague helped trigger which war?

A) Hussite Wars

B) War of the Spanish Succession

C) Eighty Years' War

D) Thirty Years' War

Answer · why

D) Thirty Years' War

It was the third famous defenestration in Prague's history; the first, in 1419, helped start the Hussite Wars.