Q 01/05

Who was the first president of the United States?

A) Abraham Lincoln

B) George Washington

C) James Monroe

D) John Adams

Answer · why

B) George Washington

George Washington: he chose to retire after two terms rather than seek a third, setting the precedent of a two-term presidency.

Q 02/05

Which ancient Greek city is often called the birthplace of democracy?

A) Athens

B) Sparta

C) Corinth

D) Argos

Answer · why

A) Athens

Athens: its citizens could vote to banish a too-powerful politician for ten years by writing his name on pieces of broken pottery.

Q 03/05

Who was the first person to walk on the Moon?

A) Buzz Aldrin

B) Yuri Gagarin

C) Michael Collins

D) Neil Armstrong

Answer · why

D) Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong: seeing the computer steer Eagle toward a boulder-strewn area, he took over the controls and flew past it to land.

Q 04/05

Which brothers flew the first powered airplane in 1903?

A) The Wright brothers

B) The Montgolfier brothers

C) The Lumière brothers

D) The Grimm brothers

Answer · why

A) The Wright brothers

The Wright brothers: they ran a bicycle shop in Dayton, Ohio, and years of building bikes there gave them the mechanical skills to build a plane.

Q 05/05

In a medieval castle, what was the deep ditch, often filled with water, dug around the walls called?

A) A moat

B) A bailey

C) A barbican

D) A keep

Answer · why

A) A moat

A moat: it kept siege towers and battering rams away from the walls, and when filled with water it made tunnelling underneath very hard.