Q 01/05

Which invention earned Alfred Nobel the fortune he left to create the Nobel Prizes?

A) TNT

B) Dynamite

C) Guncotton

D) Cordite

Answer · why

B) Dynamite

Dynamite: Nobel tamed unstable nitroglycerin into a portable explosive in 1867, and he grew rich selling the patent rights around the world.

Q 02/05

Which field did Alfred Nobel's will leave without a prize?

A) Physiology

B) Mathematics

C) Literature

D) Chemistry

Answer · why

B) Mathematics

Mathematics: Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie proposed an Abel Prize to fill the gap, and Norway finally funded one a century later.

Q 03/05

Which institution established the economics prize in memory of Alfred Nobel?

A) Sveriges Riksbank

B) The Swedish Academy

C) Stockholm School of Economics

D) The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

Answer · why

A) Sveriges Riksbank

Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden's central bank, created it to mark its own 300th anniversary; the first award went to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen.

Q 04/05

Which South African president shared the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize with Nelson Mandela?

A) P. W. Botha

B) F. W. de Klerk

C) Thabo Mbeki

D) Jacob Zuma

Answer · why

B) F. W. de Klerk

F. W. de Klerk: long a firm upholder of white privilege, he decided in 1990 to release Mandela and then negotiated the end of apartheid with him.

Q 05/05

Which organisation won the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize?

A) The United Nations

B) NATO

C) The European Union

D) The African Union

Answer · why

C) The European Union

The European Union: the committee credited it with six decades of reconciliation that turned historical enemies into close partners.