Q 01/05

Which San Francisco resident declared himself 'Emperor of these United States' in 1859?

A) Joshua Norton

B) Levi Strauss

C) Adolph Sutro

D) Domingo Ghirardelli

Answer · why

A) Joshua Norton

Joshua Norton was a bankrupt rice speculator when he made the claim. San Francisco played along: restaurants honoured the notes he printed, and some 1...

Q 02/05

Which group murdered the emperor Pertinax and auctioned his throne in AD 193?

A) The Roman Senate

B) The Praetorian Guard

C) The Tenth Legion

D) The Tribunes of the Plebs

Answer · why

B) The Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard, the emperor's own bodyguard, sold the throne to the senator Didius Julianus. He was killed 66 days later as Septimius Severus ma...

Q 03/05

Kongō Gumi, described as the world's oldest documented company, was founded in AD 578 to build what?

A) Fishing harbours

B) Sake breweries

C) Buddhist temples

D) Imperial palaces

Answer · why

C) Buddhist temples

Buddhist temples were its trade for some 1,400 years, starting with Shitennō-ji in what is now Osaka. The family firm lost its independence in 2006, w...

Q 04/05

Sir Nils Olav, colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard, is what kind of animal?

A) A horse

B) A reindeer

C) A husky

D) A penguin

Answer · why

D) A penguin

A penguin: the King's Guard adopted a king penguin at Edinburgh Zoo in 1972, and its return visits have brought him promotions and, in 2008, a knighth...

Q 05/05

The self-declared Principality of Sealand sits on what kind of offshore structure?

A) A wartime sea fort

B) A grounded cargo ship

C) An artificial sandbank

D) A decommissioned oil rig

Answer · why

A) A wartime sea fort

A wartime sea fort: Britain built Roughs Tower off its east coast in World War II to fend off enemy mine-laying aircraft. Pirate-radio broadcaster Roy...