Q 01/05

What is the longitude of the prime meridian?

A) Ninety

B) Nought

C) One hundred and eighty

D) Forty-five

Answer · why

B) Nought

Nought: the prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude by definition, the starting point from which every other longitude is measured east or west.

Q 02/05

What marked the prime meridian line in the Royal Observatory's courtyard for many years?

A) A brass strip

B) A stone obelisk

C) A row of iron studs

D) A painted white line

Answer · why

A) A brass strip

A brass strip: for decades a brass strip set into the courtyard of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich marked the line, and it was later replaced by st...

Q 03/05

Which two hemispheres does the prime meridian divide the Earth into?

A) Northern and Southern

B) Land and Ocean

C) Eastern and Western

D) Upper and Lower

Answer · why

C) Eastern and Western

Eastern and Western: the prime meridian and its antimeridian split the globe into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, a boundary fixed by convention ...

Q 04/05

In which year did the International Meridian Conference adopt Greenwich as the world's prime meridian?

A) 1924

B) 1851

C) 1911

D) 1884

Answer · why

D) 1884

Forty-one delegates met that October.

Q 05/05

In which city was the International Meridian Conference held?

A) London, England

B) Paris, France

C) Washington, D.C.

D) Rome, Italy

Answer · why

C) Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.: the delegates met in the US capital that October, invited by the American government under an Act of Congress of 3 August 1882.