Q 01/05

Samoa lies in the Pacific roughly halfway between New Zealand and where?

A) Tahiti

B) Hawaii

C) Guam

D) Tonga

Answer · why

B) Hawaii

Hawaii. Samoa also kept to Hawaii's side of the date line, almost a full day behind New Zealand, until it jumped across at the end of 2011.

Q 02/05

Which Hollywood star was given the Samoan title Seiuli by Samoa's head of state in 2004?

A) Jason Momoa

B) Dwayne Johnson

C) Keanu Reeves

D) Vin Diesel

Answer · why

B) Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Johnson. The Rock's mother is Samoan and he descends from chiefs, and the title also thanked him for supporting charities and relief work in th...

Q 03/05

Which pottery-making seafarers were the first people to settle the Samoan Islands, about 3,000 years ago?

A) The Maori

B) The Lapita

C) The Tahitians

D) The Rapa Nui

Answer · why

B) The Lapita

The Lapita. Their stamped pottery marks Samoa's oldest known site, which nobody dug for: it came up in dredge spoil when a ferry berth was enlarged at...

Q 04/05

Which name did the French explorer Bougainville give the Samoan islands in 1768?

A) The Friendly Islands

B) The Navigator Islands

C) The Sandwich Islands

D) The Society Islands

Answer · why

B) The Navigator Islands

The Navigator Islands. The name stayed on maps for more than a century, though France's next visit ended in blood: La Perouse lost several of his crew...

Q 05/05

A storm on 15 March 1889 ended a stand-off in Apia harbour between which three navies?

A) Germany, Britain and the United States

B) France, Britain and Spain

C) Germany, Japan and the United States

D) Britain, France and Germany

Answer · why

A) Germany, Britain and the United States

Germany, Britain and the United States. The cyclone wrecked or beached all six German and American warships; only Britain's HMS Calliope, engines stra...