Q 01/05

In which country did the Panama hat originate?

A) Ecuador

B) Colombia

C) Cuba

D) Venezuela

Answer · why

A) Ecuador

Ecuador's weavers shipped the hats through the Isthmus of Panama, where gold-rush travellers and canal crews bought them, so the point of sale gave th...

Q 02/05

How many years did the Hundred Years' War actually last?

A) 99

B) 100

C) 116

D) 124

Answer · why

C) 116

116 years is the usual count, from 1337 to 1453, but the fighting was on and off, broken by long truces and by plague.

Q 03/05

The name of the Canary Islands is usually traced to the Latin word for which animal?

A) Canaries

B) Horses

C) Dogs

D) Cats

Answer · why

C) Dogs

Dogs: the Latin name Canariae Insulae means 'Islands of the Dogs', and Pliny the Elder wrote of huge dogs on Canaria, though it may instead echo a Ber...

Q 04/05

An aircraft's flight recorder is normally painted which color?

A) Polished silver

B) Military green

C) Matte black

D) Bright orange

Answer · why

D) Bright orange

Bright orange paint and reflective tape help searchers find the recorder in wreckage or under water. US rules also allow bright yellow.

Q 05/05

Catgut, used for violin strings and sutures, usually comes from the intestines of which animal?

A) Sheep

B) Deer

C) Rabbits

D) Cats

Answer · why

A) Sheep

Sheep supply most of it, and no cat is known to have been used. The name is perhaps a garbling of 'kitgut', kit being an old word for a fiddle.