Q 01/05

Which US state earned the nickname the Volunteer State after its men flocked to fight in the War of 1812?

A) Kentucky

B) Tennessee

C) Virginia

D) North Carolina

Answer · why

B) Tennessee

Tennessee is said to have earned the name when its men eagerly answered a single wartime call for some 3,500 volunteers.

Q 02/05

Which Founding Father helped form the Union Fire Company, a volunteer fire brigade in Philadelphia, in 1736?

A) Benjamin Franklin

B) Thomas Paine

C) Paul Revere

D) Alexander Hamilton

Answer · why

A) Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin modelled it on the fire societies of his native Boston, but his brigade fought fires for the whole town, not only for its own member...

Q 03/05

The Red Cross emblem was created by reversing the colours of which country's national flag?

A) Denmark

B) Liechtenstein

C) Switzerland

D) Luxembourg

Answer · why

C) Switzerland

Switzerland's white cross on red was flipped to make the symbol, and the Red Crescent was later made the same way from the Ottoman flag.

Q 04/05

Which leader's birthday, 18 July, is an international day when people give 67 minutes to helping others?

A) Desmond Tutu

B) Mahatma Gandhi

C) Kofi Annan

D) Nelson Mandela

Answer · why

D) Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela spent 67 years in the struggle for justice in South Africa, so the day asks for one minute of giving for each year.

Q 05/05

Which charity's bell ringers collect Christmas donations in red kettles, a custom begun in San Francisco in 1891?

A) Goodwill Industries

B) The Salvation Army

C) St. Vincent de Paul

D) Catholic Charities

Answer · why

B) The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army's first kettle was a crab pot that Captain Joseph McFee set up at a ferry landing to pay for a free Christmas dinner for the poor.