Q 01/05

Which bird did Australian soldiers armed with machine guns fail to wipe out in a 1932 military operation?

A) Galahs

B) Emus

C) Crows

D) Magpies

Answer · why

B) Emus

Emus were raiding wheat farms in Western Australia, but they scattered so quickly that 2,500 rounds were fired in six days with little effect on their...

Q 02/05

What could hundreds of people in Strasbourg not stop doing for weeks during a strange outbreak in 1518?

A) Sneezing

B) Singing

C) Dancing

D) Yawning

Answer · why

C) Dancing

Dancing spread to somewhere between 50 and 400 people after one woman began in the street, and nobody has ever settled why it happened.

Q 03/05

What sweet, sticky substance burst from a giant tank and flooded Boston streets in a deadly 1919 wave?

A) Molasses

B) Honey

C) Corn syrup

D) Caramel

Answer · why

A) Molasses

Molasses surged through the North End in a wave about 25 feet high moving at 35 mph, far too fast for anyone in its path to outrun.

Q 04/05

Which flower sold for more than ten times a skilled craftsman's yearly pay during a Dutch craze of the 1630s?

A) Roses

B) Orchids

C) Lilies

D) Tulips

Answer · why

D) Tulips

Tulips were traded as bulbs on paper contracts, and when prices collapsed abruptly in February 1637 the whole trade ground to a halt.

Q 05/05

In which country was Hawaiian pizza, topped with ham and pineapple, first created in 1962?

A) Canada

B) America

C) Australia

D) Italy

Answer · why

A) Canada

Canada is where Greek-born restaurant owner Sam Panopoulos first tried canned pineapple on a pizza, naming it after the brand on the tin.