Q 01/05

Angela Merkel earned a doctorate in which scientific field before entering politics?

A) Quantum chemistry

B) Nuclear physics

C) Molecular biology

D) Applied mathematics

Answer · why

A) Quantum chemistry

She was the first woman and the first former East German to serve as chancellor, from 2005 to 2021.

Q 02/05

How many years did Nelson Mandela spend in prison?

A) 18

B) 27

C) 21

D) 24

Answer · why

B) 27

His Xhosa forename Rolihlahla colloquially means 'troublemaker'.

Q 03/05

A journalist from which country gave Margaret Thatcher the nickname 'the Iron Lady'?

A) The United States

B) The Soviet Union

C) France

D) Argentina

Answer · why

B) The Soviet Union

She read chemistry at Oxford and worked as a research chemist before becoming a barrister.

Q 04/05

Winston Churchill won a Nobel Prize in 1953 in which category?

A) Peace

B) Economics

C) History

D) Literature

Answer · why

D) Literature

A 2002 BBC poll of nearly 450,000 people voted him the greatest Briton ever.

Q 05/05

Roughly how long was Fidel Castro's record-setting speech at the UN General Assembly?

A) Ninety minutes

B) Two and a half hours

C) Seven hours

D) Four and a half hours

Answer · why

D) Four and a half hours

He was the longest-serving non-royal head of state of the 20th and 21st centuries.