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History General Knowledge #7

Can you answer these random history questions?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: November 1, 2020
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First submittedJanuary 9, 2015
Times taken60,846
Average score60.0%
Rating4.21
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Question
Answer
What fleet of warships did Spain launch against England in 1588?
Spanish Armada
What started on October 29, 1929 and lasted for about a decade?
Great Depression
What "M" word refers to the ancient region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
Mesopotamia
On what Pacific island did islanders build giant statues called moai?
Easter Island
Who was the personification of the American female factory worker in WWII?
Rosie the Riveter
Whose "little red book" of quotations has been printed billions of times?
Mao Zedong
What fermented food product was called "liberty cabbage" by the Allies during WWI?
Sauerkraut
What figurative barrier separated democratic and communist Europe?
Iron Curtain
What country was once led by military leaders called shoguns?
Japan
In which modern-day country was the Anglo-Boer war fought?
South Africa
What insecticide was banned in part due to Rachel Carson's book "Silent Spring"?
DDT
Which British monarch held the title "Empress of India"?
Queen Victoria
What country was ruled by "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier?
Haiti
What modern-day country was once the largest and most profitable Dutch colony?
Indonesia
What did Karl Marx and the Unabomber both write?
Manifestos
What Mexican general defeated the Texans at the Alamo?
Antonio López de
Santa Anna
What 1950s scenesters were famous for wearing berets, playing bongos, and snapping?
Beatniks
Who famously lived at Robben Island prison from 1964–1982?
Nelson Mandela
What was the tallest man-made structure in the world in the year 1900?
Eiffel Tower
What group of French-speaking people settled in Louisiana after being forced out
of Eastern Canada?
Acadians
+10
Level 77
Jan 11, 2015
Liberty cabbage, freedom fries ...
+2
Level 76
Jan 15, 2015
Although Detroiters and Vermonters seemed happy with their French names...
+1
Level 83
Oct 29, 2023
Well... given they both have mangled pronunciations compared with the original French, not exactly
+1
Level 62
Jul 2, 2015
Mesopotamia is also referred to as "the cradle of civilization". That would be a good acceptable answer as well.
+1
Level 57
Jul 2, 2015
Agreed
+1
Level 56
Aug 14, 2020
Also "Fertile Crescent' correct me if that also includes somewhere else
+3
Level ∞
Nov 1, 2020
Those aren't strictly accurate. For example, parts of the Levant are in the Fertile Crescent but not Mesopotamia. In any case, I've changed the clue to give the starting letter therefore preventing confusion.
+1
Level 76
Jul 2, 2015
Mandela was on Robben island until 1982, he was then moved to another prison not on Robben island (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Mandela)
+1
Level ∞
Feb 16, 2017
Fixed!
+6
Level 76
Jul 2, 2015
Acadians, huh? What's the difference between an Acadian and a Cajun? I've only ever heard of the latter.
+6
Level 75
Jul 2, 2015
I tried Cajun first, which is a corruption of the word Acadian, but it's commonly used. Accept it?
+4
Level 69
May 4, 2016
Clue's wording is precise. Refers to settlers who started out in Acadia and settled in Louisiana. It's the descendants who are Cajun.
+4
Level 69
May 22, 2016
If the QM had worded it as the people who LEFT Eastern Canada, then the answer "Acadian" makes sense, but since it refers to the people who *settled* there – and I understood "people" to mean people in the general sense, such as "the Columbian people" or "We the people" or "People of the Book" as opposed to only the actual people who arrived at the time of the migration – then I feel the answer is more appropriately "Cajun". It makes sense to accept both, no?
+1
Level ∞
Nov 1, 2020
Cajun will be accepted now.
+2
Level 85
Jul 13, 2015
agree with ander217 but for slightly different reason Cajun is the more common way to refer to the ethnic group that exists today in Louisiana. here is a possible resource https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cajun

please consider accepting. otherwise nice quiz that I could score 100% on with that answer.

+1
Level 37
Nov 24, 2017
As the QM explained previously, Cajuns are the DESCENDANTS of the Acadians who migrated to Louisiana.
+1
Level 75
Dec 29, 2017
agreed.
+2
Level 46
Dec 18, 2018
When they lived in Acadia, they were Acadians. They left.
+1
Level 55
Mar 12, 2021
Yeh, like when I go to Greece for two weeks, I'm Greek.
+1
Level 82
Oct 14, 2017
Liberty Cabbage is great with a side of Freedom Fries.
+1
Level 68
Sep 1, 2023
I get the point you're making, but that sounds disgusting. Ew.
+2
Level 71
Dec 29, 2017
Great quiz, thank you. I thought the answer was 'The Great Depression' but, whatever I typed in, it wouldn't work. Perhaps I was typing too fast and made a typo, but I thought I would mention it, in case a greater number of possible type-ins could help help future players. Thanks again.
+4
Level 74
Mar 12, 2021
Probably should accept "depression" on its own
+2
Level 43
Jan 24, 2018
Saying that the division was between democratic and communists states is not the most accurate. First because `democracy` has more than one meaning depending to who you ask. Democracy does not necessarily mean free elections. Not to say that Spain and Portugal were dictatorships during a part of the cold war
+2
Level 68
Mar 12, 2021
A agree. Whatever your definition of democracy is, it surely cannot include Spain under Franco and Portugal under Salazar!
+1
Level 77
Mar 12, 2021
The question accurately reflects Churchill's Sinews of Peace speech, where he coined the term (in terms of the Cold War, he more or less coined it). He specifically said that the Soviet sphere of influence had led to totalitarian police states east of the curtain (except Greece). He also pointed out that the democratic countries of Europe, who had free elections, were west of the curtain (note that he never claimed ALL countries of western Europe were democratic).

There was a clear distinction between the western democracies and the Russian sphere of influence in terms of both humans rights and democratic rights. I don't think there's much of a case to be made against this concept, honestly.

+4
Level 73
Jan 25, 2018
The real Rosie the Riveter just died a couple of days ago, aged 96. Her name was Naomi Parker Fraley.
+3
Level 72
Jun 7, 2018
Good quiz. I got 16 straight off and then sat and stared blankly at the last four.
+1
Level 66
Jan 6, 2019
I typed dtp for the insecticide. Close enough! I guess there was a trace of it (the answer, not the insecticide...) somewhere in my brain, wherever it came from... it is too close to be random...
+4
Level 68
Oct 4, 2020
I keep forgetting the Alamo! Something should be done about that.
+2
Level 79
Dec 18, 2020
I tried 'Lopez' for the Mexican general. Is there any chance of that getting accepted?
+1
Level 62
Mar 14, 2021
As far as I am aware, he is never referred to as "Lopez" so I don't think that should be acceptable.
+1
Level 66
Aug 16, 2023
What is he referred to? Antonio Anna? I was just guessing common names in Mexico. Did the same thing for the Riveter and it worked!

Also I got my DHT and my DDT confused lol

+1
Level 67
Apr 25, 2023
Missed Mao, DDT, and Santa Anna
+2
Level 66
Jul 1, 2023
why does the quiz have the picture of queen Elizabeth?
+2
Level 71
Sep 1, 2023
It relates to the Spanish fleet question. There is a famous speech that she is said to have given to the troops preparing to defend England from the attack.
+1
Level 62
Sep 1, 2023
Misspelt Mesopotamia dammit
+1
Level 65
Sep 1, 2023
Can you accept Choucrout for Sauerkraut? Might be a stretch, given that English uses the German word, but alas, I could only recall the French version.
+1
Level 65
Sep 1, 2023
The first answer is commonly referred to as "la Armada Invencible" in Spanish history. It is fun because it turned out to be not that invicible, after all.

I see that English Wikipedia also gives the alternative name of "the Invincible Armada".

It would be a nice touch to accept this alternative name.

+1
Level 65
Sep 4, 2023
Zedong is one of the worst transliterations of names in the English language. Probably only "Genghis Khan" is worse.
+1
Level ∞
Sep 4, 2023
Confucius is up there.