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South China Sea | After the five oceans, what is the largest sea body in the world? |
East Timor | Which country became the first sovereign state of the 21st century when Indonesia relinquished control on it in May 2002? |
Venice | The Bridge of Sighs was given its name by Lord Byron from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of which beautiful city out of its window before being taken to their cells? |
Amazon | All the largest islands in the world are in oceans/seas and hence are surrounded by sea-water. Marajo, which has the distinction of being the largest island completely surrounded by fresh water is in which water body? |
Northern Ireland | By political definition, what is the essential difference between Great Britian and United Kingdom? |
Continental drift | Alfred Wegener was the first to publish the hypothesis that these had somehow 'moved' apart but he was unable to provide a convincing explanation for the physical processes which might have caused it. What are we talking about? |
Mount Everest | What is also known as Qomolangma or Sagarmatha or Chomolungma in the native tongues of the people around it? |
Iran and Iraq | The Shatt al-Arab waterway constitutes a part of the border between which countries? |
Olduvai Gorge | What gorge in the Ngorongoro area of Tanzania is considered the seat of humanity after the discovery of the earliest known specimens of modern man? |
Ethiopia | The Italian liqueur Galliano takes its name from a war hero who perished in the Battle of Adwa which not only secured what nation's sovereignty but is also one of the very few instances in which an African country defeated a European power? |
William Wallace | Alba gu bràth! The 15th century poet Blind Harry is best-known for his account eulogizing which person? |
Sikhism | The Khalistan movement that was active in the later part of the 20th century sought to create an independent state for what religious group in a territory mostly in the North-West region of India? |
Jewish state | Andinia plan, Fugu plan, Uganda proposal, and Madagascar plan are some of the attempts for the establishment of what entity in history? |
George Gallup | During the US presidential elections of 1936, the magazine The Literary Digest conducted an opinion poll using millions of people but still ended up being wrong. Who bested the magazine with his scientific technique using only a small percentage of what the magazine had used? |
Speechwriter | "Ted Sorenson, who was called by JFK as ""intellectual blood bank"" made his best-known contribution to the president in what capacity?" |
Israel | "The Khartoum Resolution of 1967 that was organized after the Six-Day War became famous for its ""Three No's"" rejecting what entity?" |
Assassins | Alamut Castle, now in modern-day Iran, is remembered today as the home of what notorious group between 1090 and 1256 AD? |
Bismarck | The cartoon Dropping the Pilot was published when which world leader was forced to resign in 1890? |
Oak tree | What is particularly common to King Charles II of England and the state of Connecticut's Royal Charter? |
Malcolm X | The Audubon Ballroom in Harlem, which now has a museum, was the scene of whose assassination? |
Cuban Missile Crisis | Historians speculate that China attacked India in 1962 as world attention was focused on what other episode? |
Church tower | As seen in the movie The Longest Day, paratrooper John Steele saw action during the D-Day invasion of WWII while dangling from where? |
Burning | An infamous ball in 14th century France hosted by the French King Charles VI is remembered as 'Ball of (what) Men' referring to an incident that occurred in it? |
Five Year Plans | "The phrase ""two plus two equals five"" (""2 + 2 = 5"") popularized by George Orwell is plausibly derived from what developmental policy of the erstwhile Soviet Union?" |
Constitution | The Twelve Tables is usually considered the first attempt of Romans to create what? |
Red Lanterns | Women groups that could not participate in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion of China organized themselves under what colorful name? Raise the ... |
Mongol | The commander Subutai who is credited with conquering more territory than any other commander in history fought for which empire? |
Mexico | The Cry of Dolores is regarded as the first event in the fight for independence in the history of what country? |
Ukraine | The Cassette Scandal of recent times has proved to be pivotal in shaping the political landscape of what country? |
Suez Canal | A group of fifteen ships called the Yellow Fleet was trapped in what part of the world from 1967 to 1975, a fall-out of a noted war? |
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World | How do we better know a list compiled in ancient times by Antipater of Sidon and by an observer identified as Philo of Byzantium? |
Young Turks | The Three Pashas of the Ottoman Empire organized what 'fledgling' political group during the early 20th century whose name has now become synonymous with any internal reform group? |
5th of May | When in 1862 did the Mexican army claim an unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla immortalizing the day in Mexican history? |
José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar | The Guayaquil Conference of July 22, 1822 saw the meeting of which two people regarded as the primary liberators of South America from Spain? |
Willy Brandt | Kniefall von Warschau (German for 'Warsaw Genuflection') is a 1970 incident involving which European statesman who paid homage to WWII's Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during his visit to the city? |
India | "Talking about which country did the writer V. S. Naipaul write ""No civilization was so little equipped to cope with the outside world; no country was so easily raided and plundered, and learned so little from its disasters""?" |
Richard the Lionheart | The founding of the Austrian city of Wiener Neustadt by Duke Leopold V in 1194 came about from the ill-gotten gains of whose kidnapping that probably yielded the highest ransom ever? |
St. Petersburg | The 1940 book To the Finland Station by Edmund Wilson that traces communism refers to the arrival of Lenin at the said railway station in what city? |
Julius Caeser | A woman named Pompeia was divorced in 62 BC in Rome after she was suspected of a crime despite there being no evidence of her wrongdoing. Whom was she married to? |
Flemish | What European ethnicity marks the anniversary of the Battle of the Golden Spurs (1302) fought in Flanders as its official holiday? |
Forts | The French military engineer Vauban (1633-1707) who advised Louis XIV on protecting his country's borders was well-known for his skill in constructing what? |
Dissolution of the Soviet Union | Signed by three heads of states in the later part of the 20th century, what was the result of the Belavezha Accords? |
White Rose movement | The brave Sophie Scholl who was beheaded in Nazi Germany for distributing pamphlets deriding the regime was part of what 'floral' non-violent movement? |
'Camelot' | What word, also linked to President Kennedy's liking for a Broadway musical, was used for the first time in a 1963 Life magazine article to describe a 60's era? |
Dunkirk | 700 private boats sailed from Ramsgate in England to what place in France between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo? |
Czechoslovakia | Charter 77, a petition by writers and intellectuals demanding basic human rights played a big part in the anti-communist movement in what erstwhile country? |
Tamil | Velupillai Prabhakaran, whose death in 2009 ended a bloody civil war in Sri Lanka sought to create an independent state for the people of what ethnicity? |
Able Archer 83 | What was the code name of the war game that NATO conducted in Belgium in 1983 the events surrounding which led to the closest brush to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis? |
Babylon | The magnificent Ishtar Gate constructed around 575 BC served as one of the entrances to what ancient city? |
German U-boats | Convoy SC-7 consisting of 35 merchant ships was the first major casuality of a tactic termed Rudeltaktik ('tactics of a pack') notably practiced by what entities during WWII? |
White Ship | In 1120 the sinking of what vessel, called the Titanic of the Middle Ages, caused the death of the legitimate heir to the throne of England and led to a period known as the Anarchy? |
Gallipoli campaign | What major 1915 campaign of the First World War is also called as the Battle of Çanakkale and is credited with shaping the consciousness of more than one country? |
Germany | The ultra left-wing group Red Army Faction associated with the names Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof was active in what country in the later part of the 20th century? |
Alexander the Great | The Wars of the Diadochi were a series of conflicts fought for the control of an empire after whose death? |
India | The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 that was fought in places like Cawnpore, Lucknow before ending in Gwalior is said to be the first war of independence in the history of which country? |
Martin Luther | Katharina von Bora, a nun who escaped convent life in 1523 by fleeing to Wittenberg hiding among fish barrels was married to which key figure of world history? |
Mig Alley | What name was given by pilots of the US Air Force to the area of North Korea considered the birthplace of jet fighter combat as it saw numerous dog fights during the Korean War? |
Armenian | The second most-studied case of genocide (after the Holocaust) is said to have begun on April 24, 1915 when Ottoman authorities arrested 250 intellectuals of what ethnicity? |
French Revolution | The 1792 Battle of Valmy in which a citizen army defeated the Prussian army is significant for saving/preserving what? |
Japan | The 1889 constitution of which country recognized the divine power of its emperor deriving it from a native belief that the imperial family was the offspring of the sun goddess Amaterasu? |
Aircraft carriers | The Battle of Coral Sea in WWII in 1942 is notable for the first fleet action of what type of craft that are still in vogue? |
Welsh | Owain Glyndŵr (died c. 1416) who was venerated by the 19th century Cymru Fydd movement is considered the national hero of what ethnicity? |
Iran hostage crisis | What diplomatic crisis ended with the signing of the Algiers Accords in January, 1981? |
George III | In May 2011, Queen Elizabeth became the second-longest reigning British monarch in history overtaking which monarch? |
Napoleon | The philosopher Hegel who lived from 1770 to 1831 described which contemporary personality as 'world history on horseback'? |
Gladiators | Andabatae, bestiarii, equites, hoplomachi, retiarii and sagittarii are some of what belligerent types? |
Vietnam | The Trưng Sisters who successfully rebelled against the Chinese Han-Dynasty in the 1st century AD are regarded as national heroines in which country? |
Bolivia and Paraguay | The Chaco War (1932-35) that was fought for a region (incorrectly) thought to be oil-rich is South America's bloodiest 20th century conflict. Which two land-locked countries were the participants? |
Ur in Mesopotamia | If Heinrich Schliemann is to Troy, the British archaeologist Leonard Woolley is to what ancient city? |
Aldo Moro | Which long-serving Italian prime minister of the 20th century was kidnapped and tragically killed by a group called the Red Brigades in 1978? |
Vidkun Quisling | Who was executed at Akershus Fortress, Oslo in 1945 along with Albert Hagelin and Ragnar Skancke after being convicted of high treason? |
Stalingrad | In WWII, Germany's 6th army was destroyed in 'Operation Uranus' in 1943 after a bitter battle around which city? |
Hitler | Traudl Junge, who wrote the book Until the Final Hour that was the basis for the 2004 film Downfall was the personal secretary of which historical figure? |
Albania | The 15th century figure Skanderbeg who is remembered for his struggle against the Ottoman Empire is considered the national hero of which country? |
"""Tear down this wall""" | What is the famous four-letter phrase uttered by Ronald Reagan in his speech in June, 1987 at Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin? |
Zealotry | What political movement in first century Judaism that sought to incite people against the Roman Empire has now come to mean fanatical support for a cause? |
Boers | If the Chinese are associated with the Long March in the 20th century, who are associated with the Great Trek in Africa in the 19th century? |
Chad | In 1973, Libya went to war with which country to claim control of the Aouzou strip which was claimed to be rich with uranium deposits? |
Richard III | When he fell in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, who became the last English king to die in battle? |
International Brigades | What were the military units made up of volunteers from different countries who traveled to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) called? |
Cuba | The Ostend Manifesto was a document written in 1854 that described the rationale for the United States to purchase what island from Spain? |
Khyber Pass | "Which Asian mountain pass of significant historical importance has been called ""a sword cut through the mountains"" by Kipling?" |
Amistad case | Sengbe Pieh (1813–ca.1879), later known as Joseph Cinqué was a West African man and the most prominent defendant in which 1841 case in American history named for a ship? |
Carbonari | What groups of secret revolutionary societies founded in early 19th-century Italy get their name from the Italian for 'charcoal burners'? |
Battle of Kursk | What 1943 WWII battle between Germany and the Soviet Union remains to this day the largest series of armored clashes ever? |
Ypres | During World War I, which Belgian city that was the centre of intense battles was nicknamed 'wipers'? |
Middle Passage | What term refers to the stage of the journey that saw the forcible passage of Africans to the New World as part of the Atlantic slave trade? |
Marianne | What is the name of the fictional woman who is depicted as the national emblem of the French Republic? |
1960 | As numerous countries gained their independence in that year, which year in the second half of the 20th century is known as the 'Year of Africa'? |
Banana republic | What 'fruity' term for a small and unstable country dependent on agriculture was first used by O. Henry in reference to Honduras? |
French Foreign Legion | Because foreigners were forbidden to serve in the French Army after the 1830 July Revolution, what was created by Louis Philippe, the King of France in 1831? |
Ottomon empire | Mimar Sinan (1489-1588) is considered the greatest architect of the classical period and was responsible for the Suleiman mosque in Istanbul and many other magnificent constructions. Which political entity benefited from his genius? |
Distances (by counting their steps) | In ancient Greece, the bematists who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns were trained to measure what? |
Chiang Kai-shek | If you have to associate one person with the 'Kuomintang Party' between 1929 and 1948, who would it be? |
300 | Ephialtes of Trachis was the traitor who showed the Persian forces a trail around the allied Greek position at the pass of Thermopylae, which helped them win the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC. He was portrayed as a severely deformed man in which blood-soaked 2007 movie? |
Fake settlements | What are 'Potemkin villages' which were purportedly erected at the direction of Russian minister Grigori Potemkin to impress Empress Catherine II during her visit to Crimea in 1787? |
Unit 731 | What was the name of the notorious biological research unit of the Japanese Army that undertook lethal human experimentation during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945) and WWII? |
Indira Gandhi | On 31 October 1984, the English actor Peter Ustinov was waiting to interview which Asian leader when that person was assassinated? |
Māori | Waitangi Day held each year on February 6 is the national day of New Zealand as a treaty instrumental in the country's history was signed at that place in 1840. The name 'Waitangi' means 'weeping waters' in which language? |
Yasser Arafat | Kåre Kristiansen, a member of the Nobel Committee resigned in 1994 in protest at the awarding of the Peace Prize to which person, calling the awardee a terrorist? |
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