The 10 quiz questions
Question 1 : In 1962, John Glenn became the first American to accomplish what space feat?
Possible answers:
- Walk on the Moon
- Perform a spacewalk
- Complete the first crewed American orbital flight around Earth
- Dock with an orbiting space station
Explanation: The Friendship 7 mission lasted about 4h55 and Glenn completed three orbits around the Earth. Before him, the Soviets Gagarin and Titov had already achieved orbital flights. Glenn later became a senator from Ohio and returned to space in 1998 at 77, becoming the oldest astronaut to have flown.
Question 2 : Which woman became the first to set foot in Antarctica on February 20, 1935?
Possible answers:
- Amelia Earhart
- Valentina Tereshkova
- Marie Curie
- Caroline Mikkelsen
Explanation: Caroline Mikkelsen was the wife of whaling captain Klarius Mikkelsen. She landed on the Tryne Islands in the Queen Maud Land region. For a long time, this distinction was disputed, but historical research confirmed her precedence over other potential candidates.
Question 3 : What famous opera was performed for the first time in Rome on February 20, 1816?
Possible answers:
- Verdi's La Traviata
- Rossini's The Barber of Seville
- Mozart's Don Giovanni
- Mozart's The Magic Flute
Explanation: Rossini's The Barber of Seville was a failure at its premiere at the Teatro Argentina in Rome, largely due to sabotage organized by supporters of Paisiello, who had composed a version of the same opera in 1782. From the second performance onward, audiences cheered it and it became one of the most performed operas in the world.
Question 4 : What major New York museum opened its doors on February 20, 1872?
Possible answers:
- The MoMA (Museum of Modern Art)
- The Guggenheim Museum
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- The Whitney Museum
Explanation: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, founded in 1870, first opened in a building on 5th Avenue before moving to its current location in Central Park in 1880. Today, with more than two million works, it is one of the largest museums in the world and welcomes around six million visitors per year.
Question 5 : In 1980, what was the official reason given by the United States for boycotting the Moscow Summer Olympics?
Possible answers:
- In support of Poland during the Solidarity crisis
- Following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
- In protest against the construction of the Berlin Wall
- In response to the installation of Soviet missiles in Cuba
Explanation: The American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics was followed by around sixty countries. In response, the USSR and its allies boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan had begun in December 1979 and continued until 1989, ten years of conflict.
Question 6 : On February 20, 1688, which Austrian composer, famous for his piano études, was born?
Possible answers:
- Franz Schubert
- Carl Czerny
- Johann Nepomuk Hummel
- Anton Diabelli
Explanation: Carl Czerny (1791-1857) was a student of Beethoven and the teacher of Franz Liszt, forming an essential link in the transmission of piano playing. His numerous collections of technical exercises, such as opus 299 and opus 740, are still essential in the training of pianists worldwide.
Question 7 : Which French writer, born on February 20, 1888, is best known for his novel "The Diary of a Country Priest"?
Possible answers:
- François Mauriac
- Paul Claudel
- Georges Bernanos
- Julien Green
Explanation: Georges Bernanos (1888-1948) is one of the great French Catholic novelists of the XX century. Besides The Diary of a Country Priest (1936), he is the author of Under the Sun of Satan and Dialogues of the Carmelites, the latter having been adapted into an opera by Francis Poulenc in 1957.
Question 8 : On February 20, 1909, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti published a founding manifesto of an artistic movement in Le Figaro. Which movement was it?
Possible answers:
- Surrealism
- Dadaism
- Expressionism
- Futurism
Explanation: The Futurist Manifesto celebrated speed, machines, and violence, and rejected the past and museums, calling them cemeteries. Futurism had a major influence on many artistic movements of the XXth century, notably Soviet Constructivism and Fascism, to which several Italian Futurists adhered.
Question 9 : What was the distinctive feature of Wallace's Giant Bee (Megachile pluto), rediscovered in the Maluku Islands in 2019?
Possible answers:
- It's the only bee capable of producing toxic honey
- It's the largest bee species in the world
- It's the only known bee to live underground in a colony
- It's the first bee to have been classified as an invasive species in Europe
Explanation: Megachile pluto, described by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1858, is the largest known bee in the world: the female can reach 39 mm in length with a wingspan of 63 mm. It had not been observed since 1981. This rediscovery highlights the importance of preserving Indonesia's tropical forests, which are rich in still poorly understood species.
Question 10 : What fundamental institution did George Washington create on February 20, 1792, essential to the functioning of the young American democracy?
Possible answers:
- The Federal Reserve
- The Federal Post Office (federal postal service)
- The United States Congress
- The United States Supreme Court
Explanation: The Federal Post Office, ancestor of the current United States Postal Service (USPS), played a crucial role in the cohesion of the American nation by connecting the original 13 states. Benjamin Franklin had been the first Postmaster General under the Continental Authority as early as 1775. The US postal service is today one of the largest civilian employers in the United States.