The 10 quiz questions
Question 1 : What major event of the First World War began on 21 February 1916?
Possible answers:
- The Battle of the Marne
- The Battle of Verdun
- The Battle of the Somme
- The Battle of Ypres
Explanation: The Battle of Verdun lasted 300 days, until 18 December 1916. It caused around 700,000 casualties in total, French and German, and remains one of the symbols of the slaughter of the Great War.
Question 2 : Le 21 février 1848, Karl Marx et Friedrich Engels publient un texte fondateur. Lequel ?
Possible answers:
- Capital
- The German Ideology
- The Communist Manifesto
- Critique of Dialectical Reason
Explanation: Le Manifeste du Parti communiste fut rédigé en quelques semaines à la demande de la Ligue des communistes. Il s'ouvre par la célèbre phrase : « Un spectre hante l'Europe, le spectre du communisme. » Il reste l'un des textes politiques les plus lus au monde.
Question 3 : Which personality, born on February 21, 1875, became the oldest person in humanity?
Possible answers:
- Marie Curie
- Clementine Churchill
- Madeleine Renaud
- Jeanne Calment
Explanation: Jeanne Calment, born in Arles, died on August 4, 1997 at the age of 122 years, 5 months and 14 days. She had met Van Gogh as a child in her father's shop and broke all longevity records ever scientifically verified.
Question 4 : In 1958, the universal peace symbol ☮ was created for which organization?
Possible answers:
- The United Nations
- The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
- The American hippie movement
- Amnesty International
Explanation: Gerald Holtom designed this symbol by combining the letters N and D from the semaphore code, initials of "Nuclear Disarmament". It was first used during a protest march in London in April 1958, before becoming the global emblem of the pacifist movement.
Question 5 : On February 21, 1972, Richard Nixon made a historic diplomatic move. What was it?
Possible answers:
- He signs the SALT I agreements with the USSR
- He becomes the first American president to visit the People's Republic of China
- He announces the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam
- He meets Mao Tse-Tung in Beijing to negotiate a trade agreement
Explanation: Nixon's visit to the People's Republic of China ended more than twenty years of American diplomatic isolation toward Beijing. This opening, secretly prepared by Henry Kissinger, led to the establishment of official diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1979.
Question 6 : What famous French actor was born on February 21, 1885?
Possible answers:
- Jean Gabin
- Louis Jouvet
- Sacha Guitry
- Raimu
Explanation: Sacha Guitry, son of the great actor Lucien Guitry, was one of the dominant figures of French theatre and cinema in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote more than 120 plays and directed around thirty films, including "Royal Affairs in Versailles".
Question 7 : Why is February 21 celebrated as International Mother Language Day by UNESCO?
Possible answers:
- In memory of the signing of the Charter of Cultural Diversity in Paris in 1952
- In reference to the creation of the Académie française in 1635, which defends the French language
- In memory of the students killed in 1952 in Dacca for demonstrating in favor of the Bengali language
- To commemorate the publication of the first multilingual dictionary by Swiss linguists in 1948
Explanation: This date commemorates the 1952 crackdown in Dhaka, where students were killed by police for demonstrating in favor of the Bengali language, which the Pakistani government wanted to suppress in favor of Urdu. Independent Bangladesh made February 21 its national day of mourning, "Ekushey".
Question 8 : On February 21, 1804, a technological first made history in transportation. Which one?
Possible answers:
- The first steamboat crosses the English Channel
- The first steam locomotive runs for the first time
- The first internal combustion engine is tested in England
- The first steam-powered automobile goes around a public square in London
Explanation: Richard Trevithick, a Cornish engineer, ran his steam locomotive on a railway at the Merthyr Tydfil ironworks in Wales. It carried 10 tonnes of iron over 16 kilometres, paving the way for the railway era that would transform the world in the 19th century.
Question 9 : Which political leader was elected tsar of Russia by the Zemsky Sobor on February 21, 1613, founding a new dynasty?
Possible answers:
- Ivan the Terrible
- Michael I Romanov
- Peter the Great
- Boris Godunov
Explanation: Michael Romanov, just 16 years old, inaugurated the Romanov dynasty, which would reign over Russia until 1917. His election put an end to the "Time of Troubles", a period of instability and foreign invasion that had ravaged Russia for several years.
Question 10 : In what field was Malcolm X, assassinated on February 21, 1965, a major figure in the United States?
Possible answers:
- The struggle for civil rights for African Americans
- The farmworkers' labor movement
- International diplomacy in support of independent African countries
- The defense of the rights of Hispanic immigrants in the United States
Explanation: Malcolm X, whose real name was Malcolm Little, was one of the most radical leaders of the African-American civil rights movement. Unlike Martin Luther King, who advocated non-violence, he first championed Black nationalism and self-defense, before evolving toward a broader universalism after his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964.