The 10 quiz questions
Question 1 : What event occurred on May 18, 1980 in the state of Washington in the United States?
Possible answers:
- A devastating earthquake of magnitude 8
- The eruption of Mount St. Helens
- The catastrophic flooding of the Columbia River
- A category 5 hurricane hitting the coasts
Explanation: The eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 is one of the most devastating in modern American history. It caused the death of 57 people and projected ash over more than 11 states. The mountain lost about 400 meters in height as a result of this cataclysmic eruption.
Question 2 : Which large port city was taken by the Mamluks of Egypt on May 18, 1291, marking the end of the Crusader states in the Holy Land?
Possible answers:
- Jerusalem
- Tripoli
- Saint-Jean-d'Acre
- Tyre
Explanation: The fall of Saint-Jean-d'Acre in 1291 ended nearly two centuries of Crusader presence in the Holy Land. The Mamluks, under Sultan Al-Ashraf Khalil, took the city after a siege of several weeks. This event is often considered the official end of the Crusades in the East.
Question 3 : On May 18, 1152, Henry II, future King of England, married a woman who had previously been Queen of France. Who is she?
Possible answers:
- Matilda of Flanders
- Eleanor of Aquitaine
- Blanche of Castile
- Isabella of France
Explanation: Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the most powerful women of the Middle Ages. Divorced from King Louis VII of France in March 1152, she married Henry II of England only eight weeks later. She was Queen of France then Queen of England, and mother of two English kings: Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland.
Question 4 : Which British philosopher and mathematician, born on May 18, 1872, received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950?
Possible answers:
- Alfred North Whitehead
- Bertrand Russell
- George Bernard Shaw
- Karl Popper
Explanation: Bertrand Russell is one of the major intellectual figures of the 20th century. A pioneer of mathematical logic with his work Principia Mathematica, he was also an ardent pacifist and anti-nuclear activist. His Nobel Prize in Literature rewarded notably his History of Western Philosophy.
Question 5 : On May 18, 1928, a sports complex was inaugurated in Paris, porte d'Auteuil. What is this complex, still famous today?
Possible answers:
- The Parc des Princes
- The Jean-Bouin stadium
- The Roland-Garros sports complex
- The Vélodrome d'Hiver
Explanation: The Roland-Garros stadium was inaugurated on May 18, 1928 to host the Davis Cup final. It bears the name of Roland Garros, French aviator who died in 1918. Today, it hosts the Roland-Garros tennis tournament, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, played on clay.
Question 6 : Which country proclaimed its independence on May 18, 1991, an independence still not recognized by the international community?
Possible answers:
- Eritrea
- Somaliland
- Transnistria
- Kosovo
Explanation: Somaliland declared its independence from Somalia on May 18, 1991, after the collapse of the Siad Barre regime. Despite relative political stability and functional democratic institutions, no UN member state officially recognizes its independence, which deprives it of access to international organizations.
Question 7 : On May 18, 1990, the TGV 140 broke a world rail speed record. What speed did it reach?
Possible answers:
- 480.5 km/h
- 498.2 km/h
- 515.3 km/h
- 532.7 km/h
Explanation: The record set by the TGV 140 on May 18, 1990 at 515.3 km/h was the world rail speed record for 17 years. It was only in April 2007 that another TGV, the V150, broke this record by reaching 574.8 km/h on the LGV Est line, still in France.
Question 8 : Which French singer and tennis player, known for his artistic and sporting versatility, was born on May 18, 1960?
Possible answers:
- Henri Leconte
- Guy Forget
- Yannick Noah
- Fabrice Santoro
Explanation: Yannick Noah is one of the most popular sportsmen in France. He is the last Frenchman to have won Roland-Garros in 1983. After his tennis career, he became captain of the French Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams, before dedicating himself to music with successful albums like Saga Africa.
Question 9 : What tragic medieval event began on May 18, 1096 in the city of Worms, in connection with the First Crusade?
Possible answers:
- The start of the siege of the city by the Holy Roman Empire
- The destruction of Worms Cathedral by a fire
- The massacre of the Jews of Worms by crusaders
- A plague epidemic decimating the city's population
Explanation: The massacre of the Jews of Worms in 1096 was part of a wave of pogroms that accompanied the departure of the First Crusade, led notably by popular crusaders. These antisemitic violences ravaged the Jewish communities of the Rhine (Worms, Mainz, Speyer). They are called the Rhineland persecutions or Gzerot Tatnav in Hebrew memory.
Question 10 : The Mamluks were a major military and political force in the medieval Middle East. What was their main origin?
Possible answers:
- Mercenaries of Arab origin recruited in Arabia
- Slave-soldiers of Turkish or Circassian origin
- Crusader knights converted to Islam
- Berber warriors from North Africa
Explanation: The Mamluks were slave-soldiers of Turkish, Circassian or other steppe peoples origin, bought young and trained as elite soldiers in the service of Muslim sovereigns. They eventually overthrew their masters in Egypt and founded their own sultanate (1250-1517), which notably resisted the Mongols at the Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260.
