Round 1 Answers

Q1. What city in Mesopotamia is said to have contained the "Hanging Gardens" and was the capital of the Chaldeans until it was captured by Cyrus the Great?

• Answer: Babylon. The Chaldean Dynasty ruled the Babylonian Empire for a time until it was conquered by Cyrus.

Q2. What commander of the "Afrika Korps" was nicknamed "the Desert Fox"?

• Answer: Erwin Rommel
  

Q3. Who were the two U.S. political rivals who died on the exact same day?

• Answer: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, both died on July 4, 1826. Both were rivals in securing the U.S. presidency after Washington. John Adams defeated Jefferson to become the second president, but the result was reversed in the 1800 election. When they died, however, they were no longer rivals, but friends. (Thanks for pointing that out, BoudiccasWrath)

Q4. My first marriage was to an armaments manufacturer, but that marriage failed and I escaped Nazi Germany to the United States, beginning a career in Hollywood. Don't take me as a bimbo, because I have both beauty and brains. I co-invented the frequency hopping technique used in radio control for torpedoes, although my patient expired before it was taken seriously by the U.S. Navy. Who am I?

• Answer: Hedy Lamarr
  

Q5. I am the third wife of a Roman emperor, who was more than 30 years my senior. Legend has it I once challenged a famous Roman prostitute to a competition: to see who would wear out more men. I was executed by my husband, the emperor, when he was convinced that I plotted to overthrow him with my lover. Who am I?

• Answer: Valeria Messalina, wife of the Emperor Claudius. She won the "competition" against the prostitute, who gave up after each had worn out 25 men.

Q6. After my husband's death, I took over and ruled alone as queen. I was a capable ruler and I liked to style myself after other famous queens, naming myself as their successors. I conquered a large amount of land and named myself Empress and my son Emperor, but I eventually lost an important war and my empire was destroyed. According to some sources, the one who conquered me was impressed by my accomplishments and granted me an estate where I spent the rest of my life. Who am I?

• Answer: Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra. She built an impressive empire in the Eastern Mediterranean but was defeated by Aurelian. (Zenobia was featured in the July edition of the AE Magazine)

Q7. I successfully carried on the family seafaring business while bearing four children. I married my second husband in order to obtain his house, survived imprisonment in a jail, and had Queen Elizabeth I as a pen pal. Who am I?

• Answer: Grace O'Malley (Granuaile),1530-1603, the Pirate Queen of Connacht. She was known for her part in Irish Rebellions and her piracy against Britain.
  

Q8. Was removed because the original intended answer was incorrect.

Q9. I was the first from my country to receive world wide fame in science. The discovery I jointly made has saved the life of millions over the years. I was recognized by many awards in my lifetime including a Nobel Prize, a military Cross and a Knighthood. Without me many would not find life so sweet. Who am I?

• Answer: Frederick Banting (1891-1941) of Canada, who discovered Insulin.

Q10. Hero and poet famous for debauchery. I went to jail for kidnapping my future wife and was banished for a piece of my work, after which I took up practising medicine of some sort. I finally died as a result of my lifestyle. Who am I?

• Answer: John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester. He was banished for insulting the King and later became a "doctor" for treating barrenness.

Q11. Father, daughter, and son. Turbulence, rumors, murder, and tales of shocking irregularity defined the portrait of this powerful family. The father partied like a real party animal and fathered the daughter and the son with a mistress. The daughter partied as hard as the father, and as rumor has it, she even bore the father a child through incestuous lust. The handsome son was as notorious, a criminal mind, yet the same qualities made him a model of "virtue" for a great writer of the time. Name the father, the daughter, and the son.

• Answer: Father: Pope Alexander VI or Roderigo de Lanzol y Borja Daughter: Lucrecia/Lucrezia/Lucretia Borgia. The child born possibly via incest was nicknamed Infans Romanus, the child of Rome. Son: Cesare Borgia, the model prince for Niccolo Machiavelli's Il principe.

Q12. I was a soldier who suffered a grievous wound while fighting for his empire. I left the army and carved out an "empire" for myself in a remote corner of the world. My successors governed this empire for over a hundred years, until they ceded it to the empire that I originally fought for. Who am I, and what was the "empire" that I carved out called? (Hint: He was born in Europe. His "empire" under his sucessors was ceeded some time in the 20th century. He has also inspired a fictional character of a famous writer who also wrote about a trip upriver.)

• Answer: James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak (in modern-day Malaysia).  He was granted the title and territory by the Sultan of Brunei in 1841 for his invovlement in local affairs. His sucessors ruled the territory until it was ceeded to the British Empire in 1946. His character formed the basis for the book Lord Jim of Joseph Conrad.
  
  (Moderator's Note: the only correct answer was only partially correct, resulting in 1 point. Thus, the bonus given to Decebal was .90 rather than 1.8).
  

Q13. I am a scholar general. In my prime, I applied my military genius to defeat and capture a rebel prince, but my military achievement was blemished by my emperor, who released the rebel prince so that he could capture the rebel prince himself. I started my own school of thought, and as a result, my name is listed among some of the most revered educators in the history of my country. I died in my fifties. Who am I?

• Answer: Wang Yangming or Wang Shouren, famous neo-Confucian educator and scholar general of the mid Ming Dynasty.

Q14. While I was alive, men trembled at my feet. After my death, men dared not disturb my peace, in fear of my curse. Legend has it that whoever opened up my tomb shall doom his entire country to a great calamity. Centuries afterwards, someone finally dug me up, and his nation paid dearly for his act. Who am I, and what was the calamity, disaster, or terrible event that nearly destroyed his country?

• Answer: 1. Tamerlane or Timur the Lame 2. Operation Barbarossa Legend has it that a curse was placed on Tamerlane's tomb: whoever dared to open it would bring war to his nation. In June 1941, Soviet anthropologist Mikhail M. Gerasimov exhumed Tamerlane's tomb and studied his skeleton to confirm that Tamerlane was very likely Mongoloid and lame. Three days later, Hitler ordered the invasion of the Soviet Union; Operation Barbarossa led to the deaths of more than 20 million Soviet civilians, and battles such as Stalingrad and Kursk top the records as the brutalist in the history of mankind.
  
  

Q17. When his father died, he became the ruler of a magnificent city, capital of his empire. However, he did not like the location of his capital and decided to move it to another city. Since the new capital needed people, he decided to move the population from the old capital to the new. The project was a disaster and many people died in the relocation. Later, he attempted an economic reform of his kingdom but failed miserably. For such reasons, he has gone down history with an exceedingly unfavorable reputation. Who was he?

• Answer: Mohammad bin Tughlaq of the Delhi Sultanate in India. During his rule, he attempted to move the capital away from Delhi, which failed miserably due to the inadequecy of the new location. He also attempted to introduce token currency into his Sultanate, which failed as well.

Q16. According to legend, I was one of the most skilled warriors this country has ever seen. I used to stand in a specific place and challenge passers-by to a fight. I defeated hundreds of my opponents and took their swords. But my last opponent managed to defeat me and from that moment I became his devoted companion. i) Who am i? ii) Who is the opponent who defeated me?

• Answer: Saito Musashibo Benkei. On his 1000th duel, Benkei was defeated by Minamoto Yosh*tsune.

Q17. He spent most of his long reign of almost 50 years fighting over 50 battles with the enemies of his small country. He won most of these battles and would usually erect a monastery to commemorate each of his victories. In recent times he has been canonized as a saint. His most implacable enemy eventually overcame his successors. His cousin, although less important historically, is a lot more famous then he is. Who is he, and who is his cousin?

• Answer: Stephen III of Moldavia (also Stefan cel Mare or Stephen the Great); cousin: Vlad III of Wallachia, (also Vlad Tepes or Vlad Dracula)