Total Quiz III

Archived questions and answers to AE's history contest. See the category link below for more questions
Introduction: Total Quiz III, the third series of the Total Quiz contest, was divided into three parts held 16-18 hours apart. The three-part division was devised so that the timezone distribution of the quiz would be more even, since the first round of each part lasted only 8 hours, after which points could only be scored from unanswered questions. In comparison, current rules call for a 48-hour first round. Also notable is that TQ III was run by a new moderator. The position of moderator would switch several times in future quizzes.

-- Summary and Results --
Total Quiz III (Series) Champions: Salvatore, Styrbiorn
Total Quiz III-3  Date: Dec. 2001  Champion: Angel Reckless Rodent  Moderator: Serge L
Total Quiz III-2  Date: Dec. 2001  Champion: Lady Bevin of Kildare  Moderator: Serge L
Total Quiz III-1  Date: Dec. 2001  Champion: Styrbiorn, Salvatore  Moderator: Serge L


Total Quiz questions viewing options: Click here to hide answers


Total Quiz III Part 1

1. What was the only British territory occupied by the Axis powers in WW2?
Answer: The channel islands: Group of islands in the English Channel, off the northwest coast of France. They comprise the islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Great and Little Sark, with the lesser Herm, Brechou, Jethou, and Lihou.
2. During his famous offensive in 1916, Brusilov, together with numerous military innovations (carefully and detailed reconnaissance, anticipated definition and correction of targets for artillery, false troop concentrations and contemporary attack in many principal and secondary directions), used one political factor which contributed to initial success. Which factor?
Answer: He spread pan-Slavic propaganda to the Czechs and other slavs in Austro-Hungary. It worked on the czechs (although the Poles and Croats and so on stayed more or less loyal). Large numbers of Czech troops surrendered to the Russians, and later played a part in the Russian civil war.
3. When and by whom was the first chemical weapons attack of WWI?
Answer: The first use of chemical weapons was by the French in 1914, when rifle grenades were used to deliver tear gas (xylyl bromide). Source: The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Richard Rhodes. (Editor's Note: The use of the term "chemical weapon" can be ambiguous.)
4. What is at the mouth of a river flowing into a former sea; once owned by a knight from a play written by a friend of the one who owned it three centuries later.
Answer: The Muiderslot Was owned by Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, who featured in the play of the same name written by Joost van den Vondel, a friend of PC Hooft, who also owned the castle.
5. What is the Use of Sarum?
Answer: The 'Use of Sarum' is a form of the liturgy: a variant form of ritual followed by the religious orders, churches and dioceses of Salisbury, York and Durham , organized by the Bishop of Salisbury and chancellor of England in the late 11th century.
6. A European commander, with the informal device "You may hazard everything!", became secretly engaged with a princess who later caused one of the largest scandals of that century. Though the engagement was dissolved, the princess who had no children nominated him and his offspring to her successors. Who was she, and what was the scandal?
Answer: Queen Christina of Sweden who converted to Catholicism, abdicated from the Swedish throne, and went to live in Rome.
7. According to an ancient myth, a particular tree that produced mistletoe existed in certain woods. That tree had golden branches and if an escaping slave managed to strip away one, he could win freedom, provided that he succeeded in the following task: to win a mortal combat with a priest of a certain divinity. In case of victory, the slave becomes the new priest and king of the wood … until another one takes a golden branch and challenges him! Can you name that divinity?
Answer: Diana. See Frazier's The Golden Bough.
Question Authors: (user who contributed the question) 1. Wulfere; 2. Kolovrat; 3. Necros; 4. Jayhawk; 5. Lady Bevin of Kildare; 6. Styrbiorn; 7. Serge L;


Total Quiz III Part 2

1. What was a unit of Zulu warriors called?
Answer: An Impi
2. In the Balfour declaration, a letter was written by Arthur Balfour stating that the British government would "view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home of the Jewish People". Who was Balfour writing to?
Answer: Lord Rothschild
3. A warrior, a poet and a seer, and cousin to one who won a hundred battles; Married three times, once to a woman who left him for another man but returned. According to myth, his son died when he was over three hundred years old.
Answer: Fionn Mac Cumhaill (Finn Mac Cool)
4. WWII operation named after a not so especially genial creature in Greek mythology. Ignorance, bad weather and defective command resulted in a total humiliation of the loosing part, which obviously couldn't control its own backyard. Which is the name of the operation?
Answer: Operation Cerberus is also known as the Channel Dash
5. Voltaire is the pseudonym of a great French writer and philosopher. How did he devised his nom de plùme?
Answer: Quoting Britannica: In 1718, after the success of Oedipe, the first of his tragedies, he was acclaimed as the successor of the great classical dramatist Jean Racine and thenceforward adopted the name of Voltaire. The origin of this pen name remains doubtful. It is not certain that it is the anagram of Arouet le jeune (i.e., the younger)
6. The ancient Romans were good architects and engineers. For instance they developed better and better techniques for roads construction. The traditional Latin word for road, via, was eventually in part replaced by another one, which referred to that technique. From this latter word, other words in some modern languages were derived. Briefly describe that technique and name at least one of the aforementioned words (the late Latin word or the English, German or Italian derivative).
Answer: Pavimentium, or Pavement. The Romans were the first to lay down a level surface on top of the land in order to create a smooth surface to add additional roads. The roads eventually looked like thay were constructed on top of the land. (Editor's Note: There are several other possible answers to this question which would be considered too open-ended for the recent, e.g. October 2006, style of TQ question writing)
7. Who was "Il Passatore"?
Answer: Stefano Pelloni (born in 1824 at Boncellino di Bagnacavallo, dead near Russi in 1851) was a famous bandit who lived in Romagna (i.e. the area of Italy around Ravenna), who was nicknamed "Passatore" (ferryman) because of his former job. After escaping from a prison, where he was serving a sentence for manslaughter, he hid himself in the near woods with other outlaws. For three years he raged all along several lands in the Papal State and Austrian possession in Italy. He did uncountable robberies, diligences' assaults, and he even occupied entire towns, pillaging the houses owned by the richest citizens. He was eventually ambushed and killed by papal guards. He was considered as a new "Robin Hood" by poor people and a legend arose about him so that the famous Italian poet G. Pascoli called him "il Passator Cortese" (the kind ferryman) in his poem Romagna. Today, in Romagna, you can find a lot of restaurants, inns, clubs, etc. entitled to the Passatore, with his traditional portrait with a big, black beard and a peculiar, conical hat.
Question Authors: (user who contributed the question) 1. Wulfhere; 2. Necros; 3. Jayhawk; 4. Styrbiorn; 5. Serge L; 6. Serge L; 7. Serge L;


Total Quiz III Part 3

1. What special material did Mongols use for their incendiary shells?
Answer: Fat. (Editor's Note: the correct answer was given as "human fat" but out of all probability, the Mongols must have used a variety of different ingredients. There are probably many answers that could satisfy the question.)
2. What German General was nicknamed "the poison dwarf" (unser giftzwerg)?
Answer: The "poison dwarf" a.k.a. Generaloberst Gotthard Heinrici fought in the 4th Army, 1st Panzer Army, Army Group Vistula)
3. Who was the "Thunderbolt of the North"?
Answer: General Gotthard Heinrici
4. Baptised by a bishop, he travelled far and wide. His most famous trip took him to the promised land, where he sailed with sixty men on a trip that lasted seven years.
Answer: St. Brendan
5. Needlework was once the medium of a choice for protests against the illegitimacy of a ruling regime. Who was the protester and what was the needlework?
Answer: Mary Queen of Scots produced a panel worked in silk tent stitch through mesh during the period of her incarceration under Elizabeth. The panel, now part of the Marian Hanging displayed at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk, depicted a fruitless tree with rotting vines being pruned. The rotting vines symbolized the illegitimacy of Henry VIII's children after the divorce of Katherine of Aragon. (Mary was a catholic)
6. One of the greatest defenses in British history: Less than 300 men against 6,000 of the enemy. Result: 25 British dead, the enemy more than 1,000. At the end only 900 bullets were left to the defenders, while at the beginning there were 20,000 in the warehouse! Which is this battle of the 19th century that led to the most massive award of the highest British military honour, the Victoria Cross?
Answer: After the battle of Rorke's Drift between the British and the Zulu, 11 men were awarded for "heroism and bravery beyond duty"
7. In August 9,1941, Duglas Bader (1910-1982) was the 5th ace of the RAF. On that same day his plane was hit by a German ace, Adolf Galant, above France. Bader was a legend among both British and German pilots. Galant sent his car and called Bader to visit him to his base. The German pilots treated Bader with respect and even allowed him to enter a Messerchmitt . The Germans also proposed a kind of truce with the British in order that a British aircraft to be landed in occupied France to deliver something to Bader. What was to be delivered?
Answer: Bader was badly wounded in 1931. A young pilot and surgeons managed to save his life but had to cut his legs. He was flying with artificial legs and when he landed after he was hit, one of them was lost. The British refused this "truce" in order to send a new leg, but in an air raid some days later, they sent one via parachute... He was honoured by the British as the commander of the first flight over London after the war, in memory of the battle of Britain.
Question Authors: (user who contributed the question) 1. Kolovrat; 2. Necros; 3. Wulfhere; 4. Jayhawk; 5. Lady Bevin of Kildare; 6. Salvatore; 7. Salvatore;


(The questions have been edited from their original state for grammar and clarity.)

Sources: The original quizzes can be found on Heavengames' history forum: www.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums...