10 Original Questions Trivia Quiz

Answer: Abaddon

The word 'abaddon comes from the Hebrew 'abad', and means 'ruin' or 'death'. This term can be found in the New Testament book called Revelations, chapter nine, and several times in the Old Testament. An example of its appearance in Western literature would be in Milton's 'Paradise Regained', 'In all her gates Abaddon rues thy bold attempt.' In this case it is used as a synonym for 'abyss', but abaddon has also been likened to the evil demon Asmodeus as well.

Answer: Books

Bibliomania is no vice, so far as I am concerned, but committing murder to satisfy one's thirst for knowledge is taking it a bit too far! Tinius was convicted of murdering an old widow, whose fortune he planned to use to further satisfy his book craving. At the time of his conviction his book collection numbered 60,000! Don Vicente, a native of Barcelona, was said to have killed several people in 1836 in order that he may acquire a single rare book. When these guys said, 'I'd kill for that book', they were not kidding!

Answer: Swahili

Spelled 'pombe', 'pombi', or 'pombé', this is the native term of the Swahili speaking people (primarily from Kenya and Tanzania) for millet beer, a local brew. 'Bia' is also an acceptable term, if the word pombe somehow slips your mind. Incidentally, pombe is also the name of a species of fission yeast, 'Schizosaccharomyces pombe', named so because the yeast was first isolated from this East African concoction.

Answer: Mammon

The term 'Mammon' appears in the New Testament, and refers to those who would take money and materialism as their object of worship. The term is originally from Aramaic, where it means 'riches'.

Answer: Parson Weems

Born Mason Locke Weems, Parson Weems is probably the most famous biographer of the first U.S. president. His conjuring up of the tale that culminated in the young Washington uttering the immortal words, 'Father, I cannot tell a lie', cemented his place as one of the great hagiographers of history. He also popularized the tale of Washington tossing a silver coin across the Rappahannock River (but not the Delaware River and/or Potomac!)

Answer: Demosthenes

Demosthenes, perhaps the greatest of the ancient Greek orators, was not a fan of poor old Philip II (father of Alexander the Great), and let him know it on numerous occasions. Come to think of it, Demosthenes wasn't a big fan of Alexander either. His angry speeches against Philip II were only equaled by Cicero, whose equally heated rhetoric aimed at Marc Antony has come down to us in history as his 'Philippics'.

Answer: Hira-Hera

It was inside a cave upon Mt. Hira, not far from Mecca, that Muhammad first met with the Angel Gabriel in 610. Our other Hera, the unhappy wife of Zeus, resided on Mt. Olympus not far away in Greece.

Answer: Aulis

It was at Aulis, a town in the ancient land of Boeotia, that Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis in order to quell the winds that were preventing the Greeks from sailing for Troy. The German composer Christoph Willibald von Gluck wrote his opera 'Iphigenia in Aulis' (1774) based on these events.

Answer: Way of the gods

The Mandarin Chinese word 'shen' (2nd tone) translates as 'god' or 'spirit'. You may have heard of the character 'dao' (aka 'tao') which is included in the name of the native Chinese religion called 'Daoism' (Taoism). 'Dao' translates into English as 'the way'. Shinto is a unique and very ancient religion of Japan, traditionally involving worship of the emperor, who was considered to be descended from the 'kami' (gods).

Answer: Panda

In order to handle its difficult food, the panda has benefitted from a very interesting mutation. A panda has a 'thumb' on each of its forepaws, which is actually an evolved wrist bone, for use in grasping and breaking the rigid stalks of bamboo plants.

This is an example of a beneficial mutation. Thank you for playing this quiz, I hope you learned something from it. Please try some of my other quizzes if you have enjoyed this one!