Something Out of Nothing Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sao Paulo

São Paulo can trace its settlement back 9000-11000 years to the Tupi people. European (Portuguese) colonisation on the coast near São Paulo occurred in 1532, and a settlement, São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga, was founded by Jesuit priests. The village has become the biggest city in the Americas, with a 2025 population of around 12 million within city limits and over 22 million in its metropolitan area. It has the largest urban economy in Latin America. It is also the financial and industrial capital of Brazil.

The image is a skyline view of São Paulo with the famous X-shaped Ponte Estaiada in the background. the American state capital is St Paul, Minnesota.

Answer: Square

Up to the late 18th century, handkerchiefs were both a luxury item and a status symbol carried only by the aristocracy. They were made from expensive materials like silk and lace but came in a wide variety of shapes. This frustrated Queen Marie Antoinette, who complained to her husband, King Louis XVI, who subsequently signed a royal decree (translated):
"His Majesty wishes that henceforth handkerchiefs shall all have the square form, the length equal to the width"
He also decreed further that no handkerchief could be larger than his own, which was about 400mm square (About 16"x16").

What is amazing is that one literal law successfully dictated global fashion for centuries to come. In the second quarter of the 21st century, handkerchiefs are still square and less than 40x40 cm.

The image is a depiction of King Louis XIV with his handkerchief, surrounded by his courtiers; the style is in the satirical cartoons of the era.

Answer: James Dean

Despite only starring in three major movies, James Dean is still revered, as his film appearances captured the raw emotional reality of the angst in America's youth after WWII. His fatal car crash when he was only 24, ironically, froze him as an eternal young man - no declining career to define him; his legend remained intact. As such, he has been mentioned in many, many pop culture references. In music, there are literally hundreds of songs that mention him. In 1974, the Eagles actually recorded a song called "James Dean". Other big-ticket artists who referenced James Dean included the following:

Billy Joel mentioned him in his history of the world (1949-1985) song, "We Didn't Start the Fire" (1989): "...Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team".

John Mellencamp sang about disenfranchised youth in "Jack and Diane" "[Jack] Scratches his head and does his best James Dean".

Taylor Swift recognised Mr Dean's gravitas in "Style" (2014): "You got that James Dean daydream look in your eye".

Lana Del Ray sang "You're so fresh to death and sick as a cancer... It was like James Dean for sure" in "Blue Jeans" (2012).

Harpo was a one-hit wonder in 1976 when he had a megahit with "Moviestar": "You think you are a new kind of James Dean".

Even The Boss regarded him highly enough to include him in one of his classic Bruce Springsteen songs, "Cadillac Ranch": "James Dean in that Mercury '49".

Nickelback aspired to be a "Rockstar" in 2005 by singing "My own star on Hollywood Boulevard, Somewhere between Cher and James Dean is fine for me".

Perhaps Madonna said it best when she listed a whole heap of pop culture icons in her 1990 megahit "Vogue", including "Jimmy Dean on the cover of a magazine".

The created image is vaguely similar to a famous photo of James Dean walking down a rainy New York City street.

Answer: Estonia

The national flag of Ukraine (pictured with the flag of Estonia) is a simple bi-colour of blue over yellow, representing Ukraine's wheat fields under a blue sky.

Sweden's national flag consists of a yellow Nordic cross on a blue background. The cross represents Christianity, and the blue colour symbolizes loyalty, truth, justice, and the sky and waters of Sweden.

The national flag of Palau features a sky-blue background with a yellow golden disc slightly off-center toward the hoist. Blue represents the Pacific Ocean and independence; the large golden disc represents the full moon, a symbol of peace and love.

The national flag of Kazakhstan features a sky-blue background with a sun and a steppe eagle as yellow central emblems and a yellow vertical ornamental pattern of the horns of a ram along the hoist side.

The image is the author's photo taken during the Russia-Ukraine War in 2025. The two flags were superimposed on a building in Estonia's Independence Square in Tallinn. Despite sharing a border with Russia and having a population of 30% ethnic Russians, the image shows powerful Estonian support for Ukraine.

Answer: Jupiter

Jupiter rotates on its axis once (ie one day) every 9 hours 56 minutes. In fact, all four gas giants have days shorter than one Earth day, Neptune having the longest of the four at 17 hours 14 minutes. As there are 2.4 Jupiter days in one Earth day, and because it takes 11.86 Earth years (approximately 4,333 Earth days) to orbit the Sun, a year on Jupiter takes 10,468 Jupiter days

By contrast, the other smaller terrestrial planets have longer days than Earth. Mars is not much different - one day on Mars is 24 hours 37 minutes on Earth. Mercury rotates very slowly, at 58.6 Earth days for one rotation. Venus has the longest day at 243 Earth days, but because it only takes 225 Earth days to rotate around the Sun, its day is longer than its year!

The photo is a second-century AD marble statue of Jupiter (Jove), the king of the gods in Roman mythology, which is housed in the Louvre in Paris.

Answer: 5

The Mediterranean Sea borders 21 countries across Europe, Africa, and Asia, twelve of which are in Europe. Italy and Albania are the two European countries starting with vowels that have Mediterranean Sea coastlines. Because it is one long peninsula, Italy has a Mediterranean coastline of 7,300 to 7,600 km (4,530 to 4,690 mi), second only to Greece (all those islands!) Albania, being a small country, only has a coastline of 472 km (294 mi).

Israel is the only Asian nation starting with a vowel with a Mediterranean coastline, which is 273 km or 170 mi long.

Of the five African nations that have Mediterranean Sea coastlines, Algeria and Egypt are the two that start with vowels. They have Mediterranean Sea coastlines of 1622km (1007 mi) and 995 km (617mi), respectively

The image is a created map of the Mediterranean Sea with surrounding landmasses, with no political boundaries.

Answer: 22

Snooker is a cue sport played on a large rectangular table, 12 feet by 6 feet (3.6 m × 1.8 m), with an internal standardised playing surface of 3.57 m × 1.78 m. A slate table bed is covered in green cloth called baize, which is worsted wool, and has six pockets. There are 22 balls at the start of play: 15 red balls, 6 colored balls, and 1 white cue ball.

Players take turns striking the cue ball to pot balls in a specific sequence, such as alternating between a red ball and a colored ball, scoring points based on each ball's value. The game ends when all the balls have been potted. The black ball is usually the last ball to be potted. The aim is to accumulate more points than the opponent. When a player cannot pot a designated ball, they lose their turn, but they can employ tactical plays, known as safety shots, to make scoring difficult for the other player. If the designated ball cannot be hit directly, as there is an obstacle (usually another ball) in its direct path, this is called a snooker. A match is divided into frames, and the player who wins the most frames wins the match.

The photo depicts a snooker game in play.

Answer: Baloo

Disney's 1967 animated film "The Jungle Book" is very loosely based on Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name but concentrates on Mowgli's journey. Mowgli is a young boy who was raised by wolves in the Indian jungle. When a tiger called Shere Khan threatens his safety, Mowgli must leave the jungle and travel to a nearby human village where he will be safe. Bagheera, both wise and responsible, is a black panther who becomes Mowgli's protector and guide. They are accompanied by Baloo, the carefree and fun-loving bear, who becomes Mowgli's best friend. It was Baloo who taught Mowgli to enjoy life, best illustrated through his song "The Bare Necessities". The movie is a series of adventures involving characters such as King Louie (An orangutan king of the monkeys who sings "I Wanna Be Like You [The Monkey Song"] in the movie), Kaa the python, and Shere Khan. Mowgli finally chose to join the human village and said goodbye to his previous life in the jungle.

The created image depicts a bear that dances in the style of Baloo from "The Jungle Book". A disproving black panther that may or may not be called Bagheera looks on.

Answer: King Lear

All the Shakespeare characters in the answer options are men with daughters. "King Lear" is a Shakespearean tragedy, so all is not well (when it ends).

Lear wanted to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. The share each was to receive depended on how much they (claimed to) love him. The older sisters, Goneril and Regan, flattered him with exaggerated speeches, but Cordelia, Lear's favourite, refused to embellish her feelings. She said she loved her father as a daughter should. Lear interpreted this as a lack of affection, so he disowned and banished her.

Cordelia married the King of France but returned to England with the French army when she learned that her father had been mistreated by Goneril and Regan. She found Lear suffering from madness. She cared for him with compassion until they were both captured. Cordelia was hanged.

In the final scene, Lear carried Cordelia's body. He was overcome with grief, and he mourned the loss of his only daughter who truly loved him. Lear died from sorrow and grief.

The photo depicts a Learjet. (Slaps forehead.)

Answer: 1

The United Nations was formed in the immediate aftermath of WWII in October 1945. The Allied world leaders wanted a stronger system to prevent another global war, which the League of Nations (formed after World War I) failed to do. The Security Council, one of six organs of the UN, and subservient to none of the other five organs, was given authority to impose sanctions, authorise military action, and establish peacekeeping operations through the UN Charter. The five major Allied powers of World War II (the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union (now Russia), France and China) were made permanent members of the Security Council.

Four of these countries have red, white, and blue national flags (The Stars and Stripes, the Union Jack, the Russian Federation Tricolor [horizontal white, blue, and red stripes], and the French Tricolore [Vertical red, white and blue stripes]. The national Chinese flag has only red and yellow colours: A red field with a large yellow star in the canton, surrounded by four smaller yellow stars

The image depicts a fictional flag that shares the same elements as China's national flag.