The Worldly Body Trivia Quiz

Maradona's dubious goal was a reference to the opening goal awarded to Argentina during the 1986 FIFA World Cup quarter final against England, which Argentina won 2-1. This was a goal assisted by Diego Maradona's left hand, however since no referee saw the foul the goal was allowed to stand. The name for the goal, 'the Hand of God', came from Maradona's initial response when he said it was scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God".

Maradona later acknowledged that the ball hand been illegally handled. He also scored the second Argentine goal in that match. The 1982 Falklands War (Guerra de las Malvinas) between the two countries no doubt contributed to the atmosphere at the time. The match ball involved was sold for $3.35 million in 2026, well short of the estimated pre-sale price of $10 million. His shirt from the game had sold for just under $9.3 million in 2022.

The Ernest Hemingway book hinted at here was the 1929 novel "A Farewell to Arms". The novel was partly based on Hemingway's experiences as an ambulance driver during the Italian Campaign of the First World War. Hemingway was wounded and ended up in hospital in Milan where Agnes von Kurowsky was one of the nurses caring for him.

A 25-year-old American, she was the inspiration for the character Catherine Barkley in the novel. Hemingway was 19 years old at the time and fell in love with Kurowsky, however the planned marriage fell through.

The 1996 film "In Love and War", where Sandra Bullock portrayed Kurowsky, covered this period.

There were actually three kinds of Cyclopes in Greek mythology. The name 'cyclopes' means round-eyes or circle-eyes. The three versions either made thunderbolts for Zeus, were man-eating shepherds, or were master-builders responsible for Cyclopean masonry, depending on the source.

The first two shared the characteristic of being giant one-eyed creatures. The Cyclops (no 'e' in the singular) Polyphemus was the one-eyed cave-dwelling shepherd encountered in Homer's "Odyssey" epic.

The phrase alluded to here is 'hair of the dog' or 'hair of the dog that bit you' and usually means alcohol consumed as a hangover cure, or at least to lessen the effect of an alcohol-induced hangover. The origin story for this phrase was the belief that the cure for a rabid dog bite was to apply some of its hair to the wound. It was recorded by Ancient Greeks such as Aristophanes.

Strange as it may seem, there may be some basis to the hangover 'cure'. Alcoholic drinks like cider (hard cider in the US) usually contain a mix of ethanol and methanol. The methanol can cause hangovers if the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase is allowed to metabolise it. The enzyme however has a higher affinity for ethanol than methanol, thus reducing the hangover effect. So the theory goes. Ingesting methanol by itself will kill you.

Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh is known for cutting part of his left ear off. His January 1898 "Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear" was one result. The blue cap with black fur he wears in the painting was bought to keep the bandage in place. He painted the portrait using a mirror so it appears as if the right ear has been bandaged.

The deed was done on the evening of 23 December 1888. It is not clear why he did it, although he had been going through a tumultuous time with fellow artist Paul Gauguin and Van Gogh's mental health was not good.

A chest of drawers is a type of cabinet with a number of stacked drawers arranged both horizontally and vertically. Alternative names for this piece of furniture include dresser and bureau, although what is meant by these alternative names depends on which side of the Atlantic you are. A chest of drawers is often used for storing clothes in a bedroom, although they can be used anywhere for storing anything. They typically come in two heights - waist-high or shoulder-high.

The rose hip is the fruit of various rose plant species. Also called a rose haw or rose hep, it is usually red or orange in colour but can be much darker in some species. Rose hips are high in vitamin C and can be an ingredient in various foods and drinks such as syrup, jam, soup (Swedish nyponsoppa), tisane and mead (rhodomel). The hairs in rose hips are irritating to the skin and have schoolkid prank value.

A triskelion is a motif with three-fold symmetry. This is either a triple spiral with rotational symmetry or other patterns in triplicate and coming from a common centre. In the flags of Sicily and the Isle of Man, three legs provide the rotational symmetry.

The triskelion on the flag of the Isle of Man consists of three armoured leg with spurs and has been on the official flag since 1932. It is based on the Manx coat of arms. The triskelion has been associated with the Isle of Man since at least the 13th century.

Historically, the human body was used in many systems of measurement including Greek, Roman, Chinese and French. The length of a foot varied considerably depending on location and sometimes the trade involved, typically falling between 250 mm (9.8 in) and 335 mm (13.2 in). The British Imperial measurement of a yard (being three feet) was eventually tied to the metric system in 1964, implying that a foot was 0.3047990 metres. In the US, a metre was defined by the Mendenhall Order of 1893 as 39.37 inches. Since there are 12 inches in a foot, a foot was therefore 0.30480061 metres.

The international yard and pound agreement of 1959 (between Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK and the US) defined the international yard as 0.3048 metres so the international foot is the version usually used these days. There is also the survey foot, but let's not go there.

The expression "Achilles' heel" means a point of weakness. It was named after the Ancient Greek mythological hero Achilles who was best known from his involvement in the Trojan War, as described in the epic poem "Iliad" by Homer. He was said to be invulnerable as a result of being dipped into the river Styx as an infant by his mother Thetis. All of him was immersed apart from the heel his mother held him by and this proved to be his weakness. Although his death was not covered in the epic poem, one version was that he was killed towards the end of the Trojan War by Paris who shot him in that heel with an arrow.

The Achilles tendon or calcaneal tendon was also named after him.