Snapshots in Time: 2025 Trivia Quiz

Answer: California

The Palisades Fire affected many Californians, damaging homes and forcing people to evacuate. Although countless residents were affected, the fire received especially heavy media attention because several of the homes destroyed belonged to celebrities. Authorities later stated that the fire was believed to have been started intentionally by a man from Florida, who was arrested and charged months later, as late as October. One of the most devastating cultural losses caused by the fire was art dealer Ron Rivlin's personal collection, which included valuable works by famous artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.

Answer: soft landing on the Moon

The Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar mission carried out by Firefly Aerospace helped deliver scientific instruments to the Moon for NASA under that organization's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The mission successfully delivered 10 instruments to the Moon's Mare Crisium region to study the lunar environment and test new technology.

These instruments measured things such as how lunar dust behaves, how heat flows from the Moon's interior, how radiation affects electronics, and whether Earth-based navigation signals like GPS can be detected on the Moon.

Answer: North America

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, was elected Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025, becoming the first pope born in the United States (and the first from North America) in the history of the Catholic Church. He had previously served as an Augustinian missionary and bishop in Peru and led the Augustinian order before being elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis.

His election surprised many observers because, until 2025, no American had ever been chosen as pontiff, and his background included extensive international experience rather than high-visibility roles in the Vatican.

Answer: No Kings

The No Kings protests in June 2025 were a series of large-scale demonstrations across the United States, with millions of people taking part in rallies in more than 2,000 cities and towns on June 14. Organizers estimated that between about 4 million and 6 million people joined the events nationwide to protest what they saw as authoritarian tendencies and actions by the Trump administration, including concerns about civil rights, use of federal forces, and immigration policies.

Protesters used the slogan "No Kings" to emphasize their belief that power should belong to the people, not to a single powerful leader. The message of "No Kings" could be considered more potent in the United States than in many countries still with monarchs, since it echoes the reasons the country originally broke from the United Kingdom.

Answer: London, England

Air India Flight 171 crashed just seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad, India, on its way to London Gatwick. The aircraft, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, lost thrust in both engines after its fuel control switches moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position shortly after liftoff, cutting off the fuel supply and causing a sudden loss of power; investigators couldn't determine why the switches moved.

The aircraft then crashed into a building on the campus of B.J. Medical College in Ahmedabad, where medical students had been living, resulting in additional deaths and injuries on the ground.

Answer: Jair Bolsonaro

After contemplating the evidence, Brazil's Supreme Federal Court convicted former president Jair Bolsonaro for his role in the 2022-2023 coup plot to overturn the results of the 2022 presidential election and keep himself in power. He was sentenced to 27 years and three months in prison for leading the attempt to overthrow Brazil's democratic system, and he began serving that sentence later in 2025.

Several of Bolsonaro's close allies and military figures were also convicted: Walter Braga Netto received a 26-year sentence, Augusto Heleno was sentenced to 21 years, Paulo Sérgio Nogueira to 19 years, Almir Garnier Santos to 24 years, Alexandre Ramagem to approximately 16 years, and Anderson Torres to 24 years.

Answer: Royal jewelry

The thieves carried out a brazen daylight robbery, stealing eight pieces of the French Crown Jewels from the Galerie d'Apollon. The stolen items included jewels from the sapphire set of Queen Marie-Amélie and Queen Hortense and parts of Empress Eugénie's jewellery, all of which had belonged to French royalty and were considered historically priceless.

The heist took only a few minutes, and the thieves escaped before authorities could stop them. French police later arrested several suspects, but most of the jewels remained missing.

The crime exposed serious security weaknesses at the museum.

Answer: Japan

Takaichi, a veteran politician from the conservative Liberal Democratic Party, is known for her nationalist and right-leaning political views, including support for revising Japan's post-war constitution to explicitly recognize the Self-Defense Forces, strengthening defense policy, and taking a tougher stance on China.

Her rise was seen as a surprise by some because, despite fierce competition within her party and Japan's traditionally male-dominated political system, she secured enough support to lead both her party and the government.

Answer: Jakarta, Indonesia

The United Nations report called "World Urbanization Prospects 2025" found that Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, had become the most populous city in the world with about 42 million people living in its urban area, surpassing Tokyo and Dhaka. According to the report, "most populous" means having the largest population in a continuous urban area, rather than just the city limits, using updated and consistent criteria to compare cities globally. Jakarta's rapid growth is mainly due to high rates of migration from rural regions and overall urban expansion, which have boosted its population faster than in cities like Tokyo, whose population has grown more slowly in recent years.

Answer: Rob Reiner

Acclaimed filmmaker Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, were found dead from multiple stab wounds in their home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles, and police quickly treated their deaths as a double homicide. Investigators arrested their 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, later the same day on suspicion of killing both parents; he was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Rob Reiner was a well-known director famous for films like "When Harry Met Sally...", "The Princess Bride," and "This Is Spinal Tap," while Michele was a photographer and producer.