Are You a Genius? II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lin Biao

Lin Biao was a leading general during the Chinese civil war that culminated in Chiang Kai-shek's exile on Taiwan and the ascendance of the Communist Party in 1949. After the fall of Mao's chosen successor, Liu Shaoqi, in 1966, Lin Biao became Mao's new right hand man and he helped prosecute the chaotic Cultural Revolution.

When Lin's politics began to conflict with Mao's during the early 1970s, questions arose about the friendly ties between the two. Finally, in an attempt to squeeze Mao out of his leading role among the Chinese leadership, Lin's men attempted an abortive coup which ended in his flight to the Soviet Union...a flight that ended badly for him and his family. No one really knows whether his plane was shot down or not, and they probably never will know.

Answer: Man Ray

Though Man Ray was active in multiple artistic mediums, it's with his photographic exploits that we are most familiar today. He invented the 'Rayograph', a process whereby objects are placed on photographic paper directly and exposed to light in order to create an image.

Answer: Chewing

A bolus, a ball of food and saliva created through the process of mastication, is shaped by the mouth in such a way that it may easily pass through the esophagus on its way to the stomach. This description makes you want to go and grab a bite to eat, doesn't it?

Answer: Berkelium

Named for the greatest university in the world, the University of California at Berkeley, where it was first made by Glenn Seaborg and his laboratory team. Incidentally, Californium is also named for the same school, also having been developed by Seaborg's team that same year! (Please forgive such a partisan question...)

Answer: South Korea

In English the official title of South Korea is 'Republic of Korea', which, not surprisingly, is the translation of the native term!

Answer: Gargantua

Gargantua was a figure of French folklore before becoming a part of Rabelais' famous work 'Gargantua' (1535). The giant Gargantua also combed his hair with a comb that was 900 feet long, among other exagerrated characteristics. We must have pity on his poor mother!

Answer: Asthma

Asthma is not the only word with this property, there are several other rare words that also begin and end with their only vowels, including 'isthmi', the plural of isthmus.

Answer: Chord

You may have thought about the term diameter here, but that would be incorrect. The diameter of a circle must bisect the circle, passing through the center. The segment creating the diameter is also a chord. The radius is half the diameter, joining any point along the circumference of a circle with the center. A sector is any section of a circle between the radii. Now I'm hungry for a slice of pi...er, pie! (I can just hear the groans...)

Answer: Seminole

Most of the Seminoles, located in Florida, were moved to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma), but a small group held out in the Florida Everglades until 1934, when a settlement was arranged.

Answer: Canterbury

Queen Bertha's Walk will take you from the center of town, where the great cathedral is located, to the outskirts of the town, where you will find the oldest continuously used church in England, St. Martin's. Along the way you can view the Roman Museum and St. Augustine's Abbey, among other interesting sites. Queen Bertha was the wife of a very early English king, Ethelbert.

She was partially responsible for the rise of Christianity in England, helping to bring St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, to England.