Quite Random Historical Facts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Qin

Chinese history usually starts with the Xia dynasty (roughly between 2070 BCE and 1600 BCE), but there are almost no written records from this time. It may thus be hard to find the names of the monarchs. The second dynasty was the Shang dynasty (about 1600 BCE - 1046 BCE), followed by the Zhou dynasty (1046 BCE - 256 BCE). After the fall of the Zhou dynasty, several kingdoms arose, and one of them (the Qin dynasty) reunited the territory in 221 BCE.
The Qin dynasty started with Qin Shi Huang, who ascended to the throne of King of Qin around 247 BCE, and took the title of Emperor after reuniting the different kingdoms emerged from the fall of the Zhou dynasty. Qin Shi Huang was succeeded by his son Qin Er Shi in 210 BCE. Three years later Qin Er Shi was succeeded by his nephew Qin San Shi, who remained Emperor for one year only.
Qi was one of the kingdoms reunited by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. While the Qin kingdom was landlocked, the Qi kingdom bordered on the Yellow Sea near the mound of the Yellow River.
Qiongdu was a region just outside the Qin Empire, now corresponding to the county Xichang in the south of the province Sichuan. The history of Qiongdu has only been reported since the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 AD).
Qing was the last Chinese dynasty (1636 AD - 1912 AD), which ended when China transformed into a republic. 

Answer: Quirites

Quirites was the name we're looking for. The etymology of the word is disputed, but it may be derived from "co viri", literally "together men". The ius quiritium (right of the Quirites) was the term for full citizenship, once reserved for the free men living in the inner city of Rome. Later on this ius quiritium was granted to free-born men from neighbouring cities, from the whole of Italy, and even from some of the provinces. Qauerentes is the Latin translation of "the searchers". Quaestores (singular quaestor) were the Roman officials whose duties were related to the treasury. Quirinales is a word that does not exist in Latin: it would be equivalent to the plural of the mountain named Quirinalis, but Romans did know only one mountain with this name. 

Answer: Queen Victoria of the UK

A queen regnant is a queen who rules in her own right, not the wife of a reigning king. Some countries (such as France) never had a Queen regnant, while others had very famous Queens.
Queen Victoria ascended to the throne of the United Kingdom in June 1837, at the tender age of 18. She stayed in office until her death in January 1901, thus ruling for more than 63 years. Although the UK was already a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch had little official power, Victoria certainly had a great influence on what was going on. Indeed, later historians have coined the term "Victorian age" for the nineteenth century.
Queen Wilhelmina was born in 1880. She inherited the Dutch throne in 1890, but until she was of age her mother Emma acted as queen-regent. In 1898 the regency of Emma ended, and Wilhelmina ruled until 1948. She abdicated in 1948 and lived fourteen more years in retirement.
Queen Maria-Theresa of Austria-Hungary was the sole heir to the Habsburg throne. Technically she was not the Queen of Austria, as this was "merely" an Archduchy, but she held the titles of Queen of Hungary, Queen of Bohemia, Queen of Croatia and several more. Maria-Theresa ruled for forty years, until her death in 1780 (aged 63).
Queen Isabella was born in 1451. She became Queen of Castile and Leon in 1474, and Queen consort of Aragon in 1479. She ruled until her death in 1504, so for thirty years, and is best known for completing the Reconquista of Spain on the Moors, and for financing Columbus' expedition to the west in 1492.

Answer: Quo usque tandem

Marcus Tullius Cicero was born in 106 BCE and became consul of Rome in 63 BCE (with Gaius Minor Hybrida, who did not come to an important role). Soon after Cicero took upon him this supreme office, he discovered a widespread conspiracy led by Lucius Sergius Catilina. Cicero used his talents as orator to denounce Catilina and chase him and his troupe out of the city of Rome.
The first oration started with the words "Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra?" - translated "Until when, Catilina, will you abuse our patience?" Even 2000 years afterwards, these sentences are widely known.
"Quod erat demonstrandum" is a Latin phrase meaning "what had to be proven". It is mostly used in mathematical discourses, but has also influenced writers of detective stories.
"Quid pro quo" is a short Latin expression meaning literally "something for something". It is used as a sign that one of the parties involved, considers a bargain to be fair enough.
"Qui amat periculum in illo peribit" is the Latin version of an ancient expression meaning "He who loves danger, will perish by it".

Answer: Quisling

Vidkun Quisling was born in 1887. He chose at first for a military career (rising to the General Staff in 1911), but resigned in 1923. Quisling joined the political party Nasjonal Samling ("National Association"), which shared many views with Hitler's NSDAP.
When Germany invaded Norway, Quisling staged a coup (soon recognised by the Germans) to oust the Norwegian government and end hostilities against Germany. After a brief time Quisling became the Minister-President of Norway.
At the end of the war, Quisling disagreed with Hitler's "scorched earth" policy and tried relentlessly to spare the live of as many Norwegians as possible.
Quisling was convicted for war crimes and executed in October 1945.

Answer: Quatre-Bras

Napoleon escaped from his exile on Elba and had amassed once again a large army. The Prussian army advanced from the northeast, while the English army (supporting the Dutch) closed in from the north. Napoleon wanted to defeat either of the forces before they could join and vastly outnumber the French.
On June 16, one half of the French army confronted the Prussian army at Ligny (nowadays in the province of Namur, about 50 km south of Brussels). The French routed the Prussians here.
At the same time, the rest of the French army delivered battle to the English and Dutch armies near Quatre-Bras, some 15 km to the north-west. Initially the French were victorious, but as more and more English and Dutch reinforcements arrived, the battle was very disputed. The French army did succeed in avoiding the meeting of both opposing armies, but they could not inflict to the British a major defeat.
Quievrain is a small village in Hainaut, historically only known for a minor incident in 1848. Quenast is a submunicipality of the Hainaut village of Rebecq, birthplace of the entrepreneur Ernest Solvay. Quevaucamps is part of the Hainaut village of Beloeil, named after a castle in the village.

Answer: Quesnay

François Quesnay (1694-1774) at first studied medicine. Later he became one of the counsellors of King Louis XV and studied economics and Chinese politics. He was one of the first to sketch the economic flows. In Quesnay's model agricultural produce is the origin of all wealth, and he describes how the net profit flows between different classes of society. Adolphe Quetelet (1796-1874) was a Belgian statistician, founder of the Belgian meteorological institution. Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817) was an Italian architect who worked most of the time in Saint-Petersburg. Quarrendon was a village in Buckinghamshire, where once Queen Elizabeth I stayed for a few days.

Answer: Qom

Khomeini (1902-1989) studied the Quran, the sharia (Islamic law) and fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), but also philosophy and literature. He became one of the leading figures of the Shia Islamic scholars. When Shah Reza Pahlavi announced a reform programme including westernization and secularization, the Shia Muslims rallied under Khomeini to denounce the threat for their religious beliefs. Khomeini at that time lived in Qom, a centre of Shia Islam. Quarten is a small village in the Swiss canton Sankt Gallen. Qumran is a site near the Dead Sea (and near the Palestine-Jordanian border) where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Quito is the capital of Ecuador.

Answer: Quellin

The Quellin family also used the Latinised surname Quellinus. The first of the Quellin family to gain artistic reconnaissance, was Erasmus I (1584-1640). He was a sculptor specialized in decorating interiors. Alas, most of his work was lost - only a few pulpits remain.
Erasmus I had three sons: Erasmus II (painter and engraver, 1607-1678), Artus I (sculptor, 1609-1668) and Hubertus (engraver, 1619-1687).
Erasmus II also had a son who took up painting: Jan Erasmus (1634-1715).
Besides this branch of the family (Erasmus I and his sons and grandson), there was also another branch headed by Artus II (1625-1700), a full nephew of Erasmus I. Artus II in turn had three sons: Artus III (sculptor, 1653-1686), Thomas (sculptor, 1661-1709) and Cornelis (painter, 1658-1709).
Della Quercia was the name of two Italian Renaissance painters: Iacopo della Quercia (1367-1438) and his very younger brother Priamo (1400-1467).
Pieter Janszoon Quast (1605-1647) was a Dutch painter.
Domenico Quaglio the Younger (1787-1837) was an Italian painter active in Munich. He was one of a family including at least fifteen artists.

Answer: Quaker

George Fox (1624-1691) desired to spread humility and simplicity under the Christians of his time. His views differed from the clerical habits of the time, and thus Fox and his followers at first were subject to persecutions. Fox named his followers the "Children of the Light" or the "Friends of the Truth", but one of his opponents coined the term "Quakers" because Fox inspired his followers to "tremble at the word of the Lord". Starting around 1650, many Friends fled from England towards the Americas. William Penn (1644-1718), one of the Friends, even founded a state welcoming Quaker emigrants - the state now recorded as Pennsylvania.