World History and Geography Tidbits Quiz

Answer: the Rock of Gibraltar

Loosely meaning 'go beyond at your peril'. What was beyond the Rock was of course unknown at that time. Strategically important, Gibraltar was ceded to Great Britain by Spain in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. In a 1967 referendum, Gibraltarians ignored Spanish pressure and voted overwhelmingly to remain a British dependency.

Answer: 9 years

The impeachment proceeding was started by Edmund Burke in 1786, following the return of Hastings from his post as Governor-General of India the year before. Finally, in 1795 the House of Lords acquitted {Hastings;} out of 29 members voting the most the House Managers could muster for conviction on any of the charges was 6 votes.

Answer: Northwest

Panama lies roughly in the shape of a semi-circle with the opening to the South. At the point where the Panama canal cuts through it, the Atlantic side is actually Northwest of the Pacific side. In fact, when a ship exits the Canal on the Atlantic side, it is 22 miles WEST of where it was when it entered the Canal on the Pacific side.

Answer: 8

It is surprising that this many countries border Turkey, given that 75 per cent of its border is water. The 8 countries, along with the length of the common borders, are: Armenia (268 km), Azerbaijan (9 km), Bulgaria (240 km), Georgia (252 km), Greece (206 km), Iran (499 km), Iraq (331 km), and Syria (822 km).

Answer: She was displeased with Raleigh's love affair with one of her maids of honor.

After his release from the Tower, he married the lady involved, Bessie Throckmorton. It was later, during the reign of James I, that he was framed for plotting against the throne, and he was eventually beheaded in 1618.

Answer: 35 per cent

Out of the 17,000 islands in the archipelago that is Indonesia, about 6,000 are inhabited. This seems an amazingly high number of inhabited islands, and accounts for Indonesia now being the 4th-most populated country in the world. How in the world would you govern a country spread out over that many islands?

Answer: Lisbon, Portugal

Lisbon is on the Westernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula, putting it farther West than even Dublin.

Answer: Athens, Greece

Even Athens is a bit farther North than San Francisco, while the others are considerably farther North.

Answer: Iceland

The Althing, the Icelandic parliament, was established in 930.

Answer: Libya

In November of 1949 the UN General Assembly approved a resolution stating that Libya should become independent as soon as possible. A United Nations Commissioner was appointed for the purpose of assisting the people of Libya in the formation of the constitution and the establishment of an independent government.

Historically, the administration of Libya had been united for only a few years, and those under Italian rule, so forming a unified nation out of the three provinces of Libya was a daunting task.

However, in due course a National Constituent Assembly was created, in which each of the three provinces was equally represented, and the assembly offered the throne to Idris, who on December 24, 1951, proclaimed the independence of the United Kingdom of Libya as a sovereign state.