The first letters of the answers to the first 9 questions spell out the name of a famous, though controversial, personality from British and world history.
- Which country was rocked by the Taiping Rebellion between 1850 and 1864? Lower estimates for the number of casualties from the Rebellion at 20 million.
- Which future president travelled the world as a mining engineer in the years to 1914, then organized food relief in Belgium after the outbreak of the First World War?
- In World War Two, the Graf Spee battleship was severely damaged in the Battle of River Plate. Which neutral country did it unsuccessfully try to seek sanctuary in following the battle?
- Which dynasty was established by a National Assembly in Moscow in 1613, placing Tsar Michael I on the throne?
- Which historical figure died in Hawaii on 14 February 1779, attempting to kidnap a Hawaiian chief?
- What was the name of the Australian Prime Minister who went missing while swimming in the sea off Queensland, and was never seen again?
- In which country did the US engineer a coup to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq, in 1953?
- In which UK city was the body of Richard III discovered in a car park in 2012?
- Which extant small European country’s head of state is not a king or queen, but a Grand Duke?
- What historical figure’s name is spelled out by the first letters of the above answers?
Answers below (scroll down)
- Which country was rocked by the Taiping Rebellion between 1850 and 1864? Lower estimates for the number of casualties from the Rebellion at 20 million.
A: China (if you want to know more about what may have been the deadliest conflict in human history, this edition of In Our Time, a British radio show, is a great place to start) - Which future president travelled the world as a mining engineer in the years to 1914, then organized food relief in Belgium after the outbreak of the First World War?
A: Herbert Hoover (the ever excellent Bill Bryson wrote about Hoover in his book “One Summer: America 1927”, an extract of which you can read here) - In World War Two, the Graf Spee battleship was severely damaged in the Battle of River Plate. Which neutral country did it unsuccessfully try to seek sanctuary in following the battle?
A: Uruguay - Which dynasty was established by a National Assembly in Moscow in 1613, placing Tsar Michael I on the throne?
A: Romanov - Which historical figure died in Hawaii on 14 February 1779, attempting to kidnap a Hawaiian chief?
A: Captain Cook - What was the name of the Australian Prime Minister who went missing while swimming in the sea off Queensland, and was never seen again?
A: Harold Holt (though as his body was never found, conspiracy theories abound, as outlined here) - In which country did the US engineer a coup to overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadeq, in 1953?
A: Iran - In which UK city was the body of Richard III discovered in a car park in 2012?
A: Leicester - Which extant small European country’s head of state is not a king or queen, but a Grand Duke?
A: Luxembourg - What historical figure’s name is spelled out by the first letters of the above answers?
A: Churchill
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