Category: History

[92]

undefined

Santa Maria delle Grazie (“Holy Mary of Grace”) is a lovely, if initially unassuming, 15th-century terracotta-stone church and convent located in Milan, Italy. While every brick of the church is rightly regarded as an architectural and artistic jewel, there’s something special about the north wall in the dining hall that led to the building’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On the night of August 15, 1943, an Allied aerial strike partly destroyed the site — that north wall was one of the few left standing, having been protected since the start of World War II by sandbags and scaffolding.

Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan bombardamento del 1943

The north wall, protected by scaffolding
The wall in question after the bombing

Why is that wall so important?

Show Answer
The entire north wall of the refectory is home to the original fresco of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

[86]

The Spanish city of Bilbao, on the Bay of Biscay, has two official languages – one is, quite obviously, Spanish. The other language, last of its kind, bears no relation whatsoever to Spanish or any other modern European language. What language is this?

Show Answer
Basque, the last surviving descendant of any Paleo-European language, spoken in parts of northern Spain and southwestern France

[62]

The following is the draft of a letter for President Nixon in case of a certain mission failure. Can you identify what the letter was written for?
nixon letter

Show Answer
The letter was written in case Apollo 11 failed in its Moon mission
Read More

[39]

Robert Nivelle, one of the French Generals at the Battle of Verdun famously told his troops – “They shall __ __”, urging his troops not to let the enemy through.
A soldier, fighting in the Battle of the Somme, used this years later as something one of his characters says before his ‘death’.
Id the soldier & the quotation.

Show Answer
JRR Tolkien, "You shall not pass" said by Gandalf the Grey

[19]

Prior to the American Civil War, US accounted for 77% of the cotton consumed in Great Britain. Since majority of this was produced in the Southern states,  The Confederacy tried to use this to their advantage. The plan was to blockage cotton shipments to get Britain to side with the Southern states in the war.
However, the plan backfired when Britain turn to another country for their supplies, developing railway lines, industries and uplifting the fortune of a particular port city in the country (which is now known for its ‘mills’).
Guess the country which supplied cotton to Britain. Bonus points for guessing the port city.

Show Answer
India and the city of Bombay. This is thought to be one of the first instances of Globalization.
Countries like Egypt & Brazil were also beneficiaries of this.
Read More

[16]

There is an urban legend related to the political leadership of Russia. It has been followed from 1825, since the time of Nicholas I. Its latest occurrence can be seen in the last 4 leaders as well.
What am I talking about?
Russian leaders

Show Answer
Bald-hairy, referring to the empirical rule of the state leaders' succession defined as a change of a bald or balding leader to a hairy one and vice versa.
Read more

[14]

Sanjiv Mehta, owner of a luxury lifestyle brand unveiled a basketball sized coin to commemorate the life of Queen Elizabeth II. Made up of 8 pounds of gold, 6,426 diamonds, the ‘coin’ is valued at $23 million.
Mehta acquired this ‘brand’ in 2005, though the company itself originated in 1600 in Britain. What did he acquire?
Sanjiv Mehta

Show Answer
East India Company
Mehta acquired the rights to the name and the coat of arms in 2005. The company now sells luxury products including jewelry, homeware and commemorative coins that “capture moments in history for contemporary enthusiasts and future generations to treasure,”

[13]

What is common between the following wars? (non-exhaustive list)

    • Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta between 431–404 BC
    • Punic Wars between Rome & Carthage around 240BC
    • First Balkan War (1912–13) between Turkey on one side & Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Montenegro on the other side
    • Irish War of Independence from 1919 to 1921 between Ireland & the UK
    • First Kashmir War of 1947–1948 between India & Pakistan
    • Six-Day War of 1967 between Israel & Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia (plus Lebanon)

Show Answer
These are some of the few wars in history recorded between democracies.