General Knowledge Quiz
13/01/2023
Lobster Thermidor.
In this usually expensive dish, lobster meat is cooked in wine sauce and stuffed back into its shell, often eaten with a sauce based on egg yolk and brandy.
Its name comes from the controversial play Thermidor (1891) by Victorien Sardou, which, in its turn, is inspired by the Thermidorian Reaction (1794), which ended the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution.
Gaius Maecenas.
Maecenas (circa 70-8 B.C.) was an advisor of Octavian (known as Augustus after becoming the first Roman Emperor in 27 B.C.) and operated as a sort of minister of culture, becaming the patron for a multitude of poets (such as Horace and Virgil) and supporting their work. His surname, thus, became a synonym for patron of arts (Maecenas).
Vietnam.
Mekong is the 12th longest river in the world (3rd longest in Asia behind the Yangtze and the Yellow rivers). It starts in the Tibetan plateau in China, also running through Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, finally reaching the South China Sea in Vietnam.
Although it is not a navigation-friendly river due to its waterfalls and flow variations, the Mekong is an important commercial route, with major cities in its banks, such as Phnom Penh and Vientiane, the capitals of Cambodia and Laos, respectively.
Paul Revere.
During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Paul Revere, one of the American Founding Fathers, became famous for his valiant horseback ride on the night of April 18th, 1775 in which he alerted the American troops near Boston of a British offensive preceeding the battles of Lexington and Concord – this effort was captured in a 1861 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow entitled Paul Revere’s Ride.
Revered was also a successful silversmith.
Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus Carlsen is a 32-year-old Norwegian chess player and the reigning 5-time World Chess Champion. Additionally, he is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion.
He holds the record for the highest ranking ever obtained (2882).
Huginn and Muninn.
The myths tell us that these crows fly throughout the world (named Midgard, 1 of the 9 worlds in Norse mythology and the one inhabitted by humans) and bring information to the god Odin. In Old Norse, Huginn means Thought and Muninn means Memory.
These beings have been represented in literature and cinema, for instance in the Edda or in the TV show Vikings (2013-2020).
Zach Braff.
Zach Braff is an American actor, producer and director. Born in 1975 in New Jersey, Braff is mostly known for his role as Dr. John Dorian in the TV show Scrubs.
The first movie directed by Braff was Garden State (2004), in which he acted alongside the actress Natalie Portman.
Hadith.
The Hadith are revered as a major source of religious law and moral guidance. In Islam, only the Quran is above the Hadith in terms of religious guidance.
Moreover, the Hadith contain significantly more guidance than the Quran in many areas, from civil behaviors to religious devotion and practices. Thus, most rules in the Sharia Law as based on the Hadith, rather than the Quran.
Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, Google.
These companies are among the most relevant and influential when it comes to the tech world, being considered major players in their business sectors.
On the picture one can observe the logo of Meta, the company that currently holds Facebook.
Word Play: What word can be related to these other four?
American.
American Idiot – Green Day album released in 2004
The American President (1995) – Movie featuring Michael Douglas and Annette Bening
American Dad – Animated TV Series
American Woman – Single from the band Guess Who released in 1970
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