(130) Roman Detachable Statues

Roman statues were made with detachable parts, so, if needed, some could be removed and replaced by another. What parts of the statues were usually detachable ?

ANSWER: Heads

(120) The Mysterious Gaze

The portrait of a young girl with an aghast facial expression suddenly became one of the most famous faces in photography ever seen. Name the person and interpret her life story.

ANSWER: Sharbat Gula, an Afghan woman of Pashtun ethnicity. Forced to leave her home in Afghanistan during the Soviet war to a refugee camp in Pakistan where she was photographed by journalist Steve McCurry. The image made her famous when it was featured on the June 1985 cover of National Geographic Magazine, at a time when she was approximately 13 years old. Gula was known throughout the world simply as the Afghan Girl until she was formally identified in early 2002. (source : Wikipedia)

(118) Early Whistleblower

This clergyman wrote to the his head of state about mass suicides, people refusing to reproduce through abstinence and abortion, and people committing infanticide so that their children would avoid a life of brutal servitude.

Who was this clergyman, what was his title, to whom did he write his letter?

submitted by: techfun

Answer timer: Time's up!

ANSWER: Friar Pedro de Córdoba - Vice-Provincial of the Dominican Islands in 1517 in a letter to Ferdinand, the King of Spain.

Excerpt of the letter:
"As a result of the sufferings and hard labor they endured, the Indians choose and have chosen suicide. Occasionally a hundred have committed mass suicide. The women, exhausted by labor, have shunned conception and childbirth . . . Many, when pregnant, have taken something to abort and have aborted. Others after delivery have killed their children with their own hands, so as not to leave them in such oppressive slavery."

learn more... / and more...

(117) The Colosseum

The Colosseum received its name not for its size, but for a colossal statue of who that stood close by?

ANSWER: Nero

(116) Shakespeare's Actresses

What was very significant about women's roles in the age of Shakespeare ?

ANSWER: Women's roles were played by men

(109) New Old Buildings

This building, in an ancient city, is nearly one century old. It stays looking new because it gets a new surface every year. Name the building, the city, and the rather odd ornaments that top each of the three spires.

submitted by: techfun

ANSWER: The building is the Great Mosque in Djenne, Mali. Each spire is topped with an ostrich egg to symbolize fertility and purity. Each spring, the local people replaster the outside so it stays looking new.

(95) Beautiful WWII Spy

Which world famous actress did undercover work for the Allies against the Nazis in the WW2 ?

ANSWER: Greta Garbo

(87) My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Name the two men who were the first to be able to say: "Yesterday I was in the Americas, today I'm in Europe."

ANSWER: Alcock and Brown (made the first non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean in June 1919)

(83) Ain't Wars Stupid ?

In the naval battle of Trafalgar on 21st October 1805, the British fleet defeated the combined French and Spanish fleet. It's an interesting fact that more people died after the battle of Trafalgar due to the bad weather than during the whole battle itself. The few sailors who survived the battle lost as a result of the battle?

ANSWER: Their hearing (from the noise of cannons)

(68) 100 Million Year Old Veggie

This was one of the biggest animals to walk the Earth. What's its scientific name ?

ANSWER: Paralitian stromeri, second largest dinosaur known (30 meters long and massing 75 tonnes)

(64) The First Photographs

The first photographs were named after the French inventor - what were they called?

ANSWER: daguerreotypes / learn more...

(37) Trinidad and Tobago's coat of arms

There are three little sailboats on the Trinidad and Tobago's coat of arms. The sailboats represent an important historical event. Which one ?

ANSWER: The discovery of America. Sailboats represent 3 Columbus's ships - Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria.

(29) The first public library in the world

What city holds the distinction of opening the world's first public library in 1747?

ANSWER: Załuski Library in Warsaw, Poland

(28) French bicolor flag becoming tricolor

What color was added to the French flag during the French revolution?

ANSWER: White

(27) The first advertisement ever

In which ruins was the first known written advertisement found?

ANSWER: Thebes, Greece, 1000 B.C.