2. Two written rounds
One clockwise and One anti-clockwise rounds
Infinite Pounce on all questions under controlled
conditions
The modus operandi will be explained by the QM
3. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana
4.
5. Six Questions
10 points each
Additional 1o points for getting all 6 right
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14. These were Katyusha rocket launchers and because of
the resemblance they had to church organ pipes and
the sound the made while on flight, these were known
as Stalin’s Organs.
26. In the year 680, a nomadic people of Hunnish and
Iranian descent who called themselves a name meaning
“mixed” were led by their Khan Asparuch to the borders
of Byzantium Empire and imposed crushing defeat on
the forces of Emperor Constantine IV. They took over all
the Byzantine lands north of Balkan mountain range.
The year 681 is now celebrated as the founding of a
present nation state. Which country?
29. The Sarmatians emerged in the 7th century BC in a region of
the steppe in Eastern Europe. They were nomads who used to
fight on horseback and used heavy weaponry. In the 3rd
century BC, they spilled over the Don to attack the Scythians
on the Pontic steppe to the north of the Black Sea. The
Sarmatians were to dominate these territories over the next
five centuries. In the 2nd century of our era, the Sarmatians
came under attack from a group of people who ended up
adopting the Sarmatian taste for heavy, ornate forms and for
metalwork encrusted with colored enamel and semi-
precious stones. And it is through this ethnic group that
Europe came to know the Sarmatian decorative style and
hence our current name for this style is a misnomer. What?
32. This Greek settlement was established around 720 BC
in Southern Italy. Wonderful stories were told about
it's Greek citizen's refinement, so as to explain their
eventual destruction. They are said to have banned
cockerels because they disturbed their sleep; they
invented chamber pots and took them along to their
drinking-parties; they taught cavalry horses to dance
to the tune of flutes and is believed to have invented
the Turkish bath. A word meaning a lover of luxury has
been derived from this place. Where/What word?
35. The North African elephant was a possible subspecies of
the African bush elephant, or possibly a separate
elephant species, that existed in North Africa until
becoming extinct in Ancient Roman times. It is also
possible that it was more docile than the African bush
elephant, which is generally untamable, allowing them
to be tamed by a method now lost to history. What proof
does history provide for the existence of these beasts?
38. These were the elephants used by Hannibal to cross
Alps. However Hannibal’s personal elephant called the
Surus belonged to a much larger now extinct species
called Syrian Elephant.
39. An example of weird Nazi science, the Heck cattle
originated in the 1920s and 1930s in an attempt to breed
back domestic cattle to their ancestral form. The idea
was to regenerate Bos primigenius, the ancestor of
domestic cattle. These wild cattle inhabited Europe, Asia
and North Africa and they survived in Europe until the
last recorded animal, a female, died in the Jaktorów
Forest, Poland in 1627.The project was supported by
Hermann Göring, who kept Heck cattle .A
reconstruction of the ancestral cattle also fitted into the
Nazi propaganda drive to symbolize the originality and
purity of the Aryan nation. What animal?
42. This Roman philosopher was forced to commit suicide for
alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate
Nero. Tacitus give a romanticized account of his suicide, he
followed tradition by severing several veins in order to bleed
to death. His age and diet were blamed for slow loss of blood
after dictating his last words to a scribe, and with a circle of
friends attending him in his home, he immersed himself in a
warm bath, which was expected to speed blood flow and ease
his pain. It is also believed that he had been converted to the
Christian faith by Saint Paul, and early humanists regarded
his fatal bath as a kind of disguised baptism. His death was
depicted in many painting including a Peter Paul Rubens
painting shown in next slide. Who?
46. By 670 BC there was a famous change in Greek military tactics
until then the fighting force was mainly composed of aristocrats
who comprised the cavalry. This tactic is attributed to Phiedon of
Argos and involved infantry men with large shields about three
feet across. These massive shields could protect a warrior's left
side from his chin down to his knees. In a massed line the
overlapping shields of each warrior's neighbor covered his right
side and this freed his right hand to use a spear or a short sword.
The prevailing Greek cavalry could not charge down this heavy
armored line of infantry as long as the ranks stood firm.
Thus, noble horsemen became peripheral and champions and
their individual duals diminished. They were common citizens
who were mustered whenever necessary and were named after
their shields. Their emergence was a necessary precondition of
Greek Tyranny who acted as a bridge between oligarchy and
democracy. Who?
49. The Hoplites who were named after their shields
Hoplons
50. During the second phase of the Peloponnesian War, Athens, the
Superpower of those times invaded a small volcanic island in the Aegean
Sea. Before starting the siege the Athenians decided to negotiate with the
islanders. This conflict was recorded in Thucydides' History of the
Peloponnesian War. The arguments show how the islanders were put in
quite the predicament: to save themselves and surrender or have their
nation completely destroyed for the sake of independence.
Snippets of the argument:
“The islanders argue that they are a neutral city and not an enemy, so
Athens has no need to crush them. The Athenians counter that, if they
accept the islanders' neutrality and independence, they would look weak”
The arguments and counter arguments go on and in the end, Athens
invades the island and massacres its inhabitants. It is said the decline of
Athens began with this atrocity and eventually Athens was defeated by
Sparta and her allies.
Identify this tiny island which quizzers know for another reason.
53. In the early days of the Civil War, General-in-Chief Winfield Scott's
proposed strategy for the war against the South had two prominent
features: first, all ports in the seceding states were to be rigorously
blockaded; second, a strong force of perhaps 80,000 men should use
_________ as a highway to thrust completely through the Confederacy. A
spearhead consisting of a relatively small force, a should advance rapidly,
capturing the Confederate positions along the route in sequence. They
would be followed by a more traditional army, marching behind them to
secure the victories. The culminating battle would be for the forts below
New Orleans; when they fell, the route would be in Federal hands, and
the rebellion would be cut in two. Because the blockade would be rather
passive, it was widely derided by the vociferous faction who wanted a
more vigorous prosecution of the war, and who likened it to an animal
suffocating its victim. What was the name of this plan and also identify
the "route".
56. In a book released in 1969 A.J.P. Taylor argued that prior to World
War One the continental powers hoped to develop a deterrent that
would lead to other powers seeing the risk of war as too dangerous.
One way was to develop better arms and indulge in arms race. The
other interesting deterrent was related to the mobilization of the
forces. The technological advancements of the time presented a
unique opportunity to the Commanders and they spent
considerable time working on a particular aspect of mobilization. It
is said that it forced invasion (of Belgium from Germany) as an
unavoidable physical and logistical consequence of German
mobilization. Taylor argued that the mobilization that was meant
to serve as a threat and deterrent to war instead relentlessly caused
a world war by forcing invasion. What is this aspect of mobilization
which according Taylor was one of the major Casus Belli for the
WW1?
59. It is a hand tool used in many situations where a
mechanical advantage is required to cut or pull an
object. They are first-class levers, but differ from pliers
in that the concentration of force is either to a point, or
to an edge perpendicular to the length of the tool and it
allows the tool to be brought close to a surface, as is
often required when working with nails. They are
primarily used for removing objects out of a material
that they have been previously applied to.
62. The celebrated maneuver
- the pincer movement
is named after this
instrument. Here red
envelopes the blue force.
It was used in many
battles including the
Battle of Marathon and
Battle of Cannae
63. This rationale of establishing this order has been often
quoted as "It is with such baubles that men are led." The
order was the first modern order of merit. The orders of
the monarchy were often limited to Roman Catholics
and all knights had to be noblemen. The military
decorations were the perks of the officers. This new
order was however, was open to men of all ranks and
professions. Only merit or bravery counted. It is
noteworthy that all previous orders were crosses or
shared a clear Christian background, whereas it is a
secular institution. The jewel of this order has five arms.
What order?
66. The Arab historian al-Maqrīzī, writing in the 15th
century, attributes it to Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr, a
Sufi Muslim. In AD 1378, upon finding the local peasants
making offerings in the hope of increasing their
harvest, Sa'im al-Dahr was so outraged that he ended up
vandalizing it and was promptly hanged .There are
various stories involving a magic carpet, cannonballs of
Napoleon's soldiers, British troops, the Mamluks, and
others. What?
69. This battles was an engagement between the Russian Empire
and the German Empire in the first days of World War I. It
was fought by the Russian Second Army against the German
Eighth Army between 26 August and 30 August 1914.The
battle resulted in the almost complete destruction of the
Russian Second Army. Although the battle actually took place
close to Allenstein (Olsztyn), General Erich Ludendorff's
aide, Colonel Max Hoffmann, suggested naming it after a
place some 30km to the west, in the interest of Pan-German
ideology, to counter the defeat of the Teutonic Knights in 1410
by the Poles, Lithuanians and Tatars. Which Battle?
72. This is perhaps one of the strangest objects to come
out of the Cultural Revolution in China. In August
1968 Chairman Mao met a delegation from a
neighboring country and was gifted something, which
he then redistributed to various teams in Beijing.
Rather than consume them, they were preserved. And
since the actual artifact could not be preserved
indefinitely, wax replicas were made. It also showed up
on pins along with Chairman Mao, on propaganda
posters, and on signs to name a few. What gift did Mao
get?
76. According to Herodotus this Greek God left Greece and
went on a tour and famously came to India. He then
conquered India, founded cities, introduced cities and
taught Indians agriculture and wine making. Alexander
during his conquest came across a city called Nysa where
the city folk pleaded Alexander to spare them in the
name of the Greek God. It is also believed that the God
named mountain near the city , Meru or the Thigh-
because legend has it that he grew in the thigh of Zeus.
Who was this Greek God?
79. The three French men pictured here (with another unknown man in
uniform) were alleged to have been ordered to say the “Shahada” and
convert to Islam temporarily. A highly controversial Fatwa was issued to
legitimize this action. All this was necessitated by the actions of the man
pictured in the next slide.
Explain.
82. Grand Mosque seizure of 1979.
A group of Islamists under the command of
Juhayman al-Otaibi seized the holy shrine of
Mecca. The French GIGN commandos were called
in to end the seige. Since, only Muslims are
allowed inside the mosque, they had to be
converted first.
83. Rulers of a particular royal
family used to offer prayers
to this tree located within a
temple dedicated to Lord
Krishna. The tree is closely
associated with a famous
ruler of the dynasty and his
rise to power. By what
popular name is it known?
85. Ammachi plavu (“mother jackfruit tree”).
The rulers of Travancore used to pay their respects
to this tree which shielded Marthanda Varma from
his enemies, while he was fighting for his survival.
86. K F Rustamji, was a police officer who served as the
chief security officer of Nehru. In 1965, he was
asked to set up the Border Security Force (BSF) in
India. In 1978 he visited the jails in Bihar and wrote
two articles in the Indian Express about the
conditions of the undertrials languishing in the
jails for long periods without a trial. These articles
formed the basis for the first ____ in India. Fill up.
91. The surrender of Hiroo Onada, a Japanese soldier from
WWII, who continued his guerilla fight in the jungles
of Philippines till 1974. Onada never believed that the
war had ended and surrendered only after his former
commander came back to relieve him of his
responsibilities.
93. 5 questions
10 points each
Bonus of 10 for getting all answers correct
94. Who, reporting what news?
“If the exhibition of the most brilliant valor, of the excess of courage, and of
a daring which would have reflected luster on the best days of chivalry can
afford full consolation for the disaster of today, we can have no reason to
regret the melancholy loss which we sustained in a contest with a savage and
barbarian enemy.
I shall proceed to describe, to the best of my power, what occurred under
my own eyes, and to state the facts which I have heard from men whose
veracity is unimpeachable, reserving to myself the right of private judgment
in making public and in suppressing the details of what occurred on this
memorable day...
……………..
They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and
splendor of war. We could hardly believe the evidence of our senses. Surely
that handful of men were not going to charge an army in position? Alas! It
was but too true -- their desperate valor knew no bounds, and far indeed was
it removed from its so-called better part -- discretion.”
95. He claimed in his 1983 book “The Price of Power” that
former Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai had been paid
$20,000 a year by the CIA during the Johnson and Nixon
administration. Desai called the allegation "a scandalous
and malicious lie" and filed a $50 million libel suit against
him. By the time the case went to trial Desai, by then 93,
was too ill to attend. CIA director Richard Helms and
Henry Kissinger testified under oath that at no time did
Desai act in any capacity for the CIA, paid or otherwise.
Since ____ did not have to take the stand or reveal the
name of his alleged source, the Judge ruled in favor of
_____.
Name this reporter, more famous for a 1969 expose.
96. In 1902, the journalist ____ did an interview with
Henry H Rogers, one of the directors of the Standard
Oil Corporation. This formed the basis for her
negative exposé of the business practices of
industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the massive
Standard Oil organization. Her investigative
journalism series first appeared in a 1903 issue of
McClure's Magazine that ushered in the era of
muckraking journalism. Her work greatly influenced
the 1911 breaking up of Standard Oil under the
Sherman Antitrust Act.
Name the journalist.
97. “The most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their
cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by
insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of this open town far
behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during
which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three German
types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers, did not cease unloading on the
town bombs weighing from 1,000 lbs. downwards and, it is
calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium incendiary
projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the
centre of the town to machine-gun those of the civilian population
who had taken refuge in the fields.”…
This report was done by a Times reporter, who had rushed to
Geurnica a few hours after it was bombed and interviewed the
survivors. A reprinting of this report in a French Communist daily
was read by Picasso, leading to his famous artwork.
Name the reporter.
98. She spent four years interviewing
organizers and victims of the
Rwandan genocide. She had
campaigned for international
intervention long before the big
powers woke up to the massacres.
Later she testified several times
before an International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda.
Name this lady, who’s 1999 book
was described by the Economist
and the New York Times as the
definitive account of the Rwandan
genocide.
99.
100. Who, reporting what news?
“If the exhibition of the most brilliant valor, of the excess of courage, and of a
daring which would have reflected luster on the best days of chivalry can
afford full consolation for the disaster of today, we can have no reason to
regret the melancholy loss which we sustained in a contest with a savage and
barbarian enemy.
I shall proceed to describe, to the best of my power, what occurred under my
own eyes, and to state the facts which I have heard from men whose veracity
is unimpeachible, reserving to myself the right of private judgement in
making public and in surpressing the details of what occurred on this
memorable day...
……………..
They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and
splendor of war. We could hardly believe the evidence of our senses. Surely
that handful of men were not going to charge an army in position? Alas! It
was but too true -- their desperate valor knew no bounds, and far indeed was
it removed from its so-called better part -- discretion.”
101. William Howard Russell, reporting the Charge of the
Light Brigade.
102. He claimed in his 1983 book “The Price of Power” that
former Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai had been paid
$20,000 a year by the CIA during the Johnson and Nixon
administration. Desai called the allegation "a scandalous
and malicious lie" and filed a $50 million libel suit against
him. By the time the case went to trial Desai, by then 93,
was too ill to attend. CIA director Richard Helms and
Henry Kissinger testified under oath that at no time did
Desai act in any capacity for the CIA, paid or otherwise.
Since ____ did not have to take the stand or reveal the
name of his alleged source, the Judge ruled in favor of
_____.
Name this reporter, more famous for a 1969 expose.
104. In 1902, the journalist ____ did an interview with
Henry H Rogers, one of the directors of the Standard
Oil Corporation. This formed the basis for her
negative exposé of the business practices of
industrialist John D. Rockefeller and the massive
Standard Oil organization. Her investigative
journalism series first appeared in a 1903 issue of
McClure's Magazine that ushered in the era of
muckraking journalism. Her work greatly influenced
the 1911 breaking up of Standard Oil under the
Sherman Antitrust Act.
Name the journalist.
106. “The most ancient town of the Basques and the centre of their
cultural tradition, was completely destroyed yesterday afternoon by
insurgent air raiders. The bombardment of this open town far
behind the lines occupied precisely three hours and a quarter, during
which a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three German
types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers, did not cease unloading on the
town bombs weighing from 1,000 lbs. downwards and, it is
calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium incendiary
projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the
centre of the town to machine-gun those of the civilian population
who had taken refuge in the fields.”…
This report was done by a Times reporter, who had rushed to
Geurnica a few hours after it was bombed and interviewed the
survivors. A reprinting of this report in a French Communist daily
was read by Picasso, leading to his famous artwork.
Name the reporter.
108. She spent four years interviewing
organizers and victims of the
Rwandan genocide. She had
campaigned for international
intervention long before the big
powers woke up to the massacres.
Later she testified several times
before an International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda.
Name this lady, who’s 1999 book
was described by the Economist
and the New York Times as the
definitive account of the Rwandan
genocide.
111. The locations shown in the map (see next slide) are
designated as KV1, KV2 etc. in the order in which they
were discovered. This nomenclature was developed in
1821 by John Gardiner Wilkinson. What does “KV” stand
for?
114. King’s Valley.
These are the tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Tutankhamun’s tomb is KV62.
115. In 1859, at the age of 18, he made his passage to the United
States in search of a new life. Upon arriving in New
Orleans, he absconded from his boat. According to his own
declarations, he became friendly with a wealthy trader
named _______, by accident: he saw _____ sitting on a
chair outside his store and asked him if he had any job
opening for a person such as himself. However, he did so in
the British style, "Do you want a boy, sir?" As it happened,
the childless man had indeed been wishing he had a boy of
his own, and the inquiry led not only to a job, but to a close
relationship. The youth ended up taking the older man's
name. Who was the young boy?
117. John Rowlands adopted the name of Henry Hope
Stanley and became Henry Morton Stanley.
118. The “Tower of Blood” was a fort which witnessed the
execution of the last survivors of this elite corps. It is
believed that the ruler deliberately incited them to mutiny,
by announcing that he was forming a new army with
modern training methods. The old unit had become
corrupt over the years and was in decline. When news of
their replacement plan reached them, they marched on the
ruler’s palace. But the common people took up arms at the
call of the ruler and helped to peg back the revolting
troops. Artillery fire was used to destroy them and the
survivors were arrested. Which group was eliminated in
this 1826 event known as the “Auspicious Incident”?
121. Janissaries.
These were predominantly non-Turkish troops.
Sultan Mahmud II replaced them with Turkish
troops.
122. The "Battle of the Gradient" was not just a dispute
based on aesthetics. It was also a question of the
equality of the executive and administrative sections of
Government. Ultimately, the decision went in favor of
equality, leading the defeated party to claim that this
had been his “Bakerloo”.
The dispute also meant that the two friends fell out for
life.
Put funda.
124. Edwin Lutyens had been responsible for designing
the Viceroy’s residence (the future Rashtrapathi
Bhavan), while Herbert Baker was responsible for
designing the North and South Blocks, which
housed the Secratariat.
Lutyens wanted the Viceroy’s residence to be at a
higher elevation than the other two buildings, but
lost out to Baker. The result was that only the top
of the dome of Viceroy's House is visible from far
away.
125. This meeting was long considered to be one of the older
man's great missteps. A transcript of the meeting, which
has only now been released, shows that the older man
was actually trying to drive some sense into the head of
the younger one. ID both men
129. Even though is now mainly remembered for his work
concerning India, he also made some significant
contributions to the imperial cause in the African continent.
It was he who, on behalf of the proprietors of the Daily
Telegraph in conjunction with the New York Herald,
arranged the journey of H.M. Stanley to Africa to discover the
course of the Congo River, and Stanley named after him a
mountain to the north-east of Albert Edward Nyanza. He
must also be credited with the first idea of a great trunk line
traversing the entire African continent, for in 1874 he first
employed the phrase "Cape to Cairo railway" subsequently
popularized by Cecil Rhodes. Who?
132. It is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists. It
performs an optical superimposition of the subject being
viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is
drawing. The artist sees both scene and drawing surface
simultaneously, this allows the artist to duplicate key
points of the scene on the drawing surface, thus aiding
in the accurate rendering of perspective. It was patented
in 1807 by William Hyde Wollaston. There seems to be
evidence that it was actually nothing but a reinvention of
a device clearly described 200 years earlier by Johannes
Kepler in his Dioptrice (1611). Identify this instrument
which was named to recall a much older drawing aid.
137. It was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had
three or more masts and a square rig. They were
generally narrow for their length, could carry limited
bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and
had a large total sail area. They sailed all over the world,
primarily on the trade routes between the United
Kingdom and its colonies in the east. The term for these
ships most likely derives from a verb which in former
times meant, among other things, to run or fly swiftly.
The fastest of these ships could travel three quarters
around the globe in 100 odd days. What were these ships
called and what were their primary cargo?
142. The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought
between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan
National Liberation Army (MNLA), the military arm of
the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), from 1948 to
1960. The conflict also saw the re-introduction of SAS
after it was disbanded after the World War 2.The
Malayan Emergency was the colonial government's term
for the conflict. The MNLA termed it the Anti-British
National Liberation War. Why did the British want to
call it an emergency?
144. The rubber plantations and tin mining industries had
pushed for the use of the term "emergency" since their
losses would not have been covered by Lloyd's insurers if
it had been termed a "war"
145. It was created by a commission under the direction of
the politician Charles Gilbert Romme. The commission
had consulted astronomers, naval geographers and
mathematicians including Lagrange. It also sought the
help of a poet and a gardener. The new system was
designed in part to remove all religious and royalist
influences and was part of a larger attempt at
decimalization in France. In Britain, a contemporary wit
mocked the thing by calling names like: Wheezy, Sneezy
and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery
and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety. Id.
147. The French Republican calendar which had new names
for months based on nature, principally having to do
with the prevailing weather in and around Paris. It was
used by the French government for about 12 years from
late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune
in 1871.
148. In 1971 X was called to Islamabad to head the Military Assistance
Advisory Group (MAAG). Among the perks was a twin-engine
Beechcraft, an airplane supplied by the Pentagon. On the eve of
1971 war Pakistanis evacuated their planes from airfields close to
the Indian border and moved them to airfields near the Iranian
border but X wasn't informed. Y, was an Indian Navy lieutenant on
deputation with the Indian Air Force when the war broke out. In an
article Y wrote in 2007, he presents an account of his encounter
with X. In the first wave of retaliatory strikes on Pakistan Y had
drawn a two-aircraft mission against the PAF base of Chaklala,
located south east of Islamabad and destroyed X's plane. X was
outraged and told Washington that this “deliberate affront to the
American nation and recommended immediate countermeasures”
but Nixon chose to ignore it. In his autobiography, X later said that
it was the “Indian way of giving Uncle Sam the finger”. Id X and Y
151. "The Cold War ended with me". These were the words of
Zhuang Zedong, a favorite of Mao's wife Jian Qing. He was
named minister of sports and became a member of the
Chinese Communist Party's powerful Central Committee. His
fortunes changed in 1976, when Mao died and his widow fell
from favor, along with other members of the notorious Gang
of Four, which had been responsible for much of China's
turmoil during the Cultural Revolution. Japanese newspapers
reported that he was forced to denounce Jiang and her
cohorts before 10,000 athletes and sports officials in a Beijing
stadium. He was incarcerated for four years and exiled to the
northern Chinese province of Shanxi until 1984, when he was
allowed to return to Beijing. What was his claim to fame?
153. He was three time World Table Tennis Champion and
during 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in
Japan, he broke ice with an American player Glenn
Cowan and kick-started Ping-Pong diplomacy
154. In 1798 Napoleon was put in command of the Army of
England. The previous year General Hoche with 14,000
troops and sixteen ships of the line had made an
abortive descent upon Ireland, which had been
disrupted by storms. After an inspection in January
1798 of the 120,000 troops mustered between Etaples
and Walcheren for an invasion attempt, Napoleon
abandoned the idea, it being 'too chancy to risk la
belle France on the throw of a dice'. Instead he placed
in front of the Directoire an alternative plan of action.
What was it?
156. Napoleon’s alternative plan was to invade Egypt and
from there launch an attack on British possessions in
India.
157. It is a Palladian edifice in St Petersburg and was commissioned by the
Society for Education of Noble Maidens and constructed in 1806-08 to
house an educational institution. In 1917, the building was chosen by
Vladimir Lenin as Bolshevik headquarters during the October
Revolution. It was Lenin's residence for several months, until the national
government was moved to the Moscow Kremlin. After that, it became the
headquarters of the local Communist Party apparat, effectively the city
hall. This was the site of Sergei Kirov's assassination in 1934. After 1991, it
was used as the seat of the city mayor (governor after 1996) and city
administration. Vladimir Putin worked there from 1991 to 1997 in the
administration of Anatoly Sobchak. The name derives from the
location, in the early days of St. Petersburg the place at the edge of the
city where pitch was processed for use in shipbuilding and maintenance.
As a result the locale was called - the place of pitch, in Russian. Id.
161. Al-Ghazali or Algazel to the Western medieval world, was
a Muslim theologian, jurist, philosopher, and mystic of
Persian descent. He has sometimes been referred to by
historians as the single most influential Muslim after the
Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was given the unique title
of Hujjat al-Islam, meaning 'The Proof of Islam', a title
given to no other scholar or personality in Islamic history,
further displaying his status within the religion. He also
brought the orthodox Islam of his time in close contact
with Sufism. What was the most important consequence of
his landmark 11th century work Tahāfut al-Falāsifa wherein
Ibn Sina and others were denounced?
163. He successfully refuted the Islamic Neoplatonism of
Avicenna and other philosophers which was based on
Hellenistic philosophy. His success may be considered
as the death knell of Islamic Science.
164. This method of torture was formerly used to punish a
defendant who refused to plead would be subjected to
having heavier and heavier stones placed upon his or her
chest until a plea was entered, or as the weight of the
stones on the chest became too great for the condemned
to breathe, fatal suffocation would occur. This only such
victim in American history was one Giles Corey who was
executed on September 19, 1692. In which work of
literature will we come across this episode? And what is
this method of torture called?
167. Arthur Miller’s Crucible and the punishment is called
Peine forte et dure or “The pressing of stones”
168. It is a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending
approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El
Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica,
within which a number of pre-Columbian societies
flourished before the Spanish colonization of the Americas in
the 15th and 16th centuries. This term was first used by the
German ethnologist Paul Kirchhoff, who noted that
similarities existed among the various pre-Columbian
cultures within the region. This region is recognized as a
near-prototypical cultural area and the term is now fully
integrated in the standard terminology of pre-Columbian
anthropological studies. What term?
171. A World Restored is a book by Henry Kissinger published in
1954. The book began life as the doctoral dissertation of
Henry Kissinger - later US Secretary of State in the 1970s - at
Harvard University in 1954. The book is about a conference
of European ambassadors which was held from September
1814 to June 1815. The objective of the conference was to settle
the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars,
the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman
Empire. This was the first of a series of international
meetings which attempted to forge a peaceful balance of
power in Europe. It prevented another widespread European
war for nearly a hundred years (1815–1914). And served as a
model for later organizations such as the League of Nations
and United Nations. What meeting and who chaired it?
173. The Congress of Vienna and Prince Klemens Wenzel von
Metternich
174. Outside his academic historical writing, he wrote a regular
column for the New Statesman as a jazz critic under the
pseudonym Francis Newton, taken from the name of Billie
Holiday's communist trumpet player, Frankie Newton. He is
also famously said that "next to sex there was nothing so
physically intense as “participation in a mass demonstration
at a time of great public exaltation”. Identify this diehard
communist and Marxist-historian who wrote a series of
books on two periods of history, the long 19th century which
begins with the French Revolution that established a republic
in Europe and ends with the start of World War I and the
short 20th Century begins with the beginning of World War
I, and ends with the fall of the Soviet Union.
178. This Czech nobleman and Austrian general had a long
distinguished career which lasted more that 70 years. He is
known for the victories at the Battles of Custoza (July 24–25,
1848) and Novara (March 23, 1849) during the First Italian
War of Independence. After his triumph in Italy, he was made
Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia from 1848 to 1857 the only non
royal to be awarded such a post. He proved to be a benevolent
ruler, Italian leaders were allowed to live in his kingdom,
while Italy's other reactionary governments drove all their
liberals into exile. Already in 1849, at the end of the siege of
Venice, he had allowed the local patriot leaders to quietly slip
away, and avoid public martyrdom. Who is this general who
was known affectionately as Vater amongst his troops?
181. Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. Johann Strauss was
commissioned to write the famous march for a
celebration of Radetsky's victory at the Battle of Custoza.
184. On August 16, 1858 the first message send was, "Glory to God in the
highest; on earth, peace and good will toward men." Queen Victoria
then sent a message of congratulation to President James Buchanan
and expressed a hope that it would prove "an additional link between
the nations whose friendship is founded on their common interest and
reciprocal esteem." The President responded that, "it is a triumph more
glorious, because far more useful to mankind, than was ever won by
conqueror on the field of battle". He also added that under the blessing
of Heaven it will prove to be a bond of perpetual peace and friendship
between the kindred nations, and an instrument destined by Divine
Providence to diffuse religion, civilization, liberty, and law throughout
the world." These messages engendered an outburst of enthusiasm.
The next morning a grand salute of 100 guns resounded in New York
City, the streets were decorated with flags, the bells of the churches
were rung, and at night the city was illuminated. It was also a theme for
innumerable sermons and a prodigious quantity of doggerel. What?
187. It has been called "the weapon most associated with British
imperial conquest" and was first used by Britain's colonial forces
in the 1893-1894 First Matabele War in Rhodesia. During the
Battle of the Shangani, 700 soldiers fought off 3,000 warriors
with just four Maxim guns. It played an important role in the
swift European colonization of Africa in the late 19th century.
The extreme lethality was employed to devastating effect against
obsolete charging tactics, when native opponents could be lured
into pitched battles in open terrain. However, its destructive
power in colonial warfare has often been overegged by popular
myth. Modern historical accounts suggest that, while it was
effective in pitched-battle situations such as the Matabele war or
the 1898 Battle of Omdurman, its significance owed much to the
psychological impact the weapon had.
Identify this first self-powered machine gun, invented by an
American-born British inventor.
190. “Mother cow is in many ways better than the mother who
gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk for a couple of years
and then expects us to serve her when we grow up. Mother
cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our mother
often falls ill and expects service from us. Mother cow rarely
falls ill. Here is an unbroken record of service which does not
end with her death. Our mother, when she dies, means
expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is as useful dead
as when she is alive. We can make use of every part of her
body-her flesh, her bones, her intestines, her horns and her
skin. Well, I say this not to disparage the mother who gives us
birth, but in order to show you the substantial reasons for my
worshipping the cow.” Who’s wonderful justification for cow
worship?
192. The picture shows a piece of pottery (or stone), usually
broken off from a vase or other earthenware vessel. In
archaeology, ostraca may contain scratched-in words or
other forms of writing which may give clues as to the
time when the piece was in use. In Athens, the voting
public would write or scratch the name of a person in the
shard of pottery. What English word is derived from the
Greek work for these shards?
196. He was in all probability a weaver from Antsey Leicester
and according to one story he was told by his father, a
framework-knitter, to "square his needles". He
apparently was in a bad mood and took a hammer and
"beat them into a heap". The news of this incident
spread and whenever knitting frames were sabotaged it
was attributed to him. Who was this ?