Question: The Easter of 1885 marked the twentieth anniversary of the betrothal of Czar Alexander III and Czarina Maria Fedorovna. The Czar needed an exceptional gift for his wife and he placed an order with a young jeweler whose beautiful creations had recently caught his wife's eye. The young man did not disappoint with his delight that contained many surprises inside. This is the origin of what cultural treasure?
Answer: Fabergé eggs

Question: When this 19th century man was growing up in Białystok in present-day Poland, he was frustrated by the disputes among the Yiddish-speaking Jewish majority and the ethnic groups of Poles, Germans, and Belarusians. Attributing the quarrels to a lack of neutral language, he decided to do something about it and followed through with his ideas. Who?
Answer: L. L. Zamenhof, the inventor of Esperanto

Question: If Deucalion is to Greek mythology and Utnapishtim is to Mesopotamian mythology, who is the equivalent figure in Christianity? (hint: all saved themselves in a particular way)
Answer: Noah

Question: What 1911 painting that depicts peasants, animals and elements of Yiddish folklore is the artist's reflection of his childhood memories of a Hasidic community in Belarus?
Answer: I and the Village by Marc Chagall

Question: A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of what group of people?
Answer: Australian Aborigines

Question: Lucy in the Field with Flowers, Sunday on the Pot with George and Juggling Dog in Hula Skirt are the noted works in MOBA, a Massachusetts museum dedicated to what type of art?
Answer: Bad art!

Question: In Greek mythology, while going back from the Trojan War, whom did Menelaus successfully capture despite that person taking the form of a lion, a serpent, a leopard, a pig, and even that of water and a tree?
Answer: Proteus

Question: In times gone by, shepherds used to place a bell around the neck of a castrated ram that was leading a flock of sheep so that the movement of the flock could be noted. What was another term for the castrated ram?
Answer: Wether

Question: What word that was chosen as an alternative to terms like 'Mister', 'Miss', or 'Missus' saw its first known use in the now familiar context in a socialist magazine called Justice in 1884?
Answer: Comrade

Question: What legendary place was protected by the Scaean Gates?
Answer: Troy

Question: The annual Mount Hagen Cultural Show that began in 1961 both as a celebration of tribal culture and as a forum for friendly competition (in place of tribal war) is one of the biggest draws of which large island nation?
Answer: Papua New Guinea

Question: """The straight line belongs to Man. The curved line belongs to God."" This statement by which Spanish architect captures the essence of his work that is sometimes called Organic Architecture?"
Answer: Antoni Gaudi (1852-1926)

Question: A group of Christian youth who wanted to escape persecution for their faith took refuge in a cave near Ephesus around 250 AD and fell asleep. They woke up 150-200 years later and were reportedly seen by some people before they died. What legend whose best known version appears in Golden Legend is thus summarized?
Answer: The Seven Sleepers (or) The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

Question: The Nine Worthies were personalities established in the Middle Ages who were said to represent the ideals of chivalry. Which 'tamer of horses' and heroic defender from Greek mythology is missing in the Pagans section? Pagans: ___, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar Old Testament Jews: Joshua, David, Judas Maccabeus Chivalric Christian Heroes: King Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon
Answer: Hector

Question: What is the better known name of the Mawlawi followers of Sufism who are known for their 'rotating' motion during a ceremony called Seema?
Answer: Whirling Dervishes

Question: The name of what military formation in which members are arranged diagonally has also come to mean a level of command or rank?
Answer: Echelon formation

Question: K Street in Washington D.C. that is appropriately not far from government is home to several offices of what 'influential' industry?
Answer: Lobbying

Question: The notion of God having two forms and ten Sefirot mediating between them is central to the belief system of which mystical tradition?
Answer: Kabbalah

Question: On April 1, 2011 a painting titled Two Tahitian Women was attacked at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. by a woman who thought it was evil. The work was part of an exhibit that was highlighting the work of which artist?
Answer: Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Question: What piece of furniture that has a prominent place in legend has no head or sides implying that no one sitting at it is privileged?
Answer: Round table

Question: Although never part of international maritime law, which phrase was popularised by its usage on the RMS Titanic as a consequence of which 74% of the women and 52% of the children were saved but only 20% of the men?
Answer: """Women and children first"""

Question: Connect the following list with oriental mythology. Fish, tortoise, boar, half man-half lion, dwarf, sage, king, king, renouncing prince, eternity/time.
Answer: Avatars of the Hindu god Vishnu

Question: Who is the English weaver who purportedly destroyed two knitting frames in 1779 and whose name is now synonymous with 'anti-technology'?
Answer: Ned Ludd (from whom the Luddites took their name)

Question: In Satire X, the poet Juvenal complains that Romans have given up political involvement only to be concerned with eating and frolic. What phrase that is now a metaphor for superficial means of appeasement comes from this work?
Answer: Bread and circuses (panem et circenses)

Question: The etymology of what form of entertainment may come from the valley of 'Vau de Vire' in Normandy where satirical songs were common?
Answer: Vaudeville

Question: The name of what toy is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for 'egg' and the English word 'watch'?
Answer: Tamagotchi

Question: During the Falklands War, because a British aircraft lacked a conventional 'chaff' dispensing mechanism (used as a radar countermeasure), engineers designed one using welding rods, split pins and string.This eccentric make do was given the name of which cartoonist?
Answer: Heath Robinson

Question: In Greek mythology, a group of fierce fighters called the Myrmidons were commanded by which mighty warrior?
Answer: Achilles

Question: What word that means 'cheap' or 'gaudy' is derived from the practice of trinkets sold at St. Audrey's fair in England?
Answer: Tawdry

Question: In Greek mythology, what river flowed around the cave of Hypnos in the Underworld and caused forgetfulness in all those who drank from it?
Answer: Lethe

Question: What Russian term for a functionary of the Communist Party is now derogatorily used to describe people appointed to positions on the basis of political loyalty rather than competence?
Answer: Apparatchik

Question: What classical ballet tells the story of Odette who is turned into a creature by an evil sorcerer's curse?
Answer: Swan Lake

Question: Toru Iwatani, the creator of which popular video game admitted in a 1996 interview that the story of a pizza missing a slice being the inspiration of the game's main character was only half true?
Answer: Pac-Man

Question: What satanic name was used to describe an apprentice who performed a number of tasks such as mixing tubs of ink in a printing establishment?
Answer: Printer's devil

Question: The rivers of Alpheus and Peneus were used for what sanitary task in Greek mythology?
Answer: Cleaning of the Augean stables, Hercules' fifth labor

Question: The term 'Urbi et Orbi' ('to the City and to the World'), a standard opening of Roman proclamations is now used to denote whose address?
Answer: Pope's

Question: Done with the will of an owner, what type of emancipating act is a 'manumission'?
Answer: Freeing of slaves