Answer: Rogers Plan

Context: In June 1970, Nasser accepted the US-sponsored Rogers Plan, which called for an end to hostilities and an Israeli withdrawal from Egyptian territory, but it was rejected by Israel, the PLO, and most Arab states except Jordan. Nasser had initially rejected the plan, but conceded under pressure from the Soviet Union, which feared that escalating regional conflict could drag it into a war with the US. He also determined that a ceasefire could serve as a tactical step toward the strategic goal of recapturing the Suez Canal. Nasser forestalled any movement toward direct negotiations with Israel. In dozens of speeches and statements, Nasser posited the equation that any direct peace talks with Israel were tantamount to surrender. Following Nasser's acceptance, Israel agreed to a ceasefire and Nasser used the lull in fighting to move SAM missiles towards the canal zone.

Question: What was the American plan to end conflict with Israel?


Answer: recapturing the Suez Canal

Question: What did Nasser want to use the agreement to do?


Answer: Soviet Union

Question: Who pressured Nasser to accept the Rogers Plan?


Answer: surrender

Question: How did Nasser equate peace with Israel?


Answer: SAM missiles

Question: What did Nasser move to the canal zone?


Answer: 28 September 1970

Context: As the summit closed on 28 September 1970, hours after escorting the last Arab leader to leave, Nasser suffered a heart attack. He was immediately transported to his house, where his physicians tended to him. Nasser died several hours later, around 6:00 p.m. Heikal, Sadat, and Nasser's wife Tahia were at his deathbed. According to his doctor, al-Sawi Habibi, Nasser's likely cause of death was arteriosclerosis, varicose veins, and complications from long-standing diabetes. Nasser was a heavy smoker with a family history of heart disease—two of his brothers died in their fifties from the same condition. The state of Nasser's health was not known to the public prior to his death. He had previously suffered heart attacks in 1966 and September 1969.

Question: When did Nasser die?


Answer: heart attack

Question: How did Nasser die?


Answer: Heikal, Sadat, and Nasser's wife Tahia

Question: Who was with Nasser when he died?


Answer: heart attacks

Question: What health events had Nasser suffered in 1966 and 1969?


Answer: in their fifties

Question: How old were Nasser's brothers when they died?


Answer: at least five million

Context: Following the announcement of Nasser's death, Egypt and the Arab world were in a state of shock. Nasser's funeral procession through Cairo on 1 October was attended by at least five million mourners. The 10-kilometer (6.2 mi) procession to his burial site began at the old RCC headquarters with a flyover by MiG-21 jets. His flag-draped coffin was attached to a gun carriage pulled by six horses and led by a column of cavalrymen. All Arab heads of state attended, with the exception of Saudi King Faisal. King Hussein and Arafat cried openly, and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya fainted from emotional distress twice. A few major non-Arab dignitaries were present, including Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin and French Prime Minister Jacques Chaban-Delmas.

Question: How many people attended Nasser's funeral?


Answer: the old RCC headquarters

Question: At what landmark did the funeral procession begin?


Answer: Saudi King Faisal

Question: Who was the only Arab leader not to attend Nasser's funeral?


Answer: Muammar Gaddafi

Question: What leader twice fainted during the funeral?


Answer: Alexei Kosygin

Question: Who was the Soviet leader who attended Nasser's funeral?


Answer: Over a dozen

Context: Because of his ability to motivate nationalistic passions, "men, women, and children wept and wailed in the streets" after hearing of his death, according to Nutting. The general Arab reaction was one of mourning, with thousands of people pouring onto the streets of major cities throughout the Arab world. Over a dozen people were killed in Beirut as a result of the chaos, and in Jerusalem, roughly 75,000 Arabs marched through the Old City chanting, "Nasser will never die." As a testament to his unchallenged leadership of the Arab people, following his death, the headline of the Lebanese Le Jour read, "One hundred million human beings—the Arabs—are orphans." Sherif Hetata, a former political prisoner and later member Nasser's ASU, said that "Nasser's greatest achievement was his funeral. The world will never again see five million people crying together."

Question: How many eople died in Breuit because of unrest caused by Nasser's death?


Answer: 75,000

Question: How many people marched in Jerusalem?


Answer: Sherif Hetata

Question: Who said, "The world will never again see five million people crying together?"


Answer: orphans

Question: What did a Lebanese publication call the Arabs following Nasser's death?


Answer: British influence

Context: Nasser made Egypt fully independent of British influence, and the country became a major power in the developing world under his leadership. One of Nasser's main domestic efforts was to establish social justice, which he deemed a prerequisite to liberal democracy. During his presidency, ordinary citizens enjoyed unprecedented access to housing, education, jobs, health services and nourishment, as well as other forms of social welfare, while feudalistic influence waned. By the end of his presidency, employment and working conditions improved considerably, although poverty was still high in the country and substantial resources allocated for social welfare had been diverted to the war effort.

Question: What did Nasser completely eliminate from Egypt?


Answer: social justice

Question: What did Nasser work to put into place in Egypt?


Answer: improved considerably

Question: How were working conditions and employment at the end of Nasser's presidency?


Answer: war effort

Question: What had drained resources from Nasser's social programs?


Answer: agrarian

Context: The national economy grew significantly through agrarian reform, major modernization projects such as the Helwan steel works and the Aswan Dam, and nationalization schemes such as that of the Suez Canal. However, the marked economic growth of the early 1960s took a downturn for the remainder of the decade, only recovering in 1970. Egypt experienced a "golden age" of culture during Nasser's presidency, according to historian Joel Gordon, particularly in film, television, theater, radio, literature, fine arts, comedy, poetry, and music. Egypt under Nasser dominated the Arab world in these fields, producing cultural icons.

Question: What reform, initiated by Nasser, caused the Egyptian economy to grow?


Answer: Helwan steel works and the Aswan Dam

Question: What are two infrastructure projects Nasser embarked on?


Answer: golden age

Question: How was Egyptian culture under Nasser refered to?


Answer: Suez Canal

Question: What was the most prominent thing Nasser nationalized?


Answer: Nasserist

Context: During Mubarak's presidency, Nasserist political parties began to emerge in Egypt, the first being the Arab Democratic Nasserist Party (ADNP). The party carried minor political influence, and splits between its members beginning in 1995 resulted in the gradual establishment of splinter parties, including Hamdeen Sabahi's 1997 founding of Al-Karama. Sabahi came in third place during the 2012 presidential election. Nasserist activists were among the founders of Kefaya, a major opposition force during Mubarak's rule. On 19 September 2012, four Nasserist parties (the ADNP, Karama, the National Conciliation Party, and the Popular Nasserist Congress Party) merged to form the United Nasserist Party.

Question: What type of political parties came about when Mubarek was president?


Answer: Arab Democratic Nasserist Party

Question: What was the first Nasserist political party?


Answer: Sabahi

Question: What party came in third in the 2013 election?


Answer: United Nasserist Party

Question: What consolated party was formed from several Nasserist groups?


Answer: availability to the public

Context: Nasser was known for his intimate relationship with ordinary Egyptians. His availability to the public, despite assassination attempts against him, was unparalleled among his successors. A skilled orator, Nasser gave 1,359 speeches between 1953 and 1970, a record for any Egyptian head of state. Historian Elie Podeh wrote that a constant theme of Nasser's image was "his ability to represent Egyptian authenticity, in triumph or defeat". The national press also helped to foster his popularity and profile—more so after the nationalization of state media. Historian Tarek Osman wrote:

Question: What was Nasser known for in regard to ordinary citizens?


Answer: 1,359

Question: How many speeches did Nasser give?


Answer: Nasser

Question: Who gave the most speeches of any Egyptian leader?


Answer: press

Question: What institution helped cultivate Nasser's positive public image?


Answer: Egyptian intellectuals

Context: While Nasser was increasingly criticized by Egyptian intellectuals following the Six-Day War and his death in 1970, the general public was persistently sympathetic both during and after Nasser's life. According to political scientist Mahmoud Hamad, writing in 2008, "nostalgia for Nasser is easily sensed in Egypt and all Arab countries today". General malaise in Egyptian society, particularly during the Mubarak era, augmented nostalgia for Nasser's presidency, which increasingly became associated with the ideals of national purpose, hope, social cohesion, and vibrant culture.

Question: Who was most critical of Nasser's rule?


Answer: Six-Day War

Question: What event generated criticism of Nasser from Egypt's elite?


Answer: Mubarak

Question: During whose presidency were Egyptians nostalgic for Nasser?


Answer: national purpose, hope, social cohesion, and vibrant culture

Question: What ideals are associated with Nasser's time as prsident?


Answer: dictator

Context: Nasser's Egyptian detractors considered him a dictator who thwarted democratic progress, imprisoned thousands of dissidents, and led a repressive administration responsible for numerous human rights violations. Islamists in Egypt, particularly members of the politically persecuted Brotherhood, viewed Nasser as oppressive, tyrannical, and demonic. Liberal writer Tawfiq al-Hakim described Nasser as a "confused Sultan" who employed stirring rhetoric, but had no actual plan to achieve his stated goals.

Question: Whad did Nasser's enemies call him?


Answer: dissidents

Question: Who did Nasser imprison thousands of?


Answer: confused Sultan

Question: What did Tawfiq al-Hakim call Nasser?


Answer: New Wafd Party

Context: Some of Nasser's liberal and Islamist critics in Egypt, including the founding members of the New Wafd Party and writer Jamal Badawi, dismissed Nasser's popular appeal with the Egyptian masses during his presidency as being the product of successful manipulation and demagoguery. Egyptian political scientist Alaa al-Din Desouki blamed the 1952 revolution's shortcomings on Nasser's concentration of power, and Egypt's lack of democracy on Nasser's political style and his government's limitations on freedom of expression and political participation.

Question: What Egyptian party dismissed Nasser's popular appeal?


Answer: Alaa al-Din Desouki

Question: Who blamed the 1952 revolution's failings on Nasser?


Answer: successful manipulation and demagoguery

Question: To what did critics attribute Nasser's popular appeal?


Answer: intermediaries

Context: American political scientist Mark Cooper asserted that Nasser's charisma and his direct relationship with the Egyptian people "rendered intermediaries (organizations and individuals) unnecessary". He opined that Nasser's legacy was a "guarantee of instability" due to Nasser's reliance on personal power and the absence of strong political institutions under his rule. Historian Abd al-Azim Ramadan wrote that Nasser was an irrational and irresponsible leader, blaming his inclination to solitary decision-making for Egypt's losses during the Suez War, among other events. Miles Copeland, Jr. , once described as Nasser's closest Western adviser, said that the barriers between Nasser and the outside world have grown so thick that all but the information that attest to his infallibility, indispensability, and immortality has been filtered out.

Question: What did Nasser's political style render unnecessary?


Answer: strong political institutions

Question: What was needed under Nasser, the absence of which guaranteed instability?


Answer: Abd al-Azim Ramadan

Question: Who called Nasser an irrational and irresponsible leader?


Answer: Miles Copeland, Jr

Question: Who was Nasser's closest Western advisor?


Answer: Zakaria Mohieddin

Context: Zakaria Mohieddin, who was Nasser's vice president, said that Nasser gradually changed during his reign. He ceased consulting his colleagues and made more and more of the decisions himself. Although Nasser repeatedly said that a war with Israel will start at a time of his, or Arab, choosing, on 1967 he started a bluffing game "but a successful bluff means your opponent must not know which cards you are holding. In this case Nasser's opponent could see his hand in the mirror and knew he was only holding a pair of deuces" and Nasser knew that his army is not prepared yet. "All of this was out of character...His tendencies in this regard may have been accentuated by diabetes... That was the only rational explanation for his actions in 1967".

Question: Who was Nasser's vice president?


Answer: bluffing

Question: What gambit did Nasser fail at in his bluster with Israel?


Answer: gradually changed

Question: What did Nasser do over the years of his rule?


Answer: diabetes

Question: What did Mohieddin attribute Nassir's mistakes in 1967 to?


Answer: seek good relations with Egypt

Context: Through his actions and speeches, and because he was able to symbolize the popular Arab will, Nasser inspired several nationalist revolutions in the Arab world. He defined the politics of his generation and communicated directly with the public masses of the Arab world, bypassing the various heads of states of those countries—an accomplishment not repeated by other Arab leaders. The extent of Nasser's centrality in the region made it a priority for incoming Arab nationalist heads of state to seek good relations with Egypt, in order to gain popular legitimacy from their own citizens.

Question: What did other Arab leaders have to do to gain admiration of their populations?


Answer: several nationalist revolutions

Question: What did Nasser cause in the wider Arab world?


Answer: communicated directly with the public masses

Question: What have other Arab leaders been unable to do that Nasser was?


Answer: the popular Arab will

Question: What did Nasser symbolize?


Answer: Ben Bella

Context: To varying degrees, Nasser's statist system of government was continued in Egypt and emulated by virtually all Arab republics, namely Algeria, Syria, Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen, Sudan, and Libya. Ahmed Ben Bella, Algeria's first president, was a staunch Nasserist. Abdullah al-Sallal drove out the king of North Yemen in the name of Nasser's pan-Arabism. Other coups influenced by Nasser included those that occurred in Iraq in July 1958 and Syria in 1963. Muammar Gaddafi, who overthrew the Libyan monarchy in 1969, considered Nasser his hero and sought to succeed him as "leader of the Arabs". Also in 1969, Colonel Gaafar Nimeiry, a supporter of Nasser, took power in Sudan. The Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM) helped spread Nasser's pan-Arabist ideas throughout the Arab world, particularly among the Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese, and in South Yemen, the Persian Gulf, and Iraq. While many regional heads of state tried to emulate Nasser, Podeh opined that the "parochialism" of successive Arab leaders "transformed imitation [of Nasser] into parody".

Question: Who was Algeria's first president, a fervent Nasserist?


Answer: Abdullah al-Sallal

Question: What Nasserist usurped the King of Yemen?


Answer: Muammar Gaddafi

Question: Which leader considered Nasser his hero?


Answer: Colonel Gaafar Nimeiry

Question: What leader took power in Sudan and was inspired by Nasser?


Answer: Arab Nationalist Movement

Question: What organization continued Nasser's philosophies?


Answer: El Nasser Salah El Dine

Context: In 1963, Egyptian director Youssef Chahine produced the film El Nasser Salah El Dine ("Saladin The Victorious"), which intentionally drew parallels between Saladin, considered a hero in the Arab world, and Nasser and his pan-Arabist policies. Nasser is played by Ahmed Zaki in Mohamed Fadel's 1996 Nasser 56. The film set the Egyptian box office record at the time, and focused on Nasser during the Suez Crisis. It is also considered a milestone in Egyptian and Arab cinema as the first film to dramatize the role of a modern-day Arab leader. Together with the 1999 Syrian biopic Gamal Abdel Nasser, the films marked the first biographical movies about contemporary public figures produced in the Arab world.

Question: What 1963 film compared Nasser to Saladin?


Answer: Nasser 56

Question: What 1996 Nasser-related film set a box office record?


Answer: Suez Crisis

Question: What was Nasser 56 about?


Answer: Gamal Abdel Nasser

Question: What was the famous biopic about Nasser?


Answer: Tahia Kazem

Context: In 1944, Nasser married Tahia Kazem, the 22-year-old daughter of a wealthy Iranian father and an Egyptian mother, both of whom died when she was young. She was introduced to Nasser through her brother, Abdel Hamid Kazim, a merchant friend of Nasser's, in 1943. After their wedding, the couple moved into a house in Manshiyat al-Bakri, a suburb of Cairo, where they would live for the rest of their lives. Nasser's entry into the officer corps in 1937 secured him relatively well-paid employment in a society where most people lived in poverty.

Question: Who did Nasser marry in 1944?


Answer: Abdel Hamid Kazim

Question: Who introduced Nasser and his wife?


Answer: Manshiyat al-Bakri

Question: Where did Nasser and his wife live after they were married?


Answer: officer corps

Question: What job of Nasser's offered him a comparably comfortable lifestyle?


Answer: chain smoking

Context: Nasser had few personal vices other than chain smoking. He maintained 18-hour workdays and rarely took time off for vacations. The combination of smoking and working long hours contributed to his poor health. He was diagnosed with diabetes in the early 1960s and by the time of his death in 1970, he also had arteriosclerosis, heart disease, and high blood pressure. He suffered two major heart attacks (in 1966 and 1969), and was on bed rest for six weeks after the second episode. State media reported that Nasser's absence from the public view at that time was a result of influenza.

Question: What was Nasser's principle vice?


Answer: 18-hour

Question: How long was a typical workday for Nasser?


Answer: diabetes

Question: What illness was Nasser diagnosed with in 1960?


Answer: 1970

Question: What year did Nasser die?


Answer: influenza

Question: What did Egyptian state media claim was the reason for Nasser's absence after his second heart attack?


Answer: Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli

Context: Pope Saint John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes XXIII; Italian: Giovanni XXIII) born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli,[a] Italian pronunciation: [ˈandʒelo dʒuˈzɛppe roŋˈkalli]; 25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963) reigned as Pope from 28 October 1958 to his death in 1963 and was canonized on 27 April 2014. Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was the fourth of fourteen children born to a family of sharecroppers who lived in a village in Lombardy. He was ordained to the priesthood on 10 August 1904 and served in a number of posts, including papal nuncio in France and a delegate to Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey. In a consistory on 12 January 1953 Pope Pius XII made Roncalli a cardinal as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca in addition to naming him as the Patriarch of Venice.

Question: What was Pope Saint John XXIII's birth name?


Answer: 25 November 1881

Question: When was Pope Saint John XXIII born?


Answer: 3 June 1963

Question: When did Pope Saint XXIII die?


Answer: 28 October 1958 to his death in 1963

Question: How long did he reign as Pope?


Answer: 10 August 1904

Question: When was he ordained to the priesthood?


Answer: 76

Context: Roncalli was elected pope on 28 October 1958 at age 76 after 11 ballots. His selection was unexpected, and Roncalli himself had come to Rome with a return train ticket to Venice. He was the first pope to take the pontifical name of "John" upon election in more than 500 years, and his choice settled the complicated question of official numbering attached to this papal name due to the antipope of this name. Pope John XXIII surprised those who expected him to be a caretaker pope by calling the historic Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the first session opening on 11 October 1962. His passionate views on equality were summed up in his famous statement, "We were all made in God's image, and thus, we are all Godly alike." John XXIII made many passionate speeches during his pontificate, one of which was on the day that he opened the Second Vatican Council in the middle of the night to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square: "Dear children, returning home, you will find children: give your children a hug and say: This is a hug from the Pope!"

Question: How old was Roncalli when elected pope?


Answer: 28 October 1958

Question: When was Roncalli elected pope?


Answer: 500 years

Question: He was the first pope to take the pontifical name of "John" upon election in how long?


Answer: Second Vatican Council

Question: Pope John XXIII surprised those who expected him to be a caretaker pope by calling what?


Answer: 11 October 1962

Question: When did he call the Second Vatican Council?


Answer: 3 June 1963

Context: Pope John XXIII did not live to see the Vatican Council to completion. He died of stomach cancer on 3 June 1963, four and a half years after his election and two months after the completion of his final and famed encyclical, Pacem in terris. He was buried in the Vatican grottoes beneath Saint Peter's Basilica on 6 June 1963 and his cause for canonization was opened on 18 November 1965 by his successor, Pope Paul VI, who declared him a Servant of God. In addition to being named Venerable on 20 December 1999, he was beatified on 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II alongside Pope Pius IX and three others. Following his beatification, his body was moved on 3 June 2001 from its original place to the altar of Saint Jerome where it could be seen by the faithful. On 5 July 2013, Pope Francis – bypassing the traditionally required second miracle – declared John XXIII a saint, after unanimous agreement by a consistory, or meeting, of the College of Cardinals, based on the fact that he was considered to have lived a virtuous, model lifestyle, and because of the good for the Church which had come from his having opened the Second Vatican Council. He was canonised alongside Pope Saint John Paul II on 27 April 2014. John XXIII today is affectionately known as the "Good Pope" and in Italian, "il Papa buono".

Question: When did the pope die?


Answer: stomach cancer

Question: What did the pope die of?


Answer: the Vatican grottoes beneath Saint Peter's Basilica

Question: Where was he buried?


Answer: 3 September 2000

Question: When was he beatified?


Answer: the "Good Pope"

Question: He is still known today as what?


Answer: 11 October

Context: The Roman Catholic Church celebrates his feast day not on the date of his death, June 3, as is usual, nor even on the day of his papal inauguration (as is sometimes done with Popes who are Saints, such as with John Paul II) but on 11 October, the day of the first session of the Second Vatican Council. This is understandable, since he was the one who had had the idea for it and had convened it. On Thursday, 11 September 2014, Pope Francis added his optional memorial to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints' feast days, in response to global requests. He is commemorated on the date of his death, 3 June, by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and on the following day, 4 June, by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (United States).

Question: When is his feast day celebrated?


Answer: the day of the first session of the Second Vatican Council

Question: What is October 11?


Answer: 11 September 2014

Question: When did Pope Francis added his optional memorial to the worldwide General Roman Calendar of saints' feast days?


Answer: by the Evangelical Lutheran Church

Question: Where did Pope Francis commemorate his death on 3 June?


Answer: by the Anglican Church of Canada and the Episcopal Church (United States)

Question: Where did Pope Francis commemorate his death on 4 June?


Answer: February 1925

Context: In February 1925, the Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri summoned him to the Vatican and informed him of Pope Pius XI's decision to appoint him as the Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria (1925–35). On 3 March, Pius XI also named him for consecration as titular archbishop of Areopolis, Jordan. Roncalli was initially reluctant about a mission to Bulgaria, but he would soon relent. His nomination as apostolic visitor was made official on 19 March. Roncalli was consecrated by Giovanni Tacci Porcelli in the church of San Carlo alla Corso in Rome. After he was consecrated, he introduced his family to Pope Pius XI. He chose as his episcopal motto Obedientia et Pax ("Obedience and Peace"), which became his guiding motto. While he was in Bulgaria, an earthquake struck in a town not too far from where he was. Unaffected, he wrote to his sisters Ancilla and Maria and told them both that he was fine.

Question: When did Pietro Gasparri summon him to the Vatican?


Answer: Pietro Gasparri

Question: Who was the Cardinal Secretary of State in 1925?


Answer: 1925–35

Question: When was he the Apostolic Visitor to Bulgaria?


Answer: 19 March

Question: When was his nomination as apostolic visitor made official?


Answer: Giovanni Tacci Porcelli

Question: Who was he consecrated by?


Answer: 30 November 1934

Context: On 30 November 1934, he was appointed Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece and titular archbishop of Mesembria, Bulgaria. Thus, he is known as "the Turcophile Pope," by the Turkish society which is predominantly Muslim. Roncalli took up this post in 1935 and used his office to help the Jewish underground in saving thousands of refugees in Europe, leading some to consider him to be a Righteous Gentile (see Pope John XXIII and Judaism). In October 1935, he led Bulgarian pilgrims to Rome and introduced them to Pope Pius XI on 14 October.

Question: When was he appointed Apostolic Delegate to Turkey and Greece?


Answer: Mesembria, Bulgaria

Question: He was appointed titular archbishop of where?


Answer: the Turcophile Pope

Question: What ws he known by in the Turkish community?


Answer: 1935

Question: When did he take that position?


Answer: Pope Pius XI

Question: Who did he introduce Bulgarian pilgrims to?


Answer: February 1939

Context: In February 1939, he received news from his sisters that his mother was dying. On 10 February 1939, Pope Pius XI died. Roncalli was unable to see his mother for the end as the death of a pontiff meant that he would have to stay at his post until the election of a new pontiff. Unfortunately, she died on 20 February 1939, during the nine days of mourning for the late Pius XI. He was sent a letter by Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, and Roncalli later recalled that it was probably the last letter Pacelli sent until his election as Pope Pius XII on 2 March 1939. Roncalli expressed happiness that Pacelli was elected, and, on radio, listened to the coronation of the new pontiff.

Question: When did he hear that his mother was dying?


Answer: 10 February 1939

Question: When did Pope Pius XI die?


Answer: 20 February 1939

Question: When did his mother die?


Answer: Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli

Question: Who sent him the letter informing him of his mother's death?


Answer: 2 March 1939

Question: When was Pope Pius XII elected?


Answer: 12 January 1953

Context: On 12 January 1953, he was appointed Patriarch of Venice and, accordingly, raised to the rank of Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca by Pope Pius XII. Roncalli left France for Venice on 23 February 1953 stopping briefly in Milan and then to Rome. On 15 March 1953, he took possession of his new diocese in Venice. As a sign of his esteem, the President of France, Vincent Auriol, claimed the ancient privilege possessed by French monarchs and bestowed the red biretta on Roncalli at a ceremony in the Élysée Palace. It was around this time that he, with the aid of Monsignor Bruno Heim, formed his coat of arms with a lion of Saint Mark on a white ground. Auriol also awarded Roncalli three months later with the award of Commander of the Legion of Honour.

Question: When was he appointed Patriarch of Venice?


Answer: Cardinal-Priest of Santa Prisca

Question: Pope Pius XII raised him to what rank?


Answer: 23 February 1953

Question: When did he leave France for Venice?


Answer: 15 March 1953

Question: When did he take up his new diocese in Venice?


Answer: Vincent Auriol

Question: Who was the President of France in 1953?


Answer: the early 1950s

Context: His sister Ancilla would soon be diagnosed with stomach cancer in the early 1950s. Roncalli's last letter to her was dated on 8 November 1953 where he promised to visit her within the next week. He could not keep that promise, as Ancilla died on 11 November 1953 at the time when he was consecrating a new church in Venice. He attended her funeral back in his hometown. In his will around this time, he mentioned that he wished to be buried in the crypt of Saint Mark's in Venice with some of his predecessors rather than with the family in Sotto il Monte.

Question: When was his sister Ancilla diagnosed with stomach cancer?


Answer: 8 November 1953

Question: When did he send his last letter to his dying sister?


Answer: 11 November 1953

Question: When did Ancilla die?


Answer: the crypt of Saint Mark's in Venice

Question: Where did he want to be buried?


Answer: 9 October 1958

Context: Following the death of Pope Pius XII on 9 October 1958, Roncalli watched the live funeral on his last full day in Venice on 11 October. His journal was specifically concerned with the funeral and the abused state of the late pontiff's corpse. Roncalli left Venice for the conclave in Rome well aware that he was papabile,[b] and after eleven ballots, was elected to succeed the late Pius XII, so it came as no surprise to him, though he had arrived at the Vatican with a return train ticket to Venice.[citation needed]

Question: When did Pope Pius XII die?


Answer: 11 October

Question: When was his last full day in Venice?


Answer: for the conclave in Rome

Question: Why did Roncalli leave Venice?


Answer: eleven ballots

Question: He was elected pope after how many ballots?


Answer: Giovanni Battista Montini

Context: Many had considered Giovanni Battista Montini, the Archbishop of Milan, a possible candidate, but, although he was the archbishop of one of the most ancient and prominent sees in Italy, he had not yet been made a cardinal. Though his absence from the 1958 conclave did not make him ineligible – under Canon Law any Catholic male who is capable of receiving priestly ordination and episcopal consecration may be elected – the College of Cardinals usually chose the new pontiff from among the Cardinals who head archdioceses or departments of the Roman Curia that attend the papal conclave. At the time, as opposed to contemporary practice, the participating Cardinals did not have to be below age 80 to vote, there were few Eastern-rite Cardinals, and no Cardinals who were just priests at the time of their elevation.

Question: Who was the Archbishop of Milan?


Answer: archdioceses or departments of the Roman Curia

Question: New pontiffs are chosen from Cardinals who head what?


Answer: 1958

Question: When was Montini absent from the conclave?


Answer: 4:00 pm

Context: Roncalli was summoned to the final ballot of the conclave at 4:00 pm. He was elected pope at 4:30 pm with a total of 38 votes. After the long pontificate of Pope Pius XII, the cardinals chose a man who – it was presumed because of his advanced age – would be a short-term or "stop-gap" pope. They wished to choose a candidate who would do little during the new pontificate. Upon his election, Cardinal Eugene Tisserant asked him the ritual questions of whether he would accept and if so, what name he would take for himself. Roncalli gave the first of his many surprises when he chose "John" as his regnal name. Roncalli's exact words were "I will be called John". This was the first time in over 500 years that this name had been chosen; previous popes had avoided its use since the time of the Antipope John XXIII during the Western Schism several centuries before.

Question: When was the final ballot of the conclave?


Answer: 38 votes

Question: How many votes did he have?


Answer: John

Question: What name did Roncalli choose?


Answer: over 500 years

Question: John had not been a chosen name in how long?


Answer: Antipope John XXIII

Question: Who was the last to choose the name John?


Answer: an ecumenical council

Context: Far from being a mere "stopgap" pope, to great excitement, John XXIII called for an ecumenical council fewer than ninety years after the First Vatican Council (Vatican I's predecessor, the Council of Trent, had been held in the 16th century). This decision was announced on 29 January 1959 at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who later became Pope Paul VI, remarked to Giulio Bevilacqua that "this holy old boy doesn't realise what a hornet's nest he's stirring up". From the Second Vatican Council came changes that reshaped the face of Catholicism: a comprehensively revised liturgy, a stronger emphasis on ecumenism, and a new approach to the world.

Question: What did John XXIII call for?


Answer: 29 January 1959

Question: When was the decision made for this council?


Answer: the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls

Question: Where was the decision made for this council?


Answer: Pope Paul VI

Question: Who did Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini later become?


Answer: human rights

Context: John XXIII was an advocate for human rights which included the unborn and the elderly. He wrote about human rights in his Pacem in terris. He wrote, "Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of ill health; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood."

Question: John XXIII was an advocate for what?


Answer: his Pacem in terris

Question: What did he write about human rights in?


Answer: the unborn and the elderly

Question: His advocacy from human rights included whom?


Answer: the Roman liturgy

Context: Maintaining continuity with his predecessors, John XXIII continued the gradual reform of the Roman liturgy, and published changes that resulted in the 1962 Roman Missal, the last typical edition containing the Tridentine Mass established in 1570 by Pope Pius V at the request of the Council of Trent and whose continued use Pope Benedict XVI authorized in 2007, under the conditions indicated in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. In response to the directives of the Second Vatican Council, later editions of the Roman Missal present the 1970 form of the Roman Rite.

Question: John XXIII continued the gradual reform of what?


Answer: the 1962 Roman Missal

Question: He published changes that resulted in what?


Answer: the Tridentine Mass

Question: What did Pope Pius V establish in 1570?


Answer: 2007

Question: Pope Benedict XVI authorized continued use of the Roman Missal in what year?


Answer: 1970

Question: When was the Roman Rite created?


Answer: in the Vatican

Context: On 11 October 1962, the first session of the Second Vatican Council was held in the Vatican. He gave the Gaudet Mater Ecclesia speech, which served as the opening address for the council. The day was basically electing members for several council commissions that would work on the issues presented in the council. On that same night following the conclusion of the first session, the people in Saint Peter's Square chanted and yelled with the sole objective of getting John XXIII to appear at the window to address them.

Question: Where was the first session of the Second Vatican Council held?


Answer: 11 October 1962

Question: When was the first session of the Second Vatican Council held?


Answer: Gaudet Mater Ecclesia speech

Question: What speech did he give?


Answer: the sole objective of getting John XXIII to appear at the window to address them

Question: Why were the people in Saint Peter's Square chanting and yelling?


Answer: 8 December 1962

Context: The first session ended in a solemn ceremony on 8 December 1962 with the next session scheduled to occur in 1963 from 12 May to 29 June – this was announced on 12 November 1962. John XXIII's closing speech made subtle references to Pope Pius IX, and he had expressed the desire to see Pius IX beatified and eventually canonized. In his journal in 1959 during a spiritual retreat, John XXIII made this remark: "I always think of Pius IX of holy and glorious memory, and by imitating him in his sacrifices, I would like to be worthy to celebrate his canonization".

Question: A solemn ceremony ended the first session on what day?


Answer: 1963 from 12 May to 29 June

Question: When was the next session scheduled?


Answer: 12 November 1962

Question: When was the next session announced?


Answer: Pope Pius IX

Question: Who did John XXIII wish to see canonized?


Answer: US President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev

Context: Pope John XXIII offered to mediate between US President John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. Both men applauded the pope for his deep commitment to peace. Khrushchev would later send a message via Norman Cousins and the letter expressed his best wishes for the pontiff's ailing health. John XXIII personally typed and sent a message back to him, thanking him for his letter. Cousins, meanwhile, travelled to New York City and ensured that John would become Time magazine's 'Man of the Year'. John XXIII became the first Pope to receive the title, followed by John Paul II in 1994 and Francis in 2013.

Question: John XXIII offered to mediate between who?


Answer: October 1962

Question: When was the Cuban Missile Crisis?


Answer: Nikita Khrushchev

Question: Who expressed best wishes for the pope's health?


Answer: Time magazine's 'Man of the Year'

Question: John XXIII became the first pope to receive what title?


Answer: Francis

Question: Who was the latest pope to hold the title of 'Man of the Year?'


Answer: Balzan Prize

Context: On 10 May 1963, John XXIII received the Balzan Prize in private at the Vatican but deflected achievements of himself to the five popes of his lifetime, Pope Leo XIII to Pius XII. On 11 May, the Italian President Antonio Segni officially awarded Pope John XXIII with the Balzan Prize for his engagement for peace. While in the car en route to the official ceremony, he suffered great stomach pains but insisted on meeting with Segni to receive the award in the Quirinal Palace, refusing to do so within the Vatican. He stated that it would have been an insult to honour a pontiff on the remains of the crucified Saint Peter. It was the pope's last public appearance.

Question: John XXIII received what prize on 10 May 1963?


Answer: 10 May 1963

Question: When did John XXIII receive the Balzan Prize?


Answer: Italian President Antonio Segni

Question: Who officially awarded the pope the Balzan Prize?


Answer: the Quirinal Palace

Question: Where did he receive the Balzan Prize?


Answer: haemorrhage

Context: On 25 May 1963, the pope suffered another haemorrhage and required several blood transfusions, but the cancer had perforated the stomach wall and peritonitis soon set in. The doctors conferred in a decision regarding this matter and John XXIII's aide Loris F. Capovilla broke the news to him saying that the cancer had done its work and nothing could be done for him. Around this time, his remaining siblings arrived to be with him. By 31 May, it had become clear that the cancer had overcome the resistance of John XXIII – it had left him confined to his bed.

Question: What did the pope suffer on 25 May 1963?


Answer: Loris F. Capovilla

Question: Who broke the news to John XXIII about his cancer?


Answer: 31 May

Question: When was it clear that the cancer had overcome the resistance of John XXIII?


Answer: Petrus Canisius Van Lierde

Context: "At 11 am Petrus Canisius Van Lierde as Papal Sacristan was at the bedside of the dying pope, ready to anoint him. The pope began to speak for the very last time: "I had the great grace to be born into a Christian family, modest and poor, but with the fear of the Lord. My time on earth is drawing to a close. But Christ lives on and continues his work in the Church. Souls, souls, ut omnes unum sint."[c] Van Lierde then anointed his eyes, ears, mouth, hands and feet. Overcome by emotion, Van Lierde forgot the right order of anointing. John XXIII gently helped him before bidding those present a last farewell.

Question: Who was at the dying pope's bedside?


Answer: Petrus Canisius Van Lierde

Question: Who was the Papal Sacristan for John XXIII?


Answer: 11 am

Question: When did the pope bid farewell?


Answer: peritonitis

Context: John XXIII died of peritonitis caused by a perforated stomach at 19:49 local time on 3 June 1963 at the age of 81, ending a historic pontificate of four years and seven months. He died just as a Mass for him finished in Saint Peter's Square below, celebrated by Luigi Traglia. After he died, his brow was ritually tapped to see if he was dead, and those with him in the room said prayers. Then the room was illuminated, thus informing the people of what had happened. He was buried on 6 June in the Vatican grottos. Two wreaths, placed on the two sides of his tomb, were donated by the prisoners of the Regina Coeli prison and the Mantova jail in Verona. On 22 June 1963, one day after his friend and successor Pope Paul VI was elected, the latter prayed at his tomb.

Question: What did John XXIII die of?


Answer: 3 June 1963

Question: What day did he die?


Answer: 81

Question: How old was John XXIII upon his death?


Answer: Luigi Traglia

Question: Who celebrated his Mass for him in the square below?


Answer: 6 June

Question: What day was he buried?


Answer: US President Lyndon B. Johnson

Context: On 3 December 1963, US President Lyndon B. Johnson posthumously awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award, in recognition of the good relationship between Pope John XXIII and the United States of America. In his speech on 6 December 1963, Johnson said: "I have also determined to confer the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously on another noble man whose death we mourned 6 months ago: His Holiness, Pope John XXIII. He was a man of simple origins, of simple faith, of simple charity. In this exalted office he was still the gentle pastor. He believed in discussion and persuasion. He profoundly respected the dignity of man. He gave the world immortal statements of the rights of man, of the obligations of men to each other, of their duty to strive for a world community in which all can live in peace and fraternal friendship. His goodness reached across temporal boundaries to warm the hearts of men of all nations and of all faiths".

Question: Who posthumously awarded his the Presidential Medal of Freedom?


Answer: 3 December 1963

Question: When did President Johnson award him?


Answer: the United States' highest civilian award

Question: What is the Presidential Medal Freedom?


Answer: 6 December 1963

Question: When was President Johnson's speech for John XXIII?


Answer: Good Pope John

Context: He was known affectionately as "Good Pope John". His cause for canonization was opened under Pope Paul VI during the final session of the Second Vatican Council on 18 November 1965, along with the cause of Pope Pius XII. On 3 September 2000, John XXIII was declared "Blessed" alongside Pope Pius IX by Pope John Paul II, the penultimate step on the road to sainthood after a miracle of curing an ill woman was discovered. He was the first pope since Pope Pius X to receive this honour. Following his beatification, his body was moved from its original burial place in the grottoes below the Vatican to the altar of St. Jerome and displayed for the veneration of the faithful.[citation needed]

Question: What was he also known as?


Answer: Pope Paul VI

Question: Who opened his cause for canonization?


Answer: 3 September 2000

Question: When was Pope John XXIII considered "blessed?"


Answer: Pope John Paul II

Question: Who declared him "blessed?"


Answer: Pope Pius X

Question: Who was the last pope before John XXIII to receive the title?


Answer: 3 June 2013

Context: The 50th anniversary of his death was celebrated on 3 June 2013 by Pope Francis, who visited his tomb and prayed there, then addressing the gathered crowd and spoke about the late pope. The people that gathered there at the tomb were from Bergamo, the province where the late pope came from. A month later, on 5 July 2013, Francis approved Pope John XXIII for canonization, along with Pope John Paul II without the traditional second miracle required. Instead, Francis based this decision on John XXIII's merits for the Second Vatican Council. On Sunday, 27 April 2014, John XXIII and Pope John Paul II were declared saints on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Question: When was the 50th anniversary of his death?


Answer: Pope Francis

Question: Who celebrated his 50th anniversary?


Answer: Bergamo

Question: Where were the people gathered at his tomb from?


Answer: 5 July 2013

Question: When did Francis approve John XXIII for canonization?


Answer: Sunday, 27 April 2014

Question: On what date was John XXIII and Pope John Paul II declared saints?


Answer: religion, philosophy, and science

Context: Time has long been a major subject of study in religion, philosophy, and science, but defining it in a manner applicable to all fields without circularity has consistently eluded scholars. Nevertheless, diverse fields such as business, industry, sports, the sciences, and the performing arts all incorporate some notion of time into their respective measuring systems. Some simple definitions of time include "time is what clocks measure", which is a problematically vague and self-referential definition that utilizes the device used to measure the subject as the definition of the subject, and "time is what keeps everything from happening at once", which is without substantive meaning in the absence of the definition of simultaneity in the context of the limitations of human sensation, observation of events, and the perception of such events.

Question: Time has long been a major point of study in which fields?


Answer: time

Question: Fields such as business, industry, sports, science, and performing arts incorporate some notion of what into their measuring systems?


Answer: time is what clocks measure

Question: What is an example of a simple definition of time?


Answer: the universe

Context: Two contrasting viewpoints on time divide many prominent philosophers. One view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe—a dimension independent of events, in which events occur in sequence. Sir Isaac Newton subscribed to this realist view, and hence it is sometimes referred to as Newtonian time. The opposing view is that time does not refer to any kind of "container" that events and objects "move through", nor to any entity that "flows", but that it is instead part of a fundamental intellectual structure (together with space and number) within which humans sequence and compare events. This second view, in the tradition of Gottfried Leibniz and Immanuel Kant, holds that time is neither an event nor a thing, and thus is not itself measurable nor can it be travelled.

Question: According to one of the main viewpoints of time, time is part of the fundamental structure of what?


Answer: Newtonian time

Question: The realist view of time is sometimes referred to as what?


Answer: a fundamental intellectual structure

Question: What does the opposing view of time believe time is a part of?


Answer: seven

Context: Time is one of the seven fundamental physical quantities in both the International System of Units and International System of Quantities. Time is used to define other quantities—such as velocity—so defining time in terms of such quantities would result in circularity of definition. An operational definition of time, wherein one says that observing a certain number of repetitions of one or another standard cyclical event (such as the passage of a free-swinging pendulum) constitutes one standard unit such as the second, is highly useful in the conduct of both advanced experiments and everyday affairs of life. The operational definition leaves aside the question whether there is something called time, apart from the counting activity just mentioned, that flows and that can be measured. Investigations of a single continuum called spacetime bring questions about space into questions about time, questions that have their roots in the works of early students of natural philosophy.

Question: Time is one of how many fundamental physical quantities?


Answer: the International System of Units and International System of Quantities

Question: Time is one of the fundamental physical quantities in which two systems?


Answer: velocity

Question: What is an example of a quantity that time is used to define, mentioned in the paragraph?


Answer: a single continuum called spacetime

Question: Investigations of what brought questions of space into questions about time?


Answer: Temporal measurement

Context: Temporal measurement has occupied scientists and technologists, and was a prime motivation in navigation and astronomy. Periodic events and periodic motion have long served as standards for units of time. Examples include the apparent motion of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon, the swing of a pendulum, and the beat of a heart. Currently, the international unit of time, the second, is defined by measuring the electronic transition frequency of caesium atoms (see below). Time is also of significant social importance, having economic value ("time is money") as well as personal value, due to an awareness of the limited time in each day and in human life spans.

Question: What has been a prime motivation in astronomy and navigation?


Answer: Periodic events and periodic motion

Question: Periodic events and periodic motion have served as standards for what?


Answer: the second

Question: What is the current international unit of time?


Answer: caesium atoms

Question: The electronic transition frequency of which element defines the second?


Answer: each day and in human life spans

Question: Time has personal value due to awareness of it's limited nature in what?


Answer: the calendar

Context: Temporal measurement, chronometry, takes two distinct period forms: the calendar, a mathematical tool for organizing intervals of time, and the clock, a physical mechanism that counts the passage of time. In day-to-day life, the clock is consulted for periods less than a day whereas the calendar is consulted for periods longer than a day. Increasingly, personal electronic devices display both calendars and clocks simultaneously. The number (as on a clock dial or calendar) that marks the occurrence of a specified event as to hour or date is obtained by counting from a fiducial epoch—a central reference point.

Question: What is a mathematical tool used for organizing intervals of time?


Answer: the clock

Question: What is a physical tool that tracks the passage of time?


Answer: the clock

Question: Which tool is used in day to day life?


Answer: the calendar

Question: Which tool is used in periods longer than a day?


Answer: by counting from a fiducial epoch—a central reference point

Question: How is the number that marks the occurrence of an event obtained?


Answer: the Paleolithic

Context: Artifacts from the Paleolithic suggest that the moon was used to reckon time as early as 6,000 years ago. Lunar calendars were among the first to appear, either 12 or 13 lunar months (either 354 or 384 days). Without intercalation to add days or months to some years, seasons quickly drift in a calendar based solely on twelve lunar months. Lunisolar calendars have a thirteenth month added to some years to make up for the difference between a full year (now known to be about 365.24 days) and a year of just twelve lunar months. The numbers twelve and thirteen came to feature prominently in many cultures, at least partly due to this relationship of months to years. Other early forms of calendars originated in Mesoamerica, particularly in ancient Mayan civilization. These calendars were religiously and astronomically based, with 18 months in a year and 20 days in a month.

Question: Artifacts from which era suggest that the moon was used to reckon time around 6,000 years ago?


Answer: Lunar calendars

Question: Which calendars were among the first to appear?


Answer: either 12 or 13 lunar months (either 354 or 384 days)

Question: How long were the original lunar calendars?


Answer: Mesoamerica

Question: Where did some of the other early forms of calendars originate?


Answer: 18

Question: How many months were in a year in the original Mayan calendars?


Answer: the water clock, or clepsydra

Context: The most precise timekeeping device of the ancient world was the water clock, or clepsydra, one of which was found in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep I (1525–1504 BC). They could be used to measure the hours even at night, but required manual upkeep to replenish the flow of water. The Ancient Greeks and the people from Chaldea (southeastern Mesopotamia) regularly maintained timekeeping records as an essential part of their astronomical observations. Arab inventors and engineers in particular made improvements on the use of water clocks up to the Middle Ages. In the 11th century, Chinese inventors and engineers invented the first mechanical clocks driven by an escapement mechanism.

Question: What was the most accurate clock-like device in the ancient world?


Answer: Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep

Question: A clepsyrda was found in the tomb of which Pharaoh?


Answer: Arab inventors

Question: Which inventors made significant improvements on the water clock up until the Middle Ages?


Answer: Chinese

Question: Which engineers came up with the first mechanical clocks?


Answer: the 11th century

Question: When were the first mechanical clocks created?


Answer: The hourglass

Context: The hourglass uses the flow of sand to measure the flow of time. They were used in navigation. Ferdinand Magellan used 18 glasses on each ship for his circumnavigation of the globe (1522). Incense sticks and candles were, and are, commonly used to measure time in temples and churches across the globe. Waterclocks, and later, mechanical clocks, were used to mark the events of the abbeys and monasteries of the Middle Ages. Richard of Wallingford (1292–1336), abbot of St. Alban's abbey, famously built a mechanical clock as an astronomical orrery about 1330. Great advances in accurate time-keeping were made by Galileo Galilei and especially Christiaan Huygens with the invention of pendulum driven clocks along with the invention of the minute hand by Jost Burgi.

Question: Which device uses the flow of sand to measure time?


Answer: 18

Question: How many hourglasses did Magellan use on each ship during his famous voyage across the globe?


Answer: Incense sticks and candles

Question: What method did temples and churches use to measure time?


Answer: Richard of Wallingford

Question: Which abbot of St. Alban's abbey built a mechanical clock around 1330?


Answer: Jost Burgi.

Question: Who is credited with the invention of the minute hand?


Answer: atomic clocks

Context: The most accurate timekeeping devices are atomic clocks, which are accurate to seconds in many millions of years, and are used to calibrate other clocks and timekeeping instruments. Atomic clocks use the frequency of electronic transitions in certain atoms to measure the second. One of the most common atoms used is caesium, most modern atomic clocks probe caesium with microwaves to determine the frequency of these electron vibrations. Since 1967, the International System of Measurements bases its unit of time, the second, on the properties of caesium atoms. SI defines the second as 9,192,631,770 cycles of the radiation that corresponds to the transition between two electron spin energy levels of the ground state of the 133Cs atom.

Question: Which timekeeping devices are the most accurate?


Answer: the frequency of electronic transitions in certain atoms

Question: What method do atomic clocks use to measure seconds?


Answer: the International System of Measurements

Question: Which system bases its unit of time on the properties of caesium?


Answer: Since 1967

Question: How long has the International System of Measurements based the second on caesium?


Answer: Greenwich Mean Time

Context: Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is an older standard, adopted starting with British railways in 1847. Using telescopes instead of atomic clocks, GMT was calibrated to the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in the UK. Universal Time (UT) is the modern term for the international telescope-based system, adopted to replace "Greenwich Mean Time" in 1928 by the International Astronomical Union. Observations at the Greenwich Observatory itself ceased in 1954, though the location is still used as the basis for the coordinate system. Because the rotational period of Earth is not perfectly constant, the duration of a second would vary if calibrated to a telescope-based standard like GMT or UT—in which a second was defined as a fraction of a day or year. The terms "GMT" and "Greenwich Mean Time" are sometimes used informally to refer to UT or UTC.

Question: Which standard of time started with British Railways?


Answer: 1847

Question: When was GMT adopted by British Railways?


Answer: telescopes

Question: GMT used what instead of atomic clocks?


Answer: 1954

Question: When did observations at the Greenwich Observatory cease?


Answer: UT or UTC

Question: The terms GMT and Greenwich Mean Time are also used informally to refer to what?


Answer: Two

Context: Two distinct viewpoints on time divide many prominent philosophers. One view is that time is part of the fundamental structure of the universe, a dimension in which events occur in sequence. Sir Isaac Newton subscribed to this realist view, and hence it is sometimes referred to as Newtonian time. An opposing view is that time does not refer to any kind of actually existing dimension that events and objects "move through", nor to any entity that "flows", but that it is instead an intellectual concept (together with space and number) that enables humans to sequence and compare events. This second view, in the tradition of Gottfried Leibniz and Immanuel Kant, holds that space and time "do not exist in and of themselves, but ... are the product of the way we represent things", because we can know objects only as they appear to us.

Question: How many main viewpoints divide many philosophers?


Answer: the universe

Question: The realist view states that time is part of the fundamental structure of what?


Answer: Newtonian time

Question: The realist view is sometimes referred to as what?


Answer: to sequence and compare events

Question: The opposing view states that time is an intellectual concept that allows people to what?


Answer: The Vedas

Context: The Vedas, the earliest texts on Indian philosophy and Hindu philosophy dating back to the late 2nd millennium BC, describe ancient Hindu cosmology, in which the universe goes through repeated cycles of creation, destruction and rebirth, with each cycle lasting 4,320 million years. Ancient Greek philosophers, including Parmenides and Heraclitus, wrote essays on the nature of time. Plato, in the Timaeus, identified time with the period of motion of the heavenly bodies. Aristotle, in Book IV of his Physica defined time as 'number of movement in respect of the before and after'.

Question: What are the earliest texts of Indian/Hindu philosophy?


Answer: back to the late 2nd millennium BC

Question: How long ago are the earliest texts of Indian/Hindu philosophy dated?


Answer: 4,320 million years

Question: How long does each cycle of birth and destruction of the universe last according to Ancient Hindu texts?


Answer: Parmenides and Heraclitus

Question: Which ancient Greek philosophers wrote essays on the concept of time?


Answer: Book IV of his Physica

Question: Aristotle defined time as "number of movement in respect of the before and after" in which book?


Answer: St. Augustine of Hippo

Context: In Book 11 of his Confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo ruminates on the nature of time, asking, "What then is time? If no one asks me, I know: if I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not." He begins to define time by what it is not rather than what it is, an approach similar to that taken in other negative definitions. However, Augustine ends up calling time a “distention” of the mind (Confessions 11.26) by which we simultaneously grasp the past in memory, the present by attention, and the future by expectation.

Question: Who commented on the nature of time in Book 11 of his confessions?


Answer: by what it is not rather than what it is

Question: By what does St. Augustine of Hippo begin to define time?


Answer: a “distention” of the mind

Question: What does Augustine call time in Confessions 11.26?


Answer: the Critique of Pure Reason

Context: Immanuel Kant, in the Critique of Pure Reason, described time as an a priori intuition that allows us (together with the other a priori intuition, space) to comprehend sense experience. With Kant, neither space nor time are conceived as substances, but rather both are elements of a systematic mental framework that necessarily structures the experiences of any rational agent, or observing subject. Kant thought of time as a fundamental part of an abstract conceptual framework, together with space and number, within which we sequence events, quantify their duration, and compare the motions of objects. In this view, time does not refer to any kind of entity that "flows," that objects "move through," or that is a "container" for events. Spatial measurements are used to quantify the extent of and distances between objects, and temporal measurements are used to quantify the durations of and between events. Time was designated by Kant as the purest possible schema of a pure concept or category.

Question: In what did Immanuel Kant describe time as a priori intuition that allows humankind to understand sense experience?


Answer: both are elements of a systematic mental framework

Question: What did Kant portray space and time to be?


Answer: an abstract conceptual framework

Question: Kant thought of time as a fundamental part of what?


Answer: temporal measurements

Question: What type of measurements are used to quantify the duration of events?


Answer: Spatial measurements

Question: What type of measurements are used to quantify the distances between objects?


Answer: Martin Heidegger

Context: According to Martin Heidegger we do not exist inside time, we are time. Hence, the relationship to the past is a present awareness of having been, which allows the past to exist in the present. The relationship to the future is the state of anticipating a potential possibility, task, or engagement. It is related to the human propensity for caring and being concerned, which causes "being ahead of oneself" when thinking of a pending occurrence. Therefore, this concern for a potential occurrence also allows the future to exist in the present. The present becomes an experience, which is qualitative instead of quantitative. Heidegger seems to think this is the way that a linear relationship with time, or temporal existence, is broken or transcended. We are not stuck in sequential time. We are able to remember the past and project into the future—we have a kind of random access to our representation of temporal existence; we can, in our thoughts, step out of (ecstasis) sequential time.

Question: Who suggested that humankind does not exist inside time, but is time?


Answer: a potential possibility, task, or engagement

Question: The relationship to the future is the state of anticipating what?


Answer: The present

Question: What is considered a qualitative experience rather than a quantitative one?


Answer: step out of (ecstasis) sequential time.

Question: According to Heidegger, what can we do, in our thoughts?


Answer: a single dimension of time

Context: The theory of special relativity finds a convenient formulation in Minkowski spacetime, a mathematical structure that combines three dimensions of space with a single dimension of time. In this formalism, distances in space can be measured by how long light takes to travel that distance, e.g., a light-year is a measure of distance, and a meter is now defined in terms of how far light travels in a certain amount of time. Two events in Minkowski spacetime are separated by an invariant interval, which can be either space-like, light-like, or time-like. Events that have a time-like separation cannot be simultaneous in any frame of reference, there must be a temporal component (and possibly a spatial one) to their separation. Events that have a space-like separation will be simultaneous in some frame of reference, and there is no frame of reference in which they do not have a spatial separation. Different observers may calculate different distances and different time intervals between two events, but the invariant interval between the events is independent of the observer (and his velocity).

Question: Minkowski spacetime combines the three dimensions of space with what?


Answer: by how long light takes to travel that distance

Question: In Minkowski spacetime, how can distances in space be measured?


Answer: by an invariant interval

Question: What are two events in Minkowski spacetime separated by?


Answer: of the observer (and his velocity)

Question: The invariant interval between events is independent of what?


Answer: space-like, light-like, or time-like

Question: The invariant interval that separates two events in Minkowski spacetime can either be what?


Answer: concept of "relative, apparent, and common time"

Context: In non-relativistic classical mechanics, Newton's concept of "relative, apparent, and common time" can be used in the formulation of a prescription for the synchronization of clocks. Events seen by two different observers in motion relative to each other produce a mathematical concept of time that works sufficiently well for describing the everyday phenomena of most people's experience. In the late nineteenth century, physicists encountered problems with the classical understanding of time, in connection with the behavior of electricity and magnetism. Einstein resolved these problems by invoking a method of synchronizing clocks using the constant, finite speed of light as the maximum signal velocity. This led directly to the result that observers in motion relative to one another measure different elapsed times for the same event.

Question: What Newtonian concept can be used in the formulation of an idea for the synchronization of clocks?


Answer: the late nineteenth century

Question: In which century did physicists encounter problems with the understanding of time?


Answer: the behavior of electricity and magnetism

Question: The behavior of which two phenomena caused physicists to encounter problems with their understanding of time in the late 19th century?


Answer: Einstein

Question: Which famous scientist resolved these issues?


Answer: space

Context: Time has historically been closely related with space, the two together merging into spacetime in Einstein's special relativity and general relativity. According to these theories, the concept of time depends on the spatial reference frame of the observer, and the human perception as well as the measurement by instruments such as clocks are different for observers in relative motion. For example, if a spaceship carrying a clock flies through space at (very nearly) the speed of light, its crew does not notice a change in the speed of time on board their vessel because everything traveling at the same speed slows down at the same rate (including the clock, the crew's thought processes, and the functions of their bodies). However, to a stationary observer watching the spaceship fly by, the spaceship appears flattened in the direction it is traveling and the clock on board the spaceship appears to move very slowly.

Question: Historically, time has been closely related with what?


Answer: special relativity and general relativity

Question: In which of Einstein's two theories do time and space merge into spacetime?


Answer: the spatial reference frame of the observer, and the human perception

Question: According to Einsteins two relativity theories, the concept of time depends on what?


Answer: in the speed of time on board their vessel

Question: A crew in a spaceship travelling nearly the speed of light will not notice the change in what?


Answer: the spaceship appears flattened in the direction it is traveling

Question: How will the above mentioned spaceship appear to a stationary observer?


Answer: slowed down and flattened along the spaceship's direction of travel

Context: On the other hand, the crew on board the spaceship also perceives the observer as slowed down and flattened along the spaceship's direction of travel, because both are moving at very nearly the speed of light relative to each other. Because the outside universe appears flattened to the spaceship, the crew perceives themselves as quickly traveling between regions of space that (to the stationary observer) are many light years apart. This is reconciled by the fact that the crew's perception of time is different from the stationary observer's; what seems like seconds to the crew might be hundreds of years to the stationary observer. In either case, however, causality remains unchanged: the past is the set of events that can send light signals to an entity and the future is the set of events to which an entity can send light signals.

Question: How does the crew on board the spaceship perceive the stationary observer?


Answer: time

Question: The crew's perception of what is different from a stationary observer?


Answer: hundreds of years

Question: What the crew perceives as seconds might be seen as how long to a stationary observer?


Answer: causality

Question: What remains unchanged in both the cases of the spaceship crew and of the stationary observer?


Answer: Einstein

Context: Einstein showed in his thought experiments that people travelling at different speeds, while agreeing on cause and effect, measure different time separations between events, and can even observe different chronological orderings between non-causally related events. Though these effects are typically minute in the human experience, the effect becomes much more pronounced for objects moving at speeds approaching the speed of light. Many subatomic particles exist for only a fixed fraction of a second in a lab relatively at rest, but some that travel close to the speed of light can be measured to travel farther and survive much longer than expected (a muon is one example). According to the special theory of relativity, in the high-speed particle's frame of reference, it exists, on the average, for a standard amount of time known as its mean lifetime, and the distance it travels in that time is zero, because its velocity is zero. Relative to a frame of reference at rest, time seems to "slow down" for the particle. Relative to the high-speed particle, distances seem to shorten. Einstein showed how both temporal and spatial dimensions can be altered (or "warped") by high-speed motion.

Question: Who showed, in his thought experiments, that people travelling at different speeds measured time differently?


Answer: for objects moving at speeds approaching the speed of light.

Question: In what case do these effects become much more noticeable?


Answer: a fixed fraction of a second

Question: How long do most subatomic particles exist for in a lab?


Answer: both temporal and spatial dimensions

Question: Einstein showed how what could be altered by high speed motion?


Answer: the laws of physics

Context: Time appears to have a direction—the past lies behind, fixed and immutable, while the future lies ahead and is not necessarily fixed. Yet for the most part the laws of physics do not specify an arrow of time, and allow any process to proceed both forward and in reverse. This is generally a consequence of time being modeled by a parameter in the system being analyzed, where there is no "proper time": the direction of the arrow of time is sometimes arbitrary. Examples of this include the Second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy must increase over time (see Entropy); the cosmological arrow of time, which points away from the Big Bang, CPT symmetry, and the radiative arrow of time, caused by light only traveling forwards in time (see light cone). In particle physics, the violation of CP symmetry implies that there should be a small counterbalancing time asymmetry to preserve CPT symmetry as stated above. The standard description of measurement in quantum mechanics is also time asymmetric (see Measurement in quantum mechanics).

Question: What laws do not specify an arrow of time?


Answer: time asymmetric

Question: The standard description of measurement in quantum mechanics is what?


Answer: arbitrary

Question: The direction of the arrow of time is sometimes what?


Answer: the Second law of thermodynamics,

Question: Which law states that entropy must increase over time?


Answer: CP symmetry

Question: The violation of what implies that there should be a small counterbalancing time asymmetry?


Answer: A Brief History of Time

Context: Stephen Hawking in particular has addressed a connection between time and the Big Bang. In A Brief History of Time and elsewhere, Hawking says that even if time did not begin with the Big Bang and there were another time frame before the Big Bang, no information from events then would be accessible to us, and nothing that happened then would have any effect upon the present time-frame. Upon occasion, Hawking has stated that time actually began with the Big Bang, and that questions about what happened before the Big Bang are meaningless. This less-nuanced, but commonly repeated formulation has received criticisms from philosophers such as Aristotelian philosopher Mortimer J. Adler.

Question: In which publication does Hawking say that any events that existed before the Big Bang would not be accessible to us?


Answer: the Big Bang

Question: Stephen Hawking makes a connection between time and what?


Answer: time

Question: What does Hawking suggest started with the big bang?


Answer: meaningless

Question: Hawking also states that questions about what happened before the Big Bang are what?


Answer: Aristotelian philosopher Mortimer J. Adler

Question: Which philosopher has criticized Hawking's formulation?


Answer: cosmology

Context: While the Big Bang model is well established in cosmology, it is likely to be refined in the future. Little is known about the earliest moments of the universe's history. The Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems require the existence of a singularity at the beginning of cosmic time. However, these theorems assume that general relativity is correct, but general relativity must break down before the universe reaches the Planck temperature, and a correct treatment of quantum gravity may avoid the singularity.

Question: The Big Bang model is solidly established in what?


Answer: i

Question: How much is known about the early states of the universe?


Answer: The Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems

Question: Which theorems require the existence of a singularity at the beginning of time?


Answer: general relativity

Question: These theorems have to assume what theory is correct?


Answer: before the universe reaches the Planck temperature

Question: These theorems state that general relatively must break down before what?


Answer: since the 19th century

Context: Time travel is the concept of moving backwards or forwards to different points in time, in a manner analogous to moving through space, and different from the normal "flow" of time to an earthbound observer. In this view, all points in time (including future times) "persist" in some way. Time travel has been a plot device in fiction since the 19th century. Traveling backwards in time has never been verified, presents many theoretic problems, and may be an impossibility. Any technological device, whether fictional or hypothetical, that is used to achieve time travel is known as a time machine.

Question: How long has time travel been a topic in science fiction?


Answer: backwards

Question: Traveling which direction in time has never been verified and presents many problems?


Answer: to achieve time travel

Question: A time machine is known as any technological devise that is used for what purpose?


Answer: paradoxes cannot arise simply because they have not arisen

Context: Another solution to the problem of causality-based temporal paradoxes is that such paradoxes cannot arise simply because they have not arisen. As illustrated in numerous works of fiction, free will either ceases to exist in the past or the outcomes of such decisions are predetermined. As such, it would not be possible to enact the grandfather paradox because it is a historical fact that your grandfather was not killed before his child (your parent) was conceived. This view doesn't simply hold that history is an unchangeable constant, but that any change made by a hypothetical future time traveler would already have happened in his or her past, resulting in the reality that the traveler moves from. More elaboration on this view can be found in the Novikov self-consistency principle.

Question: What is another solution to the problem of temporal paradoxes?


Answer: free will

Question: In several works of fiction, what ceases to exist in the past which causes paradoxes not to arise?


Answer: the grandfather paradox

Question: What paradox cannot be enacted because it is a fact that your grandfather was not killed before your parent was conceived?


Answer: the Novikov self-consistency principle.

Question: What principle elaborates more on the view described?


Answer: Psychoactive drugs

Context: Psychoactive drugs can impair the judgment of time. Stimulants can lead both humans and rats to overestimate time intervals, while depressants can have the opposite effect. The level of activity in the brain of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine may be the reason for this. Such chemicals will either excite or inhibit the firing of neurons in the brain, with a greater firing rate allowing the brain to register the occurrence of more events within a given interval (speed up time) and a decreased firing rate reducing the brain's capacity to distinguish events occurring within a given interval (slow down time).

Question: What type of drugs can impair the judgement of time?


Answer: time intervals

Question: Stimulants lead humans to overestimate what?


Answer: depressants

Question: What causes humans to underestimate time intervals?


Answer: The level of activity in the brain of neurotransmitters

Question: The level of what is the reason stimulants and depressants change human perceptions of time?


Answer: either excite or inhibit the firing of neurons

Question: Such chemicals do what to the firing of the brain's neurons?


Answer: human behavior, education, and travel behavior

Context: The use of time is an important issue in understanding human behavior, education, and travel behavior. Time-use research is a developing field of study. The question concerns how time is allocated across a number of activities (such as time spent at home, at work, shopping, etc.). Time use changes with technology, as the television or the Internet created new opportunities to use time in different ways. However, some aspects of time use are relatively stable over long periods of time, such as the amount of time spent traveling to work, which despite major changes in transport, has been observed to be about 20–30 minutes one-way for a large number of cities over a long period.

Question: The use of time is important in understanding what?


Answer: Time-use research

Question: What is a developing field of time related study?


Answer: technology

Question: Time use is always changing with advances in what?


Answer: 20–30 minutes one-way

Question: Travelling to work has been observed to be about how long for a large number of cities over a long period?


Answer: a timestamp

Context: A sequence of events, or series of events, is a sequence of items, facts, events, actions, changes, or procedural steps, arranged in time order (chronological order), often with causality relationships among the items. Because of causality, cause precedes effect, or cause and effect may appear together in a single item, but effect never precedes cause. A sequence of events can be presented in text, tables, charts, or timelines. The description of the items or events may include a timestamp. A sequence of events that includes the time along with place or location information to describe a sequential path may be referred to as a world line.

Question: What may the description of events include?


Answer: effect

Question: What never precedes cause because of causality?


Answer: a world line

Question: A sequence of events used to describe a sequential path can be referred to as what?


Answer: in text, tables, charts, or timelines

Question: In what ways can a sequence of events be presented?


Answer: chronological order

Question: What is another way of phrasing "time order"?


Answer: stories, historical events (chronology), directions and steps in procedures, and timetables

Context: Uses of a sequence of events include stories, historical events (chronology), directions and steps in procedures, and timetables for scheduling activities. A sequence of events may also be used to help describe processes in science, technology, and medicine. A sequence of events may be focused on past events (e.g., stories, history, chronology), on future events that must be in a predetermined order (e.g., plans, schedules, procedures, timetables), or focused on the observation of past events with the expectation that the events will occur in the future (e.g., processes). The use of a sequence of events occurs in fields as diverse as machines (cam timer), documentaries (Seconds From Disaster), law (choice of law), computer simulation (discrete event simulation), and electric power transmission (sequence of events recorder). A specific example of a sequence of events is the timeline of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Question: Uses of sequences of events include what?


Answer: processes in science, technology, and medicine

Question: What may a sequence of events be used to describe?


Answer: a sequence of events

Question: The use of what occurs in fields as diverse as machines, documentaries, or computer simulation?


Answer: the timeline of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

Question: What is a specific example of a sequence of events?


Answer: Mario Draghi

Context: The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central bank for the euro and administers monetary policy of the Eurozone, which consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world. It is one of the world's most important central banks and is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) listed in the Treaty on European Union (TEU). The capital stock of the bank is owned by the central banks of all 28 EU member states.[dated info] The Treaty of Amsterdam established the bank in 1998, and it is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. As of 2015[update] the President of the ECB is Mario Draghi, former governor of the Bank of Italy, former member of the World Bank, and former managing director of the Goldman Sachs international division (2002–2005). The bank primarily occupied the Eurotower prior to, and during, the construction of the new headquarters.

Question: What former managing director od Goldman Sachs international division is president of The European Central Bank?


Answer: The European Central Bank

Question: What is the official, central bank for the euro?


Answer: consists of 19 EU member states and is one of the largest currency areas in the world

Question: What is the Eurozone?


Answer: the central banks of all 28 EU member states

Question: Who owns the capital stock of The European Central Bank?


Answer: The Treaty of Amsterdam

Question: What established The European Central Bank?


Answer: maintain price stability within the Eurozone

Context: The primary objective of the European Central Bank, as mandated in Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB, is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone. The basic tasks, as defined in Article 3 of the Statute, are to define and implement the monetary policy for the Eurozone, to conduct foreign exchange operations, to take care of the foreign reserves of the European System of Central Banks and operation of the financial market infrastructure under the TARGET2 payments system and the technical platform (currently being developed) for settlement of securities in Europe (TARGET2 Securities). The ECB has, under Article 16 of its Statute, the exclusive right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes. Member states can issue euro coins, but the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand.

Question: What is the main mission of the ECB?


Answer: Article 16 of its Statute

Question: What gives the ECB the right to authorise the issuance of euro banknotes?


Answer: the amount must be authorised by the ECB beforehand

Question: How can a member state use euro coins?


Answer: Article 2 of the Statute of the ECB

Question: Where is the mission for the European Central Bank found?


Answer: Article 3 of the Statute

Question: Where can the basic tasks of the European Central Bank be found?


Answer: Wim Duisenberg

Context: The first President of the Bank was Wim Duisenberg, the former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute. While Duisenberg had been the head of the EMI (taking over from Alexandre Lamfalussy of Belgium) just before the ECB came into existence, the French government wanted Jean-Claude Trichet, former head of the French central bank, to be the ECB's first president. The French argued that since the ECB was to be located in Germany, its president should be French. This was opposed by the German, Dutch and Belgian governments who saw Duisenberg as a guarantor of a strong euro. Tensions were abated by a gentleman's agreement in which Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate, to be replaced by Trichet.

Question: Who was the first president of the ECB?


Answer: former president of the Dutch central bank and the European Monetary Institute

Question: What was Duisenberg's previous business experience?


Answer: Jean-Claude Trichet

Question: Who did the French government think was best candidate for President of the ECB?


Answer: since the ECB was to be located in Germany, its president should be French

Question: Why did the French want a French bank president?


Answer: Duisenberg would stand down before the end of his mandate, to be replaced by Trichet

Question: What did the French, German, Dutch and Belgian governments finally compromise on with regards to managing the ECB?


Answer: inflation of under 2%

Context: The primary objective of the European Central Bank, as laid down in Article 127(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone. The Governing Council in October 1998 defined price stability as inflation of under 2%, “a year-on-year increase in the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) for the euro area of below 2%” and added that price stability ”was to be maintained over the medium term”. (Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices) Unlike for example the United States Federal Reserve Bank, the ECB has only one primary objective but this objective has never been defined in statutory law, and the HICP target can be termed ad-hoc.

Question: What is price stability defined as?


Answer: over the medium term

Question: What did the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices state that price stability had to be maintained at?


Answer: October 1998

Question: When did the Governing Council define price stability?


Answer: maintain price stability within the Eurozone

Question: What is the primary goal of the ECB?


Answer: Article 127(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

Question: Where is the primary mission of the European Central Bank listed?


Answer: increase in liquidity in the economy

Context: The banks in effect borrow cash and must pay it back; the short durations allow interest rates to be adjusted continually. When the repo notes come due the participating banks bid again. An increase in the quantity of notes offered at auction allows an increase in liquidity in the economy. A decrease has the contrary effect. The contracts are carried on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet and the resulting deposits in member banks are carried as a liability. In layman terms, the liability of the central bank is money, and an increase in deposits in member banks, carried as a liability by the central bank, means that more money has been put into the economy.[a]

Question: What happens when a lot of repo notes come due?


Answer: contrary effect

Question: What happens whe not as many repo notes are coming due?


Answer: more money has been put into the economy

Question: What happens when members increase their deposits?


Answer: increase in deposits in member banks

Question: What is a good way to boost the economy?


Answer: on the asset side of the European Central Bank's balance sheet

Question: Where are contracts recorded?


Answer: must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities

Context: To qualify for participation in the auctions, banks must be able to offer proof of appropriate collateral in the form of loans to other entities. These can be the public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted. The fairly stringent membership requirements for the European Union, especially with regard to sovereign debt as a percentage of each member state's gross domestic product, are designed to insure that assets offered to the bank as collateral are, at least in theory, all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation.

Question: How does a bank make sure that they can participate in auctions?


Answer: public debt of member states, but a fairly wide range of private banking securities are also accepted

Question: What kind of proof is acceptable for participation in auctions?


Answer: all equally good, and all equally protected from the risk of inflation

Question: What should all assets offered up as collateral be?


Answer: sovereign debt

Question: What must be a part of a states Gross Domestic Product in order for them to be considered for particpation in auctions?


Answer: The Executive Board

Context: The Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of monetary policy (defined by the Governing Council) and the day-to-day running of the bank. It can issue decisions to national central banks and may also exercise powers delegated to it by the Governing Council. It is composed of the President of the Bank (currently Mario Draghi), the Vice-President (currently Vitor Constâncio) and four other members. They are all appointed for non-renewable terms of eight years. They are appointed "from among persons of recognised standing and professional experience in monetary or banking matters by common accord of the governments of the Member States at the level of Heads of State or Government, on a recommendation from the Council, after it has consulted the European Parliament and the Governing Council of the ECB". The Executive Board normally meets every Tuesday.

Question: Who is responsible for overseeing all monetary policy?


Answer: Mario Draghi

Question: Who is the current president of the ECB?


Answer: Vitor Constâncio

Question: Who is the Vice-President of The European Central Bank?


Answer: four

Question: Along with the President and Vice President, how many other members make up the Executive Board?


Answer: non-renewable terms of eight years

Question: For how long are the other members of the Executive Board appointed?


Answer: Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña

Context: José Manuel González-Páramo, a Spanish member of the Executive Board since June 2004, was due to leave the board in early June 2012 and no replacement had been named as of late May 2012. The Spanish had nominated Barcelona-born Antonio Sáinz de Vicuña, an ECB veteran who heads its legal department, as González-Páramo's replacement as early as January 2012 but alternatives from Luxembourg, Finland, and Slovenia were put forward and no decision made by May. After a long political battle, Luxembourg's Yves Mersch, was appointed as González-Páramo's replacement.

Question: Who did the Spanish want to take José Manuel González-Páramo's seat on the board?


Answer: Luxembourg's Yves Mersch

Question: Who was ulitmately named as González-Páramo's replacement?


Answer: June 2012

Question: When was González-Páramo's supposed to leave his seat on the board?


Answer: June 2004

Question: When did González-Páramo take his seat on the Executive Board?


Answer: ECB veteran who heads its legal department

Question: Why did the Spanish think that Vicuña would be a suitable replacement for González-Páramo?


Answer: discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks

Context: The Supervisory Board meets twice a month to discuss, plan and carry out the ECB’s supervisory tasks. It proposes draft decisions to the Governing Council under the non-objection procedure. It is composed of Chair (appointed for a non-renewable term of five years), Vice-Chair (chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board) four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors. If the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank (NCB), the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB. In such cases, the representatives are together considered as one member for the purposes of the voting procedure.

Question: What does the Supervisory Board discuss at it's meetings?


Answer: appointed for a non-renewable term of five years

Question: How long is the term for the Chairman of the Supervisory Board?


Answer: chosen from among the members of the ECB's Executive Board

Question: How long is the term for Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board?


Answer: four ECB representatives and representatives of national supervisors

Question: Besides the Chair and Vice-Chair, who else is on the Supervisory Board?


Answer: the representative of the competent authority can be accompanied by a representative from their NCB

Question: What happens if the national supervisory authority designated by a Member State is not a national central bank?


Answer: European law

Context: Although the ECB is governed by European law directly and thus not by corporate law applying to private law companies, its set-up resembles that of a corporation in the sense that the ECB has shareholders and stock capital. Its capital is five billion euros which is held by the national central banks of the member states as shareholders. The initial capital allocation key was determined in 1998 on the basis of the states' population and GDP, but the key is adjustable. Shares in the ECB are not transferable and cannot be used as collateral.

Question: What governs the ECB?


Answer: shareholders and stock capital

Question: How does the ECB mimic a corporation?


Answer: five billion euros

Question: How much does the ECB have as capital?


Answer: the national central banks of the member states as shareholders

Question: Who holds the ECB's capital?


Answer: the basis of the states' population and GDP

Question: What determined the ECB's initial capital?


Answer: English

Context: The internal working language of the ECB is generally English, and press conferences are usually held in English. External communications are handled flexibly: English is preferred (though not exclusively) for communication within the ESCB (i.e. with other central banks) and with financial markets; communication with other national bodies and with EU citizens is normally in their respective language, but the ECB website is predominantly English; official documents such as the Annual Report are in the official languages of the EU.

Question: What language does the ECB generally use?


Answer: normally in their respective language

Question: When in communication with other nationalities, what language is generally used?


Answer: English

Question: What language is the ECB website run in?


Answer: the official languages of the EU

Question: How are the languages of official documents handled?