1st August Quiz: multiple choice
0 of the 10 questions have four options to choose from; the others stay as normal questions, because no fair wrong answers could be found for them. Tap an option to see if you are right.
1. Switzerland celebrates its national day on 1 August. Which year is this traditionally dated to, and what was signed then?
1291, the year of the Federal Charter (the alliance between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden)
2. On 1 August 1774, an English clergyman and chemist isolated a gas he called "dephlogisticated air". Name the scientist and the gas.
Joseph Priestley isolated oxygen.
3. On 1 August 1834, a law came into force abolishing slavery in most of the British Empire. What was it called?
The Slavery Abolition Act
4. Which uprising against Nazi occupation began in a European capital on 1 August 1944 and lasted 63 days?
The Warsaw Uprising
5. A new TV channel launched in the US on 1 August 1981 with a very fitting first music video. Name the channel, the song, and the band.
MTV. The first video was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
6. The Battle of the Nile began on 1 August 1798. Which British admiral won it? Which famous poem describes a boy who stood on the burning deck of the French flagship?
Horatio Nelson. The poem is "Casabianca" (by Felicia Hemans).
7. Which English county celebrates its own "Day" every 1 August?
Yorkshire (Yorkshire Day)
8. An American author born on 1 August 1819 wrote a great novel inspired by the sinking of the whaleship Essex, from your 20 November round. Name the author and the novel.
Herman Melville, "Moby-Dick"
9. A Roman emperor was born on 1 August 10 BC in Lugdunum, the first emperor born outside Italy. Name him. What is Lugdunum called today?
Claudius. Lugdunum is now Lyon.
10. 1 August is an old English harvest festival when bread made from the first wheat was blessed in church. What is it called?
Lammas (Lammas Day)
ANSWERS
1. 1291, the year of the Federal Charter (the alliance between Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden)
2. Joseph Priestley isolated oxygen.
3. The Slavery Abolition Act
4. The Warsaw Uprising
5. MTV. The first video was "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
6. Horatio Nelson. The poem is "Casabianca" (by Felicia Hemans).
7. Yorkshire (Yorkshire Day)
8. Herman Melville, "Moby-Dick"
9. Claudius. Lugdunum is now Lyon.
10. Lammas (Lammas Day)