1. In 1797, an American farmer called Levi Dickenson made an early version of this which was quite successful. This led him to later invent a machine to make this object, and it went on to play an important part in the Industrial Revolution. He used a particular crop from his farm, called sorghum. What did he invent?
Sorghum ready to be harvested near Puduchathram in Dindigul district, Tamil Nadu, in July 2021. | Photo Credit: G. KARTHIKEYAN
2. The Phrygian cap, or liberty cap, is a soft conical cap with the apex bent over, similar to the Sorting Hat from the Harry Potter books. It was worn by slaves who were freed in Ancient Rome and was seen as a symbol of their freedom. In popular culture, the liberty cap is famously worn by the eponymous characters in a comic franchise. Which one?
3. Derived from the Latin word meaning “monument to victory”, these were erected on victorious battlefields from captured arms. Often they were inscribed with a story of the battle and dedicated to various gods. For naval victories, they sometimes consisted of entire ships laid out on the beach. Name the word.
4. Scientists studying the diets of these creatures are helped by their habit of regurgitating the indigestible parts of their prey (such as bones, scales, and fur) in the form of pellets. These pellets are plentiful, easy to interpret, and are often sold by companies to schools so that students can use them for dissections in biology and ecology lessons. Name the creature.
The Brooklyn Papyrus, at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
5. The Brooklyn Papyrus is one of the oldest preserved writings on medicine and is dated to around 450 BCE. The first part describes a number of different ______ and the second part describes treatments for them. Fill in the blank.
Empress Josephine, circa 1809. | Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
6. Napoleon and his wife are said to have made this popular and fashionable. Queen Elizabeth II was said to have the largest and most valuable collection of the item in the world. What is it?
7. The phrase “time flies” is a translation of the Latin tempus fugit, which was commonly inscribed on gravestones and monuments along with an image of a winged _______. Fill in the blank.
8. For a century, Venice retained the monopoly of the tin amalgam technique used to make X. Richly decorated Venetian Xs served as luxury decorations for palaces throughout Europe and were expensive. For example, in the late 17th century, the Countess de Fiesque was reported to have traded an entire wheat farm for X and considered it a bargain.
Peter Kovalev/TASS/ via Getty Images | Photo Credit: Peter Kovalev/TASS/ via Getty Images
9. Top chess players such as Harry Golombek and Stuart Milner-Barry played a significant strategic role during the Second World War. What was it?
10. The earliest known book resembling a diary is the Diary of Merer, an ancient Egyptian logbook whose author described the transportation of X from Tura to Giza. Name X.
Yooti Bhansali is a writer and editor whose interests lie at the intersection of creativity and culture. You can find her on Instagram at @y00ti.
Answers
- Broom
- Smurfs
- Trophy
- Owl
- Snakebites
- Tiara
- Hourglass
- Mirror
- Code-breakers. They were on the team that cracked the Nazi Enigma code
- Limestone, likely to clad the pyramids
