Latin
The phrase quid pro quo literally translates to this exchange.
What is “something for something”?
Before “My Heart Will Go On,” she won Eurovision in 1988 representing Switzerland.
Who is Celine Dion?
This British author’s wizarding series became the best-selling book series of all time.
Who is J.K. Rowling?
The Rosetta Stone, key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, was discovered during Napoleon’s 1799 campaign in this country.
What is Egypt?
This American abolitionist and women’s rights activist delivered the famous 1851 speech often remembered as “Ain’t I a Woman?”
Who is Sojourner Truth?
Ex nihilo is a philosophical/theological phrase meaning creation in this way.
What is “from nothing”?
This Swedish quartet launched global superstardom after winning Eurovision 1974 with “Waterloo.”
Who is ABBA?
This Nigerian-American author’s TED Talk “We Should All Be Feminists” was sampled by Beyoncé.
Who is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie?
The Meiji Restoration rapidly industrialized this island nation after centuries of isolation.
What is Japan?
This Combahee River Collective co-founder is credited with pioneering Black lesbian feminist thought.
Who is Barbara Smith?
“I came, I saw, I conquered” — Julius Caesar’s boast in Latin reads as this.
What is veni, vidi, vici?
In 2022, Kalush Orchestra secured a win with “Stefania” for this Eastern European nation.
What is Ukraine?
Khaled Hosseini’s debut novel traces Amir’s betrayal of Hassan against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s turmoil.
What is The Kite Runner?
Forged by Genghis Khan, this empire stretched from the Pacific to Eastern Europe.
What is the Mongol Empire?
This American anthropologist’s 1928 book Coming of Age in Samoa challenged Western ideas about adolescence.
Who is Margaret Mead?
The Latin phrase cui bono? means this, often used in investigations.
What is “to whose benefit”?
This 2018 Israeli winner performed “Toy” while making chicken noises.
Who is Netta?
This author’s debut novel White Teeth (2000) explores multicultural life in London.
Who is Zadie Smith?
The “Scramble for Africa” saw powers like Britain, France, and Belgium carve up the continent at this 1884–85 meeting.
What is the Berlin Conference?
This British suffragette leader, mother of Christabel and Sylvia, was once arrested for throwing rocks through government windows.
Who is Emmeline Pankhurst?
This Latin word for “wheel” gives us the English “inchoate” via the phrase inchoare.
What is cochlea (wheel/spiral)?
This tiny principality, population ~39,000, won Eurovision in 1971 with Séverine’s “Un Banc, Un Arbre, Une Rue.”
What is Monaco?
David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas uses this structure of nested stories across different eras.
What is a frame narrative (or concentric/nested narratives)?
The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), one of history’s deadliest uprisings, was led by a man who claimed to be the brother of this religious figure.
Who is Jesus Christ?
This Egyptian feminist published The Liberation of Women in 1899.
Who is Qasim Amin?