Medical Marvels
Alexander Fleming discovered this antibiotic in 1928, revolutionizing medicine by fighting bacterial infections.
What is penicillin?
This NASA center, founded before NASA itself, grew out of a Caltech rocket research group and became the birthplace of U.S. robotic space exploration.
What is the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)?
This Jamaican sprinter set world records in the 100m and 200m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Who is Usain Bolt?
This mountain, the second-highest in the world, was first successfully climbed in winter by a Nepali team in 2021.
What is K2?
This Spanish dish of rice, saffron, and seafood is cooked in a wide shallow pan.
What is paella?
In 1996, Ian Wilmut and his team at the Roslin Institute in Scotland successfully cloned the first mammal. It was this animal.
What is a sheep?
This Apollo mission was the first to land humans on the Moon, in this year.
What is Apollo 11 (1969)?
This American swimmer, who won her first Olympic gold at just 15 years old in London 2012, is so dominant that she owns the top 30 times ever recorded in the 800m freestyle and 22 of the top 25 fastest times in the 1500m freestyle.
Who is Katie Ledecky?
Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made history in 1978 as the first to climb Everest without this.
What is supplemental oxygen?
This type of soft, leavened flatbread is traditionally baked in a tandoor oven and served with curries in India.
What is naan?
Edward Jenner developed the world’s first vaccine to protect against this disease, in this year. (I will accept either the disease or the year.)
What is smallpox (1796)?
This space telescope, launched in 1990, has provided some of the most detailed images of deep space.
What is the Hubble Space Telescope?
Michael Phelps holds the record for the most Olympic gold medals by a single athlete. The number is…
What is 23?
This climber was the first person to free solo El Capitan in Yosemite, climbing without ropes or safety equipment, a feat documented in an Oscar-winning film.
Who is Alex Honnold (2017)?
This Peruvian dish is made by marinating raw fish in citrus juice.
What is ceviche?
These scientists published their discovery of the DNA double-helix structure in this year. (I will accept either scientists name or the year.)
Who are James Watson and Francis Crick (1953)?
This telescope, launched in December 2021, is considered the scientific successor to Hubble.
What is the James Webb Space Telescope?
The tradition of the Olympic torch relay began at these Games.
What are the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in this year.
What is 1953?
This Russian/Eastern European beet soup is often served with sour cream.
What is borscht?
Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful human heart transplant in this year, in this country. (I will accept either the country or the year.)
What is 1967 or South Africa?
NASA has sent several rovers to Mars. Name one of the two most recent, which landed in 2012 and 2021, respectively.
What is Curiosity (2012) or Perseverance (2021)?
Nicknamed “The Experiment,” this Russian Greco-Roman heavyweight went unbeaten for 13 years, winning 9 World Championships and 3 Olympic gold medals before retiring with an 887–2 career record. His shocking loss at the 2000 Sydney Olympics is considered the greatest upset in wrestling history as and also one of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. I will also accept the name of the American who ended his reign.
Who is Alexander Karelin? (Also accept: Who is Rulon Gardner?)
The Dawn Wall of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park was first free climbed in 2015 by Kevin Jorgeson and this climber. The historic ascent, which took 19 days, was closely followed by the press and drew worldwide attention to the sport of climbing.
Who is Tommy Caldwell?
This national dish of Scotland is made from sheep’s heart, liver, and lungs, mixed with oats and spices, and cooked in a sheep’s stomach.
What is haggis?