Weird but True
This country has more pyramids than Egypt, with hundreds built by the ancient Kushite civilization.
What is Sudan?
This word meaning “a person who avoids society” comes from Greek roots meaning “self” and “life.”
What is hermit?
This fundamental particle carries the electromagnetic force and has no electric charge or mass.
What is a photon?
This country has won the most FIFA World Cup tournaments, lifting the trophy five times.
What is Brazil?
Discovered in 1922, this ancient Egyptian ruler’s nearly intact tomb became one of the most famous archaeological discoveries in history.
Who is Tutankhamun?
This common food was once used as currency in parts of Central America because of its value.
What is cacao (cocoa beans)?
The word “salary” traces back to the Latin salarium, connected to this substance once considered extremely valuable.
What is salt?
This element, with the chemical symbol W, has the highest melting point of any pure metal.
What is tungsten?
This German striker holds the record for the most goals scored in FIFA World Cup history with 16.
Who is Miroslav Klose?
This treaty ended World War I and placed heavy penalties on Germany.
What is the Treaty of Versailles?
This famous landmark was originally intended to be temporary and was criticized by some artists when built in 1889.
What is the Eiffel Tower?
The word “disaster” comes from Greek roots meaning “bad” and this celestial object.
What is a star?
Named after an Austrian monk, this principle explains why certain genetic traits appear in predictable ratios across generations.
What are Mendel’s laws of inheritance?
This goalkeeper became the first to win the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player at the 2002 World Cup.
Who is Oliver Kahn?
This animal has been observed using fermented fruit to become intoxicated, and its name comes from a Greek word meaning “strange mouse.”
What is a slow loris?
This animal’s fingerprints are so similar to humans that they can confuse crime scene investigators.
What is a koala?
The word “robot” comes from the Czech word robota, meaning this.
What is forced labor / drudgery?
This scientist formulated the uncertainty principle, a foundational concept in quantum mechanics.
Who is Werner Heisenberg?
This country won the first ever FIFA World Cup in 1930, defeating Argentina in the final on home soil.
What is Uruguay?
This person was the only civilian directly killed during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Who is Mary Virginia (Jennie) Wade.
This Roman emperor reportedly appointed his horse Incitatus to a political position, though historians debate whether it was serious or satire.
Who is Caligula?
The word “nice” originally meant foolish or ignorant before shifting into its modern meaning. From what language did it enter English?
What is French?
This theoretical boundary around a black hole marks the point beyond which nothing, not even light, can escape.
What is the event horizon?
This nation famously reached the 1954 World Cup final after scoring a record 27 goals in the tournament but lost to West Germany.
What is Hungary?
This term describes the phobia of long words.
What is Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia