General knowledge
Napoleon Bonaparte famously suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In which present-day country did this historic battle take place?
Belgium
At the 2023 IIHF Men's World Championship, which nation made international hockey history by winning its first-ever medal and promptly declared a national public holiday the next day to celebrate?
Latvia
What is the author of a famous Latvian fairytale "Kaķīša dzirnavas" (The Cat's Mill)?
Kārlis Skalbe
The legend of the Loch Ness Monster has captivated people for decades. What is the affectionate nickname given to this elusive Scottish cryptid?
Nessie
Who is Joe Exotic's mortal enemy and arch-rival?
Carole Baskin
She is the CEO of the Florida-based Big Cat Rescue. Their bitter feud was the central focus of the hit Netflix docuseries Tiger King.
What is the standard unit of measurement used to express electrical resistance?
Ohm
What is the name of a studio that published Grand Theft Auto games?
Rockstar Games
Ventas rumba holds a record in Europe. Name this record!
Ventas rumba is the widest waterfall in Europe
According to modern Flat Earth conspiracy theorists, why don't the oceans just spill off the edge of the world into space?
Ice wall.
More precisely: A massive, hundreds-of-feet-high wall of ice called Antarctica.
Flat Earthers believe this "ice wall" is heavily guarded by international militaries to stop tourists from wandering off the edge of the planet.
In one of the most iconic reality TV moments of all time, Kim Kardashian began crying hysterically during a family vacation to Bora Bora because she lost what in the ocean?
A $75,000 diamond earring.
Who is considered to be the first computer programmer?
Ada Lovelace
She was an English mathematician and daughter of the poet Lord Byron, wrote the first algorithm for a machine in the 1800s and is considered the first computer programmer.
What is the only game played on the Moon?
Golf
Alan Shepard, an astronaut from the Apollo 14 mission, who was sent to the moon with two more crew members in 1971, has tried and succeeded in batting a golf ball on the moon. We don’t really know how far his ball reached. Shepard claims he saw the ball flying “many miles away”, but no one could really tell how far.
Where is the oldest known inhabited location in Latvia?
Salaspils Laukskola settlement - near Salaspils.
A conspiracy theory called the "Authorship Question" argues that ___________________ was actually either Edward de Vere (The Earl of Oxford), Sir Francis Bacon or Christopher Marlowe.
William Shakespeare.
A long-standing literary conspiracy theory called the "Authorship Question" argues that William Shakespeare didn't actually write his famous plays because he was just a poorly educated actor.
Which famous Post-Impressionist painter famously cut off a portion of his own left ear during a mental health crisis in 1888?
Vincent van Gogh.
Shortly after the incident, he painted Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear, openly documenting his own injury.
What is the name of the brightest star visible from Earth?
Sirius
Which prestigious tennis tournament is the only one of the four Grand Slams that is played on a natural grass surface?
Wimbledon.
Wimbledon takes its grass very seriously. The courts are sown entirely with 100% Perennial Ryegrass, which is kept cut to a precise height of exactly 8 millimeters during the tournament.
Latvian flag was inspired by another flag. Name the other flag!
Land of Cēsis / Cēsu zemes karogs.
The Latvian flag is widely considered one of the oldest in the world, with a documented history tracing back to a 13th-century battle standard used by ancient Latvian tribes in the region of Cēsis.
Karogs radīts, iedvesmojoties no Atskaņu hronikā pieminētā Cēsu zemes karoga.
What is the conspiracy theory behind our own National Library of Latvia main building?
A secret radiolocator (similar to one that used to be in Skrunda).
Which musical is officially the longest-running show in Broadway history?
The Phantom of the Opera.
The show ran on Broadway for a staggering 35 years, playing its final performance in April 2023 after 13,981 shows.
What do you call a group of whales or dolphins?
Pod
Typically consisting of 2 to 30 dolphins who swim, hunt, and protect each other.
Where was the oldest known board game in the world found?
Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq)
According to the British Museum, the Royal Game of Ur is the oldest playable boardgame in the world, originating around 4,600 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia. Found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur, south Iraq. Age: 2600–2400 BC
How many "state cities" (valstspilsētas) does Latvia have?
10
Daugavpils, Jelgava, Jēkabpils, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Ogre, Rēzekne, Rīga, Valmiera un Ventspils.
Guy Ritchie’s 2024 movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is based on "Operation Postmaster": a very real, highly classified British WWII conspiracy. What audacious heist did this secret commando unit pull off?
They secretly hijacked and captured Italian and German ships from a neutral Spanish port.
In 2018, the mysterious street artist Banksy shocked the art world when his painting Girl with Balloon was sold at Sotheby's auction for over $1 million. What happened the exact moment the auction gavel dropped?
A built-in shredder in the frame automatically activated, destroying half the canvas
Banksy had secretly built a shredder into the frame years prior in case it ever went to auction. Ironically, the newly shredded piece was renamed Love is in the Bin and sold three years later for a staggering $25.4 million!