The Universe
Best Picture Winners
Ancient Egypt
Folklore
Jazz
100

This planet is famous for its rings, but its spectacular system is made of countless pieces of ice and rock rather than one solid structure.

What is Saturn?

100

This 1972 crime drama follows a young New York gangster whose attempt to build an empire eventually puts him at odds with his own family.

What is the Godfather?

100

This massive monument has the body of a lion and the head of a human, and it has watched over the Giza plateau for thousands of years.

What is the Great Sphinx? 
100

In Irish folklore, finding this small creature might lead you to a hidden pot of gold, usually located at the end of a rainbow.

What is a leprechaun? 

100

This pianist and bandleader composed “Take the A Train,” “It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing),” and “Mood Indigo.”

Who is Duke Ellington?

200

Light from this galaxy takes roughly 2.5 million years to reach Earth, meaning when we look at it, we're seeing it as it existed millions of years ago.

What is the Andromeda Galaxy?

200

This 1994 film follows an Alabama man whose life somehow intersects with everything from college football to the White House.

What is Forrest Gump?

200

This Egyptian ruler's tomb was discovered almost completely intact in 1922 by Howard Carter.

Who was Tutankhamun?

200

This legendary creature is said to transform from a human into a wolf, particularly under the light of a full moon.

What is a werewolf? 

200

This jazz movement of the 1940s favored small ensembles, rapid tempos, complex harmonies, and improvisation over the dance-oriented big-band sound.

What is bebop?

300

This planet rotates so slowly that one rotation takes longer than its trip around the Sun.

What is Venus?

300

This 1959 epic follows a Jewish prince whose life is upended by an old friend who has risen to power in the Roman Empire.

What is Ben-Hur?

300

These objects, often placed in tombs, were designed to protect the body and soul of the deceased and were sometimes inscribed with magical spells.

What are amulets?

300

This legendary creature from Scottish folklore is said to inhabit freshwater lakes and is most famously associated with a particular lake in the Highlands.

What is the Loch Ness Monster?

300

Nicknamed the “First Lady of Song,” this vocalist became renowned for her remarkable range, precise phrasing, and scat improvisation.

Who is Ella Fitzgerald?

400

This invisible substance is thought to make up roughly 27% of the universe, yet it does not absorb, emit, or reflect light in the ordinary way.

What is Dark Matter?

400

This 1982 film follows a British lawyer whose life becomes intertwined with the struggle for Indian independence.

What is Gandhi? 

400

This stone, discovered near the Egyptian town of Rosetta, contained the same decree in three scripts and helped scholars decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs.

What is the Rosetta Stone? 

400

In Scandinavian folklore, these supernatural beings were said to live in mountains and could range from enormous monsters to relatively human-like creatures.

What are trolls?

400

Also known as Lady Day, this singer recorded “Strange Fruit,” one of the most powerful protest songs of the 20th century.

Who is Billie Holiday? 

500

When a massive star exhausts its fuel, its core can collapse into an object so dense that a teaspoon of its material would have an extraordinary mass. What is this object?

What is a neutron star?

500

This 1940 Alfred Hitchcock films, the only one of his to win the award, centers on a young woman who marries a wealthy widower and discovers that his first wife's presence still haunts his estate.

What is Rebecca?

500

This collection of funerary texts, often written on papyrus and placed in tombs, was intended to help the deceased navigate the afterlife.

What is the Book of the Dead?

500

This creature of Irish folklore is often described as a solitary supernatural being whose appearance may be an omen of death, particularly through its distinctive cry.

What is a banshee? 

500

His 1960 album Giant Steps became famous for its demanding harmonic progressions and remains a major challenge for jazz musicians.

Who is John Coltrane?