Antiquity Fun Facts
In ancient Egypt, keeping these pets was so deeply valued that family members would completely shave off their eyebrows as a sign of mourning when one died.
What are cats?
The word "circus" comes from the ancient Latin word for this geometric shape, referencing the circular arena where events were held.
What is a circle?
A large, advanced human society with its own culture, government, and social systems.
What is a civilisation (or civilization)?
A specific chronological time period consisting of exactly ten years.
What is a decade?
On October 14, 1912, this former US President was shot in the chest right before he was supposed to deliver a campaign speech in Milwaukee.
While ruling his kingdom, King Henry VIII famously ordered executioners to use an axe or sword to cut off the heads of this total number of his wives after accusing them of treason or adultery.
What is two? (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard)
To prove that his circus trains were safe to travel over city bridges, P.T. Barnum famously marched 21 of these massive animals across the Brooklyn Bridge in 1884.
What are elephants?
A country, state, or territory ruled entirely by a monarch or a queen.
What is a kingdom?
A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.
What is a citizen?
On October 13, 54 AD, the Roman Emperor Claudius met a grim end after eating a dish containing this, which was his ultimate favorite food.
What are mushrooms?
While building the Great Pyramid of Giza, ancient Egyptian laborers were not paid in gold or currency, but were instead daily rationed four to five liters of this alcoholic beverage as a primary source of nutrition and hydration.
What is beer?
In the 1800s, circus performers invented a secret language called "Parlyaree" to talk without the audience or police understanding. It was a mix of English, Romani, and this Mediterranean language.
What is Italian?
A specific unit of time that is exactly equal to one hundred years.
What is a century?
DAILY DOUBLE!!!!!!
A formal word for a person or animal that lives in or occupies a specific place.
What is an inhabitant?
In October 1860, an 11-year-old girl named Grace Bedell wrote a letter to Abraham Lincoln suggesting he grow this to look better.
What is a beard? (or whiskers)
The ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations valued this tropical seed so highly as a form of currency that counterfeiters would carefully fill empty husks with dirt or wax to cheat merchants.
What are cacao beans? (or cocoa/chocolate seeds)
This legendary African elephant, bought by P.T. Barnum in 1882, was so famously massive that his name became a permanent English adjective for anything giant.
Who is Jumbo?
A traditional, ancient story that usually explains historical events, natural phenomena, or early human beliefs. In Modern times, it's a story that is not true but is based on a universal truth of human existence.
What is a myth?
A person, typically more remote than a grandparent, from whom someone is descended.
What is an ancestor?
Theodore Roosevelt's life was miraculously saved because the force of the assassin's bullet was broken by this object tucked inside his coat pocket.
What is his speech? (or manuscript)
Ancient Egyptian doctors treated eye infections using an unusual topical remedy made from this common flying insect, mixed with human milk and clay.
What is a fly? (or dead flies)
Early Roman circuses were so vast that the Circus Maximus could famously hold up to this many spectators at a single time—more than any modern NFL stadium.
What is 250,000? (Accept any answer between 150,000 and 300,000)
A social division in a traditional society consisting of families linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties and usually living far from urban areas.
What is a tribe?
A verb meaning to set a boat into the water, send a rocket into space, or introduce a brand new campaign or project.
What is to launch?
This historical event remains a mystery because the attendees celebrated so enthusiastically afterwards that no one recorded the object's exact location.
What is the White House cornerstone?