Architecture
Around 2650 B.C. in Saqqara, an early one of these, rising in a series of 6 big steps, was made for King Zoser
A Pyramid
One of these hasn't put on a really good show in the Northern Hemisphere since Hale-Bopp in 1997
A comet
In 2016 Pernille Blume of Denmark won the women's freestyle gold medal in this, the shortest Olympic swimming distance
50 Meters
In 1187 Pope Gregory VIII called for the third of these military expeditions to the Holy Land
A crusade
17th century pirates who raided Spanish colonies, or a 21st century team that may take on the Raiders
Buccaneers
Martha's Vineyard is home to several of these cottages named for a sweet holiday treat
Gingerbread
With its gravity 38% of Earth's, astronauts on NASA's projected 2030s mission to this planet will weigh 2/3 less than here
Mars
Still the world record holder in both, he won gold medals in the 100m & 200m running events in 3 straight Olympics
Usain Bolt
Greek words meaning "people" & "rule" gave this form of government its name back in the 5th century B.C.
Democracy
A person's usual job, or the seizure & control of territory by a foreign army
Occupation
A style popular in the late 1800s adds "-esque" to this word for a palatial French home
Chateau
DD: Believed to be made of metallic hydrogen, not water, the largest ocean in the solar system is on this planet
Jupiter
DD: The U.S. last hosted the Summer Games in 1996 in this state capital
Atlanta
Built in the 3rd century B.C. on an island in the harbor, the Pharos of Alexandria was one of these structures
A lightouse
Having gained the title, a new king does this to the throne
Accede
We'll be frank--this architect designed Paris' Louis Vuitton Foundation art Museum; as it turns out, he'll be Frank
Frank Gehry
Vesta, in the belt of these objects, is the brightest one in our solar system
Asteroids
The 3 throwing events in the decathlon are the shot put, the javelin & this one
Discus
Mark my words, the triumvirate that succeeded Julius Caesar's was Lepidus, Octavian & this friend of Caesar
Marc Antony
After the second, each term is the sum of its 2 predecessors in this sequence that begins 0,1,1, 2, 3, 5...
Fibonacci
The power of 10:
This solid figure has 10 faces & a 10-letter name
A decahedron
Equal to about 230 million of our years, a galactic year is the time it takes for the solar system to make this trip
A trip around the milky way
In 2014 Bode Miller became the oldest Alpine skiing medalist & this 18-year-old U.S. woman became the youngest slalom champ
Mikaela Shiffrin
Cyrus the Great of this empire wanted to conquer Egypt; the next ruler Cambyses II did it
Persia
Power of 10:
The Council of Ten helped run this Italian island republic from 1310 until it was overthrown by the French in 1797
Venice