Here are the questions from our recent ill-fated attempt to play a world history themed trivia game (I did not expect us to do too well). My predictions were true – we didn’t do too well – but we weren’t total failures! One of our teammates, Brad, was having problems with his T-Mobile “hot spot” and so there were lots of communication issues.

We missed three regular round questions, two mystery round questions and only came up with one correct country needed for the final question (though we did discuss the right two countries).

1. Speeches – According to a 1957 speech by Winston Churchill, what form of government is, “the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time?

2. Same Name – Also the name of a 20th century ship, what was the name previously given to Portugal while it was an Iberian Roman province from 27 BC until around 410 AD?

3. Old Companies – Founded in 1670, for much of its existence, the Hudson’s Bay Company controlled the trade of what commodity in what is now Canada?

4. Festivals – What ancient Roman festival held form December 17th to the 23rd had a large influence on traditions now associated with Christmas?

5. Alliances – The Pact of Steel was a military and political alliance between what two European countries? This was the first of what will be three misses in a row. Reverse hat trick? Maybe the hat is a dunce cap instead?

6. Wonders – Two Wonders of the Ancient World, the Temple of Artemis and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, were located in what is now what modern-day country? Miss.

7. Royalty – What English king was executed for high treason in 1649, over 60 years after his grandmother, Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed for plotting to assassinate Elizabeth I? None of us any good at royal history in Britain…maybe if we actually lived there.

8. Natural Disasters – What volcano in the northern Philippines suffered a major eruption in June 1991 that ultimately affected global temperatures?

9. Battles – What type of race was named for a town that was the site of a battle in 490 BC between the Athenians and the Persians?

10. Recent History – In the summer of 2018, members of a junior soccer team were trapped in caverns due to heavy rainfall in what country?

Mystery – While They Were President

For each given U.S. president, name the person who was prime minister of the U.K./Great Britain at the same time.

In the event that there are multiple answers, only one is necessary.

M1 – Ronald Reagan

M2 – Bill Clinton

M3 – John F. Kennedy

M4 – George Washington

Missed #3 and #4.

Final Category – Independence

Not including Kosovo, the most recent time that a country in Europe declared its independence from another country in Europe was in 2006, when two countries that were part of a union declared independence from each other just days apart.

Name the two countries that resulted from that mutual declaration.

Close, but… nope. As always, Go Pods, and stay classy, William Pitt (The Younger)!