Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A prize that arrived long after the theory

Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921, though the honour was actually presented the following year. The citation specifically recognised his work on the photoelectric effect rather than relativity, which remained controversial among parts of the scientific community at the time. It is a reminder that even the most celebrated minds are sometimes honoured for a single facet of their work.

The river that shaped civilisations

The Euphrates rises in eastern Turkey and flows through Syria before crossing Iraq, where it joins the Tigris to form the Shatt al-Arab. Along its banks some of the world's earliest cities and writing systems emerged in ancient Mesopotamia. Because several countries depend on its waters, the river has also become a source of political tension over dams and irrigation.

Five boroughs, one city

New York City is made up of five boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. Beverly Hills, by contrast, is a separate city in California, thousands of kilometres away. The confusion is understandable, since both are famous urban names that regularly appear side by side in popular culture.

Camus and the absurd

Albert Camus published "The Stranger" in 1942, the same year as his essay "The Myth of Sisyphus". The novel follows Meursault, a detached young man in French Algeria whose emotional indifference becomes central at his trial. Camus, who was born in Algeria, later received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957.

Mandela's single term

Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected president in 1994, following the end of apartheid, and served until 1999. He chose not to seek a second term, stepping down while still widely popular. His presidency remains a landmark example of a peaceful political transition after decades of racial segregation.