Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A river that shaped a capital

The Thames is often called the backbone of London, and it has been central to the city's trade, transport and identity for centuries. It flows through southern England before emptying into the North Sea, and landmarks such as the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament sit along its banks. At around 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely within England.

The woman who went first

Valentina Tereshkova flew into space in 1963 aboard Vostok 6, becoming the first woman in orbit. She was a former textile worker and amateur skydiver, and her flight lasted nearly three days. It would be almost two decades before another woman, Svetlana Savitskaya, followed her into space.

Two novels, two very different journeys

Stendhal's The Red and the Black follows Julien Sorel, an ambitious young man navigating French society after the Napoleonic era. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, published in 1726, is often remembered as a children's adventure but was written as a sharp satire of politics, science and human nature. Both books remain staples of European literature.

Why Africa earns the heat record

Africa is widely regarded as the hottest continent on Earth, largely because a huge portion of it lies within the tropics. The Sahara alone covers millions of square kilometres and regularly records some of the highest temperatures on the planet. Its combination of latitude, dry air and clear skies allows the sun to heat the land intensely.