Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

Russia's diamond dominance is about volume, not sparkle

Russia has been the world's largest diamond producer by volume for several years, with most of its output coming from the Siberian region of Yakutia. The state-controlled company Alrosa dominates the industry there. Interestingly, while Russia leads in carats mined, Botswana often leads in total diamond value because its stones tend to be larger and of higher gem quality.

Ovidius, the poet who fell out of favour

Publius Ovidius Naso, known in English as Ovid, was one of the most influential poets of ancient Rome. His best-known work, the Metamorphoses, retells hundreds of Greek and Roman myths through the theme of transformation. Despite his literary fame, he was exiled by Emperor Augustus to Tomis on the Black Sea, where he spent his final years writing sorrowful poems about his longing for Rome.

Protactinium and francium, two rare and fleeting elements

Protactinium is one of the rarest naturally occurring elements, found in tiny amounts in uranium ores. Its symbol Pa can be confused with the element palladium, which uses Pd. Francium is even more elusive: it is highly radioactive and extremely short-lived, with its most stable isotope lasting only about 22 minutes. For decades, francium was one of the last naturally occurring elements to be discovered because of how quickly it decays.

Atticus Finch and the courtroom that changed literature

Atticus Finch is the moral centre of Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. As a lawyer in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, he defends a Black man falsely accused of a crime, teaching his children about justice and empathy along the way. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize and remains one of the most widely taught books in American schools.