Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A capital that was once an imperial seat

Vienna is not just the capital of Austria; for centuries it was the seat of the Habsburg monarchy and the centre of a vast empire that stretched across much of Central Europe. Its historic centre, with the Hofburg palace and St. Stephen's Cathedral, reflects that imperial past. Today the city is known for its coffee houses, its classical music tradition and a quality of life that regularly ranks among the highest in the world.

The mountain range where Europe meets Asia

The Caucasus Mountains run between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, and they sit largely within Georgia, a country in the South Caucasus. The range includes Mount Elbrus, which at 5,642 metres is the highest peak in Europe. The region's position at the boundary between Europe and Asia has made it a crossroads of cultures, languages and trade routes for thousands of years.

Why tungsten gets the symbol W

Tungsten's chemical symbol, W, comes from its other name, wolfram, which is derived from the German mineral wolframite. The element has the highest melting point of any metal, around 3,422 degrees Celsius, which is why it was long used for light bulb filaments. Helium, meanwhile, takes the symbol He from the Greek word helios, meaning sun, because it was first detected in the sun's spectrum before being found on Earth.

A crisis that brought the world to the brink

The Cuban Missile Crisis unfolded in October 1962, when the United States discovered Soviet nuclear missiles stationed in Cuba. For thirteen tense days, President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev faced off, and the world watched as the risk of nuclear war seemed very real. The crisis ended with the missiles withdrawn in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba and the quiet removal of American missiles from Turkey.