Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A currency named after a liberator

Venezuela's currency, the bolívar, takes its name from Simón Bolívar, the military and political leader who played a central role in the independence of several South American countries from Spanish rule. The bolívar has been redenominated more than once as the country has struggled with inflation, which is why you may come across names such as bolívar fuerte or bolívar soberano in older price lists and news reports.

The quiet scandal of Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert published Madame Bovary in 1857, and the novel soon became a legal matter: French authorities put Flaubert on trial for offending public morals. He was acquitted, and the book went on to be seen as a landmark of literary realism, admired for its precise, unsentimental prose. Emma Bovary, its restless provincial heroine, remains one of the most discussed characters in nineteenth-century fiction.

Wimbledon's grass and strawberries

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and the only Grand Slam still played on grass. The championships are held at the All England Club in London, where players are traditionally required to wear almost entirely white. The tournament's association with strawberries and cream is so established that enormous quantities of the fruit are consumed by spectators each year.

Chernobyl and the scale of a nuclear accident

The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in what was then the Soviet Union, now Ukraine, occurred in 1986. It is widely regarded as the worst nuclear accident in history, measured by the release of radioactive material and its human and environmental consequences. The damaged reactor was later enclosed in a concrete sarcophagus, and a large new containment structure was put in place over it in the 2010s.

Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel ceiling

Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican between 1508 and 1512, working largely alone on scaffolding high above the floor. The commission came from Pope Julius II, and the result includes the famous scene of the Creation of Adam, in which two outstretched hands almost touch. Michelangelo considered himself primarily a sculptor, yet this painted ceiling became one of the defining works of the Italian Renaissance.