Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

Why 21 is not prime, but 11 and 41 are

A prime number has exactly two distinct positive divisors: 1 and itself. The number 21 fails this test because it can be divided evenly by 3 and 7. In contrast, 11 and 41 cannot be broken down into smaller whole-number factors. Prime numbers become increasingly rare as numbers grow, but there is no largest prime - Euclid proved that over two thousand years ago.

The woman behind the actress: Natalie Portman’s birthplace

Natalie Portman was born in Jerusalem in 1981, though she grew up mainly in the United States. Her original given name was Neta-Lee Hershlag. Portman holds dual American and Israeli citizenship and has spoken publicly about her connection to both countries. She won an Academy Award for her role in Black Swan, but her early breakthrough came as a teenager in Léon: The Professional.

What the letter D on German cars actually means

The oval country code “D” seen on German number plates stands for Deutschland, the German word for Germany. The system of international vehicle registration codes dates back to early 20th-century agreements designed to identify vehicles crossing borders. Spain uses “E” for España, while “G” is not an official country code for any European nation in this context.

Nepal: home of the world’s highest peaks

Nepal is a small landlocked country in South Asia, but it contains eight of the world’s fourteen mountains over 8,000 metres, including Mount Everest. The country lies almost entirely within the Himalayas, making it a premier destination for serious mountaineers. By comparison, Vietnam and Cambodia have lower elevation profiles and are better known for coastlines, deltas and tropical landscapes.

Samuel Morse and the 1837 telegraph

Samuel Morse developed the electric telegraph and the code system that bears his name in the 1830s. The first public demonstration of his telegraph took place in 1838, and a line between Washington and Baltimore was completed in 1844. Morse was originally a successful portrait painter before turning to invention. His code assigned short and long signals to letters, revolutionising long-distance communication.