Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The city built on water

Venice's nickname, the City of Water, is no exaggeration: the historic centre spans more than 100 small islands in a lagoon, linked by hundreds of bridges. Instead of roads, the city has canals, and everyday travel happens by boat or on foot. That unusual setting has made Venice one of the most recognisable cities in the world - and one of the most fragile, as rising water levels and heavy flooding regularly threaten its buildings.

Mandela's long walk to freedom

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison for his opposition to South Africa's apartheid system, much of it on Robben Island. He was released in 1990, an event watched around the world, and the ban on his political party, the African National Congress, was lifted soon after. Four years later, Mandela became South Africa's first democratically elected president, and his release is remembered as a turning point in the country's history.

Dickens and the world of Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist as a serial between 1837 and 1839, and it became one of the first English novels to take a child as its central character. The story grew directly out of Dickens's own experience: as a boy, he was sent to work in a London factory while his family faced financial trouble. His portrayal of workhouses, street gangs and child labour turned fiction into social criticism, and the novel remains a staple of English literature.

Why Jupiter dwarfs the rest

Jupiter is the largest planet in our Solar System, with a mass greater than all the other planets combined. The Sun itself is mostly hydrogen, and Jupiter is similar in composition, which is one reason astronomers often describe it as a failed star. Its most famous feature, the Great Red Spot, is a storm that has been observed for centuries.

Giza and Alexandria: two faces of Egypt

Giza and Alexandria sit in the same country, Egypt, but represent very different chapters of its past. Giza is home to the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, monuments of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great, later became a centre of Greek learning and the site of a legendary library.