Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The city that gave Italy its fashion capital

Milan sits in northern Italy, in the Lombardy region, and is often mentioned alongside Paris and New York as a global centre of fashion and design. It is also home to one of Italy's most famous landmarks, the Duomo, a cathedral whose construction stretched across several centuries. Beyond style, the city is a major financial hub, hosting the Italian stock exchange.

Guernica and the bombing that inspired it

Picasso painted Guernica in 1937, in response to the bombing of the Basque town of the same name during the Spanish Civil War. The large canvas, rendered in black, white and grey, became one of the most powerful anti-war images of the twentieth century. It was exhibited around the world to raise awareness of the conflict in Spain, and it now hangs in the Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.

The shot that echoed around Europe

World War I began in 1914, triggered by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. What started as a regional crisis quickly pulled in the major European powers through a web of alliances. The conflict lasted four years and reshaped the political map of Europe, toppling empires and redrawing borders.

A river that ties Russia together

The Volga is the longest river in Europe, flowing through the heart of Russia before emptying into the Caspian Sea. Along its course lie cities such as Volgograd, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, each with its own role in Russian history and industry. The river has long served as a vital trade route, and it remains central to the country's transport and culture.

Naming the heaviest elements

Oganesson carries the symbol Og and is named after the physicist Yuri Oganessian, who has contributed to the discovery of several superheavy elements. It sits at the far end of the periodic table and is extremely unstable, with atoms that decay almost instantly. Its name and symbol reflect the tradition of honouring scientists whose work expands the edges of the table.