Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

The pastry that became a national symbol

The croissant is widely associated with France, yet its ancestry reaches back to the Austrian kipferl, a crescent-shaped bread roll. It was in Paris that bakers refined the dough into the flaky, buttery version we know today, and from there it spread around the world as a breakfast staple. The shape is often linked to the crescent on the Ottoman flag, though the exact origin story remains debated.

A kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho, a small country that sits entirely within the borders of South Africa. Known as the "Kingdom in the Sky" because of its high altitude, Lesotho is one of the few countries in the world completely surrounded by a single other nation. Its mountainous terrain made it a natural fortress, which helped its people resist annexation in the nineteenth century.

The long road to Middle-earth

J.R.R. Tolkien published The Lord of the Rings in 1954, though the work actually appeared in three volumes over the following year. Tolkien, a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, spent years inventing languages and mythology before the story took shape. The books gradually built a devoted readership and later became the foundation for one of the most successful film trilogies ever made.

Why Saturn wears its rings

Saturn is the planet most famous for its ring system, made up of countless particles of ice and rock. The rings are not solid but form broad, flat bands that orbit the planet. Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune also have rings, but Saturn's are by far the brightest and most extensive, which is why they are visible through even a modest telescope.

From a dorm room to a global platform

Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in 2004 while studying at Harvard, initially as a way for students to connect. It quickly spread to other universities and then to the wider public. What began as a simple social networking site grew into one of the largest technology companies in the world, changing how people share information online.