Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A novel that scandalised Victorian readers

Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray first appeared in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890, and the reaction was hostile. Critics found the story of a beautiful young man whose portrait ages while he stays forever young morally repellent, and the magazine's editor removed several passages before publication. Wilde later revised and expanded the novel for its 1891 book edition, adding a famous preface in which he defended art against charges of immorality.

The voyage Magellan never finished

Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain in 1519 with five ships in search of a western route to the Spice Islands. He found the strait at the southern tip of South America that still bears his name, but he was killed in the Philippines in 1521 and never completed the journey. The expedition's sole surviving ship, the Victoria, returned to Spain in 1522 under Juan Sebastian Elcano, carrying just 18 of the roughly 270 men who had set sail.

Dickens and the Christmas book that saved his career

Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, at a low point in his finances and his confidence. The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge's overnight transformation proved an immediate success, selling thousands of copies within days of its release. Its popularity helped revive both Dickens's fortunes and the Victorian celebration of Christmas, and it has never been out of print since.

Canada and the longest undefended border

Canada shares the longest international land border in the world with the United States, stretching roughly 8,890 kilometres including the boundary with Alaska. The border has been largely peaceful since the Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817, which limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes. Today it is a busy crossing point for trade and travel, with more than one hundred official land ports of entry.

Nauru, the island that shrank

Nauru is the world's smallest island nation, a single raised coral island in the Pacific with a total land area of only about 21 square kilometres. Its phosphate deposits once made it one of the wealthiest countries per capita, but decades of intensive mining left much of the interior a barren, rocky landscape. Today Nauru is perhaps best known for operating a controversial offshore processing centre for asylum seekers on behalf of Australia.