Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A capital that was not always the obvious choice

Ankara became the capital of the Turkish Republic in 1923, replacing Istanbul, the seat of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. The new capital sat in the Anatolian heartland, a deliberate break with the imperial past and a strategic move towards the centre of the country. Today it is a city of government buildings, universities and embassies rather than the bazaars and palaces that draw visitors to Istanbul.

The Roman name that never quite disappeared

The Romans knew France as Gaul, a vast territory that stretched well beyond the borders of the modern country and included parts of what are now Belgium, Switzerland and northern Italy. Julius Caesar's account of his campaigns there, the Commentarii de Bello Gallico, remains one of the most famous pieces of Latin prose. The name survived the empire's collapse, and the French still call themselves Gaulois when they want to sound defiant.

Quinoa and the quest for a complete protein

Quinoa is one of the few plant foods that supplies all nine essential amino acids the human body cannot make on its own, which is why it is often described as a complete protein. It is not a true cereal but a seed, related to spinach and beets, and it was cultivated in the Andes thousands of years ago. Its rise from regional staple to global supermarket shelf happened remarkably quickly.

A revolution that arrived in two stages

The Russian Revolution is usually dated to 1917, the year the tsarist autocracy fell and the Bolsheviks seized power. Yet 1905 had already brought a wave of strikes, mutinies and protests that forced Nicholas II to accept limited reforms. The earlier upheaval failed to topple the regime, but it exposed how fragile the old order had become and set the stage for what followed twelve years later.

Shakespeare's birthday problem

Shakespeare was baptised in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564, and because no birth record survives, his birthday is traditionally celebrated on 23 April, the date of his death in 1616. That same April date is also St George's Day, England's patron saint's day, which makes the coincidence feel almost too neat. Whether he was born on that exact day remains, and will likely always remain, a matter of educated guesswork.