Beyond the answers - interesting background to this quiz

A treaty that reshaped a continent

The Maastricht Treaty, signed in 1992, did more than adjust trade rules. It formally established the European Union and set out the path towards a shared currency, eventually the euro. It also introduced the idea of European citizenship, giving people from member states rights across borders. Ratification was not smooth everywhere: Denmark initially rejected the treaty in a referendum before approving it with opt-outs.

Chekhov's quiet revolution on stage

Anton Chekhov wrote "The Seagull" in the 1890s, and its first performance in St Petersburg in 1896 was a notorious failure. The playwright reportedly fled the theatre before the final act. When Konstantin Stanislavski staged it two years later at the Moscow Art Theatre, it became a triumph and helped shape modern acting. The play's famous seagull symbol would later become the theatre's emblem.

A currency named after a liberator

Venezuela's currency, the bolívar, takes its name from Simón Bolívar, the military and political leader who played a central role in the independence of several South American countries. Currency names often carry this kind of political memory: the bolívar is not just money but a statement about national identity. The currency has gone through several redenominations, reflecting periods of severe inflation.

The elements that honour scientists

Roentgenium, symbol Rg, is a synthetic element named after Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, the physicist who discovered X-rays and won the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. It sits among the superheavy elements, which are created in laboratories and decay within seconds. Naming rights for such elements often go to scientists whose work changed how we see the world, quite literally in Röntgen's case.

The war that introduced modern reporting

The Crimean War, fought between 1853 and 1856, pitted Russia against an alliance that included Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. It is remembered partly for the Siege of Sevastopol and the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade. It was also one of the first conflicts covered by war correspondents and photographers, bringing distant battles into the daily press. Florence Nightingale's work in military hospitals during this war helped transform nursing.