Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Thursday Quiz LXXVIII

The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is a twelve item is-it-or-isn't-it test of your knowledge, reasoning, stamina, and moxie!

Remember always the Fundamental Rules of the Thursday Quiz:

1. The Thursday Quiz is a POP quiz. No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. Violators will never be able to look at themselves in the mirror again.

2. Don't get all stressed out about it! It's supposed to be fun!

Real and Bogus in the History of South America

Which of the following statements are true? And which ones are appalling lies?

1. It is now generally believed that the indiginous South Americans were descended from ancient peoples who were separated from early human populations in Africa when the two continents were divided by continental drift.

2. Potatoes, beans, and peanuts were all domesticated by prehistoric South American people.

3. The Inca Empire had its origins, apex of power, and decline at about the same time as Europe's Roman Empire; by the time of European contact, the empire had long since vanished.

4. The 1555 Treaty of Tordesillas shaped the future development of South America by dividing the Americas between a British North and a Spanish South.

5. Brazil, South America's most populous country, achieved independence peacefully in the 1820s.

6. Simon Bolivar, the famous South American revolutionary leader, was the son of a British aristocrat, and was never able to speak more than a few sentences of Spanish.

7. The Spanish-American War of the 1850s dramatically weakened Spain to such an extent that its South American colonies were finally able to achieve full political independence.

8. From 1864 to 1870, Paraguay fought the "War of the Triple Alliance" against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. The war devastated Paraguay, resulting in the death of roughly half of its national population and utterly destroying its economy.

9. During the 1960s and 1970s the civilian governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay were all overthrown by military dictatorships sponsored by the United States.

10. Ecuador and Peru went to war over a border dispute three times in the 20th Century, in 1941, 1981, and 1995.

11. Brazil, as you would expect, has about 1/3 of South America's people; more surprisingly, small but highly urban Uruguay has the second-largest population.

12. Ethnicity varies a lot in South America. In countries like Argentina, more than 4/5 of the population is of European descent, whereas in countries like Bolivia, more than 4/5 of the population is of full or partial Native American descent.

State your answers in the comments.

16 comments:

Elizabeth said...

1. Haven't heard that. No.
2. Yes.
3. Ninjas are no good with dates. Yes?
4. No, I don't think so.
5. Yes, why not?
6. No.
7. No.
8. I said 'no' twice, so 'yes.'
9. I would not be in the least bit surprised. Yes.
10. I know some two are fighting about borders (and soccer) so maybe it's these. Yes.
11. No.
12. Yes to your first statement, so I'll have to take the second on faith. Sounds right.

Cartophiliac said...

1. Bogus
2. Bogus
3. Bogus
4. Bogus
5. Bogus
6. Bogus
7. Bogus
8. Real
9. Real
10. Real
11. Bogus
12. Real

Christine M. said...

1. Um, no.
2. peanuts? no.
3. No. This would be an appaliing lie.
4. Hmm. yes?
5. yes.
6. Dunno, really. I'll say no.
7. No.
8. Mmm, sure. Rotten luck for them if true.
9. I believe so. Stupid Americans.
10. Wouldn't surprise me. Yes.
11. No.
12. Yeppers.

PB said...

1. False
2. True
3. Very false - pretty sure the Incan empire had its origins several hundred years after Rome fell in 476.
4. False
5. True
6. False
7. False
8. False (if it's true - wow, those numbers are awfully high)
9. True
10. True
11. False
12. True

KarmaSartre said...

1/ Lie, but I'm not appalled.
2 / An appalling lie.
3 / Another lie.
4 / No, that was the treaty of Quesadillas.
5 / You call that peaceful? You lie.
6 / More lies. Where's your integrity, man?
7 / Yet another appalling lie.
8 / An appalling TRUTH.
9 / That has truthiness.
10 / Definitely true.
11 / Not sure what the parenthetical bit with the numbers means, but I'm so used to your disdain for the truth, I say LIE.
12 / That's the truth, if you can handle it.

DrSchnell said...

1. Some people believe that Africans made it over (see: facial features on Olmec heads)but that's not a consensus opinion, and it happened after continental drift, so NO
2. Not sure about the peanuts, but the other two are right, so I'll say yes, and then curse you for being tricksy if I'm wrong.
3. No
4. No - it was between a Portuguese east and a Spanish west.
5. yes
6. False
7. False - the war was later by decades, and independence was earlier by decades
8. Yes
9. Yes
10. Yes
11. No
12. yes

Kritkrat said...

1. Lie
2. Lie
3. Lie
4. Lie
5. Lie
6. Lie
7. Lie
8. True
9. True
10. True
11. True
12. True

Eversaved said...

1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. No (??)
5. Yes (ahh?)
6. No
7. No
8. Yes
9. yes
10. Yes
11. No
12. Yes

OMG this is going to be so embarrassing if I'm way off.

MJ said...

I should know every answer, but i don't. I should be so ashamed...
1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. No (it divided the world between the Portuguese East and the Spanish West)
5. Mmmm... Yes
6. No
7. I'll say no (that thing that happened involving a US ship in Cuba was in 1898)
8. No idea, but let's say yes
9. Yes? (i've just realised that i have absolutely no idea about Uruguay's history)
10. No
11. No (war in 1995?)
12. Yes
I'm lucky my primary school teachers are not reading this.

MJ said...

ups my comment about the war in 95 was about no. 10, but still "no" in both cases

mrs.5000 said...

1 no
2 yes
3 no
4 no
5 yes
6 no
7 no
8 no
9 yes
10 yes
11 no
12 yes

d said...

thankfully i'm really late to the party, so i can blame not getting a star on tardiness rather than ignorance.

1n/2surewhynot/3n/4n/5y/6y(even if it's not true, it should be)/7n/8surewhynot/9y/10surewhynot/11n/12surewhynot

Michael5000 said...

HERE WE GO!!

1. Continental Drift. NO. Whole different time scale.

2. Potatoes, beans, and peanuts. YES.

3. Inca Empire. NO. Much later than Rome.

4. Treaty of Tordesillas. NO. Spanish West, Portuguese East.

5. Brazilian independence. YES.

6. Bolivar the Brit. NO. But wouldn't it be awesome?

7. The Spanish-American War... NO. That war happened, oh, 80ish years after S. American independence.

8. War of the Triple Alliance. YES. That "half the national population" figure sounds extremely exaggerated, but it seems pretty solid. Moreover, it represented about 80% of the men and 20% of the women. Strange, unhappy times...

9. Military dictatorships. YES. Sorry...

10. Ecuador and Peru border dispute. YES. A fairly small-scale war the second and third times, but it probably didn't seem small-scale to the widows.

11. NO. Brazil has about 1/2 the population, and Uruguay is 10th in population.

12. Ethnicity. YES.

Michael5000 said...

Lots of strong finishes, but only two perfect ones. DrSchnell struts his Geography freak thang to take his ninth Gold Star. That's a lot of Gold Stars!

Eversaved uses her Latin American cred to strike Silver on her first trip to the Thursday winner's circle!

Elizabeth leads the pack of 11/12ers, bringing home the TQLXXVIII Blue Star!

Green stars go out to four others: PB, MJ, Mrs.5000, and d. With their first M5K Quiz win, PB becomes the 54th human to take home a TQ Star!

Michael5000 said...

Hey, turns out now that I've crunched the figures that PB became the 56th human to win a MQ Exclamation Point this week, too! That's call "announcing your presence with authority."

mhwitt said...

I demand more quizzes that mention the Treaty of Tordesillas. This is only the second!