in-faq . Quiz on famous buildings and monuments

Not just another brick in the wall

On this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover dedicated the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the world, to the nation. This quiz is about famous buildings and monuments:

1. In 1942, and again in late 1971, which world famous structure was covered with bamboo scaffolding and a cover of jute for camouflage?

2. Which famous structure was due to be dismantled in 1909 but was allowed to remain as it was proving to be valuable for communication purposes?

3. What is the most famous thing you would associate with a building once known as St Stephen’s Tower and officially known as Elizabeth Tower since 2012?

4. What was once 0 degrees, then 5.5 degrees in 1990 and is currently approximately 3.97 degrees? Hint, Galileo Galilei!

5. Started in the 2nd century BC, which famous structure was once called ‘the longest cemetery on Earth’ because of the number of people who died building it, possibly over a million?

6. In the mid-19th century, New York saw a series of tall buildings being built with which the term skyscraper became associated. But what essential first was recorded at the Haughwout Building in 1857 which revolutionised the business?

7. English Heritage, a local charity, claimed that this building would be a ____ of glass through the heart of historic London. Fill in the blank to get the most common name of a famous structure designed by Renzo Piano?

8. Which famous structure, which had an extension designed by IM Pei built in the 1980s, was once renamed Le Musée Napoléon?

9. Though a Portuguese friar may have visited earlier, in 1860 French explorer Henri Mouhot rediscovered for the western world which famous Asian structure, which he spoke of as being grander than anything left in Greece or Rome?

10. Literally meaning ‘Shepherd’s Hill’ in the local language, which famous structure has a vault that housed the Koh-i-noor diamond, the Hope diamond and many other famous stones?

Answers

1. The Taj Mahal, during World War II against Japanese attacks and in 1971 to protect from the Pakistan Air Force during the India Pakistan war.

2. The Eiffel Tower. The structure had a permit for just 20 years and the original contract stated that it should be easy to dismantle.

3. Big Ben, the great bell of the clock at the north end of Westminster Palace.

4. The tilts of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It started leaning from the 12th century. Counterweights have been added since 1993 to stabilise the structure. Galileo used the Tower to conduct his experiments about gravity.

5. The Great Wall of China.

6. The first passenger elevator, designed by Elisha Otis.

7. Shard. The building was originally called the London Bridge Tower.

8. The Louvre in Paris, which houses the Mona Lisa and many other priceless art works.

9. The Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

10. Golconda Fort, which was very close to the fabled Kollur mines, and originally built by the Kakatiya rulers.

Joy Bhattacharjya

Joy Bhattacharjya is a quizmaster;

Twitter: @joybhattacharj

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