1740s

Question 1

Future U.S. state which was explored by Vitus Bering

Answer 1

Alaska

Question 2

Who was the ‘Great’ ruler who started his 46 year reign as King of Prussia?

Answer 2

Frederick the Great

Question 3

Who was the empress who started her 40 year reign as ruler of Austria?

Answer 3

Maria Theresa

Question 4

Classical composer who wrote ‘The Messiah’

Answer 4

George Frideric Handel

Question 5

Complete the lyrics from the 1740 poem and song: ‘Rule, Britannia! rule the _____’

Answer 5

Waves

Question 6

Modern-day country where Wahhabism was given official protection by the monarch

Answer 6

Saudi Arabia

Wahhabism, also known as Salafism, is a strict and puritanical form of Sunni Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century, founded by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab.

Question 7

University established in New Jersey (today a member of the Ivy League)

Answer 7

Princeton

Question 8

Swedish astronomer who proposed a new temperature scale which today bears his name

Answer 8

Anders Celsius

Question 9

Sport whose rules were first compiled in Leith, Scotland

Answer 9

Golf

Question 10

Garment which was banned in the Scottish highlands in order to suppress the clans

Answer 10

Kilt

Question 11

Pretender to the British throne who landed in Scotland in 1745 as part of the Jacobite Uprising

Answer 11

Bonnie Prince Charlie

Question 12

Roman city buried by volcanic ash in 79 AD which was rediscovered in 1748

Answer 12

Pompeii

Question 13

Auction house founded in London in 1744

Answer 13

Sotheby’s

Question 14

City in Nova Scotia founded by Great Britain

Answer 14

Halifax

Question 15

Country whose powerful leader, Nader Shah, was assassinated

Answer 15

Iran

Question 16

War which ravaged Central Europe from 1740–1748 after the death of Charles VI

Answer 16

War of Austrian Succession

The death of Emperor Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1740 without a male heir led to the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa, which was challenged by various European powers.

Question 17

War which was fought between Spain and Great Britain

Answer 17

War of Jenkins’ Ear

The War of Jenkins’ Ear was a brief but symbolic conflict between Great Britain and Spain from 1739 to 1741, which later merged into the larger War of the Austrian Succession. The conflict was sparked by a minor incident involving Captain Robert Jenkins, whose ear was allegedly cut off by Spanish coast guards in 1731, and was fueled by broader disputes over trade and territorial claims in the Caribbean and North America.