About This Quiz
There's some things that are common knowledge, and other things that go way over the average person's head. See if you are smarter than your average Joe with this HowStuffWorks quiz!Scientifically speaking, tomatoes are fruits because they develop in the ovary in the base of the plant. Many consider them vegetables because of how they are used in cooking, but technically they are fruits.
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German Romantic composer and pianist. He is one of the most widely recognized composers in music history.
In English the word "Too" means also. "Two" is a number and "To" is often used to express motion or direction toward a specific point.
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This novel was published initially in 1951. This classic novel follows the misadventures of a troubled teen playing hooky in New York City.
The events of 9/11 occurred on September 11, 2001. The Twin Towers in Manhattan were attacked by planes which had been hijacked by al-Qaeda.
Chinese is the most widely spoken language on earth. The Mandarin dialect of Chinese alone is spoken by roughly 1 billion people.
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Chad is a landlocked country in central Africa. It has a population of roughly 14 million.
The GOP stands for Grand Old Party. It's a nickname for the Republican Party.
This over-the-top story is actually true. A letter from Van Gogh's doctor reveals that in December 1888 Van Gogh actually cut his entire ear off. He gave it to a maid named Bernadette Murphy.
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J. R. R. Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy contains "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and "The Return of the King." This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the vast mythology he created.
Myanmar is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by India. It is also known as Burma.
Despite the USA often being referred to as a democracy, it does not function as one and is not referred to as one anywhere in the Constitution. In a pure democracy, every citizen votes on every decision. In America, citizens vote for representatives who vote on their behalf, making it a republic.
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Religious restrictions on eating pork are common in many religions that developed in the Ancient Near East, as both Islam and Judaism did. Eating pork is forbidden in both the Torah and Quran.
The Cold War lasted from 1947-1991. It was a state of worldwide tension between the Eastern Bloc, largely the Soviet Union, and the Western Bloc, America and its allies.
"Scentence" is spelled incorrectly. The right spelling of the word is sentence.
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Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all American citizens by the Constitution. This means that citizens of all religions can practice freely with no legal preference.
Africa is a continent, the second largest on earth by both land area and population. It contains between 54-56 countries, including places like Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa.
The US government was not designed with a corporate branch. Its 3 branches are executive, legislative and judicial.
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President John F. Kennedy was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald on November 22, 1963. He was shot as he rode through a motorcade in downtown Dallas, Texas.
Sacramento has been the state capital of California since 1879. It's the 6th-largest city in California.
Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home on August 5, 1962, at 36 years old. Her cause of death was ruled barbiturate overdose.
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As of 2017, America is 239 years old and has spent 222 of those years at war. It has been at war 93% of the time, and at peace less than 20 years over the course of its history.
English is a West Germanic language that originated in medieval England. It has been shaped by Latin, Greek, French and numerous other languages as it spread around the world.
Japan is an archipelago comprised of over 6,000 islands. Its 4 main islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, and Shikoku make up the majority of its land mass.
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"The Great Gatsby" is a classic American written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about the glitz and tragic emptiness of the Jazz Age. It was published in 1925.
There are quite a few colonized places left in the world, though most are small islands belonging to either the US or European countries. The US has over a dozen colonies and territories, including Puerto Rico, Guam and American Samoa.
Impeachment is similar to an indictment in criminal law, only it is the process through which government officials have the charges against them stated. It is the first step toward removal from office.
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India is formally known as the Republic of India. It is a federal constitutional republic with 29 states and 7 union territories.
Disappear is commonly misspelled. Make sure that extra "p" doesn't disappear when you spell it.
Bill Clinton was president from 1993-2001, making him the most recent president out of all of the men listed. He was the 42nd US president.
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Despite Nazi being the shortened English form of The National Socialist German Workers' Party, the Nazis did not actually adhere to the far left principles of socialism when in power. Their ideas and actions were the exact opposite politically and can be defined as fascism, which is on the far right of the political spectrum.
The Bubonic Plague, also known as The Black Plague, killed between 75-200 million people in Eurasia in the mid-14th century. It killed 30-60% of Europe's total population and is estimated to have reduced the total world population from 450 million to roughly 350 million.
PEMDAS refers to the order of operations when solving math problems. It stands for parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction.
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Montreal is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Quebec takes its French origins and culture very seriously, and French is the official language of the city.