HFA College Trivia

What is considered the world’s oldest writing system?

Elvis Presley's estate in Memphis consists of a Colonial Revival architectural style. What is the name of his house?

Which rock star wrote the music for “The Lion King?”

What artist composed the two ballets Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker?

What is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates?

Which of these landmarks is not located in France?

In ancient Roman cities, the name of public gathering places was a ____

This painting by Jacques-Louis David depicts the death of this Greek philosopher.

In Greek mythology, who is the titan that holds up Earth?

Who supposedly founded Rome with his brother Remus?

The Russian city of St. Petersburg was formerly known as Stalingrad.

What is this painting by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch called?

Yemen, a country in the Middle East, takes its name from an Arabic word meaning “northerly.”

The famous novel “Don Quixote” was originally written in what language?

What is the name of this Japanese food?

Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Romanian are all ______ languages.

The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776

Which U.S. president was in office during the 1929 Wall Street crash?

This game was invented in India before being adapted by the Muslim world.

UMass alumna Keisha Turner was a stunt performer for this Marvel movie starring Chadwick Boseman.

This work of Japanese literature is considered to be the world’s first novel.

Who is regarded as the founder of modern linguistics?

_____ has the most UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the world.

In terms of legal borders, Portugal is currently the oldest country in Europe.

Which HFA College faculty member wrote the acclaimed novel “On Earth, We're Briefly Gorgeous?”

How much pressure do the strings in a grand piano exert on the frame?

The UMass Campus Center is an example of _________ architecture.

Who was the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

What is the oldest known musical instrument?

What is the longest-running Broadway show?

The world’s oldest bookstore is in this historic city.

The Russian language doesn’t use a Latin alphabet. It uses a ______ alphabet.

_________ is the formation of words that imitate the sounds associated with the actions they refer to.

What is the name of Annie’s dog in the musical “Annie?”

In German, “schadenfreude” means deriving joy from someone else’s _____.

Montezuma ruled the Incan Empire.

_________ is a branch of philosophy concerned with the question of being.

The Mona Lisa is a painting made during the Renaissance Era.

According to Plato, what is knowledge?

Which character in “Hamilton” sings “The Room Where it Happens?”

“O” is the Roman numeral for zero.

The meaning of the prefix hypo- is what?

______ is the most spoken language in the world.

Who was the first African-American woman elected to Congress?

“Existential nihilism” is a philosophical belief that—

The four Beatles are John, Paul, George, and Ringo.

From 1639 to 1853, Japan underwent a period of self-isolation called “sakoku,” meaning...

In what year was the Berlin Wall taken down?

Macao, a Chinese city, was a colony of this European nation from 1557 until 1999.

________ is a branch of philosophy dedicated to art, beauty, and taste.

The Spanish alphabet has 27 letters.

What part of speech is "arduous?"

Justin Trudeau is the current prime minister of France.

The dot over the letter “i” and “j” is called a ______.

The singing voice with the highest vocal range is a ______.

What is the name for a decorative strip of wood across the top of a wall?

The Torah was originally written in what language?

The Japanese language has six writing systems.

What are the two dots above the German letter Ü called?

A sentence containing every letter in a language is called a _____.

What was the name of the novel that earned author Alice Walker a Pulitzer Prize?

Neil Armstrong was the first person in space.

In 1974, 8,000 terra cotta warriors were discovered guarding the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in this Chinese city.

What was the first national capital of the U.S.?

In the classical ballet format, there are strictly only how many positions?

Barcelona is the capital of Spain.

In 1698, Russian emperor Peter the Great imposed a tax on ______.

According to this myth, Benjamin Franklin said this should be America's national bird.

This Latin dance also shares a name with a spicy sauce.

What year was UMass Amherst founded?

What was the last imperial dynasty in Chinese history?

This South American country was the first country to ban all McDonald’s franchises.

In the Greek myth of Pandora's Box, what is it Pandora releases when she opens the box?

Which one of these languages is NOT an official language of the United Nations?

Nicholas II was the last czar of the Russian Empire, having been abdicated in 1917.

The official name of Mexico is the United Mexican States.

This UMass alumna won a 2007 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, and is a former Poet Laureate of Mississippi.

“Philosophy” comes from the Greek word “philosophia,” meaning what?

What is the most commonly used letter in the English alphabet?

_______ is the technique of painting small dots in order to form an image.