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Last Week's Quiz

Created by T.J. Szafranski
Edited by Jonpaul Guinn

Read This First

  • Submit your answers by 6:43pm ET 7/6/26
  • Don't cheat. Cheating is bad. Using Google/AI/ChatGPT/Gemini IS cheating.
  • Trivia graders don't care about spelling (but try your hardest)
  • No negative points for incorrect responses (so guess to your heart's content)
  • Email [email protected] for clarification on any questions

The United States of America is set to celebrate its 250th birthday, the rare semiquincentennial.

While no humans and most things don’t make it this far, it turns out that the U.S. isn’t exactly unique in reaching this milestone.



In this quiz, we take a look at some other places and things to hit the big 2-5-0!

Q1. [250th birthday in 227] Previously only taking place between the gods, what sport’s first recorded human match pitted Nomi no Sukune against Taima no Kuehaya in a bout requested by Emperor Suinin?



Q2. [250th birthday in 280] This job is a tough one to get as the hiring process is a lot of smoke and mirrors. But if you do get it, the perks are pretty good: protection by the Swiss Guard, your own personal mobile for public appearances, a new ring, and a new mitre. What position is it?



Q3. [250th birthday in 1109] Guinness certifies the oldest existing and continually operating educational institution in the world is Morocco's University of Karueein, found in what three-letter city that also lends its name to a type of hat?



Q4. [250th birthday in 1840s] Patrick Henry, Ben Franklin, and Drake Maye can all be described with what seven-letter word from the Greek for "fellow countryman"?



Q5. [250th birthday in 1860] America's second through fifth longest-serving state capitals are Boston, Annapolis, Dover, and Richmond. Topping that list is what high elevation, southwestern city where Saul Goodman did some legal work?



Q6. [250th birthday in 1881] Shah Jahan commissioned what mausoleum that UNESCO calls the “greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture”?



Q7. [250th birthday in 1994] “If a Ball be stopp'd by any Person, Horse, Dog or anything else, The Ball so stop'd must be play'd where it lyes.” This was one of the 13 rules drawn up by a group in Edinburgh, Scotland that set the course for what sport?



Q8. [250th birthday in 2018] The longest-running, in-print English encyclopedia has what pretty nationalistic word following "Encyclopædia" in its title?



Q9. [250th birthday in 2020] When Philip Astley established his first amphitheater, it included a 42-foot ring where riders would perform tricks on horseback. Astley is considered the founding father of what type of event that takes center stage in the 2017 movie, “The Greatest Showman"?



Q10. [250th birthday in 2026] Adam Smith’s “The Wealth of Nations” spoke to how markets drive economic prosperity, thus providing the theoretical framework for what ten-letter system that the U.S. has basically employed since day one?



TIEBREAKER Initial Independence: If you count by date of last subordination, the U.S. is the third oldest country in the world behind Sweden and Nepal. Nepal has been continually free since 1768. What previous year did Sweden get out from the Kalmar Union, thus taking the proverbial crown?

Quiz is closed and your answers are now locked! Graders are grading and results will be sent on 7/6/26