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Question 1: How many international visitors did France receive in 2019, making it the world's most visited country that year?
Question 2: Who is credited with being the first person to circumnavigate the globe?
Although Magellan himself did not complete the entire voyage, as he was killed in the Philippines, his expedition was the first to circumnavigate the Earth. One of his ships, the Victoria, returned to Spain in 1522, completing the historic journey.
Question 3: What is the name of the process by which rock is worn away due to glacial activity?
Abrasion occurs when rocks and debris carried by the glacier scrape against the bedrock, slowly wearing it away over time. This process is one of the main ways that glaciers shape the landscape in cold environments.
Question 4: Who was the first African American actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor?
Sidney Poitier won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1964 for his role in the film "Lilies of the Field". He was the first Black actor to win in this category. Poitier paved the way for other African American actors in Hollywood.
Question 5: If someone is described as "loquacious", what does it mean they do a lot of?
Loquacious comes from the Latin word "loqui", meaning "to speak". A loquacious person is very talkative and tends to ramble on and on in conversation.
Question 6: How did Socrates die?
Socrates was sentenced to death by the Athenian government for impiety and corrupting the minds of the youth. He was given the choice to flee into exile or drink poisonous hemlock. Socrates chose to abide by the law and drink the hemlock, dying at the age of 71 in 399 BC.
Question 7: What year was the World Wide Web invented?
The World Wide Web was invented by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 while working at CERN. The first website went live in 1991. By 1995, there were over 23,500 websites.
Question 8: How many chromosomes does the typical human cell contain?
Human cells normally contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, for a total of 46. The only exceptions are reproductive cells (eggs and sperm), which contain 23 unpaired chromosomes.
Question 9: In what decade did the mini skirt first become popular?
The mini skirt is widely associated with London designer Mary Quant, who started experimenting with shorter skirt lengths in the late 1950s. The mini skirt really took off in the "Swinging London" scene of the 1960s and became an iconic fashion staple of that decade.
Question 10: In what year was the bikini swimsuit first introduced?
French engineer Louis Réard introduced the modern bikini on July 5, 1946 at a Paris fashion show. He named it after the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, where the first post-war atomic bomb test took place.
France has been the world's most visited country for over 25 years. Its many attractions include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum, the Palace of Versailles, the French Riviera, wine regions, and ski resorts.