Question 1: Who wrote the famous musical "The Phantom of the Opera"?
Question 2: How many seasons of the TV show "Friends" were produced?
Friends aired from 1994 to 2004 and became one of the most popular sitcoms of all time. The show revolved around the lives of six friends living in Manhattan.
Question 3: How many planets in our solar system have rings?
The four giant planets of the Solar System – Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – have planetary ring systems. Saturn's rings are the most visible and were known since the early telescopes. Jupiter's, Uranus's, and Neptune's rings were discovered in more modern times through space probes and advanced earth-based telescopes.
Question 4: Which greenhouse gas is produced by the decomposition of organic waste in landfills?
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that is produced when organic waste, such as food scraps and yard waste, decomposes in landfills in the absence of oxygen. This process is known as anaerobic digestion.
Question 5: When was the Fibonacci sequence first introduced to the Western world?
The Fibonacci sequence was introduced to the Western world by Leonardo Pisano Bigollo, also known as Fibonacci, in his 1202 book Liber Abaci.
Question 6: The Margherita Pizza is named after a queen of which country?
The Margherita Pizza was named after Queen Margherita of Savoy, who was said to favor the pizza when visiting Naples in 1889. The colors of the pizza—tomatoes (red), mozzarella (white), and basil (green)—are said to represent the Italian flag.
Question 7: How is the speed of light in a vacuum commonly denoted?
In physics, the speed of light in a vacuum is denoted by the lowercase letter "c". It is a universal physical constant important in many areas of physics. The speed of light in a vacuum is exactly 299,792,458 metres per second.
Question 8: What ancient civilization built the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World?
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built around 600 BCE by King Nebuchadnezzar II as a gift to his wife Amytis. They were said to have been a remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens.
Question 9: Who is credited with inventing calculus?
Both Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz independently developed the foundations of calculus in the late 17th century. While Newton was the first to develop the ideas, Leibniz created much of the notation used in calculus today.
Question 10: What is the capital city of Austria?
Vienna is not just the political capital of Austria but also the cultural heart of the country, known for its high quality of life, beautiful architecture, and a rich musical legacy dating back to great composers such as Mozart and Beethoven.
Andrew Lloyd Webber composed the music for "The Phantom of the Opera", which premiered in London's West End in 1986. The musical, based on the French novel of the same name by Gaston Leroux, has since become one of the longest-running and most successful musicals in history.