The term “Iron Curtain” describing the growing influence of the Soviet Union in Europe was first used by Winston Churchill in a speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946. The college is now home to the National Churchill Museum, housed in a 17th-century English church that was relocated from London to Missouri in the 1960s.

The lactic acid bacterium that gives sourdough bread its distinctive taste is Lactobacillus sanfranciscensis. Microbiologists Frank Sugihara and Leo Kline isolated the bacteria in the 1970s and named it for the place they found it: San Francisco.

When someone is deep in meditation, or deep into thinking about herself, we might say she’s “contemplating her navel.” Or we could say she’s engaged in omphaloskepsis. That mouthful of a word was coined in the 1920s to describe the meditation practices of Indian mystics. It comes from the Greek for navel (“omphalos”) and thoughtful examination (“skepsis”). Ancient Greeks believed that the Earth had its own omphalos — the navel out of which humanity was born — and that it was located in the sacred city of Delphi.

1. Where did Winston Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt meet for a famous 1943 conference, codenamed “Symbol”?

A) Algiers

B) Casablanca

C) Tripoli

D) Tunis

2. Sometimes called St. John’s bread, what tree’s seedpods may be ground as a substitute for cocoa powder?

A) Carob

B) Honey locust

C) Mimosa

D) Sweetgum

3. Seedless navel oranges are a mutation first discovered in what location?

A) A monastery in Brazil

B) A university in Japan

C) A farm in Mexico

D) A royal garden in the Netherlands

4. How many athletes represented the United States at the first modern Olympics in 1896?

A) 14

B) 25

C) 36

D) None. The U.S. didn’t participate.

5. Which is the longest river in Africa?

A) Congo

B) Niger

C) Nile

D) Zambezi

6. The word “sauna” comes from what language?

A) Finnish

B) Greek

C) Japanese

D) Turkish

Answers

1) Churchill and FDR met in Casablanca in 1943.

2) Ground carob seedpods may be used as a substitute for cocoa powder.

3) Seedless navel oranges are a mutation first discovered at a monastery in Brazil.

4) There were 14 athletes representing the United States at the first modern Olympic games in 1896.

5) The Nile is the longest river in Africa.

6) “Sauna” is a Finnish word.

Email Leslie at triviabitsleslie@gmail.com.