General Knowledge Quiz: 20 Questions

An adult human body has 206 bones. Babies are born with around 270-300 bones or cartilage segments, many of which fuse during childhood. The skull plates fuse in the first two years; the last bones to fuse (wisdom teeth / clavicle) typically do so in the mid-20s.

The chemical symbol for gold is Au, from the Latin word aurum. Gold has atomic number 79 and has been prized for thousands of years. Other symbols from Latin: Fe (iron, ferrum), Pb (lead, plumbum), Ag (silver, argentum), Hg (mercury, hydrargyrum).

Our solar system has 8 planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union in 2006. A mnemonic: "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos."

Pride and Prejudice was written by Jane Austen and published in January 1813. She originally called it "First Impressions." Its opening line — "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife" — is one of the most famous in literature.

The capital of Australia is Canberra, not Sydney or Melbourne. Canberra was purpose-built on a site selected as a compromise after Sydney and Melbourne both lobbied to be the capital when Australia federated in 1901. It officially became the capital in 1913.

Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere at approximately 78%. Oxygen accounts for about 21%, and argon, carbon dioxide, and other gases make up the remaining 1%. This is a classic trick question — most people guess oxygen.

A hexagon has 6 sides. The word comes from the Greek hex (six) and gon (angle). Regular hexagons tile perfectly without gaps — this is why they appear in honeycomb structures, basalt columns (like the Giant's Causeway), and crystal lattices.

The Berlin Wall fell on November 9, 1989. East German authorities announced that citizens could cross freely, and jubilant crowds began dismantling the wall overnight. Germany was formally reunified on October 3, 1990 — less than a year later.

Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission. Buzz Aldrin joined him 19 minutes later. Michael Collins piloted the command module in lunar orbit. Armstrong's famous words: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."

Diamond is the hardest natural substance, scoring 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. It is a form of carbon where atoms are bonded in a tetrahedral crystal lattice. Diamond can only be scratched by another diamond, which is why they are used in cutting tools and grinding equipment.

Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa between approximately 1503 and 1519. It hangs in the Louvre Museum in Paris and is protected behind bulletproof glass. The subject is widely believed to be Lisa Gherardini, wife of Florentine merchant Francesco del Giocondo. The painting has no eyebrows — a Renaissance fashion choice.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is dissolved into drinks under high pressure. When you open a bottle or can, the pressure drops and CO₂ escapes as bubbles. The gas also reacts with water to form carbonic acid (H₂CO₃), giving carbonated drinks their characteristic tangy, slightly sharp taste.