Quiz: Easy like Sunday morning – Eponyms return!

1 / 10 |
On August 31, 1895, German Count Ferdinand von ________ obtained the patent for his invention, the ‘navigable balloon’. The name became synonymous with long-distance flight until the end of the First World War. By what name are all airships known, which even inspired a rock band?

2 / 10 |
Born on August 31, 1870, Maria __________ was an Italian physician who devised a philosophy of education that is used in schools worldwide. She developed a system that emphasises hands-on learning and encourages a child’s natural curiosity. What is the name of this method?

3 / 10 |
Born on August 31, 1907, Ramon _________ was a Filipino nautical engineer who eventually became the seventh President of the Philippines. He was considered a defender of democracy until his untimely death in 1957. The same year, an award was established in his name to honour courageous people who work to help democracy. What is the name of the award?

4 / 10 |
This island in the eastern Caribbean is the only one in the world to be named after a woman who is not a goddess. After French sailors were shipwrecked there on the feast day of St. Lucy, they named it in her honour. By what name do we know this country?

5 / 10 |
Ernst Wenzel ____ was an Austrian physicist whose studies helped us understand shock waves. To celebrate his contribution to the field, the ratio of an object’s speed to the speed of sound in the surrounding medium is named after him. What ‘number’ is this?

6 / 10 |
Pamphilus de amore is a 12th-century Latin comedic play about a character called Pamphilus, who falls in love with Galathea but doesn’t do anything about it. It was a very popular poem, so it was widely circulated as a slim volume of writing. What word comes into the English language from this character’s name?

7 / 10 |
The name of this iconic religious building comes from the fact that it was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV. In Latin, it is known as ‘Sacellum Sixtinum’, which means ‘relating to Sixtus’. By what name do we better know this building?

8 / 10 |
In the 1960 film La Dolce Vita by Federico Fellini, Walter Santesso plays a character who is a hyperactive photographer. His name comes from the Italian slang for ‘mosquito’, as he is constantly hovering and darting around. The plural of his name lives on in English as what word?

9 / 10 |
________ of Savoy was Queen of Italy from 1878 to 1900. During her reign, she had many things named after her, including a town in Assam, a battleship, and a mountain peak in Africa. The most popular, though, is a food item that has red tomatoes, green basil, and white cheese to represent the Italian flag. What item is this?

10 / 10 |
The most common monkey species in India is the Rhesus Macaque. The French naturalist Audebert named it after the mythological king Rhesus of Thrace from the Iliad. In 1939, two biologists discovered an antigen factor in monkeys and came up with a system to classify blood groups. What factor is this that gets its name from the monkeys?