1. The first European king to reign in the Americas was:

   A. Larry King

   B. John, ruler of the Empire of Brazil

   C. Maximilian, ruler of the Empire of Mexico

   D. Armand Assante, the Mambo King (cha-cha-cha!)

2. Today, the Caribbean is host to a thriving tourist industry. Who was the first US president to visit a Caribbean island? (It was the island of Barbados.)

   A. George Washington

   B. Millard Fillmore

   C. Teddy Roosevelt

   D. Herbert Hoover

3. Any group of rebels can declare independence, but that declaration isn't much good until another country recognizes the rebels as independent. True or false: The first country to recognize the United States as an independent nation was the United Kingdom.
4. True or false: Enslaved people have often revolted against their masters, but the first slave revolt to take over an entire nation was in Haiti in 1804.
5. Match the earliest known indigenous inhabitants with their countries.

   A. New Zealand	1. Borinquénos
   B. Peru	2. Maori
   C. Puerto Rico	3. Guaraní
   D. Paraguay	4. Incas
   E. South Africa	5. !Kung (Bushmen)

6. True or false: Scotland's independence was won by Robert the Bruce in 1628.
7. Despite their proximity and small size, Belgium and the Netherlands are quite distinct countries. But it wasn't always this way. True or false: The Netherlands successfully revolted against Belgian rule in 1830.
8. Ireland and England have been feuding for centuries. Not all of these conflicts have erupted on Irish or English soil. In what country did the Fenian Revolt take place?

   A. Canada

   B. Wales

   C. Australia

   D. Scotland

9. And now for something completely different: The island of Curaçao produces a unique liqueur of the same name. Curaçao's flavor is derived from:

   A. Apricots

   B. Mangoes

   C. Oranges

   D. Papaws

10. Firearms are hard to come by today in Japan, but they used to be even more scarce. True or false: Japan conducted the world's first (and only) total ban on guns.

Answers

1. B. In 1807, after Napoleon I invaded Portugal, the Portuguese royal family fled to Brazil, where the Portuguese Empire was ruled from 1808 to 1821.
2. A. George Washington visited in 1751 with his older half-brother, Lawrence.
3. False. France was the first to recognize the new nation on December 17, 1777.
4. True. Haiti is the only country where former slaves have taken over the reigns of government.
5. A, 2; B, 4; C, 1; D, 3; E, 5
6. False. The Battle of Bannockburn was fought in 1314, and was the deciding battle for Scotland's independence. The Treaty of Northampton was signed by King Edward II in 1328. Robert the Bruce died the following year.
7. False. Belgium broke away from the Netherlands in 1830.
8. A. In 1866, several thousand Irish veterans of the US Civil War invaded Canada and held the nation for ransom to force Britain to give Ireland its independence. This ill-conceived Fenian Revolt ended with relatively few casualties.
9. C. These unique Curaçao oranges also provide flavoring to Triple Sec, Cointreau, and Grand Marnier.
10. True. The Portuguese brought guns to Japan in the 1500s, but the weapons were eventually considered to be incompatible with samurai honor and were banned for almost two centuries.