No omphaloskepsis is required

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 are 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.

FACTS OF THE DAY

• 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”).

• You know Hollywood, but do you know “Nollywood”? That's the nickname for the film industry in Nigeria. Churning out more than 2,500films a year, it's the second-most productive movie industry on Earth, after India's massive “Bollywood” film industry.

• Ancient Greeks and Romans loved working up a sweat in athletic competition or in a steamy hot bath. And after the sweat came the strigil, the curved, blunt-edged metal blade they'd use to scrape sweat and oil (and skin and other yuck) from their bodies. A whole genre of ancient sculptures depicts male athletes using strigils. They are known as Apoxyomenos, or “The Scraper,” from the Greek for “to clean oneself.”