Quirky Queries: A Journey Through Art, History and Curiosities | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below.

1. Bernini—Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, depicting Teresa of Ávila’s mystical experience is in the Cornaro Chapel in Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome. The chapel was commissioned by Federigo Cardinal Cornaro and St. Teresa is surrounded by sculptures of the cardinal and his family. Teresa of Ávila was born 28 March 1515.
   

   

2. Istanbul—Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, was the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Located on a peninsula between Europe and Asia, it has been a strategic city for over 2,500 years. The city’s name evolved from Byzantium to Constantinople, and finally to Istanbul in 1930.
   

   

3. Virginia Woolf—Virginia Woolf, an English writer, is known for her novels, essays, and letters. Her works, including Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse, influenced the genre through their non-linear narrative.
   

   

4. Susquehanna River—The Three Mile Island accident near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in 1979 was the most serious nuclear power accident in US history. A valve malfunction caused a partial core meltdown, but fortunately, radioactive gases did not pose a threat to the surrounding population.
5. Spanish Civil War—The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a conflict between the Nationalists, supported by Italy and Germany, and the Republicans, aided by the Soviet Union and International Brigades. The Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco, emerged victorious, establishing a dictatorship that lasted until his death in 1975.