Q20 · THE QUIZ POST
The Daily Quiz — 26 August 2026
Play the The Quiz Post quiz for 26 August 2026: 20 free general-knowledge questions covering Geography, Science, Current Affairs and Food & Drink, with explanations and crowd results.
About this edition
This 20-question The Quiz Post edition was published for 26 August 2026. Answer all four-option questions to reveal sourced explanations and see how other players answered.
Topics in this edition include Geography, Science, Current Affairs and Food & Drink.
Questions and sourced explanations
This archive edition remains playable. The notes below contain spoilers and provide the question text, explanatory context and source used for each item.
Read this edition’s question notes (spoilers)
UK · Easy
1. Which was the first national park established in the UK?
The Peak District became Britain's first national park in 1951.
Source: Peak District National Parks // Peak District Yorkshire
Sport · Easy
2. Which city hosted the 2012 Summer Olympic Games?
London hosted the Summer Games for the third time in 2012.
Geography · Easy
3. Dubrovnik is a historic coastal city in which country?
Dubrovnik is a historic Adriatic city in southern Croatia.
History · Easy
4. The ancient city of Petra is located in which present-day country?
Petra, famous for monumental buildings carved into sandstone, is in present-day Jordan.
Geography · Medium
5. A Fata Morgana is an especially complex form of what optical phenomenon?
A Fata Morgana is a complex superior mirage produced when light bends through layers of air at different temperatures.
Current Affairs · Medium
6. The UK announced permission to share information about SCALP missile components with which country on 24 August 2026?
The announcement accompanied the Prime Minister's meeting with President Zelenskyy in Ukraine.
Source: PM meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine: 24 August 2026 - GOV.UK
Food & Drink · Medium
7. What we call a coffee “bean” is botanically what part of the coffee fruit?
Coffee beans are the seeds found inside the fruit commonly called a coffee cherry.
Nature · Medium
8. Sea otters are famous for using rocks in what way?
Sea otters may carry and use stones as tools to crack open hard-shelled prey such as mussels and clams.
Film & TV · Medium
9. Who played brass-band leader Danny in Brassed Off?
Postlethwaite plays the conductor of a colliery band facing the loss of its mine.
Food & Drink · Medium
10. Traditional tiramisu takes its name from an Italian phrase most closely meaning what?
The name tiramisù is commonly interpreted as “pick me up” or “cheer me up”, fitting its coffee-rich character.
History · Medium
11. Charles Goodyear’s vulcanisation process improved natural rubber by heating it with which element?
Vulcanisation uses sulfur to cross-link rubber, making it more durable and stable across temperatures.
Science · Medium
12. Which property makes a thermos bottle’s vacuum layer effective at reducing heat transfer?
A vacuum contains very few particles, strongly reducing heat transfer by conduction and convection between the inner and outer walls.
Technology · Hard
13. The international A-series paper sizes, including A4, keep approximately which width-to-height ratio?
The A-series is designed so halving a sheet preserves its proportions; that requires a ratio of 1 to the square root of 2.
Business & Economics · Hard
14. The Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences was created by which institution rather than by Alfred Nobel himself?
The economics prize was established in 1968 by Sweden’s central bank, Sveriges Riksbank, in memory of Alfred Nobel.
Current Affairs · Hard
15. Why was 21 August chosen for the UK's new National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism?
The new UK observance aligns with the UN day honouring victims of terrorism.
Source: National Day for Victims and Survivors of Terrorism 2026: factsheet (accessible)
Science · Hard
16. In the Southern Hemisphere, the Coriolis effect deflects large-scale moving air and water in which direction relative to their motion?
Because of Earth’s rotation, the Coriolis effect produces a leftward deflection in the Southern Hemisphere and a rightward one in the Northern.
Geography · Hard
17. What process helped create limestone caves such as White Scar Cave in Yorkshire?
Water containing dissolved carbon dioxide slowly dissolves limestone and enlarges underground passages.
Source: White Scar Cave - Yorkshire Dales National Park : Yorkshire Dales National Park
Music · Hard
18. Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, received its world premiere in which city?
The symphony was written during Dvořák’s time in the United States and premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1893.
Science · Hard
19. Unlike plant cell walls, fungal cell walls characteristically contain which tough polymer?
Fungal cell walls commonly contain chitin as well as glucans; plants instead rely heavily on cellulose.
Society & Culture · Hard
20. Ethiopia’s civil calendar has how many months?
The Ethiopian calendar has twelve 30-day months plus a short thirteenth month called Pagumen.