Curiosità Italiana

1. What Tuscan city is known for the famous horse race known as Corsa del Palio?
2. Name the city that was sacked by Hannibal in 205 BC. (Hint: It is Italy’s largest port city.)
3. William Shakespeare wrote five plays set in Italy. Can you name them?
4. What is the city founded by the Etruscans that was the setting for the movie Under the Tuscan Sun?
5. What city became home to Maserati and was where Ferrari began?
6. Born in Rome in 1918, Franco Modigliani was the 1985 Nobel Laureate in Economics. What pioneering research did he achieve that led to this recognition?
7. Michelangelo’s renowned statue of David can be found in what city?
8. What songwriter was born Salvatore Guaragna in Brooklyn in 1893 and is famous for 42^nd Street, Chattanooga Choo-Choo, An Affair to Remember and countless other popular tunes from Tin Pan Alley?
9. True or False, Italy is the largest producer of tomatoes in the world?
10. Which Italian was the first European to land on the continent of South America?

Answers

1. Siena
2. Genoa
3. Julius Caesar, Othello, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo & Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew.
4. Cortona
5. Modena – although Maserati originated in Bologna and Ferrari moved to Maranello
6. Valuation analysis for financial markets
7. Florence
8. Harry Warren
9. False. Italy produces what many consider to be the finest tomatoes for export, but its production is far less than much larger countries such as the United States.
10. Amerigo Vespucci