Brownstone is a red to brown variety of sandstone, whose unusual color is caused in some instances by the presence of red iron oxide which acts as a cement, binding the sand grains together. During the Triassic period, vast thicknesses of brownstone were deposited in the Connecticut River Valley of the northeast, and they were used to build the many brownstone houses and buildings in the area between Baltimore and Boston. Is sandstone a durable building material? Discuss
Source: The Free Dictionary
Lady Godiva was a noblewoman and a benefactor of several monasteries. According to legend, her husband agreed to remit the heavy taxation on the people of Coventry if she would ride naked through the town on a white horse. Lady Godiva took him at his word and, after issuing a proclamation that all the townspeople go indoors and shut their windows, she rode through, clothed only in her long hair. According to the legend, all but one of the townspeople obeyed her ordinance; who disobeyed? 
Quartz, which can split light into a spectrum, is one of the most common of all rock-forming minerals and one of the most important constituents of the earth’s crust. Quartz may be transparent, translucent, or opaque; it may be colorless or colored. Varieties are classified as crystalline and cryptocrystalline, whose crystal structure can be seen only under the microscope, if at all. What is quartz’s rank on the Mohs scale of hardness? 
As far back as Paleolithic times, Native Americans and other traditional peoples have believed the medicine man to be in possession of supernatural healing powers, such as the ability to inflict pain, promote fertility, and secure good hunting and fishing. Many Native Americans regarded illness as resulting from the entry of malignancy into the body; accordingly, their medicine men try to cast out the illness using ritual techniques such as bloodletting, the application of herbs, and what else? 
Marco Polo was a Venetian trader and explorer who, together with his father Niccolò and his uncle Maffeo, was one of the first Westerners to travel the Silk Road to China and visit with Genghis Khan’s grandson, Kublai Khan. Polo helped generate extraordinary interest in the Far East among Europeans, and his book, Il Milione, was an instant hit at a time when books had to be painstakingly copied by hand. What famous explorer carried a heavily annotated copy of Polo’s book? 
Conchs are marine gastropod mollusks with heavy, spiral shells with overlapping whorls. Unlike other gastropods, which crawl, conchs move by jumping. Most conchs are carnivorous, feeding on bivalve mollusks. Their shells are used for carving cameos in Europe and are sometimes made into crude instruments by removing the small tip of the shell to form a mouthpiece. In popular folklore, it is believed that the ocean can be heard if one holds an open conch shell to the ear. How does it work? 
Amnesty International is a human-rights organization founded in 1961 by Englishman Peter Benenson. It campaigns internationally against the detention of prisoners of conscience, for the fair trial of political prisoners, to abolish the death penalty and torture of prisoners, and to end extrajudicial executions and “disappearances.” It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. The organization’s official symbol is a candle surrounded by what? 
The Khmer Rouge was a Cambodian Communist movement that was active as a guerrilla force from 1970 to the late 1990s and held power under the leadership of Pol Pot from 1975 to 1979. The Khmer Rouge is remembered largely for causing the deaths of up to 1.5 million people through execution, starvation, and forced labor. A tribunal consisting of both Cambodian and international judges was established in 2006 to try former Khmer Rouge leaders. Who were the “New People?” 
A Knight Bachelor is a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organized Orders of Chivalry, making him an English knight of the lowest rank. Like other knights, Knights Bachelor are styled “Sir.” The honor is generally awarded for public service, and amongst its recipients are all the male judges of the High Court of England and Wales. Sir Paul McCartney is one of the best-known holders of the rank. What is the female counterpart of the Knight Bachelor? 
Bourdain is an American author, executive chef of Brasserie Les Halles in NYC, and host of the Travel Channel’s culinary and cultural adventure program No Reservations. He is known for being edgy and provocative; his many epicurean exploits have included instances of him eating ant eggs in Mexico, a raw seal eyeball in the Arctic, and a live cobra in Vietnam. He initially gained popularity with his bestselling book about the darker side of the restaurant industry. What is the book called?