Ballpark

Puzzle #46 · 4 November 2026

The five questions from that day's Ballpark, each with its answer, the fact behind it and a link to the source. Rather play it first? It is in the archive.

1. According to a 1626 Dutch letter, Manhattan was bought for the value of how many guilders?

60 guilders

60 guilders. Pieter Schaghen’s letter is the earliest record of the purchase; the original is kept in The Hague. Source

Image: Johannes Vingboons · Public domain

2. How fast does light travel in a vacuum?

299,792 km/s

299,792 km/s (exactly 299,792,458 m/s). The value is exact because the meter is defined from it. Source

Image: ESO/J. Girard · CC BY 3.0, cropped

3. How fast is the air in a human sneeze, per direct lab measurement?

16 km/h

Only ~16 km/h (4.5 m/s) in a 2013 lab study, about a tenth of the 160 km/h figure everyone quotes. Source

Image: James Gathany · Public domain

4. How much does Big Ben, the Great Bell of the Elizabeth Tower in London, weigh?

13,700 kilograms

13,700 kg (13.7 tonnes), struck by a 200 kg hammer. It hangs 334 steps up the tower. Source

Image: Colin · CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped

5. What was the official attendance at the deciding match of the 1950 World Cup in Rio's Maracanã, the largest in World Cup history?

173,850 people

173,850 officially, though unofficial estimates run as high as 199,854. Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1, an upset Brazilians call the Maracanazo. Source

Image: Arquivo Nacional · Public domain