Constantinople had been an imperial capital since its consecration in 330 under Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great. In the following eleven centuries, the city had been besieged many times but was captured only once: during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.:304 The crusaders established an unstable Latin state in and around Constantinople while the remaining empire splintered into a number of Byzantine successor states, notably Nicaea, Epirus and Trebizond. They fought as allies against the Latin establishments, but also fought among themselves for the Byzantine throne. The Nicaeans eventually reconquered Constantinople from the Latins in 1261. Thereafter, there was little peace for the much-weakened empire as it fended off successive attacks by the Latins, the Serbians, the Bulgarians, and, most importantly, the Ottoman Turks. The Black Plague between 1346 and 1349 killed almost half of the inhabitants of Constantinople. The city was severely depopulated due to the general economic and territorial decline of the empire, and by 1453 consisted of a series of walled villages separated by vast fields encircled by the fifth-century Theodosian walls. By 1450 the empire was exhausted and had shrunk to a few square miles outside the city of Constantinople itself, the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, and the Peloponnese with its cultural center at Mystras. The Empire of Trebizond, an independent successor state that formed in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade, also survived on the coast of the Black Sea.

How many notable Byzantine successor states were there?
A: 3

Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Eagles the Giants flew to Lambeau Field for an NFC duel with the Packers. In the first quarter the Giants trailed early with QB Aaron Rodgers completing an 80 and a 3-yard TD pass to WR Jordy Nelson and to WR James Jones respectively. The Giants replied to tie the game with QB Eli Manning throwing a 36 and an 85-yard TD pass to WR Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham. They had further problems with FB John Kuhn getting an 8-yard TD run, followed by kicker Mason Crosby getting a 31-yard field goal. The Giants cut the lead with kicker Lawrence Tynes nailing a 38-yard field goal, but fell further behind with Rodgers completing a 1 and a 5-yard TD run to TE Donald Lee and to Kuhn respectively. This was followed by Kuhn getting a 1-yard TD run.

How many touchdowns were in the game?
A: 8

Trying to snap a two-game losing streak, the Vikings returned home for an NFC North duel with the Green Bay Packers. With regular starting quarterback Tarvaris Jackson recovering from injuries, Kelly Holcomb started in his place. In the first quarter, the Vikings trailed early as Brett Favre threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings, surpassing Dan Marino with the 421st touchdown pass of his career. After Favre was honored for his accomplishment, Minnesota narrowed the margin between the two teams to a single point with field goals of 44 and 35 yards from kicker Ryan Longwell, before Mason Crosby hit a 28-yard field goal to restore a four-point lead for the Packers going into halftime. In the third quarter, Crosby and Longwell cancelled each other out with field goals from 44 yards and 48 yards, respectively. In the fourth quarter, Crosby made a 33-yard field goal, before Favre completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to James Jones. Minnesota tried to rebound with Holcomb completing a 15-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Sidney Rice. The Vikings failed with an attempted onside kick, but two plays later Chad Greenway recovered a fumble by Favre, giving the Vikings just under 2 minutes to go 54 yards for a game-tying touchdown. However, after moving into Green Bay territory, Holcomb was subsequently intercepted by Atari Bigby, allowing Favre to kneel out the game. Adrian Peterson ran 12 times for 112 yards, making him the first rookie running back since Chuck Foreman to rush for 100 yards in each of his first three games as a Vikings starter.

How many touchdowns were scored in the first half?
A:
1