Geography is something that people are generally expected to know, unless it's local geography (i.e., that hill is called Cannibal Hill because they found half-eaten human remains there).

VIRTUALLY EVERYONE knows Tolstoy. War and Peace is called "internationally acclaimed" for a reason. Some appear to call him "Leon" but the last name is ubiquitous.

As for Lech Walesa, he made international headlines as part of the Solidarity movement that challenged communism.

However, rugby is something that easily 3/4 of the population of the planet does not care about. I could actually see soccer (association football) questions since most of the planet plays the game, but rugby is definitely geared to the Commonwealth, even if some Languedoc Frenchies play it too.