A Fork In History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edmund Fitzgerald sinks

The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a freighter transporting iron ore on the Great Lakes. Launched in 1958, she sank in Lake Superior in 1975 during a severe storm. All twenty-nine crew members on board perished. There are a number of different theories as to why the Fitzgerald sank. One such theory was the 'rogue wave' theory.

The Fitzgerald's captain reported a couple of thirty plus foot waves striking the ship and causing damage. Another theory is that the cargo hatches were incorrectly closed and this caused severe flooding. An unfitting end to a top freight carrier which traversed the lakes for seventeen years.

Answer: Roe v. Wade

Roe v. Wade (Jane Roe, et al. v. Henry Wade) was a case regarding abortion which was brought before the United States Supreme Court in 1971, and the ensuing court decision was made in 1973 stating that abortion was a fundamental right under the constitution.

The name "Jane Roe" was an alias provided to one Norma L. McCorvey, the actual plaintiff in the case. In a complete turn-about, Mrs McCorvey became a pro-life activist in later years. She stated in 1980s that she had been coerced by the lawyers who filed suit on her behalf, as it was them not her that wanted to challenge the anti-abortion laws.

She attempted to have the original decision overturned in 2005.

Answer: Jimmy Hoffa Disappearance

The disappearance of James Riddle Hoffa in 1975 has truly been a riddle for a number of decades. Jimmy Hoffa was a prominent labour union leader, who served as the leader of the 'International Brotherhood of Teamsters'. Connected to organised crime, Hoffa was convicted of a number of crimes and sentenced to thirteen years in prison in 1967. President Nixon pardoned Hoffa in 1971. On July 30th, 1975 Hoffa disappeared from a restaurant parking lot and despite the best efforts of numerous law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, he was never found.

Answer: Jonestown Massacre

Jonestown is seen as the largest loss of life by deliberate act prior to the events of the September 11 terrorist attacks. A total of 909 (including 304 children) people died from cyanide poisoning in the mass murder/suicide ordered by People's Temple leader Jim Jones.

The 'Peoples Temple Agricultural Project' was a settlement in the town of Jonestown in the South American country of Guyana led by Jim Jones. The People's Temple (People's Temple of the Disciples of Christ) was founded in 1955. It is described as Christian religious movement with heavy communist/socialist undertones.

There was a time that Jones was popular enough to have received some sort of award, when he was hobnobbing with the likes of First Lady Rosalyn Carter and former US Vice President Walter Mondale.

Answer: Apple Inc. is founded

Apple Inc. with their bitten apple logo is one of the best known technology companies worldwide. It was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne to develop personal computers. The first computer, designed and built by Wozniak named the Apple I went on sale for $666.66 in 1976. Apple are responsible for products like the Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod and in 2015 was valued at over $700 billion US dollars.

Answer: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Nosocomephobia is defined as an excessive fear of hospitals. The 1975 film "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" stars Jack Nicholson and takes place in a mental institution. It is based on a novel by Ken Kesey, published in 1962. The film was directed by Czech director, Milos Forman and won five Academy Awards for Best Picture, Actor in Lead Role, Actress in Lead Role, Director, and Screenplay.

The American Film Institute's '100 Years... 100 Movies' list has the film at position thirty-three and it was selected in 1993 for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Answer: President Nixon resigns

Richard Milhous Nixon (b.1913 - d.1994) was the 37th President of the United States (POTUS). His life makes for very interesting reading, including the fact that he was a practising lawyer and achieved the rank of commander in the US Navy. He served two terms as Vice President under President Eisenhower and was elected to two terms as President.

He resigned in his second term, the only President to have done so, as impeachment was imminent thanks to the Watergate scandal. The whole scandal is intricate, with allegations of bugging the offices of opponents as well as harassment of activists and opponents coming to the fore. Nixon's famous words "I'm not a crook" stem from press conference he had in 1973.

Answer: End of Vietnam War

Also known as the Second Indochina War and in Vietnam as the Resistance War Against America, the Vietnam War started in 1955 and finally ended in 1975. It was a war against the communist and Soviet backed North Vietnamese Army against the American backed Southern Vietnamese Army.

In this day and age, it is hard to believe that a war could have raged for almost twenty years in a country only 128,000 square miles. Despite all this, today Vietnam is known as the 'Socialist Republic of Vietnam' and has a Marxist-Leninist one-party socialist republic.

The total deaths in the war, including civilian casualties, has been calculated to be as many as 1.3 million with the civilian deaths (627,000) making up almost 50% of those figures. With the fall of Saigon in 1975, US President Gerald Ford declared the war over.

Answer: Munich Massacre

The Munich Massacre took place during the 1972 Summer Olympics. A Palestinian terrorist group named 'Black September' abducted and murdered eleven Israeli athletes. The dual motives for the abduction were a release demand of 234 prisoners imprisoned in Israel as well as the release of Baader and Meinhof, the leaders of the Red Army Faction.

The second motive was retaliation for the forced expulsion of two Palestinian villages by the Israeli Defence Force. Five of the eight abductors were killed by police during a rescue attempt and the remaining Black September members were captured by police.

A month later a Lufthansa flight was captured by a Black September affiliate group and the three prisoners were released, only to be tracked down and killed by Mossad.

Answer: Yom Kippur War of 1973

The Yom Kippur war far fought in 1973, by a coalition of Arab states led by Syria and Egypt against Israel. The war lasted for nineteen days. Both the US and Soviet Union got involved, each supplying arms and support to their respective champions. The only tangible advantage gained during this war, was that the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt and the 1978 Camp David Accords were signed by Egyptian President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin witnessed by US President Jimmy Carter.

As many as 10,000 soldiers are estimated to have lost their lives. If only it could have been done over tea.