15 Minutes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nancy Kerrigan

Harding grew up in an abusive environment. Figure skating became her refuge. She won two United States Championships in 1991 and 1994 and was second in the 1991 Olympics. Nancy Kerrigan was a rising star in figure skating and was shaping up as Harding's main competition for international recognition. Jeff Gillooly, Harding's ex-husband, along with Shawn Eckhardt, traveled to Massachusetts to attack her but failed. They then stalked Kerrigan to Detroit where they brutally attacked her on the knees so she could not skate. Kerrigan recovered from her wounds and was selected for the US team along with Harding.

At the Olympic Championships Kerrigan finished second and Harding eighth, claiming a poor performance because of a broken shoelace. The conspiracy quickly unraveled and those involved got jail sentences. Harding was sentenced to probation and stripped of her US Championship.

Since that time Harding tried a number of avenues of endeavor including making a sex video, professional wrestling and boxing, acting, and auto racing. The scandals are the first to recall when her name is mentioned but here are some facts that go beyond the headlines:

1.The first woman to complete a triple axel in the short program;
2.The first woman to successfully execute two triple axels in a single competition;
3.The first ever to complete a triple axel combination with the double toe loop.

Answer: Elián González

Elián González's parents were estranged. Elizabeth Rodríguez along with her boy friend and Elian boarded an under-powered aluminum boat with nine others and began the dangerous trip to the Florida coast but a storm took the boat and the lives of nine of the passengers including Elian's mother. Another passenger had placed Elian in an intertube. When US authorities rescued him, they found that he had several maternal relatives in Miami and placed Elian in their care and began the process of the Americanization of Elian.

However, Juan Miguel González, Elian's biological father, demanded that Elian be returned to his care in Cuba. This sparked protests and strained already difficult relations between the United States and Cuba. The custody battle resulted in a decision that common law would dictate that the father was the legal guardian. Even with this decision, his Miami family sought all legal ways not to comply with the order. Eventually Elian was returned to his father and the issue quickly dropped from the headlines.

Elian Gonzales completed basic education in Cuba and then joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba. He applied to military school and hoped to enter college to major in engineering. Early after his return Fidel Castro was a regular visitor as he had pressured US courts for his return to Cuba. Elian's father continues to work as a waiter.

Answer: Monica Lewinsky

During her time as an intern at the White House 1995-96, she later claimed to have had nine sexual encounters with the President. By the time the scandal broke, she had been transferred to another paid position at the Pentagon as advisors became concerned. Clinton dealt with the situation at first with denial and then under pressure on August 17, 1998, confessed that he had had an "improper physical relationship" with Lewinsky.

Clinton was accused of lying and perjury and was on four counts faced with impeachment proceedings in Congress. Two charges were dropped and Clinton was acquitted on the remaining two on what was a partisan vote. Kenneth Starr, who was hired to investigate the so-called "Whitewater Scandal", was enlisted to expand his role into the Lewinsky affair. These he did with vigor even to the extent of requisitioning Lewinsky's wardrobe in search of DNA evidence.

In the intervening years Lewinsky from time-to-time pops up on media radar using her celebrity status. She designed high-end handbags, worked as spokesperson for the Jenny Craig diet plan, gave paid interviews to television programs, and later public service discussions on discussing on cyberbullying.

Answer: Fawn Hall

After her testimony blew the cover-up of the arms for contra, Fawn Hall signed with the William Morris Agency to capitalize on her new found celebrity status and developed a modeling career. Later, she was to marry Danny Sugerman, a noted rock and roll manager and promoter. This led later to cocaine addiction and a rehabilitation program. When last spotted Hall was working a low key job clerking in a bookstore.

Before she was in the headlines, she dated Contras politician Arturo Cruz. Her alleged affair with Jonathan Scott Royster is still classified today and will remain classified until 2050.

Answer: Canada

Munsinger had already been deported to Germany before the affair became public knowledge. However, the John Diefenbaker government announced incorrectly also that she was dead. Hearing this, Gerda Munsinger called a press conference in Germany to proclaim that she was still alive.

At the conference her answers were vague. Pierre Sévigny in particular was the focus of the scandal as he was Minister of Defense and it was at the height of the Cold War.

Answer: Lack of jounalism ethics

With his education and background Stephen Glass had promising careers charted out in both journalism and law. At the University of Pennsylvania he was executive editor of the student newspaper, "The Daily Pennsylvanian". From there he rose in the literary world to an associate editor of he The New Republic while also contributing articles to "Policy Review", "George", "Rolling Stone", "Harper's" and Public Radio International's weekly hour-long program, "This American Life".

However, his articles drew outraged rebuttals. At last he lost credibility even from The New Republic staff that had been his advocate. The New Republic in an internal investigation determined that at least 27 of the 41 articles Glass wrote contained fabricated material. He wrote real reporting interwoven with fabricated quotations and incidents, and some parts were simply made up. Glass went to the extent of creating web sites to thwart magazines' fact checkers.

Capitalizing on his questionable fame, Glass wrote a novel, "The Fabulist" and granted an interview on "60 Minutes" news program. In 2003 "Shattered Glass" depicted Glass's rise and fall at The New Republic starring Hayden Christensen as Glass. Rotten Tomatoes' web site gave it 91%, a very high score.

Glass returned to finish his law degree and although he passed the bar exam in New York and California, his application was rejected on character issues. For a while he worked with an improve comedy group and now is employed as a paralegal.

Answer: JonBenét Patricia Ramsey

Television news network CNN created a time line on JonBenét Ramsey, quoted here in part:

December 26, 1996-JonBenet Ramsey is murdered in her Boulder, Colorado, home.
Her mother, Patsy, states that she found a ransom note demanding $118,000 for JonBenet's return. JonBenet's body is found in her basement that same day.

January 4, 1997-Reports reveal that JonBenet's skull had been fractured, and the ransom note came from a notepad from the Ramseys' home.

December 1997-A year after the murder, Boulder police indicate John and Patsy Ramsey remain under suspicion.

October 13, 1999-District Attorney Alex Hunter states that no indictments will be issued due to a lack of evidence in the case.

April 2003-Judge Julie Carnes in Atlanta dismisses a federal civil suit against John and Patsy Ramsey concluding that evidence supports the theory of an intruder murdering JonBenet, and not her mother, Patsy.

December 2003 - DNA found at the scene was from a male who was unrelated to the Ramseys.

June 24, 2006-Patsy Ramsey dies of cancer.

August 16, 2006-John Mark Karr has been arrested in Bangkok, Thailand, after confessing as a suspect in the case and that he loved her and her death was an accident.

August 28, 2006-After DNA tests confirm that he isn't a match to the evidence found at the crime scene, John Karr was released. He has disappeared and believed living as a woman.

July 9, 2008 - Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy apologizes in a letter to John Ramsey for the suspicion his family has lived under.

January 27, 2013- the grand jury voted to indict John and Patsy Ramsey in 1999 on charges of child abuse but District Attorney Alex Hunter said there was not enough evidence to file charges.

Answer: Became a CSI for the LAPD

Hung used his new-found celebrity status to appear on too many TV and talk shows to list here. He developed a cult following that resulted in issuing CDs that sold a few thousand copies but hardly encouraging. In some quarters he was accused of endorsing racial stereotypes of Asians. Summing up his music career, Hung said "I believe it's my attitude and charisma, I tell people constantly, media, every where I go, just never give up on your dream."

His new career does not seem so out of place when considering that Hung has a degree in civil engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.

Answer: J.D. Tippit

If you think that conspiracy theories abound for Kennedy assassination, the same is true for J.D. Tippit. Many web sites address the roll of Tippet. Here are a few.

1-Another gunman was supposed to shoot Oswald so he wouldn't be able to talk but shot Tippit accidentally.

2-J.D. Tippit was a dirty cop who knew Oswald and Jack Ruby and was a conspirator in a non-shooting role.

3-Tippit had been employed to help a man escape from Dallas. When he found that the man had been responsible for the Kennedy shooting, he wavered, and had to be eliminated.

4-Some researchers speculate that J.D. Tippit was killed so that his body might used to fake JFK's autopsy. It is Tippit's body that lies at Arlington.

All these allegations have been denied by Tippit's family and no evidence except speculation has been produced.

Answer: Batted for the Saint Louis Browns

Bill Veeck was the team owner of the Saint Louis Browns, arguably the worst franchise in Major League Baseball. Veeck used all kinds of stunts to increase attendance. He signed 3 foot 7 inch Eddie Gaedel to a major league contract. He was sent to bat in the first inning on August 19, 1951. Both the opposing pitcher and catcher were laughing so hard that Gaedel walked on four pitches and was then replaced by a pinch runner.

The event created an uproar in baseball and the media. They could not find a rule but such tactics were banned by agreement.

Eddie Gaedel returned to Chicago and for the most part made little use of his fame. He worked as a bartender, developed a drinking problem, and aggressively got into bar fights. He was found dead in his bed, badly beaten, at the age of 36.