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Quiz about Many Tried None Succeeded
Quiz about Many Tried None Succeeded

Many Tried, None Succeeded Trivia Quiz


All of these incredible people are famous for their successes in one form or another, but in this quiz we will see things that they failed at, too. No disrespect is meant to them.

A multiple-choice quiz by AdamM7. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
AdamM7
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
407,544
Updated
Dec 23 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Easy
Avg Score
9 / 10
Plays
433
Awards
Top 20% Quiz
Last 3 plays: ncterp (10/10), Chloe4770 (8/10), Guest 165 (8/10).
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Question 1 of 10
1. The "Father of the Computer" failed to build his proposed computer, the Difference Engine. He was given Ł1,700 by the British government in 1823 to construct it; 19 years later, the government had paid ten times this initial amount and the project was abandoned as unsuccessful. Who is he? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This man was Vice President to Bill Clinton, received a Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded a Grammy for his book "An Inconvenient Truth". However, he failed in his attempt in 2000 to become president, losing to George W. Bush. Who is he? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This British suffragette died in 1913, killed by George V's horse in a Derby protest. Despite her full-time activism for the last seven years of her life, she did not see the achievement of suffrage: it would be another 15 years before women over 21 received the vote in Britain. Who is she? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. This highly-decorated German swimmer failed to get a gold medal at four successive Olympics, instead walking away from events between 1992 and 2004 with four silver and six bronze medals. Who is this swimmer? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. This Renaissance polymath tried to invent a perpetual motion machine, making at least four different designs before giving up in disgust. After his failure, he correctly deduced that the invention was impossible, and even guessed at a physical result later called Newton's Third Law. Who is he? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Rarely disputed to be the strongest female chess player in history, this woman from Hungary broke Bobby Fischer's record for youngest Grandmaster at age 15. However, when competing for the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2005, she finished last. Who is she? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This astronaut commanded Apollo 13, the American mission that failed to land on the moon, but did succeed in returning all of its crew safely to Earth. He was played by Tom Hanks in the film "Apollo 13". Who is he? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. After a childhood injury, this author was unable to walk for the rest of her life, or even stand up without a crutch. Her reliance on horse-drawn carriages helped develop a passion for animal welfare that is the theme of her book "Black Beauty". Writing it in declining health in her 50s, she needed help from her mother to transcribe her prose. Within six months of the book's publication, she had died. Who is she? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Perhaps the most incredible mathematician of all time lived much of his short life in poverty, having lost a scholarship and then twice failed to obtain a degree due to poor academic results. Unappreciated by most mathematicians of his era, he died aged 32. Who is this man, the subject of "The Man Who Knew Infinity"? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. This artist was very unsuccessful in his lifetime. He failed his university entrance exam to a theology course, and at art school became ill and left after being asked to repeat a year. Tragically, his life was filled with mental health problems: he mutilated his ear, was sent to an asylum, and eventually died by suicide. Yet today his beautiful artworks are some of the most expensive in the world. Who is he? Hint





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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The "Father of the Computer" failed to build his proposed computer, the Difference Engine. He was given Ł1,700 by the British government in 1823 to construct it; 19 years later, the government had paid ten times this initial amount and the project was abandoned as unsuccessful. Who is he?

Answer: Charles Babbage

The title of "first computer" varies based on definition, but Babbage's proposed Difference Engine and later Analytic Engine have a claim to it. The Difference Engine would have worked as a calculator that evaluated polynomials, but Babbage had great difficulty in obtaining enough identical gears, wheels and equipment to the uniformity required for the machine to work, as such things were not fully standardized in the 1800s.

By 1842, Babbage had designed an Analytic Engine that would be general-purpose, rather than limited to a particular type of calculation, and which rendered his work in constructing the Difference Engine redundant.

Babbage's assistant Ada Lovelace is sometimes credited with being the first computer programmer, as she wrote the first recorded algorithm (set of instructions) that was designed to be executed on a particular machine - the Difference Engine.
2. This man was Vice President to Bill Clinton, received a Nobel Peace Prize and was awarded a Grammy for his book "An Inconvenient Truth". However, he failed in his attempt in 2000 to become president, losing to George W. Bush. Who is he?

Answer: Al Gore

Al Gore - the Democratic candidate - narrowly lost to Bush in the 2000 presidential election, with a 0.5% higher vote share, but five fewer electoral votes after the hotly contested state of Florida was decided in Bush's favor. Disputes over recounts in Florida made it to the Supreme Court, where it was decided that Bush had won by 0.009% of the Floridian votes.

After this failure in his life, Al Gore began dedicating his career to environmentalism, a passion of his since the 1970s. His most famous work is the book "An Inconvenient Truth", and he has become a public speaker about climate change. He supports carbon offsetting (for instance, tree planting) to reach carbon neutrality. In his personal life, he became a vegan in 2013.
3. This British suffragette died in 1913, killed by George V's horse in a Derby protest. Despite her full-time activism for the last seven years of her life, she did not see the achievement of suffrage: it would be another 15 years before women over 21 received the vote in Britain. Who is she?

Answer: Emily Davison

Davison was educated at Royal Holloway College and Oxford before becoming a teacher. She was passionate in her Christianity, socialism and feminism, introducing militant tactics like postbox arson. She went to prison several times, where she repeatedly went on hunger strikes and attempted suicide to draw attention to the anti-democratic oppression of women.

In the 1913 Derby, she walked onto the track and was fatally struck by King George V's horse, aged 40. Her exact motive is unknown - she may not have intended to die - but she did it to draw attention to the suffrage movement.

The suffragettes did not achieve success until 1918 and 1928, when legislation introduced voting rights for someone women and then all women over 21. The effect Davison had on securing the vote for women in Britain is disputed. However, the effect of the movement and her activism overall in inspiring later waves of feminism and movements to fight for equal rights for women in all areas of society is undeniable.
4. This highly-decorated German swimmer failed to get a gold medal at four successive Olympics, instead walking away from events between 1992 and 2004 with four silver and six bronze medals. Who is this swimmer?

Answer: Franziska van Almsick

Franziska van Almsick participated at four Olympics: 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens. Three of her medals were from individual races and the other seven were from relays. She was aged just 14 when winning her two silver medals in Barcelona! Though she had much success in other world-class swimming competitions, including the World Aquatics Championships, European Aquatics Championships and European Short Course Swimming Championships, she never achieved the legendary Olympic gold medal.
5. This Renaissance polymath tried to invent a perpetual motion machine, making at least four different designs before giving up in disgust. After his failure, he correctly deduced that the invention was impossible, and even guessed at a physical result later called Newton's Third Law. Who is he?

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

Perpetual motion - that is, a collection of objects continuing to move forever with no external energy input - is impossible, due to laws of thermodynamics. In da Vinci's era, it was not known that it was impossible. After much investigation, da Vinci concluded that the task must be impossible, writing scathingly of the task. He said, "Oh ye seekers after perpetual motion, how many vain chimeras have you pursued? Go and take your place with the alchemists."

Da Vinci also guessed that the reason perpetual motion could not occur was that every action has an equal and opposite reaction - this would later be known as Newton's Third Law of Motion.
6. Rarely disputed to be the strongest female chess player in history, this woman from Hungary broke Bobby Fischer's record for youngest Grandmaster at age 15. However, when competing for the FIDE World Chess Championship in 2005, she finished last. Who is she?

Answer: Judit Polgár

Judit Polgár began competing in chess tournaments aged 6 and was one of the strongest 100 chess players in the world at 12 (setting a record). Her list of achievements, regardless of gender, are extraordinary. She defeated eleven World Champions in chess games and peaked at a world ranking of No. 8.

However, the first time she reached the World Chess Championship - then a tournament between eight players where the winner would be declared World Champion - she finished eighth of eight. In 2007, she was again unsuccessful, being defeated 3.5 to 2.5 in the single-elimination round of 16 by a lower-rated player.

Despite these failures, the incredible results she had in order to reach these competitions was groundbreaking for women's chess.
7. This astronaut commanded Apollo 13, the American mission that failed to land on the moon, but did succeed in returning all of its crew safely to Earth. He was played by Tom Hanks in the film "Apollo 13". Who is he?

Answer: Jim Lovell

Jim Lovell had a long career as an astronaut before Apollo 13: he narrowly missed out on being one of the "Original Seven" astronauts selected in 1959 for the Project Mercury spacecraft missions, due to high levels of a particular compound in his blood.

He was one of the "Next Nine" to take part in Gemini and Apollo missions. Lovell broke several records, including being one of the first three people to orbit the Moon, the first to fly to it twice, and the first person to enter outer space on four separate occasions - Gemini 7 (1965), Gemini 12 (1966), Apollo 8 (1968) and Apollo 13 (1970).
8. After a childhood injury, this author was unable to walk for the rest of her life, or even stand up without a crutch. Her reliance on horse-drawn carriages helped develop a passion for animal welfare that is the theme of her book "Black Beauty". Writing it in declining health in her 50s, she needed help from her mother to transcribe her prose. Within six months of the book's publication, she had died. Who is she?

Answer: Anna Sewell

"Black Beauty" was Anna Sewell's only book. She wrote it for an adult audience, but it is largely considered to be a children's book today. Sewell lived mostly in Norfolk, England, throughout her life from 1820 to 1878. Despite her physical limitations, Sewell was able to have a significant impact on horse welfare - for instance, after the publication of "Black Beauty", the cruel and painful usage of bearing reins declined in popularity.
9. Perhaps the most incredible mathematician of all time lived much of his short life in poverty, having lost a scholarship and then twice failed to obtain a degree due to poor academic results. Unappreciated by most mathematicians of his era, he died aged 32. Who is this man, the subject of "The Man Who Knew Infinity"?

Answer: Srinivasa Ramanujan

A devout Hindu, Ramanujan thought that a mathematical identity or equation expressed a "thought of God". His results were based heavily on intuition, and lacked the proof formalities of Western mathematics. As a result, his work was little understood by mathematicians of the time - only G. H. Hardy and a handful of others took him seriously. In the century after his death, almost all of his known results have been proven correct, and have led to many new areas of mathematical discovery and investigation. The way in which he arrived at his results is still little-understood.

He was born in India and had little formal education in mathematics. A couple of textbooks made available to him were extremely formative in his mathematical development. He was disinterested in other subjects, and in areas of math outside his specialism, and had many academic failures along his journey through school and college. After contacting many mathematicians, Hardy and his colleagues finally gave Ramanujan the opportunities he needed to continue his work and record it in history. Unfortunately, Ramanujan died at 32, possibly of a complication of dysentery that would have been treatable if diagnosed.
10. This artist was very unsuccessful in his lifetime. He failed his university entrance exam to a theology course, and at art school became ill and left after being asked to repeat a year. Tragically, his life was filled with mental health problems: he mutilated his ear, was sent to an asylum, and eventually died by suicide. Yet today his beautiful artworks are some of the most expensive in the world. Who is he?

Answer: Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was born in 1853 and lived only 37 years. He produced over 2,000 pieces of art, including almost 1,000 oil paintings. Even in asylum he made over 100 paintings, showing that hope can be found even in the darkest of times. Art can be a beautiful way to express emotions, and it has therapeutic effects. Van Gogh would no doubt be disbelieving if he could watch the sale of his asylum artwork "Irises" for over $50 million in 1987 - at time the largest amount ever paid for a painting. If only he could see the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam or the number of people today who recognize his "Sunflowers" painting, he may have a very different view of his life.
Source: Author AdamM7

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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