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Quiz about Splish Splash I Was Takin a Bath
Quiz about Splish Splash I Was Takin a Bath

Splish, Splash! I Was Takin' a Bath... Quiz


It has occurred to me that a number of interesting, amusing, and rather alarming events have occurred involving baths and bathtubs. Here are some notable examples. Enjoy!

A multiple-choice quiz by jouen58. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
jouen58
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
190,281
Updated
Apr 09 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Very Difficult
Avg Score
4 / 10
Plays
3337
Awards
Top 10% Quiz
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Question 1 of 10
1. This famous Greek mathematician and inventor was submerged in his bathtub one day when he discovered an important principle of physics, which so excited him that he ran naked through the streets shouting "Eureka! I've found it!". Who was he? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. This Biblical lady was bathing in her garden one day when she was surprised by a pair of lecherous elders who propositioned her. When she rebuffed their advances, they swore falsely that they had seen her with a lover. She was put on trial and was defended by the prophet Daniel. Who was she? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. This early Christian virgin-martyr was sentenced to be beheaded, but not before an attempt was made to suffocate her in her bath by turning up the steam. She is the traditional patroness of musicians and poets. Who is she? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The classic murder-in-the-shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Psycho" frighteningly depicted the utter vulnerability of anyone taking a bath or shower against an armed intruder. Certain real-life persons have been unfortunate enough to experience this first-hand; of the following four people, three were murdered while taking a bath. Which was not? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Death from non-violent causes has also overtaken certain notable persons at their bath. Which of the following was NOT in their bath (in one case, a steam bath) when the end came? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. Who says the French don't bathe enough? This celebrated French playwright did much of his writing in his bathtub. His best-known plays are "L'Aiglon" and "Cyrano de Bergerac". Who was he? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. This U.S. president was the heaviest person to occupy the Oval Office, weighing in at 332 lbs. This created a problem when the White House bathtub proved too narrow for his girth and he became stuck inside it, a most un-presidential predicament. A special bathtub was summarily installed in the White House bathroom to suit the president's ample person; which president was it? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. The 1929 German comic opera "Neues vam Tage" ("News of the Day") included a scene in which a lady sang an aria sitting (apparently) naked in a bathtub, surrounded by cotton soap suds. This scene proved so offensive that chancellor Adolf Hitler left the theater in disgust, while other members of his party referred to the work as an example of "degenerate art" and to its creator as a "cultural bolshevik". Who was the composer responsible for this affront to human decency? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In 1939, the New York department store Bonwit Teller commissioned this celebrated artist to create a display window which prominently featured a filled bathtub. When the store's staff took it upon themselves to make changes to the finished window, the angry artist spilled the water out of the tub and broke through the glass window before the shocked spectators. Who was this notoriously bizarre and eccentric artist? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. The 1943 film "Cabin in the Sky" featured this lovely and talented African-American singer and actress, who sang one of her songs in the bathtub amid strategically placed soap bubbles. The Hollywood censors deemed this scene highly offensive, particularly for Southern audiences, and the scene was cut before the film's release. Who was the lady in the tub? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This famous Greek mathematician and inventor was submerged in his bathtub one day when he discovered an important principle of physics, which so excited him that he ran naked through the streets shouting "Eureka! I've found it!". Who was he?

Answer: Archimedes

Archimedes had hit upon the principle of floating bodies (now known as the "Archimedes principle", curiously enough), namely that a body submerged in water loses weight equal to that of the displaced fluid. Ironically, Archimedes most celebrated invention also involved water; it was a pump known as "Archimedes' screw".
2. This Biblical lady was bathing in her garden one day when she was surprised by a pair of lecherous elders who propositioned her. When she rebuffed their advances, they swore falsely that they had seen her with a lover. She was put on trial and was defended by the prophet Daniel. Who was she?

Answer: Susanna

The famous tale of Susanna and the elders appears in the Book of Daniel. The beautiful and virtuous Susanna had inadvertently aroused the lust of two unscrupulous elders, who followed her home and spied on her while she bathed in her garden. The two elders burst in upon her and asked her to lie with them, threatening to claim that they had found her entertaining a lover if she refused. Trusting in the Lord, Susanna cried for help, which sent the two men packing.

When they brought forth their false accusation, the prophet Daniel defended Susanna's virtue and exposed the two elders, who were summarily put to death.
3. This early Christian virgin-martyr was sentenced to be beheaded, but not before an attempt was made to suffocate her in her bath by turning up the steam. She is the traditional patroness of musicians and poets. Who is she?

Answer: St. Cecilia

Cecilia was given in marriage to a pagan named Valerian. On their wedding night, she asked Valerian to respect her virginity, suggesting that they live as brother and sister. Amazingly, Valerian agreed to this unexciting proposition (it probably helped that Cecilia's guardian angel put in an appearance, bearing a flaming sword). Clearly, anyone with such formidable powers of persuasion could be expected to do a bang-up job in propagating the Christian faith, which greatly concerned the pagan authorities. Sure enough, Cecilia converted not only Valerian, but his brother Tiberius, who were both promptly executed. An attempt was then made to suffocate Cecilia; when this failed, they resorted to the more prosaic method of beheading. Even this went awry, as the headsman botched the job and succeeded only in mangling her neck.

In this appalling state, she lingered for three days before expiring.
4. The classic murder-in-the-shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock's movie "Psycho" frighteningly depicted the utter vulnerability of anyone taking a bath or shower against an armed intruder. Certain real-life persons have been unfortunate enough to experience this first-hand; of the following four people, three were murdered while taking a bath. Which was not?

Answer: Domitian (Roman emperor)

Domitian's assassination on September 18, 96 A.D. had been predicted to occur in the fifth hour. His servants, who were in on the conspiracy, falsely told him that the sixth hour had struck. Relieved, Domitian went into his bath; however he was not dispatched there, but in his bedroom, where he repaired after bathing.

Commodus is regarded by many as possibly the worst emperor in Roman history (a distinction for which there is no dearth of formidable competition). As depicted in the recent film "Gladiator", he enjoyed fighting in the arena, which many considered undignified. Contrary to the film, however, Commodus met his end not in combat, but in the bathtub, where he was strangled by the wrestler Narcissus.

Jean-Paul Marat was a leader of the French Revolution. He advocated extreme violence and called for the death of any opposition. He suffered from a painful skin condition which required him to bathe often; it was thus that he received Charlotte Corday, a supporter of the Girondists, whom Marat had imprisoned. During their interview, she drew a knife and fatally stabbed Marat, a crime for which she was sent to the guillotine.

Barbara Thomason was the fifth wife of American actor Mickey Rooney, with whom she had four children. Upset by Rooney's philandering, she had an affair with actor Milos Milocevic. When she and Rooney decided to reconcile, the insanely jealous Milocevic broke into her home and shot her (in her bathtub), then himself.
5. Death from non-violent causes has also overtaken certain notable persons at their bath. Which of the following was NOT in their bath (in one case, a steam bath) when the end came?

Answer: Catherine the Great (Russian empress)

Catherine the Great, like Elvis Presley, was on the commode, not in her bath, when she suffered a fatal stroke. Unlike the King, however, the empress was still alive when found; she was taken to her bed, where she died the following day. (the famous story of the Scarlet Empress meeting her maker whilst engaged, quite literally, in horseplay is apocryphal).

Paul Morphy had become a chess champion by age 22; thereafter, he became reclusive, suffering from depression and paranoia. He died at forty-seven; one hot July day in 1884 he decided to cool off after his walk by taking a cold bath. The shock of sudden immersion in cold water caused a fatal congestion of the brain.

Lucius Beebe was an author, columnist, and consummate sybarite. His private railroad car featured a woodburning fireplace, Venetian glass chandelier, and ceiling murals. Beebe not only lived in style, he died in style: on the evening of February 4, 1966, after a sumptuous dinner party at his California mansion, which featured salmon en croute, venison au poivre, and chocolate souffle, all washed down by vintage champagne. he retired for the evening and stepped into his custom-built Turkish bath, where he fell dead of a massive coronary.

Jim Morrison, lyricist and lead singer of The Doors, is best known for the song "Light my Fire". Morrison's fire was sadly extinguished at the age of 27; he was found dead of a drug overdose in the bathtub of his Paris apartment in 1971. He is one of few Americans to be buried in Paris' historic Pere Lachaise cemetery.
6. Who says the French don't bathe enough? This celebrated French playwright did much of his writing in his bathtub. His best-known plays are "L'Aiglon" and "Cyrano de Bergerac". Who was he?

Answer: Edmond Rostand

Rostand (1868-1918) took refuge in his bath so as not to be disturbed by visitors while at work. Of his many plays, only the magnificent "Cyrano de Bergerac" still enjoys universal popularity; "L'Aiglon", written as a vehicle for Sarah Bernhardt, was wildly popular in its time, but is rarely performed now.

His first play, "Les Romanesques", has achieved a kind of reflective popularity; it served as the inspiration for the long-running Broadway musical "The Fantasticks".
7. This U.S. president was the heaviest person to occupy the Oval Office, weighing in at 332 lbs. This created a problem when the White House bathtub proved too narrow for his girth and he became stuck inside it, a most un-presidential predicament. A special bathtub was summarily installed in the White House bathroom to suit the president's ample person; which president was it?

Answer: William Howard Taft

Taft was the 27th President of the U.S. In addition to his girth, the press frequently made hay over his passion for golf and his liberal Unitarianism (neither of which would raise an eyebrow today). Naturally, they had a field day over the bathtub incident; six men were pressed into service to pull the portly President from the tub when he became stuck.

The custom-made bathtub which was subsequently installed was large enough to accommodate three grown men; in fact, three of the workmen who installed it posed for a photograph, seated comfortably inside the tub.
8. The 1929 German comic opera "Neues vam Tage" ("News of the Day") included a scene in which a lady sang an aria sitting (apparently) naked in a bathtub, surrounded by cotton soap suds. This scene proved so offensive that chancellor Adolf Hitler left the theater in disgust, while other members of his party referred to the work as an example of "degenerate art" and to its creator as a "cultural bolshevik". Who was the composer responsible for this affront to human decency?

Answer: Paul Hindemith

The bathtub scene in "Neues vom Tage" prompted the following indignant response from that eminent musical and cultural authority Joseph Goebbels: "Technical craftsmanship never excuses, but is rather an obligation. To misuse it in writing purely motoric empty mechanical music is a mockery of the genius that stands above every true art...When the occasion is ripe not just thieves but atonal musicians arrive on the scene in order to attain a particular sensation or remain close to the spirit of the time, allowing naked women to appear on the stage in obscene scenes in a bathtub, making a mockery of the female sex...and in general surrounding themselves with the biting dissonances of musical bankruptcy."
9. In 1939, the New York department store Bonwit Teller commissioned this celebrated artist to create a display window which prominently featured a filled bathtub. When the store's staff took it upon themselves to make changes to the finished window, the angry artist spilled the water out of the tub and broke through the glass window before the shocked spectators. Who was this notoriously bizarre and eccentric artist?

Answer: Salvador Dali

Dali's window featured a pair of mannequins, male and female, sipping cocktails alongside a bathtub filled with water and floating blossoms and surrounded by mirrors held by wax hands. The store hadn't fully anticipated Dali's bizarre vision and were afraid people would be put off by details such as the dead flies in the cocktail glasses and the fact that the head of the female mannequin was made of roses.

When the artist saw that the staff had made changes without his permission, he angrily destroyed the window and broke through the glass before stunned onlookers.

He was briefly detained by police officers, who eventually released him, reasoning that "artists will be artists".
10. The 1943 film "Cabin in the Sky" featured this lovely and talented African-American singer and actress, who sang one of her songs in the bathtub amid strategically placed soap bubbles. The Hollywood censors deemed this scene highly offensive, particularly for Southern audiences, and the scene was cut before the film's release. Who was the lady in the tub?

Answer: Lena Horne

"Cabin in the Sky", directed by Vicente Minelli, featured Lena Horne as seductress Georgia Brown, who lures show's hero Joe (played by Eddie "Rochester" Anderson) away from the virtuous Petunia (Ethel Waters). Horne performed her opening number "Ain't it the Truth" during a bubble-bath, a scene which never made it into the final film.

In Horne's earlier films (with white casts), her scenes were cut when the films were screened for Southern audiences. The notorious bathtub scene can be seen in the documentary film "That's Entertainment III".
Source: Author jouen58

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