Take a Walk in My Shoes... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ballet shoes

Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev was a hugely famous ballet star of the mid to late twentieth century. His daring defection to the West (despite the KGB's best efforts) helped to endear him to European and American audiences. He was quite brilliant, although temperamental, and struck up a great partnership with (Dame) Margot Fontaine de Arias.

Answer: Running shoes

Roger Bannister was the first man to run a mile in under four minutes. That particular target had been sought after for many years but Roger finally broke the record in 1954 with a time of 3 min 59.4 seconds at the Iffley Road Track in Oxford.
With advances both in training techniques and athletics equipment the record has been broken several times over the years and currently (2008) stands at 3 minutes 43.13 seconds set by Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco in 1999.

Answer: Nothing - I went barefoot

There's nothing much better than walking barefoot along a sandy shore so Sandie Shaw took her punnish name one step further by appearing barefoot on stage. Sandie had a string of British hits in the mid-sixties including three number ones. She fared less well than some British artists in the USA, only having three minor hits on the Billboard chart.

Answer: Wellingtons

Most biographers agree that Arthur Wellesley was born in Dublin although there is some suggestion that he was born in County Meath. Either way he grew up to be one of Britain's most famous soldiers. His most famous victory was at Waterloo when he commanded the British forces to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte.
He was awarded the title of Duke of Wellington and later entered politics.
He installed iron shutters to prevent angry protesters from smashing his windows and earned the nickname 'The Iron Duke'. He did not invent Wellington Boots but was so fond of wearing them that his name became synonymous with that type of footwear. (Where would welly-wangers be now if he'd lost to Napoleon?)

Answer: The Gold Rush

Charlie Chaplin is arguably the most famous comic of the silent screen era. "The Gold Rush" is considered one of the classics of its genre. In one scene he and his friend Big Jim are starving hungry and cook and eat a boot to survive. The boot used in the filming was actually made of liquorice but even so it had an almost disastrous effect on Chaplin as he was taken to hospital suffering from insulin shock.

Answer: Blue Suede Shoes

Carl Perkins wrote "Blue Suede Shoes" in 1955 but it was Elvis Presley who had the huge hit with the song the following year. Perkins actually overheard somebody say to his girlfriend "Don't step on my suedes" while he was at a dance. He thought it a strange thing to say but it certainly led to a classic being written.

Answer: Ruby slippers

Judy Garland was born as Frances Ethel Gumm but, not surprisingly, changed her name. Probably her most famous role was as Dorothy Gale in the 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz", where she followed the Yellow Brick Road wearing the ruby slippers she had 'acquired' from the Wicked Witch of the East.
Glass slippers are what Cinderella traditionally wore to the ball.
Lady's slippers are a type of wild flower and "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" is a song by Paul Simon.

Answer: Football boots

Edson Arantes do Nascimento is much better known by his nickname of Pelé - one of the best (many would say the best) soccer players ever to have played the game. He helped Brazil to three World Cup victories in 1958, 1962 and 1970 (although he was injured early in the 1962 tournament). The World Cup was called the Jules Rimet Trophy and Brazil kept the original trophy after their third win.
Pelé became an immensely popular figure throughout the footballing world as not only was he a great player but was an extremely likeable man and a great ambassador for his sport.

Answer: Horseshoes

Sir Barton was a racehorse most famous for being the first ever winner of the American Triple Crown of The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness Stakes, and The Belmont Stakes. His dam was Lady Sterling and his sire was Star Shoot.
After retiring from competitive racing in 1920, Sir Barton was sent to stud.
He died in 1933.

Answer: On the moon

The boots that took Neil Armstrong for his historic "...one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind" and left the first human footprints on the moon were discarded along with nine other pairs of boots, various gloves, space suits etc and left on the moon.
The main reason for this was as a weight trade-off for the samples of moon rock that the astronauts brought back to Earth.