April Fooling Trivia Quiz

Answer: Before April

Constructed over the course of two years, the Eiffel Tower finally opened to the public as part of the 1889 World Fair in Paris on March 31st--just before April. Now considered an engineering marvel and one of the most enduring landmarks of France and the world, the Eiffel Tower was, then, the tallest building in the world.

It would remain the tallest for more than four decades at its 300m height. It was expected to be dismantled in 1909. It wasn't.

Answer: Before April

It was Benjamin Franklin who proposed the idea of Daylight Savings Time in the U.S. more than a century earlier though it wasn't taken seriously until the twentieth century when nations adopted it to conserve on energy and take advantage of sunlight hours. Though it started in parts of Canada in the 1900s, it took effect for the first time in the U.S. on March 31, 1918--just before April--as a result of the Standard Time Act during WWI.

It would remain in effect despite the war ending.

Answer: Before April

Formerly the Dominion of Newfoundland, this region became Canada's tenth province, forming Newfoundland and Labrador on March 31, 1949, after years as a British Dominion-dependency. No further changes would be made to Canada's structure as a nation until April 1, 1999, fifty years and a day later, when the territory of Nunavut was formed and borders reestablished amongst Canada's northern regions.

Answer: Before April

Created in 1955, the Warsaw Pact was created by the Soviet Union to form the military alliance that would include the USSR and several Eastern Bloc nations (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania). The Pact survived for thirty-six years, ending informally with the disbandment of the Soviet Union's commanding force at the conclusion of the Cold War.

A few months later during the final gathering of any remaining stakeholders, it was acknowledged that the pact ended then, on March 31, 1991.

Answer: Before April

It was in Corpus Christi, Texas that Selena Quintanilla Pérez, mononymously known to fans as Selena, was killed by the president of the Selena Fan Club on March 31, 1995. Selena's fifth album, "Dreaming of You", would release only a few months later and make her the first Latina musician to top the US Billboard 200 Chart.

She would end up being the top-selling Tejano artist of all-time. A biopic of her life, released in 1997, would feature Jennifer Lopez in the lead role before she became a recording artist.

Answer: April

The date is April 1st--the actual April Fools Day--and with that it makes sense to take a look at a prank falling on the quiz theme.

In 1965, the BBC took the joke in a fun direction, announcing the application of Smell-O-Vision to their typical programming capabilities. Though popularized in movie theatres, the idea of Smell-O-Vision being brought to people's homes was a bit ludicrous; viewers were not going to receive smells over the airwaves.

It's not uncommon for TV to play these tricks, though. In 1957, the BBC show "Panorama" claimed that Swiss farms were growing spaghetti trees. Guess the day they aired that bit of journalism.

Answer: After April

When the Act of Union of 1707, agreed upon by the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, was finally written up, it meant that the two would combine to form the kingdom of Great Britain (and with it, the Parliament of Great Britain would be established).

This came into effect on May 1 of that year unifying the crowns of both nations and placing the government into the Palace of Westminster in London. The reigning monarch at the time, James VI, would become James I under this new ruling.

Answer: After April

While the London Metropolitan Police was formed in 1827 as the first modern police force, Hong Kong was the second location to follow on May 1, 1844, taking the inspiration from the British colonists who settled there. The British would still have its hand on the country's operations until 1997, but by that point the use of a police force would be normal worldwide.

Answer: After April

Taking just over one year to be built on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, the Empire State Building is one of the most famous buildings in all of New York. It would open for visitors less than a month later on May 1, 1931, being regarded as a must-see landmark and an architectural wonder. Topping out at 443.2 metres, it surpassed the Chrysler Building as the tallest building in the world and it would hold that record until the World Trade Centers were completed in 1973. All of these buildings could be visited in the same walk around New York.

Answer: After April

English climber George Mallory disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924 when he and Andrew "Sandy" Irvine climbed its North Face. The first full ascent of the mountain wouldn't be completed until 1953. It wasn't until May 1, 1999 that his body was found by a climbing expedition that set out to retrieve bodies from the mountainside on the world's highest peak.

He remains one of the most famous names associated with the mountain's earliest expeditions.

Answer: After April

This date may be best remembered as the day when George W. Bush, on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, claimed that the U.S. had successfully infiltrated and stationed its troops in Iraq near the beginning of the Iraq War (following the events of 9/11 a couple years earlier). With the invasion commencing in March 2003, it took until May 1 of the same year to announce 'Mission Accomplished'.

Unfortunately, the Iraq War would continue with America's involvement until the withdrawal of troops in 2011 under Barack Obama's presidency.