It Happened in 1801 Trivia Quiz

John Marshall lived from 1755-1835. He was the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. He held the position from January 31, 1801, until his death.

The chief justice is the highest judge in the highest court (Supreme Court) in the United States of America. The president of the United States nominates who they want as the chief justice, and the United States Senate must also agree before that person can be appointed. The judges in the Supreme Court can be there until they die, although some choose to retire. They can also be removed through impeachment.

Thomas Jefferson lived from 1743 until 1826. After the election, there was a tie between him and Aaron Burr in the electoral college. Thomas Jefferson, however, won the presidential election, and Aaron Burr became his vice-president on February 17, 1801, and the problem was solved.

While Jefferson was president, he lowered the United States' national debt from $83 million to $57 million. One of his methods was to decrease the number of people in the Navy during peacetime. He also purchased what is now called "The Louisiana Purchase" for $15 million, almost doubling United States land.

On March 10, 1801, Great Britain took a census for the first time in their history. Combined, the countries of England and Wales had over eight million people. The census is usually taken every ten years. In 1821 Ireland was added to the census.

The idea for the census came after a year of food shortage due to a bad harvest season. Charles Abbott, a member of the British Parliament at the time, suggested that they take a census because if they knew the population and its trends, they could provide food better.

Paul, I lived from 1754 until his assassination on March 24, 1801. He was born in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His mother was Catherine the Great. She rarely saw him in his younger years as soon after he was born, Empress Elizabeth took him because he was to be heir to the throne. The Empress died in 1762 when the boy was only eight-years-old. His father became emperor, and Paul I became the crown prince.

Meanwhile, Catherine the Great staged a coup and removed her husband and may have even had him assassinated, but he may have had a stroke. In either case, Catherine took the throne. And Paul remained the crown prince.

When Paul turned eighteen in 1772, his adviser, Panin, wanted him on the throne and told Paul that women shouldn't be in that much power. However, she was not about to give up the throne to her son or even share the power. But she died in 1796 following a stroke, and Paul I assumed the throne.

Paul wanted his nobles to follow the code of chivalry, and they were not happy about that. On March 11, 1801, Paul I was murdered in Saint Michael's Castle by a group of former palace officers, including General Bennigsen and General Yashvil. The group had all been drinking when they committed the assassination. First, they tried to force him to abdicate, but when he refused, Nikolay Zubov stabbed him with a sword, and then he was strangled and trampled to death.

The Battle of Alexandria, also known as The Battle of Canope, was fought between France and Britain during the French Revolutionary Wars. Lieutenant General Abercromby (born 1734) was given orders to take troops into Egypt to take the country back from France. He expected the French to attack his troops while they slept, so he ordered them to sleep with the weapons in order to be prepared. He was right and the French attacked at 3:30 am.

During the battle Abercromby was shot in his though with a musket ball; however, he continued fighting and Britain won the battle, which meant France had lost control of Egypt and Syria. With the battle now over Abercromby had another general take his place and had the wound treated. However the musket ball couldn't be removed, and on March 28, 1801, he died.

The War of the Oranges was a conflict fought between Spain and Portugal from May 20, 1801, to June 7, 1801. Spain's prime minister at the time, Manuel de Godoy, told Portugal to sever ties with Britain, but Portugal refused. It was so named the War of the Oranges because General Godoy sent oranges from the Portuguese city of Elvas to the Queen of Spain with a note that they were going to Libson.

On June 6,1801, Portugal and Spain signed The Treaty of Badajoz with Portugal agreeing to close its ports to Britain and quit trading with them.

On June 15, 1801, there was a bullfight in Madrid. While in the ring with the matador, the bull broke down the barrier that separated it from the spectators. In doing so, the bull killed the mayor of Torrejón de Ardoz (no name is given in any of the articles) after the bull impaired him. Another unnamed person also was killed, and many were injured as well.

On September 24, 1801, at the National Exhibition in Paris, France, people saw the "Jacquard Loom" for the first time. This new loom allowed weavers to create patterns using punched cards. A punched card is a stiff paper with information applied digitally.

Jacquard also fought with his only son in the Rhine campaign of 1795. Sadly, his son was killed near Heidelberg.

On November 16, 1801, the "New York Evening Post" (now called the "New York Post") was printed for the first time. Alexander Hamilton was the founder and was well-respected. However, in 1939, a liberal businesswoman, Dorothy Schiff, bought the paper and made it into a tabloid.

The original purpose was to share the news, entertain, and keep people informed.

Hadji Mustafa Pasha was born in 1733. He fought in the Ottoman Empire military. In 1793, he became a vizier, which is an advisor to the head of the country in many Middle Eastern countries.

On December 15, 1801, (Wikipedia gives the date as December 27th, but the other sites about him say the 15th), three of his guards went into his room. After a short conversation, one guard, Kuchuk Alija, shot and killed Mustafa. They then displayed his body in the streets of the Serbian capital.