Wake Me Up When September Ends Quiz

Answer: London

Isolated on the north side of the River Thames from the Tower of London all the way over the other side of the River Fleet, the Great Fire of London started from a bakery on Pudding Lane and wiped out the densest part of the city, crippling one of the largest cities in the Western World at the time. The rebuilding efforts were substantial. Famously, Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to reconstruct dozens of churches within the city including St. Paul's Cathedral.

If there's something good to be said about the disaster, it's believed that the fire wiped out a large number of the city's rats and fleas, diminishing the amount of carriers of the Great Plague and halting the epidemic.

Answer: Moscow

One of Napoleon's most devastating sieges and one of his last great hurrahs before his exile and the end of the Napoleonic Wars a couple years later, the Invasion of Russia proved to be a feather in the great military commander's cap. Proceeding across the country earlier in the summer, he and his army marched into Moscow on September 14 to find it almost waiting for them (as the Russian army had opted to retreat). What followed was a month of looting and a fire that razed the city. Napoleon would depart a month later fearing that the harsh Russian winters would be devastating to his troops; with the city having been destroyed, his army inadvertently wiped out their supplies.

Answer: The United States of America

Also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg, this major American Civil War battle took place in what is now Maryland, pitting the Union army of the north against the Confederate States of the south. It was a particularly notable battle as more than twenty-seven thousand men (a combined total on both sides) lost their lives in the fight, occurring on a battleground just east of the Potomac River.

It was nevertheless an influential battle as the result, considered a win for the north despite heavier casualties, led both Abraham Lincoln to create the Emancipation Proclamation, which he signed into issuance only five days later, and Clara Barton to form the American Red Cross.

Answer: Hurricane

Considered one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history, this massive storm headed on a collision course across the Gulf of Mexico, striking the booming city of Galveston, Texas and reducing it to virtual ruins. Though formerly one of the largest cities in Texas, the fallout from the 1900 storm forced locals to reconsider the placement of the city. They would subsequently establish firmed routes inland at the city of Houston.

Despite the region being known for heavy-hitting storms, the 1900 Galveston Hurricane put one in four of its citizens on the street. The death toll was so significant, bodies were buried at sea. In the years to follow, Texans constructed a seawall to protect Galveston going forward, a necessity since the city sat only eight feet above sea level.

Answer: Poland

Known in some cases as 'the September Campaign', the Invasion of Poland was a seminal move that signified the start of World War II, plunging most of Europe into the conflict when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union proceeded into the county from virtually all borders.

While Poland was divided between the two, it was essentially destroyed in other regards; cities were demolished and many of its citizens were subjected to war crimes that persisted through the 1940s. The Holocaust, which centred in Poland to a large degree, resulted in the deaths of millions until Germany's surrender in 1945.

Answer: The Blitz

While war raged in Europe, the Luftwaffe turned attention to their attempt at invading the United Kingdom, commencing the Battle of Britain and what would be known as 'The Blitz', an air campaign which saw the bombing of London and various key targets through major regions in the country. Short for 'Blitzkrieg', the event was one of the most dangerous on the homefront for the UK and it subsequently emboldened the nation through some of Europe's darkest days.

The Blitz lasted from September 1940 until May 1941 by which point Hitler's armies focused on invading the Soviet Union.

By the end of the year, war would also be in full force on the Pacific.

Answer: Nelson Rockefeller

Attica Correctional Facility, found in Upstate New York in Wyoming County, was the site of a violent uprising in September 1971 that lasted five days and resulted in the loss of forty-three lives amongst a prisoner population of nearly two thousand. Resulting from outrage in the living conditions and the dehumanization experienced at the hands of its correctional officers, the prisoners created chaos that led officers and state troopers (called upon by Rockefeller) to attempt to reclaim the facilities by force.

The outrage that followed led to state-wide changes in prison conditions, especially in prisoner rights. Lawsuits pertaining to the event continued in the courts for another four decades.

Answer: The Olympic Games

The 1972 Summer Olympic Games, held in Munich, West Germany, faced this crisis in its second week during which members of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September infiltrated the Olympic Village and took Israeli competitors hostage as political prisoners.

In the eight hours the operation took, eleven Israeli attendees of the games (coaches and athletes) were killed. Due to the nature of international politics, the Olympic Committee has received repeated criticisms brought about by their decisions pertaining to the event and its aftermath.

It took twenty-eight years before any Olympiad held a moment of silence for the tragedy that occurred.

Answer: Princess Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales, died at the age of 36 in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France near midnight on August 31, 1997. The event took the world by storm and an outpouring of grief followed. Despite Diana's recent divorce from Prince Charles and the resulting removal of her royal status, a televised funeral ceremony was held for her at Westminster Abbey on September 6.

In addition to the millions who showed up in London for the event, it is believed that more than two billion TV viewers tuned in live for the six-and-a-half hour long royal proceedings.

She was buried at a memorial constructed at her stately home, Althorp, in West Northamptonshire.

Answer: 2001

In the morning hours of Tuesday, September 11, the world watched in shock as planes collided with both of the NYC World Trade Center towers and, shortly thereafter, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Later determined to be the terrorist work of Al-Qaeda as led by Osama bin Laden, the events of that day caused a shockwave in global politics, ultimately leading to a global 'War on Terror' that persisted for nearly two decades, sending armies from several allied countries into Iraq, Afghanistan, and other Islamic regions.

The event was believed to be another turning point in world history, the effects of which would be felt for generations.