Beware the Ides of March Trivia Quiz

Answer: Annie Oakley

"The Annie Oakley Show" ran from 1954 to 1956. Before acting in that show, Gail appeared in more than 30 movies. She also appeared on western themed TV programs, including "The Lone Ranger and "The Cisco Kid". She was on the Gene Autry Show over 20 times. She died from cancer on March 15, 1997.

Interesting fact: While playing the famous sharp-shooting Annie, she proved to be a skilled horseback rider. In fact she was so good that she even accompanied Gene, "The Singing Cowboy" Autry, on his rodeo show that traveled across the country.

Answer: Rowing

"Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Guide" has sold more than 50 million copies, over several updated editions, in over 40 languages.
Spock was quite active against the Vietnam War and was arrested for civil disobedience for his part in anti-war rallies. In the 1972 presidential race he was the candidate of the People's Party, running on a platform that called for pulling all troops out of Vietnam as well as legalizing marijuana. He published 13 books in all, his last being "A Better World for Our Children" (1994). He died in 1998 at the age of 84.

Interesting fact: He was such a great lover of sailing that for nearly two decades he and his second wife, Mary Morgan, lived exclusively on boats.

Answer: Denny McLain won 31 games in a season.

McLain won 31 games in 1968, a year before Kuhn became the commisioner. The Mets won in 1969, his first year on the job. The first world seies night game was played October 31, 1971, and Ron Bloomberg was the first DH on April 6, 1973.
Prior to becomming commissioner, Kuhn was MLB's legal counsel for almost 20 years. During his tenure he banned both Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays from baseball because of promotional work they were doing for gambling casinos. He also had to deal with the landmark Curt Flood case, which ultimately led to "free agency" in MLB. He died on you know when, in 2007, from pneumonia.

Interesting fact: Kuhn was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Answer: Harry S Truman

Truman did the honors in 1948, and at that time he further honored her by proclaiming Ms. West as "the world's greatest reporter". She is well known for her reportage in covering the Nuremberg Trials and apartheid. Her first novel was "The Return of the Soldier", (1918) and her last to be published while she was still living was "The Birds Fall Down" (1966). "Sunflower" (1986) and "The Sentinel" (2002), two unfinished works, were published posthumously. She died in London in 1983 at the age of 90.

Interesting fact: She carried on a relationship with author H. G. Wells, which many believe was the inspiration for "Sunflower". The 10 year affair resulted in the birth of a son, Anthony.

Answer: Greek opera star Maria Callas

He ended that affair to marry Jackie, widow of the 35th president of the United States on October 20, 1968. At one time he had an armada of over 70 vessels, mostly tankers and freighters, whose smooth operations were helped by his known propensity for extensive bribery. In 1957 he founded Olympic Airways.
He died of respiratory failure in France in 1975, at the age of 69.

Interesting fact: After an FBI investigation in 1957, he pled guilty to charges of violating United States maritime law and coughed up a fine of $7 million bucks.

Answer: wrestling

Rocca was the sports leading star for almost ten years. He was the headline attraction (occasionally with a co-star) for every wrestling event held at the "old" Madison Square Garden for an incredible seven consecutive years. He was also half of a world championship tag team partnership with Miguel Perry. After a few years of wrestling and refereeing in Japan, he retired in 1976.
He died of an infection in a New York hospital the following year at the age of 49, and was inducted into wrestling's Hall of Fame in 1995.

Interesting fact: One of his favorite interests was opera and he was good friends with the legendary maestro Arturo Toscanini, who in turn was a wrestling aficionado.

Answer: Private Secretary

She followed that up with a show of her own, which ran for four seasons (1958-1961) cleverly titled "The Ann Sothern Show", another sitcom, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show in 1959.
Her final big screen appearance came in "The Whales of August" (1987) for which she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. In a TV show that lasted just one season, (1965-66) she played, of all things, a car. Really! The forgettable show was "My Mother, the Car". She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (one for TV and one for the movies). She died in 2001 at age 92.

Interesting fact: "My Mother the Car" was rated as the second worst TV show ever, by TV Guide, in 2002. ("The Jerry Springer Show" was voted the worst).

Answer: guns

Guns were the driving force for this particular invention. It was just one of over 125 patents he held over a prolific 45 year period from 1838-1883. The extraction of sugar from sugar cane and even a way to emboss postage stamps were just two of his eclectic assortment of innovations.
Bessemer was born January 19, 1813 and ran out of ideas March 15, 1898.

Interesting fact: He died as Sir Henry Bessemer, having been knighted June 26, 1879 for his scientific contributions.

Answer: He died on live TV.

On March 15, 1984, while performing at Her Majesty's Theatre, in a show which was being aired live on TV, he collapsed on stage and died later that evening.
At one time he performed an astonishing 52 shows a week at London's Windmill Theatre. I guess it's no surprise that he turned into a notoriously severe alcoholic and heavy smoker. It caught up to him on the Ides of March when he died of haematemesis, brought on by liver failure. In the 1970s, he was regarded as one of the most popular comedians in the business, and certainly with his fez, one of the most recognizable ones as well.

Interesting Fact: Fellow Welshman, Sir Anthony Hopkins did the honors when a statue of Tommy was unveiled in Caerphilly, Wales in 2008.

Answer: England

Abe was born on July 4, 1902 in London, England. The Globetrotters originally began play as the "Savoy Big Five" in Chicago. The interesting history of the 'Trotters was made into a 1988 documentary entitled "Six Decades of Magic". They usually entertained crowds as their familiar theme song, "Sweet Georgia Brown", whistled in the backround.
The diminuative Saperstein at 5'5", is one of the shortest members of the Basketball Hall of Fame to which he was elected in 1971. Despite being around "forever", the 'Trotters first got to play a game in Harlem in 1968.

Interesting fact: In addition to greats like "Meadowlark" Lemon and dribbling wizard Curley Neal, the Globetrotters have had Wilt Chamberlain and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, two National Basketball Association stars, as well as the great St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson grace their roster for brief periods.