Did Someone Say Wine? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Franklin loved reading and learning. His father was intent on him joining the clergy (!) but he ended up apprenticed to his brother, James, as a printer. He wrote articles for James' newspaper, the first paper with local Boston news, but James began to mistreat Benjamin as he was jealous of the popularity of Ben's articles. Ben ran away, ending up in Philadelphia.

Starting with nothing, he owned a print shop a few years later. He and his wife, Deborah, both worked hard in their businesses until Ben could take a back seat and devote some time to humanitarian causes. He helped establish Philadelphia's first hospital, lending library and fire brigade.

After working in England and seeing how Ireland had been treated by the English, Franklin saw independence for the colonies as the best way to guarantee any sort of prosperous future. A signatory to the Declaration of Independence, he spent much of the Revolutionary War in Paris as the commissioner for the USA in France. Franklin also became the United States' first Postmaster General, establishing the postal system.

Answer: Louis Pasteur

Louis Pasteur was born in rural France in 1822. The child of a poor family, he wasn't an exceptional student, preferring to fish or sketch. Despite this inauspicious beginning, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1845. He married, and with his wife, Marie, he was the father of five children. Three of their children died of typhoid, providing Louis with a very personal motivation for investigating disease processes and cures.

After establishing that the growth of microbes did not occur by spontaneous generation, he was asked to investigate why some batches of French wine spoiled. He found bacteria in the wine and developed a process of heating and cooling the wine which destroyed the bacteria but didn't ruin the wine. The process became known as pasteurisation, a process done to every drop of milk you buy.

Pasteur continued to work on diseases such as chicken cholera, the knowledge gained from that being used to develop vaccines against the fatal diseases of rabies and anthrax. Pasteur was granted a patent for his anthrax vaccine. His career advanced rapidly, reaching a point where the Pasteur Institute was founded in 1887. Louis was the director until his death in 1895, and the institute still runs today in Paris as a non-profit centre for the investigation of micro-organisms, the diseases they cause and how to prevent and cure them. Pasteur was initially buried in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, but he was later reburied at the Pasteur Institute in a crypt inscribed with some of his achievements.

Answer: Francis Bacon

Sir Francis Bacon's accomplishments were numerous and included philosophy, statesmanship, science and authorship. He was also the Attorney-General and Lord Chancellor of England, and is known as the 'Father of empiricism' for his scientific experiments and how he documented them. He was knighted in 1603, became Baron Verulam in 1618 and Viscount St Alban in 1621. The European settlement of North America can in part be attributed to Bacon as he played a important role in encouraging the development of Virginia, the Carolinas and Newfoundland in particular.

Born in London in 1561, he attended Cambridge University for three years, starting at the age of twelve. Queen Elizabeth I met the young Bacon at Cambridge and was impressed by him. After Cambridge, he began carrying out diplomatic tasks while he studied law, statecraft and language. Bacon also became a Member of Parliament in 1581.

Despite all of these successes, charges of bribery were laid against Bacon. Taken to the Tower of London, his confinement only lasted a few days when the fine was paid by the king. No more offices were to come Bacon's way but he retained his titles. He died with a debt of £23,000, the equivalent of $3,000,000 today. Nevertheless, his good deeds live on and he remains a great Englishman.

The wine quote by Sir Francis isn't the only quote to survive him. He was also responsible for a more famous quote: 'Knowledge is power.'

Answer: Henry Fielding

Born in Somerset, England in 1707, Henry Fielding is famed for his authorship of many plays and novels, including his most famous novel 'A History of Tom Jones - a Foundling'. Fielding was known for his political satire and for his witty commentary on the arts and letters of the age.

Educated at Eton, he began studying law and classics until finances dictated he earn a living as a writer. He did moderately well but harshly satirising the Walpole government led to changes in England's laws which curtailed any political satire. This lead Fielding to become a lawyer and then a barrister, while continuing to write satire about other subjects.

A poor money manager, Fielding's family were aided in lean times by a benefactor named Ralph Allen who helped educate Henry's children after his death in 1754. Ralph Allen was the inspiration for the character of Squire Allworthy in 'Tom Jones'. Fielding married twice, each marriage producing five children. Only three of Fielding's children would reach maturity, and his lone surviving daughter, Henrietta, died aged 23.

Fielding's legal career progressed until his became London's Chief Magistrate. His brother, John, succeeded him in the role, and the pair helped to establish the Bow Street Runners. Despite the harshness of the laws of the time, Henry Fielding was also known for his more compassionate side, writing pamphlets against public hangings and for improving the conditions within the country's gaols.

The 1750s saw Fielding's health begin to fail with gout and asthma making life difficult. He moved to Lisbon in hope of some recovery, but he died in Portugal two months after moving there.

Answer: Rod Stewart

Born in Highgate, London, in 1945, Rod grew up with pictures of Scottish footballers on the walls, courtesy of his older siblings. It was to be football or music for Rod. He enjoyed moderate success with his football, reaching the Middlesex Schoolboys' team as a centre half and he was also captain of his school team.

When he was 14, his father bought him a guitar. The next year, 1960, saw Rod playing with a local skiffle band. His musical influences included Al Jolson (a family favourite), Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. A chance meeting with John Baldry got Rod his first paying musical gig, a £35 a week job. He became 'Rod the Mod Stewart'. He would later play with the Jeff Beck Group and The Faces before going solo.

While the soccer career had been put on hold, his musical career saw him score with six consecutive UK #1 albums, over 60 UK hit singles and sales of over 100 million records worldwide. He still has a love of soccer, supporting Celtic in particular. He's also a fan of model railways!

Thyroid cancer struck Rod in 2000. After treatment, he had to relearn how to sing but made a triumphant comeback with his 'Great American Songbook' series of albums. He has become involved with the City of Hope Foundation, an organisation which aims to treat all types of cancer. Rod has become a spokesman for the organisation and has donated personal items for charity auctions. Rod said of his cancer:
'"To see small children dying of cancer with absolutely no hope, I think, God, I'm one of the lucky ones. He must have given me a second chance, and there's something I've got to do with the rest of my life."

Answer: Alexander Fleming

Born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1881, Fleming was working in London when he obtained an inheritance. His older brother was a doctor and suggested Alexander study medicine. The younger Fleming entered St Mary's Hospital Medical school and qualified with a distinction in 1906. He entered the hospital's research department as an assistant bacteriologist, gained post-graduate qualifications in bacteriology and became a lecturer in the subject.

World War I saw him became a captain in the Royal Army Medical Corps. After the war, he went back to St Mary's, eventually gaining a position as Professor of Bacteriology at the University of London in 1928. Never the tidiest of professors, he came back from a holiday to find a mould growing on one of his agar plates. Noticing that there were no bacterial growths near the mould was the beginning of penicillin as we know it today. Further research over the next few years was fruitless. While the mould could be cultured, a method of extracting enough to be useful in medicine couldn't be found. Fleming stopped working on penicillin but the need for an antibiotic became urgent with the approach of World War II.

A new team of scientists consisting of Howard Florey, Ernst Chain and Norman Heatley began working on penicillin. It took them a few years and the help of the research facilities in the USA to finally create a method of producing penicillin in sufficient quantities.

Fleming, Florey and Chain shared a Nobel Prize for their work and they have saved literally millions of lives in both peace and war time. Sir Alexander Fleming died in 1955 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral, an honour bestowed on the very few who have contributed much to society.

Answer: Robert Louis Stevenson

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1850, Stevenson's health was always considered frail. Respiratory ailments meant much of his schooling was conducted by tutors, with formal schooling being sporadic at best. His imagination was obvious at an early age. Even before he could read, his would recite stories from his imagination to his mother and nurse.

Stevenson came from a family of engineers and did attend the University of Edinburgh to study engineering, but theatre and debating were of far more interest to the young Robert. In 1871 he told his father that would become a 'man of letters'. At his father's insistence, he did eventually qualify as a lawyer, but he never practiced.

His lifestyle became estranged from his family's strong Presbyterian beliefs, rejecting Christianity. He began to travel frequently despite his illnesses. While in France, he met Fanny van der Grift Osborne and her three children. They all spent much time together but Fanny and her children had to return to their home in the USA in late 1878. Stevenson set out to reunite with Fanny but the trip took over twelve months due to the travel speeds of the times and the frequent layovers Robert needed to recover from bouts of illness. They married in 1880 after Fanny's divorce and moved to the UK. Eight years later, the family sought warmer climes, hoping for an improvement in Robert's health. The journey was taken in stages over three years, finally arriving and settling in Samoa.

It was in Samoa that Stevenson died in 1894, but not of respiratory problems. He was having difficulties opening a bottle of wine. He spoke a couple of sentences to his wife, collapsed to the ground and died a few hours later, the cause of death most likely to have been a cerebral haemorrhage. Respected by the Samoans, they ensured his burial place was on a high piece of land overlooking the ocean.

Answer: Jonathan Swift

Jonathan Swift's parents were English but they had moved to Ireland after ruinous financial losses during the English Civil War. Jonathan's father died seven months before his birth and his mother left him in the care of an uncle while she returned to England. He received a good education but political problems in Ireland meant Swift left for England in 1688, aged 21 years. Thanks to his mother's connections, he attained a job as secretary to Sir William Temple.

Failure to progress in that job led to him studying and being ordained as a minister in the Church of Ireland. Beginning to preach in County Meath near Dublin, he ministered to a small congregation. Elevation in the Church saw Swift rise to the position of Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin. Swift often travelled between England and Ireland but failed to gain the support of Queen Anne. Early in the 1700s, he began to write. His works included political pamphlets and books such as 'Gulliver's Travels'.

His twilight years saw Swift becoming insane or demented with senility. His will saw the majority of his estate, £12,000, going to the dreadfully named St Patrick's Hospital for Imbeciles. The institution still exists as a psychiatric hospital, though the name has changed.

Answer: Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, in 1709. His father had a book selling and binding business. Despite both sides of his family having some wealth, he grew up without much financial advantage and his schooling was interrupted. When a maternal relative died and left an inheritance, it gave Samuel a chance of a higher education.

His career began in London as a teacher after having studied in Oxford for only one year due to financial constraints. Without a degree, Johnson's teaching career was a sporadic. Writing became a major part of his life when he started writing for 'The Gentleman's Magazine' and success came when he wrote a play called 'Irene'.

Publishers approached Johnson about the production of a dictionary. The famous dictionary took nine years to write and was published in 1755. While not the first dictionary, 'A Dictionary of the English Language' became the standard reference book until 'The Oxford English Dictionary' took over in the late 19th century. Johnson's dictionary contained over 42,000 entries and could have been yours for only £4 10s, the equivalent of £350 in 21st century prices.

Financial success had never really come Samuel's way. He married a well-to-do woman, Elizabeth 'Tetty' Porter, who promised to support him in his endeavours. Years later, guilt over living off his wife's money lead him to live independently for a while. Tetty lived in the country for a time while Johnson worked on his dictionary and died before it was published. The year after the dictionary's publication, Johnson was arrested for debt. Only a loan from a publisher saved him from further incarceration. In 1762, King George III granted Johnson a £300 a year pension for life, saving him from penury until he died 22 years later.

Johnson met James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck, in 1762 and they became firm friends. Boswell was a lawyer and author from Scotland. His most famous work was 'Life of Samuel Johnson', published in 1791, seven years after Johnson's death.

Answer: Samuel Pepys

Born in London in 1633, Pepys attended school in London before studying at Cambridge. He attained a Bachelor of Arts in 1654 and married the year after. He entered the Admiralty despite not being a sailor, starting off as Clerk of the Acts and making his way up to being Chief Secretary to the Admiralty. He also became a Member of Parliament and a Justice of the Peace in his lifetime.

His famous dairy was started on January 1, 1660, and he kept his diary for nine years, writing in it most days. The diary's entries include the mundane events of everyday life as well as the famous events of London such as Great Plague and Great Fire.

One of his diary entries about the plague outbreak illustrates how London was affected by the disease in August, 1665:
'But, Lord! how sad a sight it is to see the streets empty of people, and very few upon the 'Change. Jealous of every door that one sees shut up, lest it should be the plague; and about us two shops in three, if not more, generally shut up.'

Not busy enough with his career, wife and extra-marital liaisons, he was also an avid bibliophile, amassing a collection of over 3,000 books. His collection also included medieval manuscripts, naval records, Sir Francis Drake's personal almanac, and printed ballads. The entire collection was inherited by his nephew, Pepys having died childless in 1703. When his nephew passed away, the collection, including the bookcases, were sent to Madgalene College, Cambridge. They are now housed in the Pepys Building within the College.