January 2 Birthdays Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nathaniel Bacon

Bacon's Rebellion, also called the Virginia Rebellion, started after planter Thomas Mathews refused to pay his fair share in trade goods to the Doeg tribe. In response, they "stole" hogs from him; colonists found that raiding party and killed several members; and again in response the Doegs killed Robert Hen, a herdsman for Mathews.

After a few more episodes that escalated tensions, Nathaniel Bacon gathered a group of 300-500 men and led them to the House of Burgesses to demand a commission to lead his men against the Native Americans.

They refused, so Bacon's men held them at gunpoint to get it. One of Bacon's first attacks was launched against the Pamunkey tribe, which had never attacked any colonists and allied itself with the English. Eventually the group burned down the capital in Jamestown, and just over a month later Bacon died. John Ingram then took over the group, but the tide had already turned against the rebellion.

Answer: Isaac Asimov

Nobody actually knows what day Isaac Asimov was born on, but he celebrated his birthday on January 2. About it, Asimov said, "The date of my birth, as I celebrate it, was January 2, 1920. It could not have been later than that. It might, however, have been earlier. Allowing for the uncertainties of the times, of the lack of records, of the Jewish and Julian calendars, it might have been as early as October 4, 1919. There is, however, no way of finding out."

Despite being born in Russia, Asimov never learned Russian because his family moved to the United States when he was only 3 years old. He taught himself to read at a young age and before he turned 20 he had already published short stories. His "Foundation" series started in 1942 as a series of short stories, but in 1951 they began to be published together as novels. The original trilogy was completed in 1953, and during the 1980s and early 1990s before his death in 1992, he published two more sequels and two prequels.

Answer: Dennis Hastert

Dennis Hastert was not the Republicans' first choice to become Speaker of the House after Gingrich ended his political career, nor was he the 2nd or 3rd choice. Originally, Bob Livingstone was the favorite to get the position, but "Hustler" magazine claimed that he had had an extramarital affair during Bill Clinton's Monica Lewinsky scandal and Livingstone resigned. Dick Arney and Tom DeLay were the next two candidates. Arney was the House Majority Leader at the time, and had almost lost the post to Steve Largent, so he was not suitable to take over as Speaker. DeLay was simply too polarizing. Hastert finally came as a compromise candidate, and was elected as Speaker unanimously.

Answer: Jack Hanna

"Jungle" Jack Hanna began his zookeeping career at his father's farm, where he and his father opened a petting zoo. After only a few years, a 3-year old boy was mauled by a lion, and in the pending litigation, Hanna shut down the zoo. After working for the Sanford Zoo and Central Florida Zoo for a few years, he took the job in Columbus to be closer to Columbus' Children's Hospital so his daughter Julia could get treatment for her leukaemia.

He cleaned up his zoo to the point that attendance increased by roughly 400% per year while he was director.

Answer: David Cone

David Cone had a breakout year in 1988, going 20-3 with a 2.22 ERA for the New York Mets. Unfortunately, he finished 3rd in the NL Cy Young voting behind Orel Hershiser and Danny Jackson - both of whom went 23-8. Cone had the best ERA of the three pitchers.

His first World Series title came with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1992. Just before the 1992 trade deadline, Cone was traded from the Mets to Toronto for Jeff Kent and Ryan Thompson. During the series against the Atlanta Braves, Cone had two no decisions but Toronto went on to win both games.

Answer: Tia Carrere

Tia Carrere was born Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo, and was actually eliminated from the TV show "Star Search" in 1985 during the first round. While on "General Hospital," Carrere made a guest appearance on "The A-Team" and was supposed to continue on as a regular, but could not due to her work on "General Hospital." During "Wayne's World" and "Wayne's World 2," Carrere performed her own songs and sang for their soundtracks.

Answer: Cuba Gooding, Jr.

Cuba Gooding, Jr.'s father was the lead singer for the group The Main Ingredient when he was born, and after the group finally had a hit in 1972, the Gooding family moved to Los Angeles. He first received small roles on TV shows such as "Hill Street Blues" and "MacGyver," and then got his big break in "Boyz n the Hood" in 1991.

He won his first Oscar as Best Supporting Actor in "Jerry Maguire." In 2002, Cuba received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Answer: Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs has worked in several different mediums of entertainment, beginning in the performing arts, and later moving on to television and films. After working on "Rent," "Chicago," and "Wicked," Diggs worked on "Guiding Light." "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" was Diggs' first movie, and after a few moderately successful films, he worked in five films in 2002, including "Equilibrium" and "Chicago." Starting in 2007, Diggs starred in "Private Practice" as Dr. Sam Bennett.

Answer: Jeff Suppan

Jeff Suppan had only hit 1 home run in his entire career before the 2006 NLCS against the New York Mets, but in Game 3 while pitching a shutout, hit another. Both that home run and the one before (hit in 2005) were off of Steve Trachsel. Though it was only a solo home run, it tied the total amount of runs that he gave up for the entire series, earning him the series MVP Award.

Answer: Kirk Hinrich

In 2003, the Chicago Bulls were in dire need for a point guard after Jay Williams suffered a career-ending injury in a motorcycle accident. Hinrich was selected by the Bulls to some surprise (many experts thought he may have been selected too early), and before his first season got a virus infection and missed the first few months. Once he returned, he became the only rookie in the 2003-04 season to record a triple-double.

After the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose in the 2008 draft, Hinrich was moved to the bench, but still put up respectable numbers in the 2009 playoffs.