January 7 Birthdays Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pope Gregory XIII

The Gregorian calendar was put into effect after Pope Gregory XIII realized that the Julian calendar was actually on average too long. The Julian calendar automatically made a leap day (February 29) every 4 years, but in actuality a full year is just slightly less than 365.25 days. So, Gregory XIII changed the formula from every 4 years to every 4 years except those years divisible by 100 and not divisible by 400.

For example, 2000 was a leap year, while the years 1700, 1800, and 1900 were not. To make up for that change, on October 4, 1582, Gregory decreed that the next day would be October 15, 1582, to make up for the 10 days that the Julian calendar was off.

Answer: Joseph Bonaparte

Following the death of Napoleon Bonaparte's son, Napoleon II, in 1832, Bonapartists saw Joseph as the rightful heir to the throne of France. However, Joseph was living in the United States at this time and had no interest in returning to France. According to the Law of Succession, after all of Napoleon's brothers that had supported him died (Lucien and Jérôme had not), the Bonaparte Dynasty would be left to Joseph's legitimate male descendants. Joseph had 3 legitimate daughters, an illegitimate son, and 3 illegitimate daughters, so it went to Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, eventually known as Napoleon III.

Answer: Millard Fillmore

There were only two Presidents that were elected to the office from the Whig Party - William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor - and both died while in office. Millard Fillmore followed Taylor after he succumbed to gastroenteritis. In 1848, Taylor was given the nomination over Henry Clay even though he was a slaveholder, and to ease tensions Fillmore (a relative unknown) was nominated as Vice President since he was from New York, a free state. Fillmore's legacy was achieved when he signed all five bills passed for the Compromise of 1850 - California was admitted as a free state, New Mexico was named a territory, the Texas boundary was settled, the slave trade was abolished in Washington, D.C., and the Fugitive Slave Law allowed officers to arrest former slaves that had escaped from slaveholders in the South.

Answer: Zora Neale Hurston

The reason that "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was not well received originally by Hurston's fellow Harlem Renaissance writers was because Hurston wrote spoken words exactly how they were said, not by what they meant. For example, very few times did anyone say "I" in the book, instead it was "Ah." Richard Wright said it was a "minstrel-show turn that makes the white folks laugh." It also touched upon sensitive ground by admitting that there was a small partition between lighter and darker blacks. Hurston's work underwent a revival during the 1970s, along with other noted writers like Maya Angelou.

Answer: Kenny Loggins

Kenny Loggins entered the national spotlight when he formed the simply named group Loggins and Messina, consisting of himself and Jim Messina. Their best-known songs included "Danny's Song" and "Your Mama Don't Dance." "Your Mama Don't Dance" reached #4 on the US charts in 1973, and "Danny's Song" was a cover of the original Anne Murray song, but did not enter the top 40. Aside from singing the title tracks for the 3 movies mentioned before, he also sang "Nobody's Fool" for "Caddyshack II," performed alongside several other stars for "We Are the World," and also sang "Conviction of the Heart," which former Vice President Al Gore has deemed "the unofficial anthem of the environmental movement."

Answer: David Caruso

David Caruso's decision to leave "NYPD Blue" after just over 1 year into the show seems somewhat baffling. While on the show, he won for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series at the Golden Globes, and was nominated for the same award at the Emmy Awards.

After quitting the show, his first nomination was at the Razzie Awards for Worst New Star in "Kiss of Death." His career became the source of a popular joke on the first episode of "South Park." When a young boy was being taken away by aliens, he was told by his brother to do his impersonation of David Caruso's career.

The boy quickly jumped from the ship up in the air to land in the snow below.

Answer: Katie Couric

Katie Couric earned her first Emmy Award for her reporting with WRC-TV, the Washington affiliate of NBC. Due to her success in the news industry, she was hired by "The Today Show" in 1990, and became a co-anchor in 1991 to replace Deborah Norville. Her first work on national evening news came the next year, when she co-anchored "Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric." The show was short-lived as it was soon absorbed into "Dateline NBC." In 2000, Couric was nominated at the TV Guide Awards for Favorite News Personality, and the next year won News Person of the Year.

In 2006, she moved from NBC to CBS in order to take over "CBS Evening News," directly replacing Bob Schieffer, but ultimately filling the void that had been left in the position since Dan Rather retired in 2005.

Answer: Nicolas Cage

For his work in "Leaving Las Vegas," Nicolas Cage won the Best Actor award at the following awards shows: Academy Awards, Boston Society of Film Critics, Chicago Film Critics Association, Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, Golden Globes, Los Angeles Film Critics Association, National board of Review, National Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Circle, San Sebastián International Film Festival, and the Screen Actors Guild. "Leaving Las Vegas" won 25 major awards overall, and Cage won 11 of them alone. Aside from those movies already listed, he has also starred in "Con Air," "City of Angels," "Snake Eyes," "The Family Man," "Windtalkers," "Matchstick Men," "Lord of War," "The Weather Man," "World Trade Center," "Ghost Rider," "Next," and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."

Cage's work in so many action/adventure has drawn some criticism, but overall his work was well received, especially by film critic Roger Ebert. In his review of the movie "Adaptation," Ebert said of Cage: "There are often lists of the great living male movie stars: De Niro, Nicholson and Pacino, usually. How often do you see the name of Nicolas Cage? He should always be up there. He's daring and fearless in his choice of roles, and unafraid to crawl out on a limb, saw it off and remain suspended in air. No one else can project inner trembling so effectively... He alway[s] seems so earnest. However improbable his character, he never winks at the audience. He is committed to the character with every atom and plays him as if he were him."

Answer: Eric Gagné

In 1999, Eric Gagné came into Major League Baseball as a starting pitcher. From 1999-2001, he had a record of 11-14, so the Dodgers moved him to closer. The next 3 years, he compiled 152 saves, and only gave up 54 runs in 247 innings pitched for a 1.97 ERA.

In 2003, Gagné won the NL Cy Young Award due to his spectacular season: 55 saves in 55 chances and a 1.20 ERA. He was the first player to win the award with a losing record (he went 2-3, none of the 3 losses in save situations). After struggling with injuries, the Dodgers gave up Gagné following the 2006 season.

He spent a short time with Texas and Boston (winning the 2007 World Series with the Red Sox), and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.

Answer: Dustin Diamond

Aside from the three "Saved by the Bell" television shows, where Diamond played Screech in a total of 180 episodes (193 including "Good Morning, Miss Bliss"), he also portrayed the character in two television specials: "Saved by the Bell: Hawaiian Style" and "Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas." He also appeared on other high-profile television shows, like "The Wonder Years" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Apart from Screech, Diamond has played himself more times than any other role, appearing in such films as "Made," "Pauly Shore is Dead," "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star," and his self-directed "Screeched."