John, Paul, George, and Ringo: The Un-Beatles Quiz

Answer: Ringo

Ringo Lam Ling-Tung (sometimes listed as just Ringo Lam) was born in British Hong Kong on December 8, 1955. His first film as director was "Espirt d'amour" (1983). However, he was not the original director. Producer, Karl Maka, had already begun production. He was about a third of the way into filming when Po-Chih Leong quit. Leong was not given any credit for the film.

The movie came out in 1983. It is a supernatural romance movie that stars Alan Tam and Shu-Chun Ni. Koo Chi-Ming (Tam) almost runs over Siu-Yu (Chun) on the way to a party. Later, he and the others at the party are using the Ouija board and try to talk to a spirit. At the same time, Siu-Yu falls off a roof and dies, and the saucer of the Ouiji board begins to move.

In 1996, he directed VanDamme in the 1996 action-thriller film "Maximum Risk." VanDamme plays a dual role as Alain Moreau and Mikhail Surervov. Opposite him is, Natasha Henstridge as Alex Bartlett. Mikhail is killed after a street chase at the beginning of the movie. It turns out to be police officer Alain's twin brother, only he never knew he had a twin brother. His partner, Sebastien (Jean-Hugues Anglade) thought it was Alain who got killed when he saw Mikhail, so he showed Alain (who was at another funeral for someone else at the time) the body. Alain learns that Mikhail was in the Russian mafia.

Ringo Lam Ling-Tung died on December 29, 2018, in Hong Kong at the age of 63.

Answer: Ringo

Yumiko "Ringo Sheena" Shiina was born on November 25, 1978, in Urawa-Ku, Saitama, Japan. In 1998, her first pop album, "Kofukuron", came out when she was nineteen. The title translates in English as "The Theory of Happiness." In 2004, she formed the band Tokyo Jihen, which translates as "Tokyo Incidents." Their first album was "Gunjo Biyori" (which translates as "Ultramarine Weather").

The band broke up in February 2012. They worked with multiple genres during that time, including experimental rock, pop, and acid jazz.

They reunited for the first time in 2020.

Answer: George

Sir George Francis Hampson was born on January 14, 1860, in Marylebone, London, England. He was a baronet, not a knight. While in India working as a tea planter, he became interested in insects, especially moths and butterflies. Upon his return to England, he volunteered at the National History Museum. While he was there, he wrote the eighth and ninth parts of "Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera of the British Museum."

Answer: John

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917, in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. Kennedy graduated from Harvard in 1940, and joined the United States Naval Reserve a year later. During WWII, he became a national hero after the sinking of PT-109, when he rescued his fellow sailors. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal for his service. He was the Junior Senator for Massachusetts from 1953 to 1960. In 1956, while Junior Senator, he published "Profiles in Courage," a book about United States Senators who risked their careers for their personal beliefs. In 1957, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for "Profiles in Courage."

In 1960, he was elected President of the United States of America and was sworn in on January 20, 1961. In 1961, he led a failed attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro in Cuba, which is known as the Bay of Pigs Invasion. A year later the Cuban Missile Crisis took place, causing a worldwide fear of Nuclear War. As a result, Kennedy established the Peace Corps in 1963, and signed the Nuclear Weapons Treaty. He was a strong supporter of the Civil Rights Movement as well. Sadly, on November 22, 1963, while in Dallas, Texas, he was assassinated at the age of 46.

Answer: John

John von Neumann was born on December 28, 1903, in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary. He worked in the fields of mathematics, physics, economics, quantum physics, and many others during his lifetime. He was a mathematical genius. When he was six years old, he could divide two eight-digit numbers in his head. (ex. 93429943/24743564). He was also fluent in Hungarian, French, German, and English. Plus he was proficient in Italian, Yiddish, Latin, and ancient Greek.

He worked on the Manhattan Project during WWII. The Manhattan Project was the program that developed the first nuclear weapons, that is the atom bombs, used in World War II. In the 1940s, his research found information regarding self-replication. That is, he discovered how the RNA can be copied. This helped lead to learning about DNA, and eventually to the mapping. He won many awards, including the 1956 Medal of Freedom and the 1956 Albert Einstein Commemorative Award.

Neumann died on February 8, 1957, at the age of 53, in Washington, D.C. At the time of his death, he was a member of the United States Atomic Energy Commission. This was a United States government agency from 1947-1975, created to keep nuclear peace.

Answer: Ringo

Ringo Madlingozi was born Sindile Madlingozi on December 12, 1964, in Peddie, Eastern Cape, South Africa. He first became well-known in 1986 when his band Peto won the Shell Road to Fame Contest. Ten years later, he released his first solo album, "Vulkani." Translated from Xhosa it means "Wake Up." In 1999, he released his fourth album, "Into Yam'." That same year he won the South African Music Award for Best Male Vocalist.

Answer: Paul

Paul Benjamin Auster was born on February 3, 1947, in Newar, NJ, USA. In 1982, he wrote his first memoir, "The Invention of Solitude." The book is divided into two parts. The first part is called "Portrait of an Invisible Man." This section is all about the sudden loss of his father, and his dealing with that.

The second part is called, "The Book of Memory." In this part, Auster deals with his thoughts and beliefs regarding subjects such as coincidence, fate, and solitude.

Answer: John

John Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison, was born on May 26, 1907, in Winterset, Iowa, USA. He earned the nickname Duke while in school because he went everywhere with his dog, an Airedale Terrier named Duke. Wayne preferred the nickname Duke to his real name, Marion. He tried to join the United States Naval Academy but his grades were not good enough, so he went to the University of Southern California. While in college, the 6 foot, 4.5 inch tall, Wayne played football until he broke his clavicle. Since he could not play, he lost his athletic scholarship and had to leave school.

His coach, however, was able to get him a job as a prop boy and extra working with Western film actor Tom Mix. Mix was friends with Wyatt Earp, who Wayne got to meet. He credited Earp with the John Wayne walk and talk that people have come to know. His first big role was in "Stagecoach" (1939), in which he played the Ringo Kid. The film was directed by a man who would direct 14 of the movies in which John Wayne starred.

In 1969, he starred in the film that would finally win him an Academy Award. "True Grit" starred Wayne as, Rooster Cogburn an overweight, U.S. Marshall who drinks too much. He is hired by Mattie, (Kim Darby), and to find the man who killed her father and bring him to justice. Wayne, who wore an eye patch in the film said after winning the Oscar, "If I'd known what I know now, I would've put a patch on my eye 35 years ago." John Wayne died on June 11, 1979, at age 72, in Los Angeles, California, USA, from stomach cancer.

Answer: Paul

Paul Leroy Robeson was born on April 9, 1898, in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. In 1915, he earned an academic scholarship to Rutgers College in Brunswick, NJ. He was at that time the only African-American enrolled. While there he played football (two-time All-American). In 1928, he was in the London stage version of "Show Boat." He also appeared in the 1936 movie version as Joe. Many African American people had issues with "Show Boat," stating that Kern and Hammerstein were racist in how their portrayal of African Americans.

"Ol' Man River" was written with Paul Robeson in mind to play the part of Joe. He could not play it, however, at first due to conflict, but still, it is his version, from later on when he played the role, that people compare others to, when the song is sung.

When performing in the actual shows, Robeson sang the lyrics as written, but when he sang them in his concert tours, he changed some of the lyrics to make them less negative toward the African American community. For instance, the line "Git a little drunk and you land in jail.." he changed to "You show a little girl and you lands in jail...". (Note lands is not a typo, that is how he sang it). He died on January 23, 1976, at age 77, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, due to complications from a stroke.

Answer: George

George Galloway was born on August 16, 1954, in Dundee, Scotland. When only thirteen years old, Galloway said he was fifteen and joined the Labour Party's Young Socialists Party. At age 26, he was elected the youngest chairman at the time of the Scottish Labour Party in March 1981. From 1983-1987, he was the general secretary on the War on Want, a British campaign much like the United States' War on Poverty.

In 2004, he published his book "I'm Not the Only One," in which he expressed his opinions on the Gulf War.

He was against it.

Answer: George

George Wendt was born on October 17, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois. He is one of nine children. In 1982, he was cast as the lovable barfly, Norm Peterson, on "Cheers." He would play the role for all eleven seasons of the shows runs. He earned six Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor, but never won the award. His real-life wife, Bernadette Birkett, played the never seen, but sometimes heard, wife of Norm, Vera Peterson. She also played Cliff's date, Tinkerbell, in a season three Halloween episode of "Cheers."

"Saturday Night Live" fans of the 1990s may remember his many cameos as Bob Swerski, one of the Chicago Superfans, "Da Bulls." Wendt said that, having grown up in Chicago's south-side, these skits are "spot-on". In 1991, he appeared in Michael Jackson's "Black or White" music video as Macaulay Culkin's father. Off and on between August 15, 2002 - January 4, 2009, he played the role of Edna Turnblad, in "Hairspray." In 2010, he played the role of Santa in the original Broadway cast of "Elf", the musical adaptation of the 2003 movie starring Will Ferrell.

Answer: Paul

Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg was born on October 2, 1847, in Posen, Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia. When he was eighteen, he worked for Queen Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, the Queen of Prussia, who was a widow. He was her page. In 1866, he told his parents regarding fighting in the Austro-Prussian War, "For the soldier, war is the normal state of things... If I fall, it is the most honorable and beautiful death." Death was close, when during the Battle of Koniggratz, a bullet that went through his helmet and creased the top of his skull, briefly knocked him out. However, he quickly woke up and wrapped a towel around his head, led his troops, to safety. He won a medal.

Although he retired in 1911, "to make room for the younger men," he had explained; he was called back to action in 1914, when World War I broke out. He was elected to command the German Eighth Army by the War Cabinet and the German Supreme Army Command. In 1920, he published "Aus Mein Leben" ("Out of My Life") his memoir.

On May 12, 1925, Hindenburg became the president of Germany. Hindenburg who was once a monarchist, was now defending the need to not have a monarchy because times were changing. He died from lung cancer on August 2, 1934, at age 86, in Neudek, East Prussia, Nazi Germany.

Answer: John

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born on January 3, 1892, in Bloemfontein, Orange Free State. Tolkien could read by the age of four, and write soon after that. As a child, he read many books and found "Alice in Wonderland," by Lewis Carroll, disturbing, albeit amusing. His book "The Hobbit" was first published in 1937. It won the Carnegie Medal (a children's book award in the UK) as well as the New York Herald Tribune prize for best juvenile fiction. The Hobbit is the prequel to the "Lord of the Rings" series and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins and his adventures with Gandalf, and the thirteen dwarves of Thorin's company on a quest to see Smaug, a dragon, to get a treasure.

Tolkien, who learned Esperanto, developed his own languages, for his Middle Earth characters, of which Quenya and Sindarin were the best developed. There is a Quenyan dictionary that one can buy. He was a close friend of writer C.S. Lewis of Narnia fame. JRR Tolkien died on September 2, 1973, at age 81, in Bournemouth, Hampshire, England, from a bleeding ulcer and chest infection, 21 months after the death of his wife, Edith.

Answer: Paul

Paul Ehrlich was born on March 14, 1854, in Strehlen, Lower Silesia, Prussia. It is now Strzelin, Poland. Growing up he was interested in science and using the microscope. After completing his doctorate in 1882, he worked as an assistant medical director under Theodor Frerichs. Freichs founded experimental clinical medicine. During this time, Ehrlich focused on dyes, the study of the microscopic anatomy of cells and tissues of plants and animals. He also studied blood.

In 1909, he discovered the first drug that treated syphilis, which was a very deadly disease at the time. It was also very contagious. On August 17, 1915, he had a heart attack and died five days later, in Bad Homburg, Hesse, Germany. He was sixty-one years old.

Answer: George

George Harvey Strait Sr was born on May 18, 1952, in Poteet, Texas, USA. He formed a garage band in high school, called the Stoics. He was mainly inspired by the Beatles and others from the British Invasion. He did not have a lot of exposure to country music early on. The music he heard on the radio was rock 'n' roll. The only time he heard country was when he heard it live at clubs.

In 1981, he recorded his first single, "Unwound." In 1986, his thirteen-year-old daughter, Jenifer, was killed in a car accident when the driver of the car was speeding and lost control of the car. Not wanting to discuss his daughter, he avoided the media but continued recording his music. In 1996, he released the album "Blue Clear Sky". The title track was also released as a single that became a hit for the singer.

He recorded "I Saw God Today" in 2008. It was released on the album "Troubadour" and as a single. It also became a hit song. On June 1, 2013, at part of his farewell tour in San Antonio, Texas, then Texas Governor Rick Perry, announced that George Strait's birthday would now be "George Strait Day" in Texas.