Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. On the 10th May 1955 in Fort Worth Texas, Mark David Chapman was born. This man would become one of the most despised persons on earth when he shot and killed ex-Beatle and rock legend John Lennon in 1980. Chapman was reportedly terrified of his father, a staff sergeant in the U.S. air force, when young, and resorted to drugs in his teens. After becoming a born-again Christian later in life, was greatly angered by John Lennon's statement that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus Christ". This set in motion the shots that were virtually heard around the world by this once great fan of his victim. On the day of Chapman's birth, the world lost a fine world heavyweight boxing champion who, during his reign, single handedly made boxing fairer in enabling all people to participate. In this pugilistic sport he was nevertheless a man of great character and made it known that if he was to prove himself the best, he had to take on all comers in an era where religious and racial prejudice was rampant. So he went against the grain to fight Native Americans and Jews and then the great African American boxer who would take the title from him. He was the shortest heavyweight champion to that time and the second lightest so was handicapped by this each time he entered the ring. So can you name this very notable champion who, up to 2014, was Canada's first and only heavyweight champion of the world to be born in that country?
2. June 2, 1941 saw the very sad passing of Baseball legend Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig with ALS, now called Lou Gehrig's disease, at the age of 38. His list of achievements in major league baseball are unparalled in many areas and these would be still well known by many of his fans. But suffice to say that he was seven times American League Allstar, twice American League MVP, and six times celebrated a World Series win.In 1999 he received the most votes of any baseball player on the Major League Baseball All-century team as chosen by fan balloting, and in the same year the "Sporting News" ranked Lou Gehrig sixth on their list of Baseball's greatest 100 players. While America mourned this great man, across the Atlantic a boy who was to become a real icon in music history was born. While developing his craft at an early age, he has always remained quite nonplussed and unaffected during his longevity in this sometimes hectic and brutal industry that is rock music. Starting out by playing in local rhythm and blues clubs, he met the musicians that he would eventually join to form one of the great bands of our time. This band closely followed the Beatles into the US in 1964 to become a major player in what was to be known as the British Invasion of 1964. They have released a great number of albums, compilations. box-sets as well as singles, and were still touring in 2014. Can you name this musical artist that the British newspaper "The Telegraph" named as one of the world's best dressed men in 2006, and "Vanity Fair" elected him into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame?
3. On August 5th 1962 Nelson Mandela was arrested by the South African apartheid government on charges of terrorism, sabotage and furthering Communism and spent the next 27 years in captivity following a call for his execution. In the US on the same day the world said goodbye to one of the best loved and adored movie stars in Marilyn Monroe. She was found dead in her home. Many theories still abound about the cause of her death, but nothing has ever come to light to disprove the coroner's verdict that it was caused by acute barbiturate poisoning resulting from probable suicide. On a happier note, a boy who would go on to be a great basketballer was born that day, but early on he was most interested in soccer and cricket. As a 12 year old he moved to Cambridge Massachusetts where he joined the high school team and then moved on to college where he was a member of the Georgetown NCAA champion team in 1983-84, just before being drafted into the elite NBA competition. He qualified for the 1984 Olympic Games in what was to be the last amateur team to compete in this tournament with professional teams being admitted in future. The team eventually breezed through to take the gold medal and it included another up-and-coming player in Michael Jordan. In 1986 he won the Rookie of the year award despite suffering injuries during the season and went on to play 1039 games with the same team. He had his famous number retired in a ceremony at Madison Square Garden in 2003. Who is this man who played himself in the 1996 movie "Space Jam" as the talent stolen by "Bang"?
4. On the 31st January 1956, John Joseph Lydon, who became known as punk rocker Johnny Rotten, was born in London, England to Irish immigrant parents. In his late teens he met up with music impresario Malcolm McLaren and the Sex Pistols band was set up. With its anti-establishment antics helped greatly to popularise the punk style of music for many of the younger generation. John Lydon went on to help form a very innovative band in Public Image Ltd after the disbanding of the Sex Pistols and had startling success with their 1979 album "Metal Box" which was ranked in "Rolling Stone"'s 2003 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. On the day that John Lydon was born,a prolific author of novels,non fiction and newspaper articles passed away in Sussex England. However, his children's books are what he is best remembered for by people of all ages who have grown up with his characters and the introduction of a teddy bear way back in 1926 saw his books translated into many languages including latin. His series were adapted by "Punch", "Vanity Fair" and others including Walt Disney who, following the author's death made classical animated movies. Can you name the man who named one of his many characters after his only son Christopher Robin?
5. On the 17th July 1954 Angela Dorothea Kasner, who, as Angela Merkel, would become Germany's first female Chancellor, was born in Hamburg, West Germany. She was educated at the University of Leipzig studying physics, and then to Berlin where she received a doctorate for her thesis on quantum chemistry. On the Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 she entered politics and a meteoric rise saw her become leader of the Christian Democratic Union in 2000 and Chancellor of Germany in 2005, to be the first woman to hold either office. On the day of Angela Merkel's birth, the death occured of a gangster and bootlegger who "graduated" to kidnapping after thr prohibition on alcohol was repealed. He and his gang received 200,000 dollars for the release of an oil tycoon that they had kidnapped. With the Lindbergh Law recently passed following the kidnapping murder of national hero Charles Lindberg's son, coupled with information from the kidnapping victim, intense heat was put on this case and resulted in his capture in Memphis. Can you name this offender who, when surrendering, gave the FBI a name that has become synonymous with them?
6. Julian Paul Assange was born in Townsville Australia on the 3rd of July 1971, and became a journalist and publisher but eventually took up a career in hacking and programming. Since July 2012 he has lived at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London after that country had granted him political asylum following a series of serious charges levelled against him by the United States and others. As the editor-in-chief of "Wikileaks" - an on-line non-profit jouralistic organisation - Assange has been accused of publishing secret US military and diplomatic documents sourced from a US army soldier who was convicted of espionage. Between 2006 and 2009 "Wikileaks" posted much information exposing government and corporate wrongdoing which has caused to embarrassment in many quarters. On the day that Julian Assange was born the fourth major rock music star in exactly two years died, but not as a result of natural causes or an accident in each case. All deaths were caused by the misuse of drugs or alcohol, and in this case the latter was the cause, according to associates and friends. (An autopsy was never carried out). This singer and songwriter with a legion of fans was nevertheless a troubled person and his actions regularly caused trouble on and off stage and led to confrontations with authorities. His band had eight entries into the Billboard Top 40 charts in four years with two of them reaching the top position. Just before his death he quit the band and travelled overseas to concentrate on his greatest passion in the arts which was writing and publishing poetry. Can you name the artist whom, in 2011, a "Rolling Stone" magazine readers' pick placed at number five on the list of "Best Lead Singers of All Time"?
7. On the 21st January 1924 the Soviet leader Vladimir Ilych Lenin passed away. Lenin's Bolsheviks had come to power in the 1917 October Revolution when ousting the Provisional Government which had been set up in haste only months earlier when the Tsarist regime disintergrated. After a bitter civil war the Bolsheviks consolidated world's first ever socialist state, and the Russian Empire became the Soviet Union. Lenin's body was mummified and reportedly over 100 million people have viewed it. Coinciding with the date of Lenin's death the birth in England of a boy who would become one of the great showmen and comedians in a country that produced a wealth of such talent, and you needed to be on the top of your game to survive. He was called up for military duty in the Second World War and was transferred to the combined services' entertainment division and was inspired by the actors and comedians that he got familiar with. After discharge he worked as a radio performer and, with TV in its infancy, was able to appear in this new format as early as 1950. Much adulation followed with his own shows. He appeared principally on the BBC until 1968 when Thames Television came into being and then could expand his expertise in a more unconstrained fashion, which sometimes led to critics branding some of his segments on air as a bit risqué for some people's liking but his popularity didn't diminish. American TV top personalities Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon tried several times to get him to appear on "The Tonight Show" in the US but without success as he hated travelling. As his health deteriorated in the late 80s tributes started pouring from his army of fans that included many British and Hollywood stars, but one of his greatest fans was the one and only Charlie Chaplin, who had a collection of this man's videos. The admiration was reciprocated, as "The Little Tramp" was his boyhood hero along with American icon Jack Benny. This multi-talented man also wrote and sang four songs that made it into the UK top forty with one being a real classic. So, can you name this man whose release sat at the top of the British Charts for four weeks as of December 1971?
8. Duane "Skydog" Allman lost his life in a motorbike accident on the 29th October 1971 at the age of 24. This very talented guitarist was in heavy demand as a session musician by a host of bands, and went on to form the Allman Brothers Band but unfortunately died before any real success came to the group. His sheer ability along with the intensity and drive that he brought to his craft saw him fronting with such stars as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Derek and the Dominos - the latter boasting another great guitarist in Eric Clapton. The brilliant combination of Allman and Clapton can be heard on the single "Layla" which made the Billboard top ten in 1972. In 2003 "Rolling Stone" magazine rated Allman the second greatest guitarist of all time behind Jimi Hendrix. On that day a young lady, who was to be prominent but controversial movie star, was born in Minnesota. She made her film debut in 1986 when only 14 and starred alongside Corey Haim and Charlie Sheen in a teen tragic comedy. After two Chicago Film Critics and Independent Spirit nominations for best actress in 1988, she broke through for a Young Artist Award win in 1989. 1993 saw her win a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actress and an Academy Award nomination for that category in the same movie. Another Academy Award nomination came her way in 1994. Over the years she has received over thirty nominations in various categories and appeared on TV mainly in cameos and played herself on the Larry Sanders Show in 1998. Can you tell me the name of this actress that Woody Allen could not cast in one of his movies because he could not get insurance for her?
9. Michael Lloyd "Mike" Miller was born on the 19th February 1980 in Mitchell, South Dakota and became a very prominent basketballer, especially for his ability of converting three point throws. First played with the University of Florida and led them to the NCAA championship game but lost out to Michigan. Then was drafted into the NBA by the Orlando Magic where he won the 2001 NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Then on to the Memphis Grizzlies where he set a franchise record for the most points in a single game with 45 points, and then a season each with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards. Then with the Miami Heat he took part in two NBA championships in 2012-13 before returning to the Grizzlies. He was a member of the US natinal team that won the Goodwill Games gold medal in Brisbane Australia 2001. Another death to a rock star who was an integral part of one of rock music's greatest acts occured on the day that Mike Miller was born. The band had just made its mark on the world stage after a humble beginning back in 1973 and underwent some personnel changes before stabilising and becoming one of the heavy metal music industry pioneers. Like similar bands in this category they rely primarily on albums and box sets, though some singles have gone into the charts and they had just a few released at the time of this member's death. He died in a car on a London street after a night of heavy drinking at a nightclub, and couldn't be revived the next morning. Can you name the man who was involved in very high voltage rock 'n' roll?
10. October 31st 1926 saw the untimely demise of the world's greatest escapologist and magician, Harry Houdini (born Erik Weisz), in Detroit Michigan. Houdini took the name of Harry Kellar, his predecessor who was called "The Dean of American Magicians". He had amazed the world with his ability to free himself from any enclosure or restraint that was forced upon him. From getting out of secured jail cells and locked armoured vans to escaping after being handcuffed and submerged in a box underwater seemed like tasks too easy for him. Special locks and handcuffs were improvised by experts to test his expertise but he always mastered these devices. Houdini obviously had to keep himself fit for a lot of these escapades and stated that he could take any blow to the stomach without discomfort. However he needed prior warning before this was done, and a university student he had met was unaware of this. The resulting blow ruptured his appendix and after at first refusing medical treatment was taken to hospital where he passed away two days later. On this day in New York City a baby girl who would become a renowned actress and movie director was born. She made her stage debut at the Metropolitan Opera when only four years old and was eleven when she joined the American Ballet. In her late teens she won a Critics Circle Award on Broadway for her leading role in a play that she reprised on screen some time later, and won a Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for it. After numerous nominations over the years she broke through for the big one with an Academy Award triumph for Best Supporting Actress in the mid 70s. She then moved her great talent to movie director and in the next thirty years she oversaw twentythree films with more honours coming her way including an Academy Award for the Best Documentary Feature called "Down and Out in America". Who,then, is this lady who in 1985 turned down the role of Dorothy in the "Golden Girls" TV series because she didn't want to play the part of a grandmother?
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muffin1708
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