The Third Man Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nahum Tate

The role of Poet Laureate is an honorary position, appointed by the ruling monarch of the United Kingdom. Appointed by Charles II in 1668, the first such person was John Dryden, who held the post for almost twenty years. He was succeeded by Thomas Shadwell, who had the role for nearly four years. Nahum Tate came next, in the reign of William and Mary; he held the position for nearly twenty-three years.

The role of Poet Laureate has been almost exclusively male. Carol Ann Duffy was the first woman to hold the post, from 2009 to 2019.

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson became the third president of the United States in 1801 after serving as vice-president to his predecessor, John Adams. In his turn John Adams had been vice-president to his predecessor, the first president of the United States - George Washington.

Answer: John Hartley

John Hartley was the third man, in 1879, to win the singles title of the annual tennis tournament held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, and the first to successfully defend his title the following year. The first two men to win the title were Spencer Gore and Frank Hadow. All three were British.

The ladies' competition began in 1884, and was won by Maud Watson, who successfully defended the title the following year. In 1886, Blanche Bingley won the tournament. The third lady to win was Lottie Dod in 1887, when she was only fifteen years old. All three ladies were British, too.

Answer: Svante August Arrhenius

Svante August Arrhenius, a Swede, was the third man to Receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1903. The first was Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff from the Netherlands, and the second was Hermann Emil Fischer from Germany.

The first woman to receive the prize was Marie Curie, in 1911, some eight years after she had shared the 1903 prize for Physics with her husband Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel. Twenty four years later, Irène, the daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, shared the Chemistry prize with her husband, Frédéric Joliot. The third woman, in 1964, was Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin from the United Kingdom.

Answer: Henry Sullivan

The first man to Swim the English Channel was Matthew Webb, from the United Kingdom, in 1875. Tom Burgess, also British, was the second, thirty six years later. Twelve years after that, Henry Sullivan from the United States became the third man to achieve the feat.

The first woman was Gertrude Ederle in 1926, followed by Millie Corson three weeks later; both were American. The third woman, a year after that, was Mercedes Gleitze from the United Kingdom.

Answer: George Arliss

George Arliss was the third actor, and the first Briton, to win the Best Actor Oscar, for the title role in "Disraeli", in 1930. The first two winners were Emil Jannings (a German) and Warner Baxter (an American).

Unlike many achievements, women received an equivalent honour, the Best Actress Oscar, at the same time as the men. Janet Gaynor, an American, and Mary Pickford, from Canada, were the first two recipients. The third woman to win the Best Actress Oscar was Norma Shearer, also from Canada.

Answer: Adrian Boult

The first Promenade concerts were organised and conducted by Henry Wood in 1895. They were held at the Queen's Hall, until it was destroyed in 1941, when they moved to the Royal Albert Hall. With occasional interruptions due to the two world wars, the concert series continued to take place every year. Henry Wood was the sole conductor until 1941, when Basil Cameron became an associate conductor. In 1942 Adrian Boult also took on that role, and thus became the third man to conduct the Promenade concerts.

Women conducting at the Proms -- The American, Marin Alsop, conducted the last night in 2013, and also in 2023. In 2023, the first night was also conducted by a woman, Dalia Stasevska from Finland, who had conducted the last light in 2020.

Answer: Jürg Marmet

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest - a feat they achieved on 29 May 1953. Almost three years later, on 23 May 1956, Jürg Marmet and his climbing partner, Ernst Schmied, both from Switzerland, were the next two people to reach the top. They were followed, a day later, by another Swiss pair. It would be another four years before anyone else attained the summit. By the twenty-first century the mountain was being climbed almost every year, by a lot of people; in 2021, for instance, two hundred and thirty-one people reached the summit.

The first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, from Japan, on 16 May 1975, accompanied by Ang Tshering Sherpa. The second was Phanthog from China, eleven days later. The third woman was Wanda Rutkiewicz, from Poland, on 16 October 1978.

Answer: U Thant

U Thant, from Burma, became the third Secretary General of the United Nations in 1961, following the death of the second, Dag Hammarskjöld, a Swede, in a plane crash. The first person to hold the role was Trygve Lie from Norway.

Answer: Pete Conrad

Pete Conrad was the commander of the Apollo 12 mission, and thus the third man to set foot on the lunar surface. The lunar module pilot was Alan Bean, who was the fourth man to walk on the moon. The command module pilot was Dick Gordon, who, like Michael Collins on Apollo 11, flew around the moon, but never set foot on it. The first two men to walk on the moon were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. A total of twelve men landed on the moon in the space of less than four years in the twentieth century.

No woman was part of the Apollo program which sent people to the moon.