20th & 21st Centuries 19th Trivia

1. Benito Mussolini would become one of the main dictators involved in the Second World War. What was the title he assumed shortly after the founding of the Fascist Party in 1919?

From Quiz D Is For Daladier

Answer: Duce & Il Duce

"Duce" was an Italian word for leader, directly stemming from the Latin word dux (military leader). Related words are Doge (the leader of Italian city republics such as Genoa or Venice) and duke (a rank in the nobility). Mussolini (1883-1945) originally adhered to socialism and rose to a prominent position in the Italian Socialist Party. In 1914, this party was utterly divided by those who wanted to stay out of the war and those (including Mussolini) who were eager to enter the war at the side of the Allied Powers, hoping to claim some territory from Austria-Hungary. The pacifists took control of the Socialist Party, and Mussolini was expelled from the party. In 1919, Mussolini was one of the first members of the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, a movement that would soon be transformed in the Fascist Party with Mussolini as undisputed leader. At that moment he was also titled "Il Duce". When Mussolini also was appointed Prime Minister in 1925, his full title became "Sua Eccelenza Benito Mussolini, Capo del Governo, Duce del Fascismo e Fondatore dell'Impero" ("His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Leader of Fascism and Founder of the Empire"). Mussolini was not the first Italian to be titled Duce, but soon the title Il Duce was reserved for Mussolini alone.

From Quiz Seeing Via Television

Answer: O.J. Simpson

O. J. Simpson was well known for his exploits on the the American football scene and for his marriage to Nicole Brown. By June of 1994, Simpson and Brown were apart. On June 13 of that year, Brown and a friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside her home in Los Angeles. Simpson was in LA that day, but took a late night flight to Chicago. He returned the next day and was interviewed by police, although at that stage he was not arrested. On June 17, Brown was ordered by state prosecutors to surrender to police. He refused and fled in a car driven by his friend, Al Cowlings. Police were soon on their tail - as were the media. From helicopters, cameras captured a slow-speed "chase" through southern California. It is estimated that 95 million watched the live broadcast. The following year, the trial of Simpson was broadcast on television. He was acquitted, even though most people felt he was guilty. In 1997, a civil court found Simpson liable for liable for death of and battery and he was ordered to pay $33m damages. The rise and downfall of "the juice" has been well documented and there are numerous sources of information, should you wish more. * Disclaimer: The three wrong answers were all also gridiron footballers. There is no suggestion that they were in anyway involved in the matters recorded above, or any criminal activity.

From Quiz "We Didn't Stop The Fire"

Answer: 2001

Author's note. This quiz documents a decade of turbulent history. It is based on a Billy Joel song where significant major historical events are listed next to pop culture references. It does not seem acceptable to juxtapose the gravity, say of 911 with a TV show, and this may be interpreted as flippancy. This is no way meant to trivialise our history but it is an attempt to mimic our own memories of that era. We remember the pop culture references as much as we remember the sombre and sobering 'real events' of our history. I hope I have been able to capture the spectrum of events that occurred in this decade. Everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing on September 11, 2001. Indeed that day changed our world forever. Nineteen hijackers gained control over four U.S. commercial airliners and crashed two planes into the World Trade Center twin towers, collapsing both. The hijackers crashed the third aircraft into the Pentagon, in Virginia. The fourth plane crashed into a rural Pennsylvania, following apparent passenger intervention. In May 2001, American Dennis Tito paid a reported $20 million for six days on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft where after training on the ground assisted by cosmonauts conducting experiments. Mr Tito became the first space tourist. On 15 January 2001, Wikipedia went online followed by the release of the first generation iPods on October 23, 2001. The first of eight films about JK Rowling's Harry Potter was released, as was the first of New Zealander Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. George W Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Agreement on Climate Change. "The Sopranos" a bleak story about a New Jersey Mafia family is the most popular show on TV; the Leaning Tower of Pisa, built 1360 reopened in December after 11 years of repairs, now stabilised. In August 2001, the Australian government refused Norwegian freighter MV Tampa which had rescued 433 asylum seekers in international waters) permission to offload the refugees at Christmas Island, an Australian territory.

From Quiz Riot or Wrong

Answer: Grosvenor Square

The march was in protest against American involvement in Vietnam. An estimated crowd of 80,000 people lead by Tariq Ali and Vanessa Redgrave marched towards the American Embassy with the aim of handing over a letter of protest to the American Ambassador. When they reached the square they found it cordoned off by police and soon after the protesters clashed with the police.

From Quiz Communist Countries in History

Answer: Benin

The country was renamed as the People's Republic of Benin with the People's Revolutionary Party of Benin as the only legal party of the country. The formation of the People's Republic of Benin was associated with many internal territorial administrative changes. However, the regime was infamous for its purges of political enemies, and imprisonment and torture of opposition leaders. Corruption severely damaged the economy of the country. It collapsed after the downfall of communist countries in Eastern Europe. However, Kérékou became the President of Benin again after elections in 1996.

From Quiz The 20th Century by Decades - Part III

Answer: New York subway

The New York subway was opened almost 35 years after the first elevated railway line commenced operating. Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892 and the Manhattan Bridge on December 31, 1909. The first public movie theater in the U.S. was the Nickelodeon in Pittsburgh, which opened on June 19, 1905.

From Quiz The 20th Century by Decades - Part II

Answer: Sully Prodhomme

Sully Prodhomme (1839-1907) was a French poet and essayist. He originally studied engineering, but later turned to philosophy and then poetry. Röntgen (1845-1923) and Lenard (1862-1947) both shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901 and Behring (1854-1917) was the first recipient of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1901. Prizes for Chemistry and Peace were also awarded in 1901.

From Quiz The 20th Century by Decades - Part I

Answer: Finland

The first female members of parliament were elected in Finland in 1907 after receiving the right to vote and stand in 1906. Nineteen female members were elected. New Zealand was the first country to allow women to vote in 1893 followed by Australia in 1902. However,in both instances they were not allowed to stand for election. Norway allowed females to vote and stand for elections in 1913.

From Quiz Determine the Decade

Answer: The 1920s

The Eighteenth Amendment, which established Prohibition, was ratified in 1919 to take effect in 1920, but a number of states had already instituted laws that curtailed in some way the use of alcoholic beverages by their inhabitants; and in 1917 President Wilson had instituted a wartime prohibition in order to conserve grain. All activities outlawed under the Amendment went underground. Law enforcement had its hands full trying to weed out bootlegging operations and speakeasies. Organized crime was heavily involved in bootlegging and there were clashes between gangsters and Federal agents, famously exemplified by the Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929. This atmosphere eroded support for Prohibition, and it was repealed at the end of 1933 by the Twenty-First Amendment.

From Quiz 20th Century History in General

Answer: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

The heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and his wife, Duchess Sophie, were shot dead by a Bosnian Serb nationalist named Gavrillo Princip in Sarajevo. This event triggered World War I. After three weeks of apparent inaction, on 23rd July 1914 Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum (list of demands) to Serbia, threatening war if these were not met. The Serbian government came close to wrong-footing Austria-Hungary by accepting most of the demands. However, Austria-Hungary insisted that all its demands be met in full and declared war on Serbia on 28th July 1914. The last answer was just made up from a much older event in Prague.

From Quiz The Taliban

Answer: Students

The Pashto word 'Taliban' literally means, 'students of Islam' who study in the madrassa, which is a school of religious thought. Regretfully, the brand of Islam that is taught in the Pakistani madrassas is an extreme brand of the interpretation of the Quran.

From Quiz Which Came First: The Chicken or the Egg?

Answer: United States President William McKinley was assasinated

McKinley was shot in 1901; the Wright Brothers took to the air in 1903; Russia and Japan went to war in 1904; Einstein proposed his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.

From Quiz Whistleblowers and Leaks

Answer: Mordachai Vanunu

Vanunu took photographs documenting Israeli weapons development. After his release, he was re-arrested for violating the conditions of his parole, most notably speaking to the press.

From Quiz Fall of Giants

Answer: Baby Doc

Duvalier senior was president from 1957 until his death in 1971, with his regime enforced by his personal paramilitary force, the Tonton Macoutes. According to Wikipedia between 30,000 and 60,000 Haitians were murdered by them and many of the more educated inhabitants left the country. Ironically, Duvalier's nickname of 'Papa Doc' was given due to his success in fighting against disease. 'Baby Doc' succeeded his father and remained in control until 1986 when he was ousted by a popular uprising.

From Quiz Shake Your Booty

Answer: Saddam Hussein

On March 18, 2003, the day before the initial bombing attacks on Baghdad, Qusay Hussein, son of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, marched into the Central Bank of Iraq with a handwritten note from his dad authorizing the withdrawal of $920 million. Over the next few days, Qusay continued the 'authorized withdrawals' and all in all the Husseins got away with $1 billion, effecting the biggest bank robbery ever! Qusay was later killed by US troops in a firefight. $650 million was found hidden in the walls of Saddam Hussein's palace, after the dictator had fled. The remainder of the haul is still out there somewhere. Not that it would do any good to anyone who finds it - the Iraqi dollar was soon only good for lighting candles with.

From Quiz The Year of the Horse

Answer: Naples

More than 100 people died when Mount Vesuvius erupted in April 1906. The volcano has erupted numerous times in recorded history, including eight in the 19th century and three in the 20th.

From Quiz The Year of the Cat

Answer: Rabbit

All of these animals are signs in the Chinese zodiac, which consists of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. The Vietnamese zodiac has replaced the Rabbit with the Cat - perhaps because of the name of the Chinese word for rabbit ("mao" or "meo" according to different Chinese dialects). You need not know any Vietnamese to recognise the link with a cat.

From Quiz The Doomsday Clock is Ticking

Answer: Manhattan Project

The first issue, on December 10, 1945, was only two pages long and outlined the goals of the namesake "Atomic Scientists" at the University of Chicago. Those goals were 1. "To explore, clarify, and formulate the opinion of and responsibility of scientists in regards to the problems brought about by the release of nuclear energy" and 2. "To educate the public to a full understanding of the scientific, technological, and social problems arising from the release of nuclear energy". The Doomsday Clock eventually became a part of this second goal.

From Quiz Ten Different Minutes in History

Answer: 9/11

The second tower was hit 18 minutes later at 9:03 a. m. Hurricane Katrina hit the coast at 6:10 p.m. on August 29, 2005. D-Day began at 6:30 a.m. on June 6, 1944.

From Quiz Ethnic and Religious Conflicts

Answer: Protestants and Catholics

Basically, Ireland remained faithful to Rome at the time of the Reformation. However, English and Scottish Protestants moved to Ireland from about 1600 onwards, and see it as their homeland. The Anglo-Scottish population generally lived in the Northern region of Ireland. In 1922, following a war for independence, the counties that considered themselves Catholic were given the freedom to create the independent nation - Ireland. However the six northern counties were now mainly Protestant and retained the status of belonging to the United Kingdom, with own home rule. Unfortunately, Catholics were discriminated against in Northern Ireland, and conflict broke out.

From Quiz 20th Century - The First 50 Years

Answer: Heston

Heston was operational between 1929 and 1946. The remains of the layout can still be seen in the roads of the now mainly built up area. It began its life as an aerodrome for flying clubs and private owners. The main London airport at the time was Croydon. When new airlines began to appear in the 1930s several chose Heston as their base. British Airways Ltd followed them in 1938 because its base at Gatwick suffered waterlogging. In 1938 Heathrow was a privately owned airfield used for building and testing of aircraft by the Fairey Corporation.

From Quiz 20th Century - Which Year? 1

Answer: 1906

Roosevelt's Peace Prize is the first Nobel Prize won by an American. 1906 is the only time both Chicago teams ever reached the World Series. After losing in 1906, the Cubs went on to beat Detroit in both 1907 and 1908. However, they have not won it since. Other famous people born in 1906 include actor Lon Chaney jr, gangster Bugsy Siegel, dramatist and Nobel laureate Samuel Beckett and poet John Betjeman. Notable deaths include Susan B Anthony, Pierre Currie, Henrik Ibsen and Paul Cezanne.

From Quiz Terrorists, Terrorists

Answer: Arequuipa Peru, 1931

On February 21, 1931 in Arequuipa, Peru, armed revolutionaries surrounded an aircraft on the ground and demanded to be flown over an area in order to drop propaganda leaflets. The American pilot refused to cooperate and the revolutionaries relented.

From Quiz Our Dumb Century

Answer: 1963

This of course refers to the Kennedy assassination in Dallas in November 1963. Just who the perpetrators of this crime are remains a subject of fierce debate but "The Onion" simply claims that there were 43 assassins (including one 'lone nut' in the Texas Book Depository) who fired 129 shots. Kennedy was succeeded as President later that day by Lyndon Johnson who, the paper claims, 'vows to honor Kennedy's memory by taking a plump young mistress'.

From Quiz Doomsday: Would You Want to Survive?

Answer: Trinity

The U.S. conducted the Trinity test in New Mexico on July 16, 1945. With a yield of 20 kilotons, this implosion-design plutonium bomb was the same type of bomb that would soon be dropped on Nagasaki.

From Quiz A Cult Gone Wrong

Answer: Jim Jones

Jim Jones was born in 1931 and became a preacher in the 1950's, when he founded his cult, originally called the Wings of Deliverance. He was known for his fair treatment of blacks and gained a reputation for this. In 1965, he moved his cult from Indianapolis, Indiana to Mendocino County, California because he believed this was one of the world's few places that would survive nuclear holocaust.

From Quiz Nonviolent Revolutions

Answer: Satyagraha

Gandhi coined the term Satyagraha from the Sanskit "Satya", meaning truth, and "agarha", meaning effort or endeavor. Thus for Gandhi the term meant an effort to discover and apply the truth.

From Quiz Short-lived 20th Century States : 2

Answer: Bougainville

Bougainville is formally a province of Papua New Guinea. A 9 year secessionist revolt ended in 1997 after claiming some 20.000 lives. The Bougainville Revolutionary Army is still striving for autonomy. In an election in June 2005 the first autonomous governemtn was elected on the island, which is still partt of PNG.

From Quiz From the 20th Century

Answer: 1933

This act was passed, on 23 March 1933 after fresh elections to the Reichstag. During the elections campaign the Reichstag building caught fire, which the Nazis blamed on the Communists, though it's widely thought that the Nazis themselves set fire to the building, or at the least deliberately ignored police information about an arsonist trying to set fire to public buildings in Berlin.

From Quiz Contemporary History - Other Missing Links

Answer: Volkswagen Beetle

The true history of the automobile began in the eve of 20th century, although self-powered vehicles had already been developed as far as two centuries earlier. Based on the technical achievements, the history of the automobiles has been divided into two eras: The Antique Era (1885-1979) with subdivisions Veteran (1885-1904), Brass/Edwardian (1905-1918), Vintage (1919-1930), Classic Pre-War (1931-1948) and Classic Post-war (1949-1979); The Modern Era (1980-present). The models listed in the question were all successful automobiles, mass-produced during the Brass, Vintage and Pre-War eras.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:45 AM

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