Queens of the Universe Trivia Quiz

Answer: Finland

The first Miss Universe competition was held in Long Beach, California, with 30 contestants from around the world. These included separate contestants from Alaska and Hawaii, which were not at the time US states.

17-year-old Finnish girl Armi Kuusela became the first winner. She was crowned by actress Piper Laurie with the historic Romanov Imperial Nuptial Crown, which she sadly did not get to keep. After a busy life, in 1989 she settled with her second husband in San Diego, California, and later became a US citizen.

Answer: Carol Morris

The 1956 Miss Universe competition was the fifth, and was held in Long Beach, California. 30 contestants took part, with 19-year-old Carol Morris from Omaha, Nebraska, being crowned the winner. Marina Orschel of Germany was the runner-up, with Ingrid Goude (Sweden) in third place.

Answer: Peru

The sixth Miss Universe contest was held in Long Beach, California on 19 July 1957. Gladys Zenda was very nearly stripped of her title when it was discovered after the ceremony that she was still only 17, against the rules at the time which stated that contestants had to be over 18.

However, she was apparently allowed to keep the crown after the Peruvian Ambassador to the USA assured officials that in Peru anyone over the age of 17 years and six months was considered to be 18. By this "rule" Gladys, being born on 19 October 1939, was 18 after all.

Answer: Luz Marina Zuluaga

The 1958 contest was the seventh to be held in Long Beach, California. Girls from 36 different countries took part. The winner, 19-year-old Luz Marina Zuluaga, was from the Central American country of Colombia. Ironically, she was only selected for the contest because the actual winner of that year's Miss Colombia, Doris Santamaria, got married before the Miss Universe event. At the time, Miss Universe rules stated that all entrants had to be single, so Luz (as runner-up) took her place.

Hopefully the reference to the ocean made you think of her middle name of Marina.

Answer: Gloria Diaz

The 18th contest was held in Miami Beach, Florida. Over 60 countries entered, and 18-year-old Filipino Gloria Diaz was chosen as the winner. She went on to have a successful acting career in both film and television in her native Philippines, although she is not related to the American actress Cameron Diaz.

Answer: Trinidad and Tobago

The 1977 Miss Universe competition (the 26th) was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The winner was Janelle Commissiong, who thereby became the first black woman to take the crown. Following her win, Trinidad and Tobago issued three postage stamps in celebration.

In 2017, to mark the 40th anniversary of her victory, Queen Street in Port of Spain was renamed Queen Janelle Commissiong Street as a tribute.

Answer: Karen Baldwin

The 31st Miss Universe was held in Lima, Peru. Karen Diane Baldwin of London, Ontario, beat 76 other contestants to win the crown. Following her victory, she went on to host a Canadian TV show called "The New You" and during the 1980s and 90s had small roles in a few not terribly well-known movies (none of which starred any of the better-known acting Baldwin brothers).

She later retrained as a real estate agent in California.

Answer: Porntip Nakhirunkanok

The 1988 contest was held in Taipei, Taiwan, with 66 contestants taking part. The winner, Porntip Nakhirunkanok, was born in Bangkok in 1968, and was the second Thai woman to hold the crown (Apasra Homgsakula having won in 1965). Porntip is better known by her nickname of "Bui".

Answer: Namibia

1992 marked the 41st Miss Universe competition, and was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Michelle McLean was born in Windhoek, Namibia, in 1972, and was just 19 years old when she won the crown. She went on to have a varied career as a television presenter, master of ceremonies, and charity campaigner.

Answer: India

1994 marked the 43rd contest, and was held in Pasay, Philippines. Sushmita Sen was the first contestant from India to win the title. She went on to have a successful acting career, mostly in Hindi films. In 2016 she returned to the Miss Universe competition, this time as a judge.