Curious and Curiouser Trivia Quiz

Answer: USA

1840 Harrison died in office.
1860 Lincoln elected and subsequently assassinated.
1880 Garfield assassinated.
1900 McKinley assassinated.
1920 Harding suffered a stroke.
1960 Kennedy elected and assassinated in 1963.
1980 Reagan survived an attempted assassination.
Thanks for telling me it's also known as Tecumseh's curse.

(Incidentally, George W. Bush survived his presidency without dying or an assassination attempt).

Answer: Lincoln & Kennedy

How strange! They both succeeded assassinated presidents, nearly a hundred years apart. Yes, predecessors had been elected in a year ending in a zero.

Answer: No

The book was written in 1892 about the sinking of a great ship which had been in a collision with an iceberg. 'Too improbable' was the publishers' verdict. The book is also known as 'Futility', and was published under that title in 1898. In 1912 the Titanic sank after hitting an iceberg.

There is a 1912 version of the book using the title 'Wreck of the Titan'; needless to say, it's a collector's dream.

Answer: 9 of diamonds

Nine diamonds were stolen during the reign of Queen Mary, by a thief who was after the crown jewels. A crippling tax was imposed on Scotland to replace the lost diamonds. Then in 1692, there was a savage massacre in Glencoe of the MacDonnell clan on the orders of Sir John Dalrymple, a man with nine diamonds in his family crest.

In 1746, at Culloden, the Scots were again defeated. News of the victory was written by the Duke of Cumberland (the victor) on what card? The nine of diamonds, of course.

Answer: Friday

In an effort to prove that Friday was just like any other day the British Government ordered a ship to be built. Its keel was laid on Friday, the ship was launched on a Friday, the crew picked on Friday, the captain was called Jim Friday. O! yes the ship was called HMS Friday, it set sail on Friday and was never heard of again.

Answer: 2003

Feb. 1 in 2003, was the morning that disaster struck. At a time when the US administration was dreaming "of Middle East democracy", the disaster happened over Texas,home of the US president. An Israeli astronaut was among the dead. Debris landed on a town which is spelled Palestine.!

Answer: Italy

28th of July 1900 the king stopped at a restaurant on his way to Monza . To his amazement the restaurant owner was his double in appearance. After talking for a while it emerged that both had a wife called Margherita, and a son called Vittorio. The following day the restaurant owner was killed while cleaning his gun.

Hearing the news the king planned to stop to convey his condolences. He was assassinated by Gaetano Bresci outside Monza. The assassin used the same make of gun as had killed the restaurant owner. Phew!

Answer: No

Stead was a noted Victorian journalist, his two publications on psychic sciences were 'Review of Reviews' and 'Borderland'. The voyage he was advised to 'miss' was on the ill-fated Titanic, Stead was one of the victims.

Answer: Hitler

They were Polar opposites in so many ways, yet they both loved Wagner and both were decorated for bravery in WW1. No one can deny the impact of both men in the shaping of events and philosophy in the twentieth century. Kimberley Cornish has a most interesting theory on this.

Theories aside, there is no evidence the boys knew each other - though they were the same age, they were not in the same class, and their time at the school only overlapped for one year.

Answer: 11

I owe this information to Enterprise Mission website. The first plane to hit was flight 11. Onboard were 11 crew. There were also 65 passengers, 6 + 5 = 11. Flags flew at half mast until the 22 of the month, 11 days in all. Scary stuff.