Don't Stop Trying Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robert the Bruce

Legend has it that Robert the Bruce (1274 - 1329) was hiding in a cave following a defeat in battle. He was seriously thinking about giving up on his fight for Scotland, when he saw a spider trying to build a web. Several times the wee beastie swung and missed, but it never gave up and eventually the web was completed.

Inspired by the spider, Robert the Bruce carried on and became Robert 1 of Scotland in 1309 and ruled until his death in 1329.

Answer: broke the four minute mile barrier

Sir Roger Bannister was the first to run the mile in under four minutes (3 min 59.4 seconds) under official rules. The record was beaten just six weeks later by the Australian John Landy, who ran the mile in 3 min 58 seconds.

Answer: 12 days

Actually it would be 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes and 50 seconds. This would be impossible for a human of course. Even to think "eight hundred and fifty-six thousand, two hundred and seventy seven cannot be done in a second!

The maths is 1,000,000 seconds = 16,666 minutes and 40 seconds = 277 hours, 46 minutes and 40 seconds = 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes and 50 seconds.

Answer: Thomas A. Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (1847 - 1931) held over 1,000 US patents as well as patents across Europe. As a businessman, he started the ideas of mass production, teamwork in invention and large scale laboratory research.

Of the many quotes attributed to him, my favourite is another that means to not stop trying. "When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this - you haven't."

Answer: Microwave oven

Percy Lebaron Spencer (1894 - 1969) was not the first to notice that a chocolate bar in his pocket started to melt when near to microwave emissions, but he was the first one to investigate the phenomenon. The patent for the device was applied for in 1945 and Spencer was paid $2, the standard award, by Raytheon to their inventive employees.

Spencer lived with his aunt and uncle, following the death of his father. After his uncle died when he was still young, he left formal education, but continued to read, learn and research. This continued during his naval service and beyond.

Answer: Liquid paper

Bette Nesmith Graham (1922 - 1980) supplemented her income as a secretary by painting designs on windows. If she made a mistake in her artwork, she just painted over it. That lead her to experimenting with paint to see if the same could be done with her typing as an alternative to the attempts to erase mistakes. During the five years she took to perfect her formula, she used her product without telling her employer.

Answer: Post-it note

Dr. Spencer Silver was supposed to be inventing a very strong glue. What he came up with was reusable glue that held firm and did not mark the surface it was used on. Arthur Fry suggested that it could be used to stop his bookmark slipping and the rest, as they say, is history.

Originally the notes were lined and yellow because that was the only colour paper that could be spared by the researchers in the laboratory next door. Since then the range has expanded, not only in colour, but in size, shape, design and other varieties.

Answer: Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (1918 - 2013) was born into the Thembu royal family. He studied Law at university and then worked as a lawyer in Johannesburg, where he became involved in the struggles of the black African majority.

Although apartheid (racial segregation) had long been practiced in South Africa, it was only made official by law after the general election of 1948. Apartheid was officially abolished 1991, but most people agree that it was not until the election of 1994 that it was fully ended.

Answer: True

The memorial to the fallen members of the Bomber Command of WW11 was unveiled by Queen Elizabeth ll during her Diamond Jubilee year.

Although the tactics used by the powers in charge of the bomber squadrons has been criticised, the deaths of the men involved in carrying out those orders should be acknowledged.

Answer: Sleeping Beauty

In the Disney version of "Sleeping Beauty", the princess is named Aurora. At her christening, she is cursed to prick her finger on a spindle and die. One good fairy still has a gift to give and although her good magic cannot cancel the bad magic, she was able to change death into a one hundred years sleep.

The story of "Sleeping Beauty" has been around since at least the fourteenth century in several versions, but they are not for the faint hearted.