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1. Union General John Sedgwick was killed by a sniper while insisting to his men that snipers couldn't hit them. What did he use as an example of something the snipers couldn't hit?
2. According to Wikipedia, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission had to recall 80,000 of its own lapel buttons promoting toy safety because the buttons were unsafe. Which of these unsafe characteristics, among others, led to the recall?
3. Many people have been killed by their own inventions. William Bullock was one of these. He invented something that revolutionized the newspaper industry but caused his death. What was it?
4. In Hamlet, William Shakespeare said "For 'tis the sport to have the engineer / Hoist with his own petard." The phrase "hoist by his own petard" is still used to mean someone suffering the consequences of his own plot. What on earth is a "Petard?"
5. Many people are convinced they're great at something even though they're not. Usually, these people do not succeed on inflicting themselves on the general public. A noted exception was Florence Foster Jenkins, who had the money to stage public performances of her "art," at which she was distinctly terrible. What did she do?
6. In 1861, the first shots of the American Civil War were fired at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. After a lengthy bombardment, the fort was surrendered. Only one Union soldier was killed. What was ironic about his demise?
7. Many ironic situations have resulted from the accidental or intentional introduction of a species to a new ecosystem. The new species then experiences explosive population growth and becomes a pest. Which of these is not such an event?
8. In a dramatic moment in World War II, the battleship Bismarck, or her consort, the cruiser Prinz Eugen, defeated the pride of the British Navy, HMS Hood. Three members of the Hood's crew survived. The Hood was vulnerable to destruction because she had not been modernized. Why not?
9. The classic example of tragic irony is Oedipus, who was abandoned as a baby because it was foretold that he would kill his father and marry his mother. The infant Oedipus was rescued, and eventually did just that. Including Oedipus, there are seven members of his biological family. How many of them are victims of homicide or suicide?
10. People often try to censor things that they find offensive. Sometimes this works - the Comics Code and the Hays Code changed the subjects and tone of the comic and movie industry - and sometimes it's an abysmal failure, because the effort to censor the work gives it increased publicity and hence popularity. The Internet is rife with such examples. What is one name given for an ironic growth in interest in something posted on the Internet?
Source: Author
Correspondguy
This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor
LeoDaVinci before going online.
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