Second Place Trivia Quiz

Answer: Haiti

Haiti gained its independence from France in 1804 after a slave revolt led primarily by Tousaint Louverture. He had died prior to independence and Jean-Jacques Dessalines became president. Simon Bolivar led the revolutions across the northern regions of South America with Venezuela being the first colony freed in 1810. Mexico (1821) and Canada (1867) became independent much later.

Answer: Godwin Austin (K2)

Europeans refer to K2 (Karakoram peak #2) as Godwin Austin, which at 28251 feet is about 800 feet lower than Everest. Lhotse is the fourth highest peak. Annapurna is "only" the tenth highest, but proved to be one of the more difficult peaks to climb. Aconcagua in the Andes is the highest peak outside Asia, but falls outside the 100 highest mountain peaks.

Answer: John Landy

Roger Bannister of Great Britain ran the first four minute mile in 3:59.4. Shortly thereafter John Landy of New Zealand broke that record by over one second. Later that year both met in the 1954 Commonwealth Games in Vancouver in one of the most famous races ever, which was won by Bannister.
Chris Chataway was also one of the premier milers of that era. He was a training partner of Dr. Bannister and also broke the four minute barrier.
Glenn Cunningham was a world champion miler slightly earlier. Some people claim that Cunningham ran faster than a four minute mile in a training run.
Danioel Komen is a latter day Kenyan runner who accomplished an even more remarkable feat of running two miles in under eight minutes.

Answer: Lou Gehrig

Lou Gehrig batted in front of the Bambino for the New York Yankees that year and hit 46 home runs himself. Gehrig was known as the Ironman and established a long-standing record of 2130 most consecutive games played in before retiring at age 36 due the ALS disease that killed him one year later.
Home Run Baker was an earlier home run champion with a grand total of 96 and a high season of 12 home runs.
Jimmy Foxx was a later home run champion who threatened to break the record, but maxed out at 58 home runs.
Ty Cobb was a hall of fame player with one of the highest lifetime batting averages of 366, but hit with little power. He had a bitter feud with Babe Ruth.

Answer: Henry Wallace

John Nance (Cactus Jack) Garner was vice president for FDR's first two terms. However, he had incurred the president's wrath by breaking ranks on FDR's plan to expand the number of Supreme Court justices (and appoint more receptive justices). He was replaced by Henry Wallace for the third term, but a rebellion by more conservative Democrats led to his replacement for Roosevelt's fourth term.

Frances Perkins was FDR's Secretary of Labor for his entire term, becoming one of the most prominent early American female government leaders.

Answer: Congo

The Congo, reaching into the heart of Africa, is 4700 kilometers long. The Niger in the northwest is slightly shorter at 4200 kilometers. The Zambezi at 2700 and Limpopo at 1800 kilometers run though Mozambique, Angola, and parts of South Africa.

Answer: Karl Donitz

Donitz was the leader of the German navy during World War II. Named Fuhrer in accordance with Hitler's last will and testament, he negotiated a surrender to the Allies shortly thereafter.
Canaris had already been executed by this time for his part in the attempted assassination of Hitler.
Bormann was Hitler's trusted confidante. According to what stories one believes, Bormann either committed suicide soon after Hitler's death or wended his way to Argentina, Brazil, or Paraguay.

Answer: Charles Conrad and Alan Bean

Lovell and Swigert were scheduled to go to the moon on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.
Gene Cernan landed on the moon on the last Apollo mission, but Sally Ride only flew Earth missions after the Apollo missions ended.
Gus Grissom was an early astronaut, and lost his life during training before he had an opportunity to reach the moon.

Answer: New York Jets

The New York Jets defeated the Baltimore Colts by a score of 16-7 behind Joe Namath in a major upset. Oakland didn't win a championship until Super Bowl XI, whereas Dallas in Super Bowl VI and Miami in Super Bowl VII achieved earlier victories.

Answer: German Empire after Frederick the Great and Bismarck

The period starting with Charlemagne being crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 at Aachen until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 was regarded as the First Empire. The unification of the various German states and kingdoms under the Kaiser (1871) until the end of WWI was the second empire.