Strange Twists of Luck Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. In December, 1733, Edward and Eliza Seward were shipwrecked. Luckily, they landed on Old Providence Island, because they found buried treasure there. Whose treasure did they find?

Answer: Sir Henry Morgan

The Sewards were shipwrecked on Old Providence Island which was uninhabited. Edward Seward was exploring the island when he found a cave. The cave had a slight fissure which he opened finding the huge treasure of Sir Henry Morgan. The treasure included gold chains, 200,000 gold doubloons, cases of gold leaf, and numerous other gold items.

2. Everyone knows the story of Wild Bill Hickok's "Dead Man's Hand". The day before his death, at the hands of sore loser Jack McCall, Hickok had been lucky enough to win a sum of money from McCall. Unluckily, on the next day, Hickok's usual chair facing the door was taken, and McCall shot him in the back. How much money had Jack McCall lost to Hickok?

Answer: $500

In Deadwood in the Territory of Dakota, Jack McCall, being the sore loser of $500.00, shot Wild Bill. Wild Bill Hickok always sat facing the door, but on Aug. 2, 1876, his usual seat was taken, resulting in him having the bad luck of becoming a setting target for Jack McCall. McCall had the good luck to be acquitted at his first trial, but the bad luck to be convicted at his second trial, and he was hung in 1879.

3. What was Wild Bill's "Dead Man's Hand"?

Answer: Two black aces, two black eights, and the Queen of Hearts

When Wild Bill Hickok literally "cashed in his chips", he was holding two black aces, two black eights, and the Queen of Hearts. This could have been a lucky hand--if it hadn't have been for Jack McCall!

4. King Louis XV had the good luck to raise 600,000 francs with the receipts from the very first French lottery. Who persuaded the King to start a lottery in the first place?

Answer: Giovani Giacomo Casanova

Cassanova persuaded King Louis XV that he could raise funds to help build a military academy without it costing the government anything by starting a lottery. A customer could buy a share in one number or more, ranging from one to 90. Five numbers out of each draw were picked.

The winnings were split among the lucky number ticket holders. In April, 1758, Cassanova handed 600,000 francs over to the French government. Eventually, Cassanova's idea brought in 20,000,000 francs. The academy, l'Ecole Militaire, is still standing today.

5. King Henry VIII had a little gambling problem with the dice. He lost something he probably should not have been betting with in the first place. What was the King unlucky enough to lose?

Answer: Bell of St. Paul's Cathedral

On one roll of the dice, King Henry VIII bet the Bell of St. Paul's Cathedral against 100 pounds. He lost! Sir Miles Partridge collected on his winning by removing the bell from the Cathedral's tower. It seems that bell metal was very highly prized in those days.

6. On Aug. 8, 1840, a Mrs. Watts of Linville, Texas was left for dead by Chief Buffalo Hump and 500 Comanche warriors. What, luckily, saved her life and the lives of the residents of Linville, Texas that day?

Answer: Mrs. Watts' corset

On Aug. 8, 1840, after killing her husband Major Watts, the Commanches turned on Mrs. Watts, who as luck would have it, was wearing a whalebone corset with all its multiple hooks and criss-cross laces. Evidently the Comanches had never ran into a corset before.

After a lenghty struggle to separate Mrs. Watts from her corset, they finally gave up. This gave the other residents of Linville plenty of time to take to their boats and escape to the middle of Lavaca Bay. Poor Mrs. Watts was found tied to a tree shot with an arrow on the next day.

However, once again her whalebone corset came to the lady's rescue. The arrow had hit the whalebone stay and although she was sunburned, she only had a very minor injury.

7. Something fell on Joseph Figlock as he was walking down a street in Detroit, Michigan in the 1930s. A year later, while walking down the same street, it happened again. Luckily, he survived both incidents, but exactly what was it that fell on Mr. Figlock twice?

Answer: A baby

Oddly enough, according to his relative, Mrs. Arthur Figlock, the same baby fell out of the same window and landed on Mr. Figlock twice, luckily both survived both incidents.

8. In 1976, Ronald Wayne was working at Atari and met two young programmers, both called Steve. Together, they started a company where Wayne owned an initial 10%. Unluckily, he thought that there would be too many speed bumps to make the company successful, so he sold his share back to them. What company did Wayne pass up on?

Answer: Apple

Ron Wayne met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak while working at Atari. Significantly older than them, he was asked to provide oversight on their new venture, Apple Computers, and also to act as a tiebreaking vote. However, a couple of weeks later, Wayne sold his shares back for $800 USD.

He was a very edgy person who did not know how to handle risk and felt that there was a lot of risk involved in the venture. Apple went on to greatness, and though Ronald Wayne said he never regretted pulling out, he must have felt unlucky.

9. Unluckily, what happened to the original manuscript of Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"?

Answer: He burned it.

Stevenson wrote for three days nonstop after dreaming a frightful nightmare, which he described as a good bogey tale. He read the fnished story to his wife, Fanny, who hated it. He flew into a rage and threw the whole manuscript into the fireplace burning it up. Luckily his bogey tale was still vivid in his mind, as he rewrote "The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" nonstop, all 30,000 words again.

The finished shocker was published as a shilling shocker in the year 1886.

10. A prophet had predicted the Greek dramatist Aeschylus (525 BC-456 BC) would perish with a blow from Heaven. Unluckily, eventually it did happen. What actually struck poor old Aeschylus from above?

Answer: A tortoise

Evidently a very poor sighted eagle took poor old Aeschylus's bald head for a rock and definitely did drop a tortoise on him killing him. Yes, the prophet had spoken, and it was definitely a blow from heaven that killed Aeschylus.

Source: Author Charlie007

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ozzz2002 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

This quiz is on people who were lucky or unlucky. I hope you enjoy my quiz.

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>

NEXT>