The Star Spangled World Trivia Quiz

Answer: Canada Day

Until 1982, Canada Day was actually called Dominion Day. It commemorates the formation of the Dominion of Canada on July 1, 1867. Following the 1982 partition of the Canadian constitution - which until that time had been embodied in the British North America Act (1867), an act of the British Parliament - the name of the holiday was officially changed to Canada Day.

It is celebrated with parades, fireworks, display of the flag, and so on, in much the same way as July 4 in the U.S. (I actually like to get out to the Cottage).

The possibility of union among the various provinces in British North America had been discussed for many years. In 1864 a meeting was held in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, by representatives of Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, and after three years of negotiations federation was achieved. Subsequent to the passage of the British North America Act, other provinces joined the union.

Answer: English

Yes, even the English on their home turf got mad at the King at some points in history. The English Civil War was actually more correctly the English Civil Wars and occurred on the British Isles between the Royalist (representing the King) and the Parliamentarians (who felt that the King was riding rough-shod over them in the belief that he was King by divine right and could do no wrong), taking place between 1642 and 1651.

It was also known as the Great Rebellion, although that title has more recently fallen into disuse.

It was precipitated by the Bishops' War (1639, 1640) with Scotland. In order to finance the war with Scotland, King Charles I was forced to summon Parliament in 1640 after having governed England for 11 years without it. Tension between monarch and House of Commons steadily increased and after his unsuccessful attempt to arrest five members of Parliament on January 4, 1642, Charles I left London a few days later and both sides prepared for war.

The first part of the war lasted between 1642 and 1646 at the end of which Charles gave himself up to Scottish forces fighting for the Parliamentarians.

He escaped in 1647 and attempted a number of Royalist rebellions and a Scottish invasion of England in the second phase of the war. He was defeated and again captured, but this time the Parliamentarians, resentful at his duplicity, had Charles executed in January 1649. The final phase of the Wars occurred when Charles II was crowned King in Scotland and after a number of battles, which culminated in the Royalist Rout at Worcester in September, 1651, the Wars ended when Charles II fled to Europe to escape capture.

Answer: 1776

Although July 4th, 1776 was the day that the United States chose to celebrate to mark its secession from Britain, this day actually only refers to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and not the physical struggle to break from England and gain independence. Open fighting between the English and the Americans actually commenced in 1775 and most historical books and current definitions cite the American War of Independence as being fought between 1775 and 1783.

The war essentially started through a number of small skirmishes and did not end until the Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3rd, 1783.

The terms of the Treaty were essentially that Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States (with western boundaries to the Mississippi River) and ceded Florida to Spain.

Other provisions called for payment of U.S. private debts to British citizens, U.S. use of the Newfoundland fisheries, and fair treatment for American colonials loyal to Britain.

Answer: Harbor Park

The Annual Maine Lobster Festival is one of New England's great summer events - where lobster is king. The Festival celebrates that fact along with Mid-Coast Maine's maritime heritage. The five day Festival is held at Rockland's Harbor Park, on the city's picturesque waterfront overlooking beautiful Penobscot Bay. If the recipe sounded interesting to you, here it is: Lobster-Shrimp Seafood Salad 1lb. cooked lobster meat, chopped 1lb. medium-shrimp, cooked, peeled, de-veined and chopped Half Cup chopped fennel (celery can substitute) Half Cup chopped green or yellow bell pepper Half Cup chopped red bell pepper Half Cup plain yogurt Half Cup mayonnaise Half Cup chopped sweet onion (substitute green onions) 3 tbsp. minced fresh parsley 1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 tsp. Dijon mustard salt and freshly ground pepper to taste Combine seafood, fennel, and bell peppers in a bowl. Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, onion, parsley, lemon juice and mustard in another. Season with salt and pepper. Add dressing to seafood combination and refrigerate until serving. Either serve stuffed in fresh garden tomatoes set upon a bed of lettuce or on croissants.

Answer: Robert Livingstone

As Members of the Continental Congress (1775-1776), Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingstone and Roger Sherman were all selected in 1776 to act as draftsmen of the Declaration of Independence. In the end, however, Jefferson wrote the entire Declaration of Independence on his own, which was then edited and amended by Adams and Franklin. Neither Livingstone or Sherman actually contributed at all.

Answer: English Civil War

Despite the fact that it was representation for the people that fundamentally sparked the English Civil War, it did not result in a written constitution like most other revolutions or civil wars. In fact, the United Kingdom today still does not possess a written constitution, and in many legal spheres, this has been considered a beneficial thing, because it does not rely, therefore on heavy interpretation of a written document.

The French Revolution ended in a written constitution, and was largely based on 'The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen' written by Emmanuel Sieyes in 1789. Sieyes' Declaration was actually influenced by the American Declaration of Independence. Russia is a little more surprising.

The Russian revolution of 1917 did not in itself result in a written constitution, but one did eventually turn up under the rule of Stalin. Stalin took great trouble and some pride in having a constitution bearing his name adopted in 1936.

The Stalin constitution continued, together with the Rules of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to serve as the formal framework of government until the ratification of a new, though rather similar, constitution in 1977. Mexico was no stranger to civil war or revolution, it had already had experienced three before the civil war which resulted in its written constitution.

In 1810 Mexico was involved in its War of Independence from Spain, then in 1836, when Texas declared itself independent from Mexico, again in 1867, when it freed itself from Hapsburg control (with the execution of Archduke Maximilian) and then finally in its revolution from 1910 until 1920, the result of severe social and economic problems. The Constitution was adopted in 1917.

Answer: Bastille Day

Bastille day commemorates the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789. In France, Bastille Day is the symbol of the end of the monarchy and the beginning of the Republic. On 5 May 1789, King Louis XVI convened the Estates General, a kind of parliament, to hear the public's complaints.

The assembly broke from tradition and formed the Constituent National Assembly. On 20 June 1789, the deputies of the Third Estate took the oath of the Jeu de Paume 'to not separate until the Constitution had been established'.

This stance was echoed by public opinion and the people of Paris marched on the Bastille, a state prison that symbolized the absolutism and arbitrariness of the Ancient Regime, as a show of force. The storming of the Bastille, on 14 July 1789, immediately became symbolic to the French people, a form of proof that power no longer resided in the King or in God, but in the people, in accordance with the theories developed by the Philosophes of the eighteenth century during the period of 'enlightenment'.

Answer: He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance ...

Although the three wrong choices to this answer did not appear within the Declaration of Independence in the form in which they have been written here, the theme of what they say did appear as part of the list of grievances against the King. The four issues here appeared within a short distance of each other and expressed dissatisfaction with the King due to his deployment of troops in the colonies as a means of maintaining civil control, because of his use of civil servants to exact oppressive bureaucracy over the disgruntled population, he did not recognize many of the laws or legislatures of the colonies and imposed his own restriction, particularly on the immigration of unhappy Europeans, whom he considered to be another source that could increase the level of insurgency.

Answer: A battle protecting military stores

The initial hostilities that occurred in the War of Independence have almost universally been recognized as the fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775. This was caused when the British general Thomas Gage sent a force from Boston to destroy American rebel military stores at Concord, Massachusetts. Shortly after the fighting at Lexington and Concord, rebel forces began a siege of Boston that ended when the American general Henry Knox arrived with artillery captured from Fort Ticonderoga, forcing General William Howe, Gage's replacement, to evacuate Boston on March 17, 1776. An American force under General Richard Montgomery invaded Canada in the fall of 1775, captured Montreal, and launched an unsuccessful attack on Quebec, in which Montgomery was killed.

The Americans maintained a siege on the city until the arrival of British reinforcements in the spring and then retreated to Fort Ticonderoga.

Answer: The Statue of Liberty

The Lady of New York commemorates the friendship of the peoples of the United States and France. Standing 305 feet (93 metres) high including its pedestal, it represents a woman holding a torch in her raised right hand and a tablet bearing the adoption date of the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776) in her left. Work began in France in 1875 under sculptor Auguste Bartholdi.

The pedestal, designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt and built within the walls of Fort Wood on Bedloe's Island, was completed later.

The statue, mounted on its pedestal, was dedicated by President Grover Cleveland on Oct. 28, 1886. A smaller Statue of Liberty stands on an island in the Seine in Paris, France.