A Site for Sore Eyes Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pearl Harbor

A surprise military attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 by the Japanese brought the USA into World War II. During the attack, of the eight US Navy battleships that were present, four were sunk and four sustained significant damage. Also sunk or damaged were three cruisers, three destroyers, a minelayer, a training ship and 188 American aircraft. And, while 2,402 Americans were killed, and 1,282 were wounded, the Japanese losses were substantially lower.

They lost 29 aircraft, five miniature submarines and 65 of their servicemen were killed or wounded. Located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, the USS Arizona Memorial was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989.

In 1999 the USS Missouri was anchored nearby. It was on the Missouri that the Japanese surrendered in 1945.

Answer: Berlin Wall

Dividing East and West Berlin, construction began on the Berlin Wall in 1961. Roads were destroyed to keep vehicles from passing, barbed wire snarls and fences were erected, and actual construction of a permanent barrier was begun. During construction, soldiers from the National People's Army and the Combat Groups of the Working Class stood guard with orders to shoot anyone trying to defect.
Over the years, the Wall evolved in four steps - wire fence, improved wire fence, concrete wall and border wall.
Checkpoint Charlie was the nickname given to the best-known crossing, and the site of a stand-off between US and Soviet tanks in October of 1961.
The 'fall' of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989, restored the ability of both East and West Berliners to travel throughout the city, and turned out to be the first step towards German reunification. The Wall itself came down slowly, with the last parts to be officially removed being dismantled in November of 1991.

Answer: The Bastille

Used by the French kings as a state prison, the Bastille was a symbol of royal tyranny. The prison was stormed on July 14th, 1789, by demonstrators in search of arms and gunpowder. At the time, there were only seven prisoners housed within its walls. While 'lettres de cachet' (by which subjects could be sent to prison without a trial nor any appeal) had been prominent symbols of abuse of power by the monarchy, at the time of the revolution, the Bastille had already been in the process of being closed, and held no notable prisoners.
Considered the flashpoint of the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille was actually the third event - the first being King Louis XVI calling for an Assembly of Notables (an expanded version of a king's council) in an attempt to find a way to pay off the country's massive debt. The nobility refused to accept the proposed taxation - leading the king to convoke the Estates-General. This brought about the second event - the formation of the National Assembly and the Tennis Court Oath.
Initial construction of the Bastille began in 1357, and the fortress became a state prison in 1417. By November of 1789, the building had been razed, with bits and pieces being sold as iconic souvenirs.
The former site of the Bastille is now the Place de la Bastille, a square that is home to an opera house, a farmer's market, and assorted businesses.

Answer: Pompeii

Pompeii and Herculaneum were both completely buried in ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius over the course of two days in AD 79. In places the ash was 20 feet deep, although studies have shown that it was actually the heat that killed the populace.

The natural disaster was observed and recorded by Pliny the Younger from a vantage point in Misenum. Lost for nearly 1,700 years, the ruins of Pompeii were rediscovered in 1749, with excavations revealing numerous intact buildings, artwork, and 'voids' - spaces left by the decomposed bodies of the victims. Pompeii is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is part of the Vesuvius National Park.

Answer: Sutter's Mill

In 1848, James Marshall discovered flakes of gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, and set in motion the events that would bring more than 300,000 hopeful searchers to California. Dubbed the 'forty-niners', most were Americans, but gold seekers came from as far away as Europe, China and Australia.
While most did not 'strike gold', nor return home any richer than before, the gold rush brought many changes to the state. New roads, communities, businesses and railroads came into being, and after achieving statehood in 1850, California became known as the 'Golden State'. On the downside, the gold rush forced many Native Americans off their lands.
While the original mill no longer stands, there is a monument marking the site, and a replica of the mill has been built nearby. Located in the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, the area is accessible to tourists.

Answer: Botany Bay

Captain Cook landed at Botany Bay on April 29th, 1770. Originally named Sting Ray Harbour - after the sting rays the crew caught, Captain Cook changed the name to Botany Bay due to the numerous varieties of plant life discovered by members of his crew.

In 1788 the First Fleet arrived, with plans to establish a penal colony, beginning the active British colonization of Australia. Plans for the colony at Botany Bay were discarded due to the sandy and infertile quality of the soil, and the site of Sydney Cove was chosen instead.

Answer: Alcatraz Island

Located in the San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz island - also known as The Rock or Traz - has been home to a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison and a federal prison. During the 29 years it served as a federal prison, it held such notorious inmates as Al Capone, Machine Gun Kelly, Robert Stroud (the Birdman of Alcatraz), Mickey Cohen and Alvin Karpis.
It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986, and is now maintained and operated by the National Park Service.

Answer: Chernobyl

Considered the worst nuclear accident in the 20th century, the explosion and fire of April 26th, 1986 at the Chernobyl plant released massive quantities of radioactive contamination into the atmosphere. Spreading across most of Western USSR and Europe, the fallout raised concerns about the Soviet nuclear industry, nuclear power in general and the capabilities of containment plans and recovery rates.
Due to a shortage of power generating capacity, the complex remained in operation until 2000, when the entire site was shut down.

Answer: Ho Chi Minh City

Nicknamed the 'Paris of the Orient', and the 'Pearl of the Orient', Saigon was the site of a massive helicopter evacuation at the end of the Vietnam War. Known as 'the Fall of Saigon' by the US, and 'the Liberation of Saigon' by the communist Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the evacuation was codenamed 'Frequent Wind.'
In 1976, Saigon, the province of Gia, and two suburban districts of other provinces combined to form Ho Chi Minh City.
Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary, and a key figure in the formation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the People's Army of Vietnam.

Answer: The Alamo

Perhaps the best-known conflict of the Texas Revolution, the Battle of the Alamo lasted 13 days - from February 23rd through March 6th, 1836. Primarily a siege for the first 12 days, the all-out assault on the final day resulted in somewhere between 182 and 257 Texian fatalities - with just 2 reported survivors - and between 400 and 600 Mexican fatalities.

The events at the Alamo are credited with an increase in enlistments in the Texian army, and the defeat of the Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto in April of 1836 - which ended the revolution. The Alamo, a former Catholic mission and a military fortress, is now a museum, and a popular tourist destination.