Assorted Failures and Wrong-Doings Quiz

Answer: Ashoka

Ashoka (304-232 BCE) ruled nearly all of the Indian sub-continent at the height of his power, having subdued much of it in brutal wars. After the appalling bloodshed involved in conquering Kalinga he converted to Buddhism, believing that non-violence was the answer instead of war.

Answer: Cuba

The invasion took place in Cuba on April 17th, 1961 and was mostly planned by the C.I.A. Much of the planning took place while Dwight D. Eisenhower was president (1953-1961). He was nervous about Fidel Castro's government and was keen to have Castro overthrown.

The Soviet Union intercepted the message and passed it on to Cuba. The U.S. president who gave the actual go-ahead for the invasion was John F. Kennedy, who had succeeded Eisenhower in January 1961; and it was Kennedy who had to accept responsibility for the failed invasion.

Answer: Then we shall fight in the shade!

This statement is not the fail but the battle itself. It is a common myth that there were only 300 Spartans protecting the Thermopylae pass, but rather a mix of about 3000 Spartans, Thebians, Thespians, and other assorted soldiers, against a majority of enemy conscripted Persians soldiers and less veterans and immortals.

Answer: Che Guevara

Guevara was virtually second-in-command of a large group of revolutionaries which he and Castro had amassed. After he and Castro successfully co-ordinated the Cuban revolution, he attempted to do the same in Bolivia but was eventually captured and executed (1967).

Answer: All of these

Hitler's ambitious "Operation Barbarossa" was intended to drive deep into the Soviet Union and conquer its territories, with the Caucasus oil fields in mind. The Operation yielded early results because Hitler had a pact with Stalin and the attack was unexpected, but despite enormous losses the Soviets counter-attacked and pushed the Germans back, sealing their fate in WWII.

Answer: Genocide

It is estimated that between 1 and 3 million people died in Pol Pot's failed attempt to create his own agrarian Communist utopia led by himself and his political group, the Khmer Rouge.

Answer: Because the Pharaoh would not let God's people go

The Israelites were treated cruelly and unfairly and did the many laborious jobs that Egypt had. After Aaron and Moses warned the Pharaoh and he did not let the people go, they released the first plague, and the rest after each time the Pharaoh refused until the last plague, the plague of the firstborn. Unless precautions were carried, the family's firstborn child would die, and after the pharaoh's own firstborn died he became grief-stricken and ordered the Israelites to leave at once.

Answer: False

False, they were the first to summit Mount Everest. Mount Everest is the highest mountain in world, with an astonishing 29,029 feet of height to its name. Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, were the first to reach the summit.

Answer: A Russian term for a camp that contains political prisoners and POW's.

It was actually a network of labour camps that were operational during the reign of the Soviet Union. It was used for political prisoners who were treated miserably and usually worked until they died.

Answer: Kokura

Due to cloud cover at 70% over Kokura, Bockscar, the delivery plane was forced to drop the bomb on Nagasaki, the alternative target.