Beware the Ends of March Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1991

Surely one of the most conclusive votes of all time, 99.5% of voters supported Georgian independence with a turnout of over 90%. Independence was subsequently declared on April 9th, with the Soviet Union acknowledging the independence of the Republic of Georgia in December of the same year. Georgia was the fourth of the Soviet republics (after the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia) to arrange an independence referendum from the USSR.

Answer: 1774

A countermeasure to the protests of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, the Boston Port Act effectively closed the port of Boston until King George III decided that he wanted to open it again. The act was part of a group of five usually known by the collective name the 'Intolerable Acts' that was given to them by the American revolutionaries. Amongst other punishments, the acts deprived the colony of Massachusetts of self-governance, unsurprisingly angering those that lived there.

Answer: 1921

The Australian Flying Corps was formed in 1912 after the British Empire decided that its colonies should develop separate armed forces. Although the Australian Air Force (AAF) was created on March 31st, the prefix 'Royal' was only added in June of the same year after George V gave approval for its usage. Thanks to the slump after World War I, the AAF actually had more planes than airmen at the point of its foundation.

Answer: 1146

After the fall of Edessa in 1144, the Pope commissioned Bernard of Clairvaux to preach in support of the idea of a second crusade. Witnessing the sermon at Vezelay, French king Louis VII was inspired to join, and the Second Crusade was officially launched by Pope Eugene III in 1147.

In addition to preaching, Bernard of Clairvaux was influential in the reform of the Benedictine Order of monks and is considered an important early figure in the Cistercian Order.

Answer: 1966

It's so common to hear about the successes of the American space program during the Cold War that is often forgotten that many important firsts were thanks to the Soviet program. Luna 10 was a satellite with a variety of instruments that were used to collect data on the surface of the moon.

The launch took place on March 31st and the probe entered orbit around the moon on April 3rd, remaining in place until May 30th.

Answer: 1492

Issued on March 31st, the Alhambra Decree gave non-Christians (largely Jews and Muslims) only four months to either stop practising their religion or be expelled from the Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon. Thanks to heavy persecution over the preceding years many Jews had already converted to Catholicism, and the main purpose of the decree was to prevent these "conversos" from defecting back to their original faith.

It is estimated that some 200,000 Jews converted to Christianity with up to 100,000 being expelled during the 15th century.

Answer: 1949

The Dominion of Canada was established on July 1st 1867 with just four provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec. Several other territories joined in the subsequent years, with the prairie provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan becoming the 8th and 9th provinces in 1905.

The colony of Newfoundland had rejected confederation in 1869 and gained dominion status in 1907. A referendum in 1948 was narrowly won by the unionists (51 to 49 percent) and Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949.

Answer: 1685

Born into a musical family, Johann Sebastian Bach is perhaps the most famous composer of the Baroque period of classical music. So much so that the typical date given to the end of that period is 1750, the year of Bach's death. Some of his best known words include the 'Brandenburg Concertos', the 'Goldberg Variations' and the 'St. Matthew Passion'.

His 'The Well-Tempered Clavier' is a set of preludes and fugues often practised by those developing their skills on the piano.

Answer: 1985

WrestleMania is one of the most attended sporting events in the world, with record crowds of over 100,000 people attending in 2016. The flagship event of World Wrestling Entertainment, WrestleMania typically airs on pay-per-view television. The events have been held all over the United States, with the 2017 edition being hosted in the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida.

Answer: 1889

Built for the World's Fair in 1889, the Eiffel Tower took over two years to construct from the initiation of the foundations in January 1887. The construction involved over 300 employees, one of whom died during the process (though this seems to have been considered a relative success at the time).

The first ascent took over an hour as the lift system had yet to be installed, with a group of politicians and journalists being the first to witness the aerial view of Paris it afforded.