Black Days in History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Severe dust storm

During the 1930s, the US prairies suffered severe droughts. This, combined with farming methods unsuited to the ecology of the plains, resulted in high winds blowing away the unsecured topsoil in huge clouds that blackened the sky. One such black blizzard occurred in the area of Boise City OK on this day in 1935.

It was observed by a journalist who coined the term "Black Sunday". This period in history, as well as the geographical area concerned, is referred to as the Dust Bowl. The US stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression occurred in October 1929, the Pittsburgh floods occurred in March 1936 and American Airways Flight 1 crashed near Goodwin AR in January 1936.

Answer: Stock market crash

Monday October 19th 1987, known as "Black Monday", saw the largest one-day percentage drop in stock market history with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing one quarter of its value. The Challenger Space Shuttle disaster happened in January 1986, when it broke up just 73 seconds into its flight. Pan Am Flight 103 was destroyed by a bomb over Lockerbie in Scotland in December 1988, killing all 270 people aboard. Hurricane Hugo made landfall in South Carolina in September 1989 causing $7 billion worth of damage.

Answer: Pound sterling withdrawn from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism

Wednesday 16th September 1992 is known as "Black Wednesday" in the UK. It is the day on which the British Conservative Government of the day found itself obliged to withdraw its currency from the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) as a result of failure to remain inside its designated floating band.

The London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, took place on July 7th 2005. Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother died in 2002 at the age of 101 and Princess Margaret also died in 2002 aged 71.

Answer: The Hillsborough football stadium disaster

The Lockerbie air disaster occurred on December 21st 1988 when a bomb exploded on Pan Am flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie. The IRA bombing of Tern Hill barracks took place on February 20th 1989 and the Purley rail crash on March 4th of the same year.

Answer: Indian ocean earthquake and tsunami

The quake in Pakistan occurred on 7th October 2005 killing over 30,000 people. Hurricane Katrina struck on August 29th 2005 (December is not in the hurricane season in this region). The stampede occurred on a bridge after a massive Shiite religious commemoration erupted into panic on August 31st of the same year.

Answer: November 22nd

President John F Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas. Lee Harvey Oswald was charged with his assassination, but was killed by Jack Ruby before he could be prosecuted.

Answer: The Black Hand

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was a contributory factor to the outbreak of World War I. Black Hand organised and financed the shooting. Red Hand Commando and Red Hand Defenders are Ulster paramilitary loyalist groups. Black September was a Palestinian terrorist organisation. Black Wednesday is not a terrorist group.

Answer: 370

The aircraft is presumed to have come down in the Southern Indian Ocean and although several pieces of marine debris have been confirmed as being part of the plane, the bulk of the craft has not been discovered despite the biggest search in aviation history.

Answer: 1986

This accident took place near the town of Pripyat, which is in modern-day Ukraine. Pripyat was abandoned and will be unfit for human habitation for hundreds of years to come and Chernobyl is largely a ghost site.

Answer: Honshu

The disaster was triggered by a tsunami that was itself triggered by the Tohoku earthquake. Honshu is the largest of Japan's four main islands and Tokyo can be found on its southeastern side. Fukushima is just under 300 km north of Tokyo. Several abandoned towns lie within the Fukushima exclusion zone.