Cats in History Trivia Quiz

Answer: Egypt

New Zealand and Peru were not known to the Romans.

The Ukraine was and still is an important grain producer, but was never part of the Roman Empire. Besides, I haven't found any corroboration for the assumption that Ukrainians did ever consider the cat as holy.
The veneration of the cat by the Egyptians is well documented. Thousands of mummified cats have been found, as well as temple inscriptions referring to the cat goddess Bastet. Cats did chase mice and rats from the grain storehouses and had thus a very useful function. Bastet was associated with joy and music. (Hint for cat people: seek soft music, best light classical music, if you want to treat your cat to a little music. My cats do appreciate classic violin or piano concertos).

Answer: Ypres

Only one of the aforesaid cities lies in Flanders.
Dresden is a German city, heavily bombed by Allied air forces in February 1945. There are no records of intense bombing on Dresden during the First World War.
Rotterdam is a Dutch port. During WWI, the Netherlands remained neutral, and thus Rotterdam did not suffer directly from the First World War. During the Second World War however, Rotterdam was heavily bombed on several occasions: 1940, 1941, 1943, 1944.
Verdun is a city in France. It was the scene of a famous battle in 1916.
The Flemish city we were looking for is Ypres. In the Middle Ages, wool was stored during winter and cats were attracted to guard the storage places for mice, rats and other vermin. However, medieval people thought cats were the company of witches and the personification of the devil, so when the cats were no more needed, the citizens tried to exterminate them in a horrible way.
The Cats Parade in Ypres is held every third year. The parade itself focuses on the history of Ypres and various cat-related topics: cats in history, cats in Dutch idiom, cats all around the world ... After the parade, a jester throws some plush cats, and then there is a bonfire with the burning of a puppet witch.

Answer: Socks

Meow is the name a cat would choose itself, but then again it is prone to call everyone "Meow"...
Garfield is a notorious comic strip cat created by Jim Davis (born 1945). This red tomcat was named after the author's grandfather, not directly after President James Abram Garfield (1831-1881). The feline Garfield is known as a gourmet, especially fond of lasagne.
Felix the Cat is another comic strip cartoon. This character debuted in the animated movie "Feline Follies" in 1919 and got its own comic strip series in 1923. There is some debate as to who created this black tomcat with white eyes. By the way, there is in the Benelux and France also a brand of cat food named "Felix" and portraying a playful black-and-white cat.
Socks was a non-pedigree tomcat (black with white socks, as the mascot of the Felix brand) adopted by the Clintons in 1991. Socks was born in 1989 and lived until February 2009.

Answer: Tomcat

The "Fighting Falcon" is the F-16 produced by General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.
The "Black Hawk" is a helicopter: the UH-60 manufactured by Sikorsky.
The "Eagle" is the F-15 produced by McDonnell Douglas.
None of these options fits in the theme of this quiz: as mentioned in the title, this quiz deals with "Cats in History". So the only correct answer is the Tomcat, manufactured by Grumman. This fighter plane was developed in 1974 and has been replaced by the more advanced F/A-18E/F (nicknamed the Super Hornet) by McDonnell Douglas. For thirty-two years the F-14 Tomcat was in use with the American Navy.

Answer: The Challenger space shuttle explodes

According to the Vietnamese astrology, the years 1915, 1927, and 1963 (to name only those used in this question) are the years of the cat (also known as the year of the rabbit). Vietnamese astrology uses a twelve year cycle, starting at Tet (usually end of January/early February), in which every year is named after an animal. Vietnamese astrology resembles the better known Chinese astrology, but the Chinese zodiac doesn't include cats (and thus doesn't provide for a question in this quiz).
John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields" on May 3rd, 1915. The first lines are well known: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow // between the crosses, row on row // that mark our place, and in the sky // the larks, still bravely singing, fly // scarce heard amid the guns below." The poppies were one of the few plants that survived heavy bombing of the terrain.
Lindbergh took off for a solo flight over the Atlantic Ocean on May 20th, 1927. He was the first to succeed in this adventure.
President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22nd, 1963. He died a few hours after the shooting. The prime suspect, Lee Harvey Oswald, was shot dead by Jack Ruby a few days later.
The Challenger took off on January 28th, 1986. It exploded after 73 seconds in high air. The seven astronauts were killed instantaneously. According to Chinese astrology, this disaster took place in the year of the ox.
Thanks for player Jakeroo to point out the difference between the Chinese and the Vietnamese zodiac.

Answer: Lion

Sikhism is a religious belief that finds its origin in India. Sikhs believe in one almighty being, and don't claim exclusivity (as most other monotheistic religions do). One can become a Sikh and yet remain Hindu, Muslim or Christian.
According to Sikhs, every living entity (human, animal, plant) has a soul. Therefore Sikhs respect all living creatures.
Sikhs carry with them the "five K's": Kesh (uncut hair), Kanga (a wooden comb), Kara (an iron bracelet), Kachera (cotton underwear, originally a loin cloth but today boxer shorts) and the Kirpan (a sword or dagger, to be used for legitimate self-defence only).
All right, now you know a bit about Sikhism (or you knew this already before). But what is the translation of their name "Singh"?
Well, it certainly is some kind of feline animal - see the different options. Taking into account that Sikhism originated in India, the lion is the most obvious answer: pumas live only in the Americas and lynxes dwell in North-America, Europe, Russia and China. Cheetahs are usually associated with the African continent, although there do live cheetahs in India too.
Sikhs take the name Singh (Lion), and female Sikhs take the name Kaur (Princess). "The lion and the princess" - Sikh romantic titles do differ from western traditions.
By the way, Singapore derives its name from the same word "Singh". Singapore can be translated as "city of lions".

Answer: Second World War

The First Crusade (1096-1099) was the only one to achieve its goal: liberation of Jerusalem out of Muslim hands, so that Christian pilgrims could travel in alleged safety to the holy places. I've added the word "alleged" as travel in the Middle Ages was a risky business: there were highwaymen everywhere, and ships did perish in storms quite a lot.
The First Crusade was manned by lower nobility, whereas the Kings of France and England and the Emperor of the Holy Empire (Germany) stayed at home.
The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was a conflict fought out mostly in Central Europe. It opposed a coalition of mostly Protestants (Sweden, Bohemia, the soon-to-be Dutch Republic) against the Catholic League (a coalition with Austria, Bavaria, Spain, and of course the Holy Roman Empire).
The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) started with a French attack and ended with French defeat and German unification.
As for the Second World War (1939-1945), I think no one would need a survey.
Now, how did the German military come about using tigers and panthers? Well, the Panther and the Tiger were popular names for the tanks the German army used during WWII.
The Panther was a medium tank produced between 1943 and 1945. It was a direct response to the Russian T-34 tanks. The official designation of the Panther was Panzerkampfwagen V Panther (Armoured Combat Vehicle V, Panther). It weighed about 45 tonnes.
The Tiger was a heavy tank taken into service in late 1942. It was followed by the heavier (but slower) Königstiger (Bengal tiger) and later on by the even heavier Maus (Mouse), the heaviest tank ever built. The Tiger weighed about 65 tonnes, the Königstiger about 70 tonnes and the Maus over 190 tonnes. There were only a few Maus tanks produced, given the shortage of metal. Only two prototypes of the Maus were completed.
The popular designation of German tanks is thus rather odd: a medium weight panther is followed by a heavyweight tiger and Bengal tiger, and the super heavyweight appears then to be a mouse...

Answer: Ix Chel

Chaac, the rain god, is usually depicted as a human with reptilian scales.
Tlaloc was the Aztec name for Chaac.
Quetzalcoatl, the upper god of the Aztecs, is classically depicted as a feathered serpent.
Ix Chel was the Maya goddess in charge of medicine and childbirth. She was associated with the moon and with the jaguar. The name Ix Chel could be derived from the words 'red' ("Ix") and 'rainbow' ("Chel").
There is a myth about Ix Chel falling in love with the sun god Kinich Ahau (who was her son, according to another source). He didn't notice her until she wove a splendid gown. Ix Chel and Kinich Ahau had four children, named after the four directions and represented as jaguars.
When Kinich Ahau lost his temper with Ix Chel, suspecting her of adultery, Ix Chel fled to the Isla de Mujeres ("Women's Island") near Cozumel, off the shore of the Mexican peninsula of Yucatan. The Isla de Mujeres is filled with female statues and was dedicated, according to early Spanish explorers, to pregnant women.

Answer: Tasmanian tiger

I've cheated a bit on this one, for I desperately wanted some question on Australian history. The Tasmanian tiger was biologically not related to tigers or other felines, but got its name from the typical striped pattern on the back.
However, the other options are certainly invalid. The dodo was a big bird on Mauritius, extinct since the seventeenth century. Both the platypus (a mammal that lays eggs) and the coelacanth (a fish once considered extinct, up till 1938 when living coelacanths were found in the Indian Ocean) still exist. The coelacanth is vulnerable to critically endangered, but the platypus is not an endangered species.

Answer: Catherine II of Russia

In order to find the correct answer, you would have to be acquainted with the nuptial life of King Henry VIII of England (1491-1547). I won't bother you with all six wives of Henry VIII, but I'll have to tell something about the three 'Cats'.

Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536) was Henry's first wife. They married in 1509. In 1533, Henry broke with the Catholic Church and his marriage with Catherine was annulled. Catherine Howard (1521-1542) became Henry's fifth wife in 1540. She was accused of adultery and beheaded. Catherine Parr (1512-1548) married Henry in 1543. She outlived the king and remarried the love of her life: Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral.

Catherine II of Russia is also nicknamed Catherine the Great. She was born in Stettin (then Prussia, nowadays Poland) in 1729 under the name Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Domburg. In 1745 she married Peter von Holstein-Gottorp, son of the Romanov family. He became Tsar in 1762 as Peter III, only to be deposed and murdered six months later. Catherine claimed, according to one of my sources, that Tsar Peter sadly died from stomach cramps, but apparently she forgot to mention these cramps were caused by a knife put there by one of Catherine's supposed lovers. Catherine succeeded to the throne and ruled Russia until her death in 1796.