Deja Vu Again? Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Black Death

The Black Death was a pandemic that devastated Europe, killing an estimated 4 million people between 1348 and 1350. Thought to have originated in Asia, historians believe that this plague was initially transferred by the Kipchak army, who, while attacking a trading post in the Crimea, threw plague-infected bodies into the town.

As a result, the plague spread to the ports, and thus throughout Europe. Lack of sanitation and medical knowledge also helped further spread the disease, and in various parts of Europe, including London, things got so bad that the dead had to be buried in mass graves, in order to conserve space, and also to deal with the high volume of bodies that needed burying every day.

Answer: The discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb

The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by English archaeologist Howard Carter, in November 1922. Carter discovered the first step which led to the tomb on the 4th of November, and by the next day he and his workers had uncovered an entire staircase, which led to a sealed door. Carter instantly sent for his sponsor, Lord Carnarfon, but had to wait until the 23rd of that month for him to arrive, so that he could continue with his excavation. Carnarfon's daughter, Lady Evelyn Herbert, arrived with her father, and was with him and Carter when the latter peered through to the tomb's inner chamber and uttered those immortal words, "Yes, wonderful things".

Answer: Mary Celeste

The Mary Celeste was an American merchant ship found abandoned in the Atlantic on 4 December 1872. Spotted drifting by the Canadian brigantine, Dei Gratia, the Mary Celeste was found to have no crew or passengers on board, despite their personal belongings and cargo remaining intact.

In addition to this, the ship was covered in water, though still seaworthy, and all of its paperwork, (with the exception of the captain's logbook), had disappeared. Meanwhile, the ship's clock and compass were found to be broken, and its marine chronometer and only lifeboat were missing.

The Mary Celeste was then taken to neighbouring Gibraltar, and an investigation was undertaken, in an attempt to discover why the ship had been abandoned. During the course of this investigation, spots which looked suspiciously like blood were found in Captain Briggs' cabin, along with an un-cleaned cutlass, though these were both later disputed by United States Navy Captain, R. W. Shufeldt, who claimed it was actually rust and not blood that was found.

A fresh gouge, thought to have been made by a weapon similar to an axe, was also discovered on one of the ship's railings, though no such weapon was found anywhere on board. This was also disputed by Captain Shufeldt, who labelled it a mere scratch. Irrespective of these findings, the passengers and crew of the Mary Celeste were never found or heard from ever again.

Answer: Yes

The RMS Titanic was a luxury British passenger liner, which sank on its maiden voyage, on the 15th of April, 1912. Billed as the 'unsinkable' ship, the Titanic was operated by the White Star Line, and was en route to New York City from Southampton, when she struck an iceberg at approximately twenty minutes to midnight on the 14th of April, 1912. With the ship gradually filling with water, lifeboats were launched into the sea, but these were not filled to capacity, and with the crew operating the policy of 'women and children first', many men were left behind on the doomed ship.

When the ship finally went down, at ten past two the next morning, there were still well over a thousand people on board. Figures vary regarding the total number of lives lost as a result of this disaster, but one thing is certain: at least 1,500 people died, making the sinking of the Titanic one of the deadliest maritime disasters to ever occur in peacetime.

Answer: Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn was the second of King Henry VIII's wives, and the first he had executed. He was still married to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, when he fell for Anne, and did, technically marry her before his first marriage was annulled. Nevertheless, Henry managed to manipulate matters in his own favour, so that his first marriage was declared null and void, and thus simultaneously, his recent marriage to Anne was declared valid.

However his feelings for her didn't last, and after producing a female child (the future monarch, Elizabeth I) and suffering several miscarriages, as well as giving birth to a stillborn baby boy, Anne fell out of favour with her husband. Eager to be rid of Anne, (for Henry was already courting the woman who was soon to become his third wife, Jane Seymour), he accused her of treason, and thus she was arrested and sent to the Tower of London. Further charges followed, including witchcraft and incest, (for Anne was accused of sleeping with her own brother). She was eventually executed, on 19 May 1536, and was the first English queen, (though sadly, not the last), to ever suffer this injustice.

Answer: The signing of the Magna Carta

The signing (or rather, the sealing) of Magna Carta was one of the biggest, most significant events of the Middle Ages. On 15 June 1215 King John of England was forced by rebel barons in Runnymede to accept the charter, which limited his power. Originally referred to as the "Articles of the Barons", the document was drafted by Archbishop Stephen Langton and some of England's most influential barons.

It eventually became known as the Magna Carta, which means 'Great Charter' in Latin, and was instrumental in the establishing the rule of law and citizens' rights.

Answer: The Suffragettes

Emily Davidson was a hardline member of the women's Suffragette movement in England. Highly educated, she had studied at the Royal Holloway College and Oxford University, though at the time she could not receive an Oxford degree formally because she was a woman. Prior to her antics at Epsom Racecourse, she had been arrested on numerous occasions, and had even served a month's hard labour at Manchester's Strangeways prison, after throwing rocks at the carriage of the then chancellor, David Lloyd George.

However, her true motives for stepping out in front of King George V's horse at Epsom Racecourse, which ultimately led to her death in the days that followed, are unknown. Some believe that all she was trying to do was disrupt the race, while others, including Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the Suffragettes, believed that Davidson sacrificed herself so as to "put an end to the intolerable torture of women".

Answer: Rebecca and her daughters

The Rebecca Riots started in South Wales in 1839, before spreading to Mid Wales, and continuing all the way through to 1844. Farmers and their workers, who were angered by the taxes levied against them, took to disguising themselves as women, before then marching to a toll gate as a group, with one nominated as their leader, Rebecca. Upon their arrival, the toll gate, which was seen as a physical representation of the unfair taxes farmers were forced to pay each time they passed through them, were destroyed, All this would take place in the dead of night, and as there were many different 'Rebeccas', and several different groups of her 'daughters' too, it was practically impossible to catch the culprits. Throughout Wales these groups were known as Merched Beca, and initially, their uprisings were few and far between.

However their cause did grow in momentum, and in 1844, the Turnpikes Act was passed, which did go some way towards addressing the issues raised by the protests of Rebecca and her daughters.

More importantly however, when it comes to Welsh history, the Rebecca Riots paved the way for future protests, such as those associated with the Denbighshire Tithe War and the many coal strikes which took place in the early twentieth century.

Answer: Dic Penderyn

Richard Lewis, better known as the Welsh legend, Dic Penderyn, was a coal miner from Merthyr Tydfil. Arrested during the Merthyr Rising of June 3rd 1831, he was accused of stabbing a Scottish soldier named Donald Black with a bayonet. Penderyn was arrested along with another 27 individuals, including Lewis Lewis, one of the uprising's leading figures, and imprisoned.

There was very little evidence to support the charge against Penderyn, and the man he was accused of stabbing could not even identify his attacker.

Moreover, none of the other 27 who had been arrested was sentenced to death. Nevertheless, on the flimiest of evidence, Dic Penderyn was sentenced to the gallows, and was hanged publicly on 13 August 1831. Professing his innocence until the very end, while standing in the gallows, Penderyn's last words were reported to be, "Oh Lord, what an injustice!".

Answer: The official opening of the Channel Tunnel

The Channel Tunnel, affectionately nicknamed the Chunnel, was officially opened on 6 May 1994, by Queen Elizabeth II and the French President, Francois Mitterrand. The tunnel, which links Folkestone in Kent, in the UK, to France's Coquelles, Pas-de-Calais, took eight years to build, and billions of pounds to finance. Organised by Eurotunnel, the tunnel eventually cost 80% more than its initial budget to complete, and caused various diplomatic issues, as illegal immigrants tried to use it to enter the UK.