Events In My Lifetime Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1992

"Annus horibilis" is a Latin phrase meaning horrible year, the opposite of an "annus mirabilis" or wonderful year. Queen Elizabeth II used this phrase in a speech at events celebrating the 40th year of her reign and was referring to the huge fire that swept through Windsor Castle as well as Prince Charles separating from Diana, Princess Anne getting divorced and Sarah, Duchess of York being photographed topless and having her toes sucked by financial adviser John Bryan.

Answer: 2006

Foreign Secretary wasn't the only first that Beckett achieved, as in 1992 she became the first female Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and following the death of leader John Smith in 1994, became the first female Leader of the Labour Party, albeit in an acting role until Tony Blair was elected by the party. Beckett served for just over a year as Foreign Secretary under Blair, but when Blair stepped down as Prime Minister in 2007 and Gordon Brown took over the position, he replaced Beckett with David Miliband.

Answer: 1993

The Branch Davidians are a religious group who in 1993 were led by David Koresh from their headquarters just outside Waco, Texas. Acting on information which led them to believe the group were stockpiling firearms, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to carry out a raid on their headquarters, which descended into a fierce gun battle.

The FBI were called in and a siege lasting 51 days ensued before the FBI mounted an attack. During the attack, a fire of unknown origin broke out killing 76 people.

Answer: 1964

BBC Two as it became, has always maintained its place as the platform for less mainstream programming, whether that be highbrow political shows, cutting edge drama or unconventional comedy. Some of the better known shows which started on the channel are "Fawlty Towers" and "Newsnight" from the 70s, "Boys From The Blackstuff" and "The Young Ones" from the 80s and "Top Gear" and "Gardener's World" from the 90s.

In 1967, BBC2 became the first channel in Europe to regularly broadcast in colour.

Answer: 1985

Sunk by an iceberg in 1912, the Titanic lay on the ocean floor off the coast of Newfoundland for 73 years before it was found by this joint team. The wreck is in two parts approximately a third of a mile apart, with the bow much better preserved than the stern.

There is a wide debris field around the wreck, containing thousands of items that spilled during the sinking as well as remains of several bodies. The wreck is too fragile to ever be raised and the area is subject to UNESCO protection and conservation orders.

Answer: 1976

Concorde was a joint Anglo-French venture undertaken by BAC and Sud Aviation and was the first supersonic commercial aircraft. 20 Concorde's were built, of which 14 were used for commercial flights by Air France and British Airways. The aircraft cut the flight time from Paris to New York from eight hours, to a little over three hours, but at a price as the average Concorde ticket cost 30 times what a ticket for a conventional flight cost. Concorde was retired in 2003.

Answer: 1967

Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin say that they shot the footage of a Bigfoot or Sasquatch near Orleans, California in 1967 although some film experts believe it may have been shot earlier than that. The subject of the film is estimated to be between six and seven feet tall and matches the description of other claimed sightings of Bigfoot.

Although it is widely believed to be a hoax, Patterson maintained it was genuine right up to his death in 1972 and Gimlin has always denied being involved in any type of hoax.

Answer: 2001

The Netherlands has always been at the forefront of progressive laws, right back to 1811 when same sex sexual activity was legalised. The "Equal Rights Law" of 1994 made discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation illegal and same-sex couples were granted domestic partnerships benefits in 1998.

This was followed in 2001 by the legalisation of same sex marriage, with four same sex couples being married at the stroke of midnight by the Mayor of Amsterdam when the law took effect. In 2003, Belgium became the second country to legalise the partnership.

Answer: 1983

Philadelphia native Bluford, is a retired USAF colonel, who in 1979 was chosen by NASA to undergo astronaut training. His first mission was the third flight of the Challenger and the first mission with both a night time launch and landing. Bluford subsequently served on the 1985 Spacelab mission, the 1991 Discovery mission and a classified 1992 mission.

In total, Bluford has spent 28 days, 16 hours and 33 minutes in space.

Answer: 1977

Hamida Djandoubi moved from Tunisia to France in 1968 and in 1974, he kidnapped, tortured and murdered his former girlfriend, 22-year-old Élisabeth Bousquet, in front of two teenage prostitutes that were working for him. He was arrested in August 1974 and after a lengthy trial and appeals process was sentenced to death by execution.

This took place by guillotine at 4:40 a.m. on 10th September 1977 at Baumettes Prison, Marseille.