Guess When (Not Who, Where or Why) Quiz

Answer: 1066

King Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, leaving no clear heir to the English throne and a number of people willing to take up the position. One of them was Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, who was Edwards immediate successor but he had a number of opponents, including Duke William of Normandy. Harold was sworn King but immediately challenged by William, who claimed that Edward had promised him the throne and that Harold had agreed to this.

The Battle of Hastings, fought on October 14, 1066, was a key battle in the fight for the throne. William defeated Harold and after a number of other small fights and opposition, was crowned King on Christmas Day 1066.

There were approximately 10,000 of Williams men and 7,000 of Harolds men who fought during the battle and estimates at the number of deaths suggest about 2,000 for Williams men and likely double that of Harolds men. Harold himself ended up dying as a result of the battle.

Answer: 1789

France was suffering economically due to support for the American Revolution and a taxation system which burdened the poor. On July 11, 1789 King Louis XVI removed one of his finance ministers who was sympathetic to the plight of the people and this was seen as a hostile and unwelcome move. News of his removal reached Paris and with it came unrest, including looting and plundering.

The Bastille, a prison in Paris, only had seven prisoners but was a symbol of the royal authority of Louis XVI and so it was targeted on July 14 by a crowd of approximately 1,000 who stormed the prison. The prison was guarded only by 82 invalides (veteran soldiers) and reinforced with 32 soldiers from the Swiss Salis-Samade Regiment but it did have a cannon and a large amount of arms and gunpowder. The mob demanded the removal of the cannon and gunpowder and when this didn't happen, violent fighting broke out which escalated throughout the day, culminating in the deaths of 98 attackers and one of the defenders. The storming of the Bastille became a symbol of the revolution and spurred on other acts of disobedience and insurrection throughout France, effectively freeing the people of France from the power of the King and nobles.

Answer: 1953

On June 2, 1953 Queen Elizabeth II succeeded her father King George VI to become the Queen of England. The coronation took place at Westminster Abbey, where coronations had taken place for the preceding 900 years. What was unique about this coronation was that it was the first to be shown on television, with an estimated 27 million people in the UK who tuned in to watch it.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were taken from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey in the Royal Family's Gold Coach, which was pulled by eight horses.

The names of those horses were Cunningham, Tovey, Noah, Tedder, Eisenhower, Snow White, Tipperary and McCreery. The Queen's coronation dress was designed by British designer Norman Hartnell and she has worn it several times since then including to the opening of Parliament in Australia and New Zealand in 1954. Perhaps I won't feel bad about pulling out my old prom dress and wearing it again :-)

Answer: 2000

The TV show "Survivor" was one of the driving forces behind the popularity of reality television, and in my opinion, the demise of good television viewing! The show got its origins from Charlie Parsons in 1994 who took his show "Castaway" to the BBC who turned him down, he then went to Swedish TV and found a broadcaster.

The show was called "Expedition Robinson" and became a success. Mark Burnett produced the American version of the show, calling it "Survivor" and toning it down from the more crude Swedish version.

It premiered on American TV on May 31, 2000 and the first location for the show was Borneo. The concept behind the show is to find a minimum of sixteen players, split them into tribes and have them survive for 39 days (for most of the Survivor series) in a remote location while undertaking challenges and voting out members at a 'Tribal Council.' The last player standing wins a million US dollars.

The series ran for forty seasons and was put on hiatus during the COVID pandemic.

There are now so many reality TV type shows about just about anything you can imagine from singing and talent contests, to home improvement, to just watching celebrities hang out in their mansions. UGH.

Answer: 1989

Hu Yaobang was a high ranking official in the Communist Party of China who, throughout the 1980s, introduced a series of political and economic reforms. This was at odds with some party leaders and he was forced to resign. He suffered a fatal heart attack on April 15, 1989 and students believed that his death was a result of his forced resignation.

They reacted by eulogizing him across campuses and with anger and protest. A series of protests took place between April and June 1989 that spread to 400 cities.

The Chinese government initially acted in both a conciliatory and more hardline manner but by June had decided that these protests were a threat. On June fourth the government declared martial law and the students that were protesting in Tiannamen Square were met with extreme force (assault rifles and tanks). Estimates of the number of deaths vary between several hundred and several thousands and thousands more were wounded. One of the most enduring images from the massacre was the lone student, named the "Tank Man" who defiantly would not move from the path of a line of tanks.

He is forever immortalized in print and film however his actual fate is not known.

Answer: 1914

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the presumptive heir to the Austrian throne when he and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on June 28, 1914. They were assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of a group of five other would-be assassins (one Bosniak and five Serbs) who deliberately set out to destabilize Austria-Hungary.

They succeeded as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia after issuing a series of demands to Serbia that included that it should be a good neighbour to Austria-Hungary, respect decisions made about other countries and open an investigation into the assassination. Serbia responded by rejecting some of the demands and Austria-Hungary broke off diplomatic relations and then declared war. This triggered actions in other European countries and led to World War I.

Answer: 490 BC

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC between Athens and Persia as a result of Persia looking to control Greece. The vast and powerful Persian army was beat by the citizens of Athens and this was a very important moral victory for Athens. The legend of the marathon run was born from this battle and the popular but somewhat inaccurate legend has it that an Athenian named Philippides ran approximately twenty-five miles from Marathon to Athens and announced victory. Some believe that at the end of his run, he collapsed and died. The telling of this story has become the tale of the beginnings of the grueling marathon distance race that has since evolved from 25 miles to 26.2 miles. True or not, it certainly captures the spirit of the difficulty of the distance.

The real story involves a different Athenian who possibly ran 140 miles over two days to ask for assistance before the battle and a twenty-five mile hike for the Athenian army. The popular legend combines these two events.

Answer: 1815

The Battle of Waterloo took place on June 18, 1815 and was the last stand for Napoleon. The battle took place in Belgium and saw the British-led coalition defeat the great military leader Napoleon and end his reign as Emperor of France. Three armies participated in the battle, the British and Prussians and the French.

There were over 20,000 casualties to the British and Prussians and between 24,000 and 26,000 casualties on the French side. An additional 15,000 French soldiers deserted over the next few days. Napoleon announced he was abdicating the throne on June 24 and allegedly tried to escape to North America.

He was exiled to Saint Helena where he died in 1821. After his abdication, the throne was returned to King Louis XVIII and the period of conflict known as the Napoleonic Wars was brought to an end.

Answer: 2001

Four horrific coordinated terrorist attacks orchestrated by Al-Qaeda took place against the United States on September 11, 2001. Planes were used as weapons with the aim being to fly them into buildings and cause mass death and destruction. At 8:46am EST American Airlines Flight 11 flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York City, commandeered by Al-Qaeda terrorists.

At 9:03am EST, United Airlines Flight 175 flew into the South Tower. At 9:37am, American Airlines Flight 77 flew into the Pentagon and at 10:03am, United Airlines Flight 93 crash landed in Pennsylvania, after a struggle between passengers and terrorists. Almost 3,000 people died that day as the world watched the extensive media coverage of the attacks.

The US response was the War on Terror and invasion of Afghanistan, whose government had failed to expel Al-Qaeda and its leader, Osama Bin Laden.

The attacks had a profound impact on the economy, long term health of those at the crash sites, the war on terror, the perception and persecution of Muslim Americans and enhanced security and safety measures for air travel.

Answer: 1985

The Live Aid concert was a live music event on July 13, 1985 with concerts taking place in London, England and Philadelphia, USA, coordinated by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise relief funds for Ethiopian famine victims. Concerts took place on the same day in several other countries, including Soviet Union, Australia, Canada and West Germany. An estimated 1.9 billion (or 40% of the world population) tuned in to watch! The event featured performances from top musical acts including U2, Elton John, Phil Collins, Madonna, Queen and a reunited Led Zeppelin. $127 million was raised and attention was brought across the world to this issue but it was not without controversy as Geldof was reputed to have bullied musicians to appear and was laser focused on the fundraising numbers throughout the event.

The show, despite helping raise so many millions and drawing attention to the issue, has been criticized for bringing the same old boring, predictable music to the masses - and not having a single African performer.