Happy Birthday -- March 26 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Simon Nimoy, best known as Mr Spock in 'ST:TOS' and as Paris in 'Mission: Impossible', is the youngest of the four. He celebrated his 80th birthday on March 26 2011, just four days after his 'Star Trek' co-star William Shatner had done the same. Shatner, though, is of course Canadian, born in Montreal. Nimoy's other two 'Star Trek' colleagues were significantly older. Kelley (Doctor McCoy), just the oldest of the four, was born in Toccoa, GA in January 1920 and died aged 79 in 1999. James Doohan (Mr Scott), another Canadian (despite the Scottish accent), was born in Vancouver BC in March 1920 and died aged 85 in 2005.

Answer: Diana Ross

Diana Ernestine Earle Ross officially reached retirement age on March 26 2010. She was named in the 1993 'Guinness Book of Records' as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with more chart hits than anyone else in the US and UK. Gladys Knight aka 'The Empress of Soul' is only two months younger than Ross, but she hails from the Deep South, born in Atlanta GA. William 'Smokey' Robinson is another Detroit native, but he is four years older than Ross, born in 1940. Marvin Gaye, the oldest of the four, was born in Washington DC in 1939 and was murdered the day before his 45th birthday in 1984.

Answer: Marcus Allen

Marcus LeMarr Allen was born in San Diego on March 26 1960. In 16 seasons with the Raiders and the Chiefs, he scored a then-record 123 rushing touchdowns (and 145 TDs in total).
2004 'HoF' inductee, Lions RB Barry Sanders, is a native of Wichita KS, and is the youngest of the four, born in 1968. Former Bills and Dolphins RB Thurman Thomas, elected in 2007, was born in 1966 in Houston TX. Eric Dickerson, who played for the Rams, Colts, Raiders and Falcons, was elected in 1999. He is another Texan, born in Sealy TX in September 1960.

Answer: Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier Williams was born in 1911 in Columbus MS. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice, for 'A Streetcar Named Desire' in 1948 and for 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' in 1955.
Arthur Miller, the Pulitzer winner in 1949, was a New Yorker, born in Harlem in 1915. Eugene O'Neill, who won the Pulitzer in 1920, 1920, 1928 and 1957; and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936, was born in New York City in 1888. Thornton Wilder, Pulitzer winner in 1938 and 1943, was born in 1897 in Madison WI.

Answer: Keira Knightley

Keira Christina Knightley was born in Teddington, London on March 26 1985. She was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2005 adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice'.
Winslet, another English Oscar nominee, was born in Reading, but a decade earlier than Knightley. Carter is another Oscar-nominated Londoner, but she is the oldest of the four, born in 1966. Steinfeld, nominated for Best Supporting Actress in 2010, is the youngest of the four, born in 1996, but she is American, hailing from Los Angeles.

Answer: Pierre Boulez

Prize-winning composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, the youngest of the four, was born in the central-France commune of Montbrison. He celebrated his 85th birthday on March 26 2010.
Maurice Jarre, who composed the music for classic films such as 'Lawrence of Arabia' and 'Dr Zhivago', is six months older than Boulez and hails from the south of France, born in Lyon. Composer and organist Messiaen, whose pupils include Boulez, was born in Avignon, France in 1908. Parisian Jolivet, the oldest of the four, was born in 1905.

Answer: Sandra Day O'Connor

Born in El Paso TX in 1930, Sandra Day O'Connor became the first female justice on the US Supreme Court when appointed by Ronald Reagan in 1981. She retired after almost 25 years of service in 2006.
Marshall, the oldest of the four, was born in Baltimore MD in 1908. He became the Court's first African American justice when appointed by Lyndon Johnson in 1967. Thomas, appointed by George H W Bush in 1991 to replace the retiring Marshall, was born in Pin Point GA in 1948. Scalia, another Reagan appointee, in 1986, was born in 1936 in Trenton NJ.

Answer: Steven Tyler

Born Steven Victor Tallarico on this day in 1948, Tyler who is nicknamed 'The Demon of Screamin' has been the front man for Boston-based rock band Aerosmith for more than 40 years, since they were founded in 1970.
Alice Cooper, born Vincent Damon Furnier in Allen Park MI is just six weeks older than Tyler. Hagar, aka 'The Red Rocker', was the second of three frontmen for Van Halen. Only four months older than Tyler, Hagar was born in Salinas CA. Dio, who replaced Ozzy Osbourne as the lead singer for Black Sabbath, is the oldest of the four. He was born in Portsmouth NH in 1942.

Answer: Matt Burke

Full back Matthew Burke retired from international rugby in 2004 at the age of 31 with 81 caps, trailing only Michael Lynagh's points total of 911. Lynagh, the oldest of the four, was born in Brisbane QU in 1963. He played only 74 tests for his record points tally. Gregan finished his career in 2007 with 139 caps for Australia, making him the most capped player in the history of the sport. Only three weeks younger than Burke, he is not even Australian by birth -- he was born in Zambia. Smith, Australia's most capped forward with 110 international appearances, is another Sydney native, but he is more than seven years younger than Burke, born in 1980.

Answer: 65th

Robert Upshur Woodward was born in Geneva IL on this date in 1943, meaning that he turned 65 on his birthday in 2008. Woodward and Bernstein also co-authored the 1974 bestseller "All the President's Men". When the book became an Oscar-winning film in 1976, Robert Redford played Woodward and Dustin Hoffman was Bernstein. Numerous famous people have also died on March 26, including two former British Prime Ministers, David Lloyd George (in 1945) and James Callaghan (in 2005); Noel Coward died on this day in 1973, novelist Raymond Chandler in 1959, French actress Sarah Bernhardt in 1923, poet Walt Whitman in 1892 and explorer Cecil Rhodes in 1902.