Happy Birthday: November 23 Trivia Quiz

Answer: 'Life'

'Life' magazine, particularly known for its photojournalism, was published weekly from 1936 until 1972. For the next six years it appeared only intermittently, before settling into a monthly schedule until its demise in 2000.
Of the alternatives, the first issue of 'Time' was published in 1923; 'Newsweek' first appeared in 1933; and 'Hello!' debuted in 1988.

Answer: Bruce Hornsby & the Range

The single was the title track from the album that won Bruce Hornsby the 'Best New Artist' Grammy. Also from the same album were the hit singles 'Mandolin Rain' and 'Every Little Kiss'. This multi-talented musician was born on November 23, 1954 in Williamsburg VA. In addition to his solo projects, he has made albums with such legends as The Grateful Dead. He has toured with Bruce Hornsby & the Noise Makers, playing jazz with the Bruce Hornsby Trio, and collaborating with Ricky Skaggs on a bluegrass project.

Answer: Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse was born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1910. She began her 'Clean up TV' campaign in 1963. She retired as President of the association in 1994, and it was renamed 'Mediawatch-uk' in 2001. On her death on November 23, 2001, risqué comedian Bernard Manning commented: "She'll be sadly missed, I imagine, but not by me".

Answer: Henry VII

Perkin Warbeck first laid claims to the English throne in Burgundy in 1490, contending that he was Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, the youngest son of King Edward IV. Although Richard's death has never been conclusively proven, it is widely believed that he perished in 1483. In all probability, Warbeck was the son of minor French official, born in the small Belgian town of Tournai, near Brussels in 1474.
Warbeck 'invaded' England in 1497, landing in Cornwall, where he attempted to stir up support from locals already resentful of the taxes imposed by Henry VII to pay for the war against Scotland.
Warbeck was captured at Beaulieu Abbey in Hampshire and imprisoned in the Tower of London. In 1499, he escaped but he was recaptured on November 23, taken to the notorious Tyburn (near current-day Marble Arch) and hanged. It is said that he was badly beaten beforehand to mask his resemblance to the late Edward IV.
Henry VII ruled from 1485-1509.

Answer: Indian Ocean

The Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands consists of two atolls and 27 coral islands located halfway between Australia and Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. They have a total land area of just 14 sq km (5.3 sq miles) and a population of around 600. The highest point on the islands is a mere 16 feet above sea level. The capital of the territory is West Island.
First annexed by the British Empire in 1857, control of the island group passed from Great Britain to Australia on November 23, 1955 and they remain an Australian territory to this day.
Curiously, Cocos (Keeling) Islands are virtually antipodean to the other island with a similar name in the Pacific, Cocos Island, which is part of Costa Rica.

Answer: New Hampshire

Born in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, on November 23, 1804, Pierce was President from 1853-1857. A lawyer by trade, he had served as a Brigadier-General in the Mexican-American War of 1846-48. In lists compiled by scholars to assess the merits of one President over another, Fierce consistently ranks as one of the worst.
Barack Obama will be the first President born in Hawaii, bringing the total number of states that have produced a single President to 14. There will still be 29 states that have never produced a President. Virginia leads the list, with eight Presidents born in that state.
Of the alternatives offered here, the only President from Pennsylvania is James Buchanan who was born in Mercersburg; the only one from New Jersey is Grover Cleveland, born in Caldwell; and the only one from Connecticut is George W Bush, born in New Haven.
Other states to have produced just one President are Arkansas (Clinton), California (Nixon), Georgia (Carter), Illinois (Reagan), Iowa (Hoover), Kentucky (Lincoln), Missouri (Truman), Nebraska (Ford) and South Carolina (Jackson).

Answer: Liberia

Born in Monrovia, Liberia in 1938 and known as 'Africa's Iron Lady', Johnson-Sirleaf has been involved in Liberian politics for more than 30 years. She was Finance Minister in the late 1970s until William Tolbert's administration was ousted by a military coup. In the 1997 Presidential elections following a bloody civil war, she finished a distant second, her Unity Party garnering 9.5% of the votes to the 75.3% gained by Charles Taylor's national Patriotic Party.

In the 2005 election, her main opponent was former Manchester City forward, African, European and World Footballer of the Year, George Weah, representing the 'Congress for Democratic Change'.

Although Weah won the first round of the election comfortably, in the second round, with just two candidates, Johnson-Sirleaf won 59.4% of the votes.

Answer: Asafa Powell

Born on November 23, 1982 in Spanish Town, Jamaica, Asafa Powell won gold medals at 100m and as part of the Jamaican 4x100 relay team at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. He again won gold as part of the relay team at the Olympics in Beijing. He finished 5th in the Olympic 100m finals in both 2004 and 2008.

The alternatives are three more 100m World record holders. America's Maurice Green's 9.79 was the world mark from June 1999 until his compatriot, Tim Montgomery, ran 9.78 in September 2002. Powell shaved another 100th of a second off in June 2005.

His 9.77 was equaled by Justin Gatlin in 2006, but Powell's 9.74 in September 2007 set a new standard. Fellow Jamaican Usain Bolt lowered the mark to 9.72 in May 2008 and then smashed his own record, setting a new Olympic record in the process in Beijing later in the year with a remarkable 9.69. By the end of the 2008 Olympics, Powell had run a sub-10 second 100m 48 times, fast closing on Maurice Green's record of 51. Only two men had run under 9.80 legally more than once, Powell seven times and Bolt four times.

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Although technically this was the 3rd such battle, this one is usually known simply as The Battle of Chattanooga. Grant held a numerical superiority of around 55,000 against General Bragg's 44,000-strong Army of Tennessee. Grant's emphatic victory here routed the last Confederate force of any note in Tennessee and opened the door for the Union invasion of the Deep South and, ultimately, the 1864 march on Atlanta.
Losses at the battle were roughly even at around 6,000 each side, although the Union troops suffered dead and injured at roughly twice the rate of their opponents. Most of the Confederate losses were more than 4,000 captured/missing.
Of the alternatives, Meade commanded the Union troops at Gettysburg; Sherman was in command at the Battle of Atlanta; and Banks oversaw the Union victory at the Battle of Mansura.

Answer: Australia

Mervyn Gregory Hughes was born on November 23, 1961 in Euroa, Victoria, Australia. An attacking fast bowler noted for a trademark handlebar mustache, he took more than 200 wickets and scored over 1000 runs in 53 Test matches for Australia between 1985 and 1993. He dominated the 1993 Ashes series against England, taking 31 wickets. His best performance came against the Perth test of the 1988-89 series against the West Indies, where he took a hat-trick in his career-best 8/87.

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