Happy Tercentenary: the World in 1715 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Succeeded by his 5-year old grandson, which of these long-reigning monarchs died at the age of 76 on September 1, 1715, ending a record-setting reign?

Answer: King Louis XIV of France

Born in 1638, Louis XIV, also known as "Louis the Great" and "The Sun King", became King of France on the death of his father Louis XIII, a few months before his fifth birthday. His reign of 72 years and 110 days, which ended in 1715, established a record for length of reign by any major European monarch. (This is a record that Queen Elizabeth II could potentially break if she survives beyond June 2024, when she would be 98 years old.)

Of the alternatives, born in 1702, Nakamikado reigned from 1709 until 1735 as thee 114th Emperor of Japan. Born in 1661, the 46-year reign of Sukjong of Joseon as the 19th king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea ended in 1720; and born in 1683, Philip V ruled Spain twice as the first Bourbon monarch, reigning from 1700-January 1724 and September 1724-1745, the longest-reigning Spanish monarch in modern times.

2. Commissioned in 1675 by King Charles I, the Royal Observatory was located on a hill overlooking the River Thames at Greenwich. Forty years later, on May 3, 1715, many of the world's leading scientists and astronomers gathered to witness a total solar eclipse that blacked out southern England, Sweden and Finland. When was the next total eclipse that visible from London?

Answer: The next will occur early in the 27th century

The 1715 eclipse provided totality across most of southern England, from Cornwall to Lincolnshire. Edmund Halley was one of the noted astronomers to witness the 3 minutes 33 seconds of totality from Greenwich. The next total eclipse visible from Great Britain occurred just a few years later, in 1724. However, it tracked from south Wales across to West Sussex but passed south of London. That was, though, the last total eclipse visible from anywhere in the UK until 1925.

London had seen numerous eclipses in the centuries preceding the 1715 event, but would not witness another for almost 900 years. The next one visible from London will occur early in the 27th century. The eclipse which happened in August 1999 was a (major) partial, but not a full total eclipse.,

3. The world's first enclosed commercial wet dock opened on August 31, 1715, in which city?

Answer: Liverpool, England

Originally called Thomas Steer's Dock, today it is known simply as "Old Dock". Construction began on the River Mersey in Liverpool in 1709 and was completed six years later. The 'wet dock' was created by capturing a natural tidal pool of the river and building quay walls to lock it in. More than 100 ships could be accommodated within the dock. The dock elevated Liverpool to the world's biggest port for the slave trade.

With ship sizes growing, the dock built on the tidal creek which had given the city its name, became too small within a hundred years, and was closed in 1826. It was paved over and a Custom House built on the site. Since 2004, a water feature has occupied the site to reflect its place in history.

4. This future emperor was born on October 23, 1715. His mother died when he was ten days old and his father perished in prison two years later. His grandfather died when he was ten but his wife usurped the throne until her death two years later. Emperor at the age of 11, he died of smallpox at the age of 14 on the day he was supposed to be married, thus ending the direct line of which royal house?

Answer: The Romanovs in Russia

Peter II of Russia was born in 1715, the son of Prince Alexis and grandson of Peter the Great. Alexis was accused of treason by his father and imprisoned, where he died in 1718. When Peter the Great died in 1725, his second wife took the throne as Catherine I. Her death in May 1727 ended the questions of succession and Peter II became "Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias" six months after his eleventh birthday. By the following January, the country was already showing signs of disrepair: one foreign dignitary observed "All of Russia is in terrible disorder ... money is not paid to anyone. God knows what will happen with finances. Everyone steals, as much as he can..." So not much has changed in the last 300 years really!

The death of Peter II from smallpox on January 1730 at the age of 14 ended the direct male line of the Romanov dynasty. The daughter of his grandfather's half-brother was the nearest there was to a legitimate heir: Empress Anna Ioannovna ruled for ten years until 1740.

5. A war that began in 1711 between the British, Dutch and German settlers and the native people of North Carolina, ended in February 1715. Members of the Iroquoian-language family, the tribe's name means "hemp gatherers" or "shirt-wearing people". Which tribe was involved in this war?

Answer: Tuscarora

The Tuscarora War, fought between 1711 and February 1715 in North Carolina, was the bloodiest of the colonial wars fought in the state. The Apalachee, Cherokee and Yamasee allied with the settlers, whilst the Pamlico and Mattamuskeet sided with the Tuscarora. Prior to this conflict, North Carolina had been one of the most peaceful regions within the Colonies since settlers first arrived here more than 50 years before. Most of the defeated Tuscarora people relocated to New York, where they joined the "Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy".

6. "Nerone fatto Cesare", an early opera by one of the most prolific Italian operatic composers, premiered during the Venice Carnival of 1715. Born in 1678, this composer wrote an estimated 94 operas, although the scores of only 20 or so have survived. Who is this composer, probably best-remembered today for his violin concertos?

Answer: Antonio Vivaldi

Born in Venice in 1678, Antonio Lucio Vivaldi is one of the greatest of the Italian Baroque composers. "The Four Seasons", a series of concertos for the violin, are his best-known work today, but he wrote in a variety of genres including close to 100 operas. Vivaldi's surviving operatic works include "Tito Manlio", apparently composed in just five days during the 1718 Christmas period, and "La Silvia", written for the 1721 birthday celebrations of the Austrian Empress, wife of Charles VI. One of Vivaldi's 'lost' operas, "Motezuma", based on the life of the 16th-century Aztec ruler, was rediscovered in a Berlin archive in 2002.

7. Appointed in 1692 by King William III and Queen Mary II, whose tenure as Poet Laureate ended with their death in 1715? He was the first Irish-born poet to hold the title.

Answer: Nahum Tate

Born in Dublin in 1652, Nahum Tate was appointed as England's Poet Laureate in 1692, a post he held for more than 20 years. He was the first Irish poet to hold the post, and the only one for more than 250 years until the appointment of Cecil Day-Lewis in 1968. Also a noted playwright and librettist, Tate's best-known works include "The History of King Lear", an adaptation of the Shakespeare play written in 1681, and the libretto for the Henry Purcell opera "Dido and Aeneas".

Tate was succeeded as Poet Laureate by dramatist Nicholas Rowe, who survived only three years in the post before his death. Tate also worked with another former Poet Laureate, John Dryden, who was appointed in 1668 by Charles II but was dismissed by William and Mary 20 years later. Robert Southey was a hundred years later - he was the first Poet Laureate appointed in the 19th century.

8. A deal that would revolutionize the author-publisher relationship was consummated, with the author receiving an advanced payment of 200 guineas (a huge sum at the time) for each volume in a six-part translation of Homer's "Iliad". Volume One of this epic was published in 1715, with the subsequent volumes appearing annually over the next five years. Who was the author?

Answer: Alexander Pope

Born in London in 1688, Alexander Pope is best known today for his translations of Homer and for his satirical verse. After his 6-volume translation of the "Iliad", published between 1715 and 1721, Pope then produced a translation of the 24 books of the "Odyssey" in 1726. At the same time as he was working on Homer, Pope also produced a new edition of the works of Shakespeare. Pope's most famous poem is the mock-heroic narrative "The Rape of the Lock", which was initially published anonymously in 1712. An expanded version (from 334 lines to 794), this time attributed to Pope, was published two years later.

Other than Shakespeare, Alexander Pope is the most frequently quoted writer in the "The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations". The 27 moons of Uranus are all named after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Pope.

9. The author of "A New Voyage Round the World" and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times, this Englishman was the first European to explore much of western Australia. On one of his later voyages, he rescued Alexander Selkirk, the inspiration for "Robinson Crusoe". Who is this great English explorer who died in March 1715?

Answer: William Dampier

Born in 1651 in the south Somerset village of East Coker, William Dampier had already undertaken voyages to Newfoundland and Java on merchant ships by the time he joined the Royal Navy at the age of 22. Dampier completed his first circumnavigation of the globe between 1679 and 1691 on a mix of privateers and ships often perceived as pirates. On his epic journey, he spent time surveying flora and fauna in Australia, was shipwrecked in a storm off the coast of Indonesia, and returned home with nothing but his journals and a slave. So impressed was the Admiralty with Dampier's account of his adventures, that they gave him command of a Royal Navy vessel for his next voyage.

A town, an island, an archipelago and a peninsular in Western Australia are all named for Dampier. So, too, are straits in both Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

10. Now part of the Pernod-Ricard company, one of the oldest cognac houses was founded by a man from Jersey in 1715. His sons and grandson and developed an export business, and a century later it was the best-selling cognac in England. By the middle of the 19th century it also dominated much of the Asian market. Once served aboard Concorde, it was sold to Seagram in 1987. Which brand is this?

Answer: Martell

The company, one of the first cognac houses in France, was founded in 1715 by Jersey-born Jean Martell when he was only 21 years of age. By the time of his death in 1753, his eponymous company was established as a market leader. Over the years, the company has introduced numerous new brands, all carrying the Martell name. Martell Cordon Bleu, created by Edouard Martell, celebrated its centenary in 2012.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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Continuing a series I began with my 100th and 200th FT quizzes, for this, my 300th, we take a look at the world 300 years ago, in 1715.

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