How Not to Die Trivia Quiz

Answer: Multiple gunshots to the abdomen

While holding an audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II, born Karol Woytila, was shot multiple times by Mehmet Ali Agca. In spite of massive blood loss, he was saved in surgery and continued to lead the Catholic Church for 24 more years. He later visited his would-be murderer in prison and forgave him.

Answer: They were on the sinking Titanic

Harold Lowe was Fifth Officer aboard the Titanic. When the ship started sinking, he was one of the crew members who took charge of launched lifeboats. After his boat successfully launched, he managed to gather several boats together and transfer survivors, giving him a bit of room with which to return to the immediate area and rescue more survivors - one of only two boats who did so. Four additional people were saved this way. Lowe ultimately died in 1944 of natural causes.

Answer: They got trapped in a fuselage section that stayed mostly intact

Mrs. Yoshizaki and her daughter were passengers of the ill-fated Japan Air Lines flight 123 that suffered an explosive in-flight decompression with near total loss of all control surfaces. The plane stayed airborne for more than 30 minutes before finally crashing into a mountain. All four survivors were seated in the rearmost rows, a section that remained comparatively undamaged.

It is presumed that significantly more passengers initially survived, but succumbed before rescuers could reach the site.

Answer: They powered up the lunar landing module

Jim Lovell was the commanding officer of Apollo 13 which suffered a devastating oxygen tank explosion on its trajectory towards the moon. Having lost not only an important part of their breathable air but also power generation capability, the only chance for the men to survive was to use their lunar lander as a lifeboat until they could round the Moon and return to Earth. Lovell was still alive in 2017.

Answer: He received a bone marrow transplant

The submarine in question was the K-19, one of two first generation nuclear submarines commissioned by the Soviet Navy in the early 1960s. The submarine's reactor suffered a coolant loss and irradiated most of the crew, with doses considered not survivable. Yet, thanks to new treatments, only 22 of the 139 crew died from direct radiation effects, seven of them from acute effects and fifteen more over the next two years.

The vessel itself was brought to port, refitted, and served until 1990.

Answer: He was executed on the electric chair

Willie Francis was a juvenile offender who was sentenced to death in a questionable decision regarding the shooting murder of a Louisiana pharmacist in 1944. His first execution failed due to a wrongly set up electric chair that did not deliver the full voltage.

His case was appealed after the botched execution on grounds of double jeopardy with the argument that he had been sentenced to be executed on the chair and that this sentence had been fully served, but the US Supreme Court decision was 4-5 against him and he was re-executed on May 9, 1947.

Answer: His impact was cushioned by a snow-covered ravine

Chisov was a lieutenant in the Soviet air force. When his plane, an Il-4 bomber, was hit, he bailed out, but did initially not open his parachute, fearing German fire. He lost consciousness in the thin air soon after and plunged to the ground where he impacted the edge of a snowy ravine and rolled to the bottom.

He recovered almost completely and returned to air force service as a navigational instructor.

Answer: His mother threw him from a window

I hope the date helped you here - Mr. Doehner was the last survivor of the Hindenburg airship disaster at Lakehurst airfield and the only one to attend the 80th anniversary commemoration in 2017. His mother and brother survived the explosion as well, but his father was among those killed.

Answer: A rabid bat bit her

Jenna Giese is the first known survivor of rabies who was discovered to have been infected only after the manifestation of symptoms. While rabies infections are treatable if immunization is given right after infection, symptomatic rabies was considered to be inevitably fatal.

The Milwaukee Protocol, consisting of a deep induced coma to protect the brain, life support and various antiviral drugs, was first applied to her and she ultimately fully recovered. Until 2017, the treatment has shown approximately a 20% survival rate (in a very small sample of only 35 patients).

Answer: He was in a high speed car crash in Paris

Trevor Rees-Jones was the bodyguard of Princess Diana of Wales on the fateful night where their driver, Henri Paul, oversped his vehicle while attempting to escape some intrusive photographers. The driver and Dodi Fayed, who was romantically involved with Diana at that time, were instantly killed, while Diana succumbed several hours later from internal chest injuries. Reese-Jones suffered critical injuries, primarily to his face, but recovered.

He was the only occupant wearing a sea belt.