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Infamous Executions Trivia Quiz

This quiz takes on a journey through the ages and asks questions about the not so good, the bad and the very bad. All of whom were sentenced to the death penalty. See how much you know about this motley brigade.

A multiple-choice quiz by nickdrew55. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
nickdrew55

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
344,790

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
1421

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What was the name of the German Foreign Minister throughout World War II who was hanged for war crimes in 1946? He was the first man found guilty at The Nuremberg Trials to be executed. Hint

Martin Bormann

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Heinrich Himmler

Hermann G�ring

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Question 2 of 10

2. How, on December 30th, 2006 was Saddam Hussein executed? Hint

Lethal injection

Firing squad

Electrocution

Hanging

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Question 3 of 10

3. In 1967 Ronald Ryan became the last person to be legally executed in which British Commonwealth country? Hint

Australia

Malaysia

Canada

Singapore

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Question 4 of 10

4. Which of King Henry VIII's wives was the last to be beheaded? Hint

Catherine Howard

Catherine Parr

Anne of Cleves

Katherine Swynford

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Question 5 of 10

5. American lawyer Charles Julius Guiteau was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882, for the murder of whom? Hint

William McKinley

James A. Garfield

Chester Arthur

Winfield S. Hancock

6. Which English author, lawyer, social philosopher, and statesman was beheaded at the behest of Henry VIII in 1535 for refusing to accept the king as the Supreme Head of the Church of England? Hint

Thomas More

Thomas Wolsey

Samuel Johnson

William Tyndale

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Question 7 of 10

7. What was the name of the British teenager hanged for the murder of a police officer, in 1952? He was executed despite the fact it was his accomplice sixteen year old Christopher Craig who was the person believed to have fired the fatal shot. Hint

Timothy John Evans

Derek William Bentley

Henry John Burnett

Frederick Henry Seddon

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Question 8 of 10

8. Murderers Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas executed in 1962 are in the history books for what reason? Hint

Killing the most people in the USA in a single day

First recognised terrorist murders

The last Britons to be executed by firing squad

Last legal executions in Canada

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Question 9 of 10

9. Nicolae Ceausescu was the head of state in which European country from 1967 until he was overthrown and executed along with his wife in 1989? Hint

Hungary

Romania

Finland

Moldovia

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Question 10 of 10

10. Elmo Patrick Sonnier, a convicted rapist and murderer was executed by electrocution at Louisiana State Penitentiary in 1984. Sonnier's story is told in which Academy Award winning film of 1995 starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn? Hint

The Green Mile

Just Cause

Pierrepoint

Dead Man Walking

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What was the name of the German Foreign Minister throughout World War II who was hanged for war crimes in 1946? He was the first man found guilty at The Nuremberg Trials to be executed.

Answer: Joachim von Ribbentrop

Joachim von Ribbentrop was found guilty of all charges at Nuremberg and was the first to be hanged. Hermann G�ring was scheduled to be the first, but he committed suicide hours before he took his place at the gallows. Martin Bormann, was missing and was sentenced to death in absentia.

Heinrich Himmler never made it to trial as he also committed suicide after being arrested by British forces.

2. How, on December 30th, 2006 was Saddam Hussein executed?

Answer: Hanging

In November 2006, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death by hanging for the killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites in 1982. He was hanged at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base north of Baghdad.

3. In 1967 Ronald Ryan became the last person to be legally executed in which British Commonwealth country?

Answer: Australia

On February 3rd 1967 Ronald Joseph Ryan became the last person in Australia to be executed, when he was hanged in Pentridge Prison in Coburg, Victoria - a fitting venue, as his crime of murdering a prison officer took place whilst he was attempting to escape from the very same Pentridge Prison in 1965.

4. Which of King Henry VIII's wives was the last to be beheaded?

Answer: Catherine Howard

Catherine Howard was Henry's fifth wife. She was executed for her alleged adultery with Thomas Culpepper, a courtier of Henry VIII's. It's generally believed that one of the last things she said before her death was, "I die a Queen, but I'd rather die the wife of Culpepper."

5. American lawyer Charles Julius Guiteau was executed by hanging on June 30, 1882, for the murder of whom?

Answer: James A. Garfield

Charles Guiteau shot the twentieth President of the USA James Garfield at point blank range with a pistol inside Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, Washington, D.C., as the President was about to leave for his summer vacation. James Garfield served only a little over six months in office.

6. Which English author, lawyer, social philosopher, and statesman was beheaded at the behest of Henry VIII in 1535 for refusing to accept the king as the Supreme Head of the Church of England?

Answer: Thomas More

Thomas More was initially sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, but Henry VIII later commuted this to execution by decapitation. More was 57 years old.

Answer: Derek William Bentley

Derek Bentley's case has become something of a cause c�l�bre over the years, and there were doubts as to whether the infamous cry of "Let him have it, Chris" by Bentley to Craig was an order to shoot or whether it meant that he should hand over the gun. Craig escaped the death penalty because he was underage. Bentley's conviction was finally quashed in 1998.

The Court of Appeal found that the original summing-up by Lord Chief Justice Goddard was unfair and that Goddard (a notorious hanging judge) had put pressure on the jury to convict.

8. Murderers Ronald Turpin and Arthur Lucas executed in 1962 are in the history books for what reason?

Answer: Last legal executions in Canada

Lucas was convicted of the murder of an undercover narcotics agent from Detroit. Turpin was found guilty of the murder of a Toronto police officer who stopped his car while he was making a getaway from a nearby robbery. The pair were put to death by hanging. Capital punishment for murder in Canada was abolished in 1976.

9. Nicolae Ceausescu was the head of state in which European country from 1967 until he was overthrown and executed along with his wife in 1989?

Answer: Romania

It is generally believed that Ceausescu was the orchestrater of the most severe Stalinist regime in the whole of the Soviet bloc. After a brief drumhead court martial Ceausescu and his wife were executed for offences ranging from illegal wealth to genocide. Since the 1989 Revolution, Romania has maintained an ever increasing economic recovery.

Answer: Dead Man Walking

Tim Robbins directed "Dead Man Walking" and adapted the screenplay from the non-fiction book of the same name by Helen Prejean. Susan Sarandon plays the part of Sister Prejean who forms a unique relationship with death row prisoner Matthew Poncelet (the character of Elmo Patrick Sonnier) played by Sean Penn.

Source: Author nickdrew55

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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