January 13th Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mother Goose

Yes, Mother Goose was a man! Charles Perrault was a wealthy French gentleman who became a lawyer and then turned to writing. His breakthrough work, "Stories or Tales from Times Past, with Morals: Tales of Mother Goose" (1697), is credited with popularizing the literary genre of the fairy tale. Among his most famous versions of fairy tales are "Blue Beard", "Sleeping Beauty on the Woods", "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Master Cat or Puss in Boots", "Cinderella", "Little Thumb", and "Donkey Skin".

Answer: Apple trees

Also called "Midwinter's Offering" or the "Ides of January". There's an old Christmas carol called "Here We Go A-Wassailing", which was probably sung by people when they wassailed.

Answer: Become a member of British House of Lords

Lord Satyendra Prassano Sinha (1863-1928) was a very influential figure in Indian politics. He was the first Indian to become the Advocate-General of Bengal in 1905, and also the first Indian to enter the Governor-General's Executive Council, in 1909.

In 1915 he became president of Bombay, and in 1919 entered the British peerage as Baron Sinha of Raipur. He retired for health reasons in 1921.

Answer: Richard Wagner

The opera "Parsifal" was first performed on July 26, 1882, at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Germanty. The opera, set in tenth-century Spain, was based on the medieval epic poem "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach. It took Wagner four years to complete the score.

Answer: Frisbee

The now-ubiquitous flying disk was first called the "Pluto Platter" to cater to Americans' fascination with outer space. However, in 1958, it was remodelled into the Frisbee we all know and love. By the way, the founders of the Wham-O company were Arthur "Spud" Melin and Richard Knerr.

Answer: Nancy Kerrigan

Who could forget the infamous incident in which figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was whacked on the knee at practice for the Olympics trials in Detroit on January 6, 1994? The 24-year-old skater, favored to win gold at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehamer, Norway, was leaving the Cobo Arena when an "unknown assailant" rushed up and smacked her on the right knee with a "blunt object".

The investigation came to a head on January 13, after an incriminating tape recording was found on which Jeff Gillooly, Tonya Harding's husband, and her bodyguard Shawn Eric Eckardt allegedly discussed a plot to injure Kerrigan.

While Harding at first professed her ignorance of these plots, she later admitted otherwise and was placed on three years' probation and fined $160,000.

The other three conspirators were not so lucky; Gillooly was sentenced to two years in prison, while Shawn Eckardt, Shane Stant, and Derrick Smith each received 18 months.

Answer: Spenser

Edmund Spenser's first major work, "Shepheardes Calender" (1579), is considered by many to be the first work of the English literary Renaissance. He is best known, however, for his allegorical tribute to England and Queen Elizabeth I, "The Faerie Queene", the first part of which was published in 1590.

The poem was composed in a revolutionary nine-line stanzaic pattern, the "Spenserian stanza", that was used by many later poets. It is considered one of the greatest poems of the English language.

Answer: Jupiter

In Greek mythology, Callisto was a nymph and hunting partner of Artemis. Galileo discovered the four largest of Jupiter's moons (Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto) with his homemade telescope in January of 1610. (Hence, these are known as the "Galilean moons"). On January 13, he spotted Callisto, Jupiter's second-largest moon.

In case you were wondering, Jupiter has a total of 63 moons, with Ganymede being the largest.

Answer: Lyndon Johnson's

Hubert Horatio Humphrey, born in South Dakota in 1911, held such titles as campaign manager for Franklin D. Roosevelt and mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota, before he served as Lyndon Johnson's Vice President from 1965 to 1969. After his term as VP ended, he ran for President in 1968 but lost to Richard Nixon. He died of cancer at age 67.

Answer: Minnesota North Stars

Masterson, the North Stars' center, was checked into the boards during a game against the Oakland Seals and died 48 hrs later. Like most hockey players, he did not wear a helmet. It was not until the 1979-80 season that helmets were made mandatory. The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, is given each year to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to the game of hockey. By the way, two NHL goalies, Nikolai Khabibulin and Kelly Hrudy, were also born on January 13.