March 26 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leonard Nimoy

The son of a Jewish barber of Russian descent, Leonard Simon Nimoy was born on March 26 1931 in Boston. He speaks fluent Yiddish and is active in the Jewish community.
It was Nimoy who invented both the Vulcan nerve pinch and the Vulcan salute and it's familiar intonation to 'live long and prosper'. He wrote two books about his 3-year stint as television's green-blooded alien, 'I am Not Spock', published in 1977, and 'I am Spock' in 1995. During the years between the two, Nimoy came to realize the significance of those three years on the rest of his life.
Of the alternatives, Nimoy and Shatner are almost exactly the same age -- William Alan Shatner was born just four days before Nimoy, but he is a Canadian from Montreal. Grace Nichols is the youngest of the four, born in 1932 in Robbins IL. The late Jackson DeForest Kelley was significantly older, born in Toccoa GA in 1920.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Sandra Day was born on March 26 1930 in El Paso, Texas. She served as a State senator in Arizona and became a member of the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1979. Two years later, President Reagan nominated her to succeed Justice Potter Stewart on the U.S. supreme Court, where she became the court's first ever female member.
O'Connor retired in January, 2006, when she was succeeded by the court's second Italian-American justice, Samuel Alto.

Answer: Tennessee Williams

Thomas Lanier Williams III was born on March 26 1911 in Columbus MS. He moved to New Orleans in his late 20s and changed his name to Tennessee, the state where his father was born. His most famous works were all written in period of less than 20 years ... 'The Glass Menagerie' was his first major play, in 1944. Three years later came 'A Streetcar Named Desire' for which he won the 1948 Pulitzer. 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' repeated this success in 1955. 'The Night of the Iguana' in 1961 was his last great success, although he continued writing right up until his death.

Indeed, his last play, 'A House Not Meant to Stand' was written in 1982 although it was not published until 2008. Of the alternatives, all four were winners of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Faulkner was another Mississippian, born in New Albany MS, but earlier, in 1897. Wilder was also born in 1897, in Madison WI. Miller was the youngest of the four, born in New York NY in 1915.

Answer: William Hague

The (then) 28-year old William Jefferson Hague was first elected to Parliament in a 1989 by-election, and he has been the member for the rural North Yorkshire constituency of Richmond (the Conservative Party's safest seat) ever since. He became a member of John Major's cabinet as the Secretary of State for Wales in 1995 and two years later took over from Major as party leader following the disastrous 1997 General Election result. Hague was, in turn, replaced after the unsuccessful 2001 election, by Iain Duncan Smith, and he returned to the backbenches.

In 2005, David Cameron appointed him as Shadow Foreign Secretary. Of the alternatives, all are younger than Hague. Cameron is a Londoner born in 1966. Johnson was born 1964 in New York City. Liam Fox is close to Hague in age, born just six months later, but he is a Scot from East Kilbride.

Answer: Diana Ross

Diana Ross, born in Detroit MI on March 26, 1944, was nominated for the 1972 Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Billie Holliday in 'Lady Sings the Blues'. She made her name as leader of The Supremes in the 1960s before launching her solo career in 1970. She was the first female solo artist to record six US #1 singles. Those added to the 12 #1 singles with The Supremes prompted the 'Guinness Book of Records' to name her as the 20th Century's most successful female recording artist.
Of the alternatives, all were singers who have been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar. Bette Middler, born just a year after Ross in 1945, was nominated for 'The Rose' in 1979. Liza Minnelli, born two years after Ross in 1946, was nominated for 'The Sterile Cuckoo' in 1969. Barbra Streisand, the oldest of the four, born in 1942, was nominated for 'The Way We Were' in 1973 having shared the award with Katherine Hepburn in 1968 for her performance in 'Funny Girl'.

Answer: Daffodil

The daffodil is the national flower of Wales, and it is traditional to wear a daffodil or a leek on the day of their national patron saint -- St Davids Day (March 1).
The daffodil is also widely used as decoration during Chinese New Year which falls in January or February. Also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring festival, it is a major holiday in many Asian countries.
The daffodil is the symbol of many cancer charities around the world.
The famous 1804 poem by William Wordsworth, 'I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud', is also known as 'The Daffodils'.
Of the alternatives, the violet is the birth flower for those born in February and the chrysanthemum is for November. The shamrock isn't anyone's birth flower, but is the national emblem of Ireland, whose patron saint, Patrick, is March 17. Sorry to anyone who fell for that red herring.

Answer: U.S.C.

Marcus LeMarr Allen was born on March 26, 1960 in San Diego CA. He played his college football at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In 1981, he became the first NCAA player ever to rush for more than 2,000 yards and he won the Heisman Trophy. USC retired his number (33) and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000.
As a die-hard member of 'The Great Raider Nation', I was a huge fan (partly because he was born on exactly the same day as I was) and it was a sad day in Raiders history when he left to join the evil Kansas City Chiefs.
Allen broke Walter Paytons's record of 110 rushing touchdowns and ended his career in 1997 with 123, although that mark was later eclipsed by Emmitt Smith (who retired with a remarkable 164). His 17,654 total yards (rushing and receiving) trailed only Payton when he retired, but again has been overtaken since. He was also the first player ever to rush for 10,000 yards and make 5,000 yards receiving.
Allen was the MVP of Superbowl XVIII in 1984, leading the Raiders to a 38-9 demolition of the Washington Redskins. In 1985, he was the League MVP. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton OH in 2003.

Answer: Bob Woodward

Robert (Bob) Upshur Woodward was born on March 26, 1943 in Geneva IL. As 'Washington Post' reporters, Woodward and Bernstein investigated the 1972 burglary of the Watergate building that ultimately led to the resignation of President Nixon. It was Woodward's best-selling book of 1974 that was subsequently adapted into the movie of the same name.
Of the alternatives, Carl Bernstein was played by Dustin Hoffman and 'Deep Throat' by Hal Holbrook.

Answer: Keira Knightley

Keira Christina Knightley was nominated for a 'Best Actress' Oscar in 2005 for her performance in Jane Austen's 'Pride & Prejudice'. Her film career took off with her portrayal of Jules Paxton in 'Bend it Like Beckham' and then as Elizabeth Swann in 'Pirates of the Caribbean', a role she reprized for both sequels.

Her first feature film appearance, though, was as Sabé, one of Natalie Portman's handmaidens in 'Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace'. That was in 1999 and by 2008 she was the only non-American in the list of Hollywood's highest paid actors -- the second-highest female on the list, after Cameron Diaz. Of the alternatives, Weisz, who won the 'Best Supporting Actress' award for 'The Constant Gardener' in 2005, is a Londoner, but older than Knightley by 15 years. Natalie Portman, nominated for 'Closer' in 2004, is only four years older than Knightly, but she was born in Jerusalem, Israel. Page, nominated for 'Juno' in 2007, is two years younger than Knightley, but she is a Canadian from Nova Scotia.

Answer: Bonn, Germany

Born in Bonn, Germany in 1770, Beethoven died in Vienna on March 26 1827 at the age of 56.

Other famous people born on March 26 include English poet A.E. Houseman (1859), King Faud I of Egypt (1868), English cricket Bill Edrich (1916), French composer Pierre Boullez (1925), actors Alan Arkin (1934) and James Caan (1940), American author Erica Yong (1942), singers Vicki Lawrence (1949) and Teddy Pendergrass (1950), Canadian comedian Martin Short (1950), actress Jennifer Grey (1960), and Australian rugby star Matt Burke (1973).
Other notable deaths include poet Walt Whitman (1892), explorer Cecil Rhodes (1902), actress Sarah Bernhardt (1923), British PM David Lloyd George (1945), novelist Raymond Chandler (1959), playwright Noel Coward (1973), and British PM James Callaghan (2005).