May 31st Trivia Quiz

Answer: Coventry

Contrary to common belief, Lady Godiva rode through Coventry sometime in the middle of the 11th century, not in 1678. Her husband Leofric, lord of Coventry, had placed heavy taxes on the city. She protested, and he told her that the only way he'd reduce taxes was if she rode through all the streets of the city naked. According to legend, she did, and taxes were reduced.

Answer: Clint Eastwood

Born in San Francisco, California, his first major hit was "A Fistful of Dollars" in 1964, which started all of the 'spaghetti westerns'. Since then he has starred in, directed and produced tens of movies including "Dirty Harry" (and 4 sequels), "Play Misty For Me", "In The Line Of Fire", "The Good The Bad and The Ugly", "Unforgiven", "The Bridges of Madison County", among many others.

Answer: Second Boer War

The Treaty of Vereeniging was ratified in Pretoria putting an end to the Second Boer War. In total, casualties were about 7,500 for the British, and over 4,000 for the Boers. The South African Boers put up a guerrilla war from September of 1900 to May of 1902, but were constantly pushed back by the overwhelming British forces.

Answer: integration

After years of struggle for civil rights, the Supreme Court ordered school integration between blacks and whites "with all deliberate speed". The US Supreme Court upheld their ruling from May 17th, 1954, the famous 'Brown v. Topeka Board of Education' case.

In response, the Governor of Arkansas deployed the National Guard to prevent the integration of black students into Little Rock Central High School, to which President 'Ike' Eisenhower's response was to send in federal troops.

Answer: South Africa

The Union of South Africa was created on May 31st, 1910, and was recognized as a sovereign state in 1932. Afrikaner resentment at criticism by Britain (and other Commonwealth countries) of its policy of apartheid led to a referendum calling for secession from the Commonwealth, and South Africa became a republic on May 31st 1961.

Answer: Walt Whitman

Born in West Hills, New York, Whitman was known for his unorthodox poetry, free from rhythms or rhymes. Born in New York and buried in New Jersey, Walt Whitman published many things that showed his views on the US Civil War, sexuality, and onanism, and influenced many future poets.

Answer: North Sea

The only major sea battle of World War I, the battle of Jutland was fought in the freezing North Sea. Many ships were lost on both the British and the German fleets. Although the British lost more ships, their fleet remained mostly intact whereas the German fleet would stay mainly at port during the rest of the war.

Unfortunately, the main contribution to the loss of life was the freezing cold, and many sailors simply froze to death before they could be plucked out of the icy waters.

Answer: Corn flakes

He had accidentally left a pot of boiled wheat to stand. After rolling the soaked wheat and baking it, the grains became crisp and light - Corn Flakes! Everyone's favourite breakfast treat.

Answer: 1578

Roman laborers led by Antonio Bosio unearthed a sepulchral chamber by accident when digging for pozzolana earth in Rome. Excavations ensued and the entire catacombs were unearthed and opened to the world.

Answer: Seinfeld

Though the pilot was aired on July 5th, 1989, the series debuted in 1990 on May 31st. Originally, it was called "The Seinfeld Chronicles" and was described by Jerry Seinfeld as "the show about nothing". It ran for five episodes but returned in January 1991 and became a hit. It ran until 1998 and was the most awaited for finale at the time.

Answer: The Who

They put out 76,000 watts of power at 120 decibels... The "Guinness Book of World Records" dubbed it "the loudest concert ever". Nobody in the crowd of 60,000 came home without a ringing in their ears.

Answer: Peru

The earthquake that hit Yungay, Peru, was over 7.9 on the Richter scale. Its epicentre was located off the coast in the Pacific Ocean, and it lasted for a grand total of 45 seconds. It killed over 66,000 people (by some estimates) and injured over 140,000! The earthquake, dubbed the "Ancash earthquake", triggered a landslide that buried the town of Yungay. Only 400 people survived from that town.

Answer: Israel

It was the first and only time the death penalty has been used in Israel. He was caught in a daring raid by the Mossad in Argentina, and was brought to Israel to stand trial. In his trial, his main line of defence was "I was only doing my job..."

Answer: Franz Josef Haydn

Haydn studied Philipp Emanuel Bach as a student of music, studied with Mozart (and recognized Mozart as being the greatest composer living or dead) and tutored Beethoven, although not successfully.

Answer: Ford Model T car

After 15,007,003 vehicles rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, Michigan, the model was discontinued. Amazingly, the model was produced from 1908 to 1927 and you can bet that they all were black. Top speed on one of these "Tin Lizzies" was about 70 kph (45 mph) and the engine was also capable of running on ethanol (yes, you could "fill 'er up" with whiskey and she'd still run).

It had a revolutionary predecessor to an automatic transmission, having no clutch pedal.