Mists of Pop History Trivia Quiz

Answer: The early 1580s

So, these 'famous last words' seem to be an English Elizabethan invention and predate the Bard's play by only a few years. There's no classical source whatsoever for them. Nevertheless, they are often quoted as if Julius Caesar actually said them.

Answer: August Caesar

Many popular English-language reference works perpetuate the myth that he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. That title was not used till much later - 1254, in fact. More importantly, there is a lack of continuity between Charlemagne's empire and the immediate forerunner of the first Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, who was crowned in 962.

It is widely assumed that the reason for not crowning Charlemagne emperor of any specific entity was an attempt to avoid unnecessary friction with Byzantium.

Answer: The rule of law

Few documents are surrounded by more myths than Magna Carta, and many later developments are mistakenly said to be included in it. The key provisions that benefited future generations were the establishment of the principle that the king had to act within the law and the importance of due process.

Much of the mythology surrounding Magna Carta stems from the early years of the Stuart dynasty when the English parliament was trying to justify its stand against James I and Charles I. One of the leading mythologizers was Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634), who wrote the Petition of Right (1628) and played a key part in securing its approval by Parliament.

He used Magna Carta and popular myths about pre-Norman England to try to limit the powers of the monarchy.

Answer: The earliest claim that she said either dates from 1843

In other words, the earliest record of this allegation dates from 50 years after Marie Antoinette's execution! There is no recorded mention of it at her trial or in her lifetime, or during the French Revolution or the next few decades. Whether Rousseau coined the expression is in any case irrelevant as there would have been nothing to stop her re-using the phrase.

Answer: No

The 'Great Inflation' in Germany was a phenomenon of the early 1920s, especially 1922-23. The currency was stabilized (with much difficulty) in November 1923 by creating a new currency and adopting stringent deflationary measures. For a few months the two currencies circulated side by side, but in a locked (that is, completely fixed) conversion rate. If you find that hard to believe look at German banknotes and stamps with hyperinflated face values online: just see if you can find any from the early 1930s. It was the Great Depression and *deflation* that helped Hitler to power.

Having said all that, obviously the 'Great Inflation' of the early 1920s seriously undermined confidence in the young republic and in the eyes of some Germans strengthened the view that democracy was a disaster.

Answer: The U.S. didn't declare war on Germany till April 1917

It is odd that people so readily overlook the fact that there was a 23 month interval between the sinking of the Lusitania and the U.S. declaration of war on Germany: it would be very strange indeed to have a gap of this length between a "casus belli" and a declaration of war. Rather, it seems the sinking of the Lusitania began to swing American public opinion against Germany.

Most historians regard Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic as the most immediate "casus belli".

"Casus belli" is a Latin expression meaning "case for [not cause of] war", usually in the sense of a specific incident.

Answer: False

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1628 under a royal charter. The Mayflower Pilgrims had already founded a colony of their own at Plymouth in Massachusetts (without a royal charter). In 1691 the two colonies merged to form the (colonial) Province of Massachusetts Bay. (The merger also involved various other areas and several territorial claims, some of which were not fully resolved till the nineteenth century).

Answer: Britain was not represented at the Messina Conference

Britain had in fact already pulled out of the previous phase of the negotiations. The interesting thing is that the story about Bretherton saying something frosty at the end of the conference is widely believed - so much so that the expression 'The Bretherton Syndrome' is used to describe British ambivalence towards the EEC and its various successors.

Russell Bretherton himself was in fact in favour of Britain joining the emerging EEC.

Answer: Stalin and Mussolini were firmly in power before the start of the Great Depression

The statement shows an astonishing disregard for chronology - and completely undermines the point about cause and effect that the commentator was presumably trying to make. It can be plausibly argued that the Great Depression played a key role in Hitler's rise to power. Mussolini came to office in 1922 and had succeeded in consolidating his dictatorship by about 1926. In the case of Stalin it is not possible to give an exact date, but by 1927-28 at the latest he had established a firm grip on the Soviet Union.

There's another point, too. The Soviet Union was not directly affected by the Great Depression. It appeared to maintain full employment in the 1930s and this was something that won it admiration among some in the West.

Answer: It was already well known that the earth is spherical

The fact that the world is spherical had been proposed by Pythagoras and accepted by many ancient Greeks and was well known among mariners and others, so it didn't need proving. In any case, the purpose of Christopher Columbus' voyage wasn't scientific, but to find a new trade route to the East Indies, and that is why the Spanish monarchy provided funding for the expedition.

Washington Irving is widely, and perhaps unfairly blamed for this myth. Despite glorification of the Middle Ages in the 19th century it was still widely taken for granted that medieval people were woefully ignorant and so the story was readily believed.

It was precisely because it was known that the earth is spherical that it made sense to see if a new route could be established by sailing westwards. What made the venture very risky was that it was not known how far one would have to sail westwards before reaching land - and fresh water and food.