Myth, Legend, Fact Trivia Quiz

Answer: Roman

Arthur ruled around 500 AD in the area now called Wales. It is claimed he was originally from Roman descent and a Roman centurion and restored order in some parts of Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire. He died in 515 at the battle of Camlann, although some historians claim the battle only took place as late as 536.

Answer: Victor Verster in Paarl

Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in November 1962 and started his prison years in the notorious Robben Island Prison, a maximum security prison on a small island 7 km off the coast near Cape Town. In April 1984 he was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town and in December 1988 he was moved the Victor Verster Prison near Paarl from where he was eventually released.

Answer: The Irish

Prior to the 12th century, only a few Pictish and Irish stone carvings record the continued existence of bagpipes during this time.

The time in which bagpipes were first introduced to the British Isles is debatable. Statues of bagpipers in Roman era found in archaeological digs in England suggest the probability of Roman introduction. Ireland has references going back at least to the Middle Ages.

Answer: Psychic and faith healer

Although he was most famous for a rumoured affair with the Russian Tsarina, he was actually a faith healer who helped to heal the son of of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexander. He is often wrongly referred to as a priest.

Answer: False

It would be quite difficult for the Titanic to be screening "The Poseidon Adventure" silent or otherwise as the Titanic sank in 1912 but Paul Gallico didn't write the book until 1969. Thanks to Dusty who pointed this out!

Answer: False

He was actually right handed. A famous old picture depicting Billy with a rifle in his right hand and his gun belt with holster on his left side led to the belief that he was left handed. It was later discovered that the picture was actually a reverse image.

Answer: Yorkshire

In popular culture Robin Hood and his band's tales are usually associated with the area Sherwood Forest and Nottinghamshire, though most historians point towards him being a Yorkshireman. Historically his birthplace is said to be Loxley in South Yorkshire,while his grave is at Kirklees Priory in West Yorkshire.

While the Sheriff of Nottingham and the town itself appear in early ballads, and Sherwood is specifically mentioned in the early ballad "Robin Hood and the Monk", many of the original ballads (even those with Nottingham references) locate Robin in Barnsdale (the area between Pontefract and Doncaster), some fifty miles north of Sherwood, in Yorkshire.

Answer: Sperm Whale

Two actual events inspired Melville's tale. One was the sinking of the Nantucket whaling ship Essex, which foundered in 1820 after it was attacked and repeatedly rammed by an 80-ton sperm whale 2,000 miles (3,700 km) from the western coast of South America.

The other event was the alleged killing in the 1830s of the albino sperm whale Mocha Dick, a name derived from his home in the waters off the Chilean island of Mocha. Riddled with dozens of harpoons from his numerous escapes from whalers, Mocha Dick often attacked ships with ferocity.

Answer: False

According to Eutropius, around sixty or more men participated in the assassination, including Brutus. He was stabbed 23 times. According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal.

Answer: Octavian (Augustus)

Popular belief has it that Julius Caesar was the first Roman Emperor. He was however the last Consul of the Roman Republic. After 3 Civil wars, the final civil war, culminating in Antony and Cleopatra's defeat at Actium, resulted in the ascendancy of Octavian, who became the first Roman emperor, under the name Caesar Augustus. In 42 BC, Caesar was formally deified as Divus Iulius, and Caesar Augustus henceforth became Divi filius ("Son of a god").