On This Day: II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fulgencio Batista

Fulgenico Batista fled the war torn country after failing to secure the support of the US in his struggle against the revolutionary forces of Castro. Castro who was 32, declared his victory by bringing in Manuel Urrutia as the new president of Cuba. Urrutia flew to Havana, which brought an end to the 25 month struggle against the hated Batista regime. Castro's ragged army had grown from a core of 81 guerrillas who also returned from exile in Mexico in 1956 to harry Batista's army from hideouts in the Sierra Maestra mountains. Castro had thousands turn out to celebrate the victory as mobs burned down casinos, the government newspaper buildings and other symbols of Batista's rule.

Answer: Nawab of Bengal

Calcutta was founded by the British East India Company, which bought the villages of Sutanati, Kalikata, and Govindapur in 1698. Its recapture by Clive was seen as essential to British prestige in India. Clive went to India as a clerk in 1743 and joined the company's army in 1747.

He was appointed lieutenant-governor of Fort St David, near Madras, in 1755. And led his troops to victory over the Nawab of Bengal in 1757. He reduced the French presence in India to a few trading posts and laid the foundation for 190 years of British rule.

Answer: Meiji

The beginning of the end for the Tokugawas, rulers for two centuries, came with a national humiliation in 1854 when, in a classic example of gunboat diplomacy, US Commodore Matthew Perry's warships forced Japan's proud lords to scrap their traditional policy of isolation. Japanese leaders backed the young emperor in the first move of their plan to transform the country into a world power within one generation.

A new government was formed in Tokyo to implement a policy of rapid industrialisation.

Answer: T.S Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot was a descendant of a distinguished New England family. Eliot studied at Harvard, the Sorbonne and Oxford. In 1914 he took up permanent residence in England, becoming a British subject in 1927. After making a living as a teacher and bank clerk, during his most creative period, Eliot finally found stability at the publishers Faber & Faber.

His most famous works were 'The Waste Land' and 'Four Quartets'.

Answer: Lon Nol

The Khmer Rouge advanced despite a massive economic and military aid effort from the United States to the Lon Nol government. North Vietnam and the Viet Cong helped the Khmer Rouge in their war against the government of Prince Norodom Sihanouk and Lon Nol.

The sanctuaries in the mountains of southern Cambodia had been subjected to severe bombing by US planes, but by 1970 the Khmer Rouge already controlled two thirds of Cambodia. Their leader was the shadowy figure Pol Pot who had joined Ho Chi Minh's Indochinese Communist party in the 1940s.

Answer: Sex Pistols

EMI could no longer handle the controversy and got rid of the British punk rock group the Sex Pistols with a £40,000 pay off.
The band had become famous to the masses when they appeared on the ITV evening programme 'Today' headed by Bill Grundy. The Pistols carried out a tirade of abusive language "Unsuitable for family viewing". Grundy retorted "They're foul mouthed yobs". It got the band on every front page in the country - and it also got Grundy suspended.

Answer: Calais

Calais was the first and last foothold for the English invaders. It had fallen in 1346, and was regained by the Duke of Guise in an operation that began on New Year's Day 1558. The English reverse ended years of warfare between France, England and Spain.

In 1346, after almost a year of siege by the English armies, six Calais leaders surrended themselves to avoid a massacre. The defeat was a big blow to Queen Mary Tudor, whose unpopular marriage to a Spanish prince provoked the war with France that led to defeat at Calais.

Answer: False

Rock idol Elvis Presley, on his 38th birthday, sued Priscilla, his wife of six years, for divorce. On the occasion he recorded a new single 'Separate Ways'. The lyrics were obviously based on the King's marriage break up.

Answer: Income Tax

The income tax of two shillings in the pound (10%) was seen as a very unpopular move to pay for the even more unpopular war with Napoleon's France. Pitt, Prime Minister since the age of 24, was a liberal reformer who revived Britain's economy following the American revolution, but the French Revolution had brought different pressures. War had turned Pitt the reformer into an oppressor, he enforced summary trials for trade unionists, banning and arresting radical workers, and total press censorship.

The new Income tax was being seen as part of the same unwelcome parcel.

Answer: Metropolitan

London's first underground railway, the Metropolitan, opened on this day in 1863 from Paddington to Farringdon Street, inaugurating a new era in city travel that helped much to clear the congested roads of carriages and pedestrians. Passengers were delighted with the new service, but some foresaw problems because of the smoke the trains spewed from their chimneys.