On the First Day of Christmas.... Quiz

Answer: Clovis I

Clovis I (c. 466-511) is considered the first King of the Frankish realm, as opposed to a tribal leader. Although most of his period of rule was over the Salian Franks (481-509), for the last two years of his life he was king of all of the Franks. He established the Merovingian Dynasty which would (at least formally) rule the Frankish kingdom until the eighth century. By the 490s, Clovis was becoming more interested in and receptive to Christianity. However, he was uncertain about whether he should adopt Arian Christianity--actually more common in the Frankish Empire at the time--or Nicene Christianity (Catholicism). Simply put, Arian Christians viewed Jesus as separate and lesser than God the Father and Nicene Christians viewed Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit as three aspects of one being (and therefore equal). The influence of his wife, Clotilde (474-545), already a Catholic, ultimately helped Clovis choose to convert to Nicene Christianity in about 496. He was be baptized by Remigius (437-533), Bishop of Reims. Different historical records sometimes suggest different years, although they do generally state the baptism occurred on Christmas.

Mieszko I (Poland), Olaf I (Norway), and Ethelbert (Kent/England) were each the first Christian king of their respective country, but each was not born until after the death of St. Remigius.

Answer: William of Normandy

William I (1027-1087), known as William the Conqueror, and also by a nickname referring to his illegitimate birth, ruled England from 1066 until his death and the Duchy of Normandy in France from 1035 to his death. He was the first cousin, once removed of Edward the Confessor.

When Edward died he named his brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, as his successor. William's supporters claimed that Harold had previously promised to support William's claims, a statement disputed by Harold's supporters.

The two men met in battle at Hastings on October 14, 1066, where Harold was killed (traditionally said by an arrow through the eye). The Witenagemot (traditional advisory council of the Anglo-Saxons) nominated Edgar as successor to Harold, who largely did not pursue this claim. William was crowned in Westminster Abbey, London, which was built on the site of a previous abbey under the patronage of Edward the Confessor. (The modern Westminster Abbey appeared in several stages between the 13th and 18th centuries.)

Answer: Francis of Assisi

Francis (1181/2-1226), born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women's Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land. Canonized less than two years after his death, Francis was known for his love of nature, preaching to animals on several occasions. Francis's live Nativity was relatively simple with an ox and a donkey to either side of a manger to allow viewers to contemplate the Nativity with a direct visual aid. In addition to being the patron saint of animals, Francis is also the patron saint of ecology and Italy.

While Thomas, Leo, and Pancras were also saints from Italy, the latter two lived several centuries previous to 1223 and Thomas would not be born until 1225.

Answer: Santa Maria

Christopher Columbus (c. 1450-1506) may be best known for his 1492 voyage to the Western Hemisphere. Traditionally described as "discovering" the Americas, Columbus may be better described as initiating permanent contact between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. On the evening of the 24th, in a calm sea, a young crew member was left at the wheel. Water currents directed the ship onto a sandbar and then the reef where it sank the next day. Timbers from the ship were salvaged to build a fort (called La Navidad) which would be manned by some of the men from the crew. The full name of the ship was La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción (The Holy Mary of the Immaculate Conception). Though Columbus directed the voyage as a whole, the Santa Maria was actually under the direct command of Juan de la Costa.

The Nina and the Pinta were the two other ships in the fleet for Columbus's 1492 voyage. The Victoria was one of the ships from the Spanish circumnavigation of the world led by Ferdinand Magellan.

Answer: Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton (1642-1726/7) is often considered one of the most influential scientists of all time. He was one of the developers of calculus. He described the three laws of motion. He made significant discoveries in the field of optics. He discovered the law of gravity. He was a Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Outside of science, he served two terms in Parliament and spent three decades as director of the Royal Mint. Newton is said to have developed his thoughts on gravity in part from observing an apple drop from a tree.

Edmond Halley, William Harvey, and Charles Darwin were other distinguished English scientists.

Answer: Celsius

Anders Celsius (1701-1744) was a Professor of Astronomy at Uppsala University in Sweden. He proposed a Centigrade scale for measuring temperature where 0 degrees would represent the temperature at which water would freeze and 100 degrees would represent the temperature at which water would boil. He presented this idea to the Royal Society of Sciences in Sweden. In 1948, the Centigrade scale was renamed the Celsius scale. In addition, he published several papers related to astronomy.

Fahrenheit and Kelvin are other temperature scales, while Imperial is sometimes used to refer to traditional English measurements such as foot, pound, or gallon.

Answer: Delaware River

Conditions were dire for the Continental Army in December 1776. The Army had suffered a string of defeats in the second half of 1776. The enlistment of many of the soldiers was due to expire at the end of 1776. The Battle of Trenton, where the Continental Army suffered a handful of losses while capturing approximately 1,000 Hessian mercenaries did much to bolster the flagging confidence of the Continental Army and convince many of soldiers to re-enlist. The crossing of the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey occured on the night of December 25-26. From there, the army marched on Trenton, several miles to the south along the Delaware River.

The Hudson River is in New York state. The Connecticut River is in New England. The Potomac River lies on the border between Maryland and Virginia.

Answer: Jamaica

Led by Samuel Sharpe, a black Baptist preacher, it is estimated that the revolt involved about 60,000 of the approximately 300,000 slaves in Jamaica at the time. Casualties were about 14 whites and 207 people of African descent. It is believed that the Jamaican government and individual planters executed about 300 additional slaves after the rebellion ended. It is thought that this rebellion pushed forward the time table on the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833.

Barbados, the Bahamas, and Trinidad and Tobago were three other British colonies in the Caribbean.

Answer: Apollo 8

Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968, and landed on December 27, 1968. Frank Bowman, James Lovell, and William Anders were the crew. It was the second manned mission in the Apollo program. The mission was the first to leave the Earth's gravity, as the astronauts flew to, but did not land on, the moon. They were, however, the first humans to witness an Earthrise (and take a picture of the same). The broadcast from the astronauts actually occurred the day before on December 24. The astronauts began by saying: "We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you." Next they recited Genesis 1:1-10 (King James Translation). They then concluded with: "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas - and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

The Mercury program ran from 1959 to 1963 (with manned missions from 1961 to 1963). The Gemini program ran from 1961 to 1966 (with missions in 1965 and 1966). There was not a "Skylab" program per se, but Skylab the space station was in orbit from 1973 to 1979.

Answer: Soviet Union

The position of President of the Soviet Union only existed from March 1990 to December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only individual to hold the position. Following an attempted coup against Gorbachev by Soviet hardliners, all of the republics still part of the Soviet Union had one by one declared independence. The Soviet Union itself was formally dissolved on December 26.

Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia also broke up in the early 1990s. All three incorrect choices were once ruled by Communist governments.