Our Dumb Century Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1963

This of course refers to the Kennedy assassination in Dallas in November 1963. Just who the perpetrators of this crime are remains a subject of fierce debate but "The Onion" simply claims that there were 43 assassins (including one 'lone nut' in the Texas Book Depository) who fired 129 shots.

Kennedy was succeeded as President later that day by Lyndon Johnson who, the paper claims, 'vows to honor Kennedy's memory by taking a plump young mistress'.

Answer: 1975

The war in Vietnam came to an end with the fall of Saigon on April 30th 1975 and the subsequent surrender by the South Vietnamese. This precipitated a mass evacuation of the city by South Vietnamese and Americans.

Answer: Titanic - 1912

RMS Titanic, rightly described by "The Onion" as a 'representation of man's hubris', sank in the North Atlantic in April 1912 with the loss of approximately 1,500 lives (the official UK and US figures for the number of dead differ).

The White Star company built the ship as competition to the Lusitania which was owned by rival company, Cunard. The Lusitania itself was sunk in May 1915 by a German U-boat.

Answer: 1957

The achievement of Sputnik in being the first satellite to go into geocentric orbit around the earth, on October 4, 1957, was a surprise to the Americans who immediately upped their spending on the space program in order to catch and then surpass the Soviet Union.

Whilst many of the firsts in the space race were achieved by the Soviets (first animal in space (Laika), first human in space (Yuri Gagarin)), the US achieved the ultimate aim by landing the first men on the moon in 1969.

Answer: 1917

The October revolution saw the Bolsheviks, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin, take power in Russia and was the beginning of a five year civil war which culminated in the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922.

The October revolution overthrew the provisional government who had taken power after the Tsar Nicholas II's abdication following the February 1917 revolution.

Answer: 1989

The Wall separated East and West Berlin for 28 years from the beginning of its construction in August 1961 to the removal of travel restrictions from East to West in November 1989. The 'official' dismantling of the Wall by the East German authorities began in June 1990, but most of it had already been destroyed by then.

Answer: 1903

This is of course in reference to the first manned flight by Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903.

"The Onion" also reports that as a consequence of this first flight, "Army contemplates formation of separate 'Flying Contraption Force" as "flying mounted horsemen" could be a formidable line of defence.

Answer: 1984

In 1984, reports on the BBC News in the UK showed the devastating effects of a major famine combined with ongoing civil war in Ethiopia. Watching these reports was a certain Bob Geldof who was inspired to raise money in whatever way he could. And so 'Band Aid' was born. Amongst the performers on Band Aid's single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" were Adam Clayton and Bono of U2, then only a moderately successful Irish band.

Answer: 1931

The headline refers to the fact that despite being rated public enemy number one for his running of prostitution and alcohol rackets and being suspected of undertaking or organising the murder of several men, most notably at the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre", Capone was eventually convicted for income tax evasion and sent to prison for twelve and a half years (he served six and a half) - a sentence that effectively ended his criminal career.

Answer: Treaty of Versailles - 1919

Whilst the headline describes it as a 'world governing body', The League of Nations was not such a body but was actually an international peace and humanitarian organization founded as part of the Treaty of Versailles which officially declared peace between the Allied Powers and Germany after the end of World War I.

The primary objective of the League was to enable disarmament and prevent war which the events of 1931-45 demonstrated it was ultimately incapable of doing. It was succeeded at the end of World War II by the United Nations Organisation.

The San Francisco Peace Treaty formally declared peace between Japan and the World War II allies. The Treaty of Rome established the European Economic Community.