Seeing Via Television Trivia Quiz

Answer: O.J. Simpson

O. J. Simpson was well known for his exploits on the the American football scene and for his marriage to Nicole Brown. By June of 1994, Simpson and Brown were apart. On June 13 of that year, Brown and a friend, Ron Goldman, were found stabbed to death outside her home in Los Angeles. Simpson was in LA that day, but took a late night flight to Chicago. He returned the next day and was interviewed by police, although at that stage he was not arrested.

On June 17, Brown was ordered by state prosecutors to surrender to police. He refused and fled in a car driven by his friend, Al Cowlings. Police were soon on their tail - as were the media. From helicopters, cameras captured a slow-speed "chase" through southern California. It is estimated that 95 million watched the live broadcast.

The following year, the trial of Simpson was broadcast on television. He was acquitted, even though most people felt he was guilty. In 1997, a civil court found Simpson liable for liable for death of and battery and he was ordered to pay $33m damages. The rise and downfall of "the juice" has been well documented and there are numerous sources of information, should you wish more.

* Disclaimer: The three wrong answers were all also gridiron footballers. There is no suggestion that they were in anyway involved in the matters recorded above, or any criminal activity.

Answer: Christa McAuliffe

Denver had applied to be on the first citizen's trip on the shuttle and had passed rigorous physical tests. Instead, it was schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe who was chosen.

Challenger had already undergone nine trips into space when, on January 28, 1986, the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after liftoff. All seven crew members died. They were Sharon "Christa" McAuliffe; Payload Specialist Gregory Jarvis; Mission Specialist Judy Resnik; Commander Dick Scobee; Mission Specialist Ronald McNair; Pilot Michael Smith; and Mission Specialist Ellison Onizuka.

Answer: Horse-drawn gun carriage

On August 31, 1997, Diana, Princess of Wales, was fatally injured in a traffic collision in Paris. Two others in the car with her died, one survived. Often dubbed "the peoples' princess' there was a huge outpouring of grief for Diana. Her funeral took place on September 6. It is estimated that 31 million people in the UK tuned in to the live television coverage. The signal was also broadcast live in 45 countries to an estimated 2.5 billion people.

On the day, her remains were taken from the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace, on a horse-drawn gun carriage to Westminster Abbey. It was accompanied by mounted soldiers from the Queen's Welsh Guards and mounted officers from the Metropolitan Police. Her sons, William and Harry, along with her brother the Earl Spencer, former-husband, Prince Charles, and his father, Prince Phillip joined the cortege on foot. The service was broadcast live, as was the journey by hearse to her childhood home Althorp Park, where she was interred on an island on the ornamental lake.

Answer: London and Philadelphia

The concerts were the idea of Bob Geldof and Midge Ure. Some 75 solo singers and bands took part in the two concerts, raising $127 million. The London show at Wembley Stadium was officially opened by the Prince and Princess of Wales. Other singers gathered at the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia.

Answer: Tommy Cooper

Many people thought it was part of his act when Tommy Cooper collapsed during the variety show "Live From Her Majesty's". It soon became clear that something was terribly wrong. Cooper, aged 63, had suffered a fatal heart attack.

Tommy Cooper was born in Wales but grew up in England. At the age of five he was given a magic set and became obsessed with it. Did he ever become proficient at it? People have differing views. Some say he was a great magician, others argue his ability was poor. Regardless of that, while working as an apprentice he was asked to perform some magic tricks in the canteen. Magically, it was a disaster.

He later said: "I did everything wrong. But the audience loved it. The more I panicked and made a mess of everything, the more they laughed. I came off and cried, but five minutes later I could still hear the sound of the laughter in my ears and was thinking maybe there's a living to be made here."

After service in WW2, performing became his profession and by the early 1950s he had his own TV series. For all his success on stage and in front of the camera, Cooper's personal life was not a happy one. He drank heavily and had relationship problems. Chronic alcoholism was diagnosed after a heart attack in 1977. Many years Cooper's friend and fellow comedian Jimmy Tarbuck - who had been on the same bill that fateful night - said "There are men who tell funny jokes... and there are men who simply are funny, and that was Tommy Cooper - Tom had funny bones. He was the comedian's comedian."

Answer: Flight 175 hitting south tower of World Trade Centre

On the morning of September 11, 2001, television stations across north America became aware that an airliner had struck one of the World Trade Centre towers in New York City. While they were broadcasting the effects of that crash into the north tower, they captured live on air a second plane hitting the south tower. At first commentators had been working off the assumption that the first crash was an accident. The impact of Flight 175 into the south tower dispelled those assumptions.

-- American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the north Tower at 08:46:40 local time.
-- At 09:02:57, Flight 175 crashed into the south tower.
-- At 09:37:46, Flight 91 crashed into the Pentagon building in Washington DC.
-- At 10:03:1, Flight 93 crashed into the ground in Pennsylvania as passengers grappled with hijackers in the cockpit.

It is thought that 2,977 people in the planes and on the ground died, along with 19 hijackers. Thousands more were injured on the ground. Many of the emergency responders carried the physical and psychological effects for years to follow.

Answer: USA

The footage was shot by NBC News. For some time before the events of November 9, it had become clear that things were changing in Berlin. Earlier that day an East German official told a press conference that people on his side of the wall would be free to travel. When asked how soon that would be, his answer was "immediately". It is now accepted that the official misspoke, or was misinterpreted, but in either event people began gathering at the wall.

Tom Brokaw, of NBC, was broadcasting as East Germany border guards opened the gates between the two sides of the wall and people surged through. Although other TV stations had camera crews at the scene, only NBC had the capability of broadcasting live. In the hours that followed people flooded through the opened gates and the physical destruction of the wall began.

Answer: Lee Harvey Oswald

Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested for the murder of US President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963. On November 24, Oswald was being taken from Dallas city jail under escort by police when businessman Jack Ruby stepped forward and shot him. Oswald died a short time later.

NBC-TV, along with other stations, had been filming the proceedings. Crucially, the NBC footage was gong out live. (CBS broadcast it soon after from tape.). TV viewers heard NBC News correspondent Tom Pettit, call out "He's been shot! He's been shot! Lee Oswald has been shot!"

Jack Ruby was subsequently tried for murder and convicted, although that conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. Before it could take place, Ruby, birth name Jacob Rubenstein, died of cancer on January 3, 1967.

Answer: Two hours and 36 minutes

It took the crew of Apollo 11 four days to travel to the moon. Armstrong stepped onto the moon's surface at 10:56 pm EDT on July 20, 1969 (0356 hrs UTC 21st July).

There has been much debate over his first words. His version was they were "that's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." However the "a" was swallowed up by radio static and many contended he had not said it. An analysis of the sound wave proved Armstrong was right. Armstrong and Aldrin spent just over 21 hours on the moon, including time in their lunar module, before lifting off again.

Answer: Geoff Hurst

This was the largest ever live audience for an event in the United Kingdom. Around the world, 400 million viewers looked on. The game was played before a sell-out crowd at Wembley Stadium in London. At the end of the normal 90 minutes, the teams were level on a 2-2 scoreline. Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters had scored for England, while Wolfgang Weber and Helmut Haller scored for West Germany.

In extra time, Hurst scored what was to be a hugely controversial goal. His shot cannoned off the crossbar and downwards. He turned away in celebration claiming that the ball had crossed the goal-line. A linesman agreed and, despite hot protests from West Germany, England had a lead.

With time running out, West Germany strove for an equaliser. England broke away and Hurst scored again to make the score 4-2. As Hurst ran in to shoot, and with spectators climbing onto the pitch, BBC commentator Kenneth Wolstenholme produced one of the most famous remarks in the history of live sports: "Some people are on the pitch, they think it's all over [and as Hurst's shot hit the back of the net] it is now".

Geoff Hurst became the first footballer to score a hat-trick, three goals, in a world cup final.