Swinging in the Breeze Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nathan Hale

It was during the Battle of Long Island that Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines and spy on British troop movements. That was the 8th of September. One week later, New York City was captured by the British.

On the 21st of September, the Great New York Fire burned a large section of Manhattan. While the Continentals claimed not to have been involved, many Americans were rounded up as a result of the fire, Hale among them.

Those convicted of espionage were hanged for being 'illegal combatants.' Hale was 21 years old at the time of his execution.

Answer: John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth killed Abraham Lincoln on April 14th, 1865 while the president was attending a play at Washington DC's Ford Theatre. He escaped, evading capture for 12 days before he was tracked down and shot on April 26th.

In total, there were eight co-conspirators (apart from Booth) tried and convicted in the affair. Four of them were hanged on July 7th, 1865: George Atzerodt, Lewis Powell, David Herold and Mary Surratt.

Answer: Ned Kelly

Edward 'Ned' Kelly's history in Australia has given him a dual image. As part of the Irish-Australian community, his daring and notorious ways were lauded against the English-Australian government. That said, he (and his gang) reportedly killed or wounded 10 men between April of 1878 and the end of June, 1880 (6 dead, 4 wounded).

Ned Kelly was tried specifically for the murder of Constable Lonigan, which occurred on October 26th, 1878. Lonigan was part of an operation to search for and find Kelly and his gang, reportedly hiding in the Wombat Ranges by the King River. The policemen split into two groups in order to find the gang in a flanking maneuver. The operation went poorly for the policemen, and Kelly got the drop on them. Lonigan was shot first, and later two other constables were also killed in a firefight - Scanlon and Kennedy.

Answer: Treason

Louis Riel had already gotten under the 'skin' of the government of Canada when, 16 years previously in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he had orchestrated a similar rebellion. He had declared the region an independent country, the Republic of Manitoba. Subsequently, Manitoba was accepted into Confederation and became the 5th Canadian province. Louis Riel fled the region to avoid the wrath of the government for his actions.

When similar issues arose for the Métis in Batoche (Saskatchewan), many of whom had been displaced from Manitoba, Gabriel Dumont (the Métis leader) found Riel and convinced him to try again in Saskatchewan. It didn't go so well this time, as the military came in and quelled the rebellion.

Answer: Aleksandr Ulyanov

Aleksandr Ulyanov was Lenin's elder brother. Lenin's real name, of course, was Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - the name Lenin was simply a cadre name. When Aleksandr was executed, Lenin was only 17 years old, and the event helped make him the political radical he is remembered as.

The planned assassination attempt was to have been an attack of bombs thrown into the emperor's carriage as he came to honour his father's memory (Alexander II had been killed six years previously on March 1st, 1881).

Answer: It was the last public execution in the United States.

It was the spectacle surrounding this public execution that led to the future restriction that executions would be done privately, behind closed doors. In itself, Bethea's crime was not so spectacular that it drew national scrutiny. Rather, it was the fact that the sheriff of Daviess County, who would be responsible for carrying out the execution, was a woman: Sheriff Florence Thompson. She did not actually participate in the event; that job was given to two men who had had prior experience with executions.

Over 20,000 people attended the hanging.

Answer: False

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was actually a Lutheran minister executed by the Nazis for his opposition to the Nazi regime, and more specifically, for being involved in plans to assassinate Hitler. The Gestapo had arrested him two years prior to his hanging (April, 1943) - but not for a conspiracy. It was not until the following year that evidence was found linking Bonhoeffer to the conspirators.

His execution took place a mere 23 days before the Nazis surrendered and the war in Europe ended.

Answer: Joachim Ribbentrop

Rommel committed suicide in 1944 - an option given to him when he came to disgrace within the Nazi regime. Himmler was captured and set to stand trial at Nuremberg, but committed suicide only a day after his capture. Mengele evaded capture after the war, surviving under a pseudonym until his natural death in 1979.

Ribbentrop was accused of "crimes against peace, deliberately planning a war of aggression, war crimes, and crimes against humanity." (Source: Wikipedia). For the specific evidence showing that he had actively deported Jews to death camps, and that he had advocated the execution of airmen who had been shot down and captured, Ribbentrop was found guilty. He was hanged on October 16th, 1946.

Answer: Nathuram Godse

Nathuram Godse was the sole assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, shooting him three times in the chest at point blank range on 30th January, 1948. Godse was a Hindu political activist who vehemently disagreed with Gandhi's views on non-violence, believing that it would cause Hindus to lose the will to fight against other religions, and subsequently lead to enslavement.

He also blamed Gandhi for the partition of India (based on religious groups) and his support of Muslim interest over that of Hindus.

Answer: Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein took power in Iraq in 1979, holding it until 2003 when the US invaded the country. The tribunal found him guilty of the murder of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites in 1982, which he had killed in retaliation for an assassination attempt against himself. He was sentenced on November 5th, 2006.

Hussein asked to be executed by shooting - a more dignified death - but his request was refused. The execution ended up being recorded, with an official video being released by the Iraqi government. It showed the proceedings up to the point of the noose being put around Hussein's neck. Someone, however, made a cellphone recording of the actual hanging and distributed it over the internet.