Tell Me More About '74! Trivia Quiz

Answer: People

"People" magazine began publication on March 4, 1974. Originally called "People Weekly", the magazine was published by Time, Inc. The idea for "People" was developed by the former publisher of "Life" magazine, Andrew Heiskell, who was also "Time" magazine's CEO.

Mia Farrow was starring at the time in the film "The Great Gatsby", along with Robert Redford.

"People" became a success story by anyone's standards, and by 2006 its revenue topped well over 1 billion U.S. dollars!

Answer: Richard Nixon - President

While the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act was a bill that the 93rd Congress had enacted, then-President Richard Nixon signed it into law on January 2, 1974.

The so-called "energy crisis" prompted this action, along with a desire to save lives on U.S. highways, or so we were told. The bill was touted as a money/gas saving device, and was supposed to result in a 2.2% drop in oil consumption over the previous year. (Actual savings were between 1/2 to 1%).

The law which resulted from the bill caused bans on Sunday gas sales, (which did nothing more than inconvenience motorists who simply filled up on Saturdays), resulted in long lines at gas stations, caused a 15% cut in gasoline production, (which merely caused complete outages at times), and the possibility of saving lives due to lower speeds, (also questionable since accidents actually temporarily increased following the implementation of the law) met strong opposition by motorists and law enforcement alike.

Later, in 1995 the law was repealed, although it had already begun to be phased out slowly.

Answer: Jaws

Both the book and the movie were called "Jaws", and followed a story line provided by the real-life exploits of Frank Mundus, who, according to him, inspired Benchley to write the book, portraying him as a character named "Quint". Mundus had captured a great white shark in 1964, and he said that it was his story that Peter Benchley tried to capture on the pages of his novel.

Benchley denied the claim, but this may have been done for legal reasons, since many people were aware of Mundus' famous exploits with sharks in the New York coastal area.

Answer: Blazing Saddles

"He rode a blazing saddle;
He wore a shining star.
His job to offer battle
To bad men near and far.
He conquered fear and he conquered hate,
He turned our night into day.
He made his blazing saddle
A torch to light the way."

(My personal favorite Mel Brooks film!)

Answer: India

India conducted its first nuclear weapon on its border with Pakistan, in the Indian state of Rajasthan.

Pakistan was far from pleased, with Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto rejecting India's claim that it had been a "peaceful" explosion and further stating that his country would never succumb to "nuclear blackmail" and would not accept "Indian hegemony or domination over the subcontinent".

India was the 6th nation to acquire nuclear capabilities.

Answer: Charles Augustus Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh, "Lucky Lindy", was not the first person to cross the Atlantic in an airplane, but he was the first to do it non-stop and flying solo.

He had been born in 1902 in Detroit, Michigan, although he grew up near Little Falls, Minnesota.

The Lindbergh baby's kidnapping by Bruno Hauptmann caused the U.S. Congress to pass the "Lindbergh Law" which makes kidnapping a federal offense if the victim is taken across state lines or if the mail service is used for ransom demands (as Hauptmann did).

Charles Lindbergh died on August 26th, 1974 on the island of Maui in Hawaii and is buried there alongside his wife in the Palapala Ho'omau Church cemetery.

Answer: True

David Niven was live at the Oscar Awards when a streaker ran by in sight of the cameras. Caught off guard, Niven was nonetheless able to share this quip with his viewers:

"Isn't it fascinating to think that the only laugh that man will ever get is for stripping and showing his shortcomings?"

Just as quickly as streaking "took off", it ended just as abruptly.

Answer: Hiroo Onoda

Hiroo Onoda had been born in 1922 and later enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Army at age 20.

His orders when he was sent to Lubang Island in the Philippines were very specific; he was to disrupt any enemy attacks on the island, to destroy the airfield and to destroy the pier at the harbor. Furthermore, he was ordered not to surrender under any circumstances and that he was to refrain from taking his own life.

He later returned to Japan as a national hero, after his former commander, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi went to the Philippines to relieve him.

Only one Japanese soldier held out for a longer duration beyond WW2 than Hiroo Onoda; a man named Teruo Nakamura.

Hiroo Onoda passed away on January 16, 2014.

Answer: Hank Aaron

53,775 people were in attendance on April 8 1974; the day that "Hammerin' Hank" broke Babe Ruth's longstanding record while the game was broadcast by NBC.

Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron was born on February 5, 1934 in Mobile, Alabama. After his retirement from baseball, Hank Aaron was still living in the Atlanta area in 2014 and owned an automobile dealership group.

Answer: Turkish Airlines

On March 3, 1974, Turkish Airlines Flight 981 was en route from Orly Airport in Paris to London's Heathrow Airport when it crashed shortly after take-off. Previously in the day, it had left Istanbul, Turkey and had arrived in Paris shortly after 11:00 a.m. Around 12:30 the airliner crashed due to a faulty rear cargo hatch. This defect was known by the manufacturer, McDonnell Douglas, yet had not been properly addressed. It seems that the latches that held the hatch did not "seat" automatically, and manual closures were needed to ensure the hatch was sealed. Due to repeated attempts to close the hatch manually, the locking mechanism, which consisted of latching pins, was worn out and did not seal as it should have.

It was later noted that the locking pins had been filed down to facilitate closing the hatch, but this had enabled the hatch to literally fly off the plane. When that happened, the cabin de-pressurized, causing the fatal crash.