The Times They Are A Scrambled Quiz

Answer: Edwardian era

The very idealised period of history I'd like to visit most is the Edwardian era (1901-1910) in England. This magical time took place shortly before the onset of the First World War, and, like the sinking of the great Titanic in 1912, it has come to symbolise the last hurrah of an age of graciousness, elegant gowns, more social freedoms, medical advances, gentle expansion, peace and plenty. For the well off, that is, and, to a lesser degree, the working classes as well. The poor, disabled and single mothers were still badly off and disadvantaged, but the social conscience of the nation regarding their needs was on the rise as well in that regard. For me that age, so idealised in television shows such as "Downton Abbey" (2010-2015) and "Upstairs, Downstairs" (1971-1975) has come to symbolise the last whiff of perfume from a beautiful rose before that rose began to droop and die.

More leisure time was available, Vaudeville and music hall was the order of the day for entertainment, families took trips to the seaside in trains, clothing, though still elegant and graceful, became less restricted, new fangled phonographs and moving pictures were beginning to take their first unsteady steps, diet improved, noisy, smoking cars were starting to be seen everywhere alongside the happily trotting horses and stately carriages, and life moved along at a progressive yet gentle pace. But the sun was sinking, alas, the sun was sinking fast, and all too soon, that wonderful era of history had gone forever.

(Question and information supplied by Creedy)

Answer: 1969

As if those weren't enough ...
Judy Garland dies of a drug overdose,
Charles Windsor is named Prince of Wales,
and Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones drowns in his swimming pool.


(Question and information supplied by VanCoerte)

Answer: Appomattox Court House, Virginia

The two generals are Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant, and Lee (in the magnificent uniform) is surrendering his Confederate army to his Union counterpart, Grant. The Confederate president Jefferson Davis is fleeing southward (but is soon captured), and the other Confederate forces in the field will surrender quickly. The American Civil War is over. The house where the surrender takes place is that of Wilbur McLean, who at the beginning of the war found his plantation in northern Virginia in the middle of the Battle of Bull Run. He moved to a remote village in central Virginia (Appomattox Court House), only to have the war track him down and have his house selected as the meeting place between Lee and Grant. McLean once said that the war "started in my backyard and ended in my front parlor."

(Question and information supplied by obiwan04)

Answer: The cutting of the Gordian Knot by Alexander the Great

While the popular legend says that Alexander solved this long-standing problem by simply cutting through the knot with his sword, other versions suggest that he simply unhitched the knot from the pole it was on and was able to untie it then. Either way, his supporters promptly dug up a convenient legend that he who solved the knot would rule Asia.

(Question and information supplied by fallingman)

Answer: Victory in Europe Day

One of the most horrific events in modern history was World War II. Lasting nearly six years, and with over 60 million deaths, this was a period in time which people would never forget, leaving a scar on those affected until the day they died.

During 1945, war torn Berlin had fallen, Hitler was dead, Germany had surrendered (with Japan to follow shortly) and it was time to celebrate with the Victory in Europe Day on May 8. People took to the streets surrounding Trafalgar Square and partied all night, strangers mingled and danced together, laughing and getting drunk with gay abandon. There was also a sense of anti-climax, and for almost everyone, the moment bitter-sweet with memories as they remembered friends and family who had fallen.

There was a hush throughout the land as Winston Churchill made his VE Day speech from the Ministry of Health balcony. "God bless you all. This is your victory! It is the victory of the cause of freedom in every land. In all our long history we have never seen a greater day than this. Everyone, man or woman, has done their best. Everyone has tried. Neither the long years, nor the dangers, nor the fierce attacks of the enemy, have in any way weakened the independent resolve of the British nation. God bless you all."

The Battle of Britain happened between July and October in 1940. D-Day was on June 6, 1944. VJ Day was August 15, 1945, when the official announcement of Japan's surrender was announced. This is commemorated on August 15 in the UK, but in the US the date is September 2 - the day the formal surrender document was signed and World War II was officially over.

(Question and information supplied by Plodd)

Answer: 1922

In addition to these historic events, the 'March on Rome' brought Mussolini to power in Italy and the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by Howard Carter. Also, the President of Poland (Gabriel Narutowicz) was assassinated, whilst the world's first Communist state, the USSR was formed. Finally James Joyce's modernist novel Ulysses was published in the same year, 1922.

(Question and information supplied by moonraker2)

Answer: Captain William Bligh

This is referred to in scholastic circles as the Great Rebellion, but there wasn't anything particularly great about it, except for the amazing fact that nobody was actually killed. It took place in 1808, twenty years to the day after Australia was first settled by Europeans, and centred more on a clash of two personalities as much as it did on the events that led to up to it. These were the irascible, stickler-for-rules Governor William Bligh (1754-1817) - and the powerful free settler John Macarthur (1767-1834) who had a total contempt for anyone in authority. Throw in the members of the New South Wales Corps of the new colony, of which Macarthur had been a member, and you have a rebellion.

Macarthur was a troublemaker of the highest order who had clashed with others before Bligh. Now an entrepreneur in the new land, making money hand over fist (usually by illegal means), he fought with anyone who tried to put a stop to his gallop. Bligh was rigid and immovable in his thinking, but honourable, and went about straightening up the colony. Macarthur bitterly resented this interference.

Things came to a head with unrest everywhere and after Bligh had Macarthur thrown in jail on a technicality. The New South Wales Corps, under the leadership of Major George Johnston (1764-1823), and fully encouraged by the powerful Macarthur, marched on government House, arrested Bligh, and took over the running of the colony until a replacement governor eventually arrived. In the show trial back in England which followed, nobody was punished, except for Johnston who was only cashiered, and who returned to the colony where he had also been making a fortune, and where he continued to do so. Bligh was promoted to rear admiral, and Macarthur was refused permission to return to Australia for nine years. When he did, he grew even richer. Captain Bligh was said to have been found hiding under his bed during the events on that day in 1808, an untrue rumour begun after the rebellion in an attempt to discredit him further, and which he always hotly denied for the rest of his life. Because nobody was killed in this rebellion, and because I'd like to see if Bligh really did hide under his bed, I'd love to visit this exciting period in the history of Australia.

(Question and information supplied by Creedy)

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

This was Jefferson's inauguration as President. Yes, he was a poor speaker, but a brilliant writer. Coming out of a political campaign where the Federalists had attacked Jefferson, and the Republicans had attacked John Adams, Jefferson's call for peace and unity was well received (if not always put into practice). George Washington and John Adams had been inaugurated while wearing fancy clothes and a sword(!), but Jefferson took the 'Mr. Common Man' approach, identifying the President with ordinary people.

(Question and information supplied by obiwan04)

Answer: I am not on earth at all, I am on board the stricken Apollo 13 spacecraft

The Kon Tiki expedition was in 1949. The Tonkin Gulf incident, in which a fictional attack on a US ship led to the escalation of the Vietnam War, was in 1964. Oceanic Airways 815 is fiction as it is the plane in the TV series "Lost". The Apollo 13 crew got back safely after a rough week in space caused by the explosion of an oxygen tank.

(Question and information by fallingman)

Answer: The discovery of penicillin

Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery occurred on Sept 28, 1928, when he returned from holiday to discover that the agar plates he'd been using for his experiments hadn't been cleaned properly, and were covered in growths of bacteria and mould. As he was cleaning them, he noticed that one particular mould seemed to have killed the bacteria all around it. He immediately recognised the potential of a substance that could kill bacteria, and identifying the mould as a Penicillium tried to extract the bactericidal substance he dubbed "penicillin" from it. He didn't have a lot of luck, and penicillin was eventually successfully developed as a medicine by other scientists in 1939. However, Fleming's discovery is still hailed as the birth of antibiotics.

(Question and information supplied by emiloony)