The Year of the Cat Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rabbit

All of these animals are signs in the Chinese zodiac, which consists of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
The Vietnamese zodiac has replaced the Rabbit with the Cat - perhaps because of the name of the Chinese word for rabbit ("mao" or "meo" according to different Chinese dialects). You need not know any Vietnamese to recognise the link with a cat.

Answer: Panama

It was Panama that declared itself independent from Colombia on November 3rd, 1903. In 1821 the territory now known as Panama joined Colombia on a voluntary basis, but soon afterwards the Panama denizens developed an ambition for independence. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the USA started negotiations with Colombia to obtain a lease for digging the Panama canal.

When the Colombian government refused to grant such a lease, the USA supported the Panamanian independence movement and obtained a lease from the new country. Mexico became independent from Spain in 1821. Chile gained independence from Spain in 1818. And Brazil and Portugal went their separate ways in 1822.

Answer: Gallipoli

Gallipoli is part of the Turkish province of Çanakkale. This province on both sides of the Dardanelles Strait, which links the Mediterranean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. Ships following this route would continue through the Bosporus Strait into the Black Sea. The Gallipoli peninsula is the northern (European) part of the aforesaid province.
The invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula is known under different names. British historians name this campaign after the Dardanelles, Turkish historians refer to the "Battle of Çanakkale", and people from the main countries of the British Commonwealth have given it the name "the Gallipoli Campaign".
Sunday April 25th, 1915 saw some 78,000 soldiers, mostly ANZAC troops, landing on the Gallipoli peninsula. A slightly larger Turkish army awaited them. After some eight months without significant advance, the Entente Powers retreated from the peninsula. Both sides had suffered severe losses, but the blow to the Anzac forces (Australia and New Zealand) was especially high. That's why ANZAC Day is still a day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand.
Antalya is nowadays a Turkish province with many tourist seaside resorts. During the First World War, Italian troops briefly occupied the shores.
Van Province is one of the eastern provinces of Turkey. It stretches from Van Lake to the border with Iran. The Ottoman army attacked the (Armenian) population of Van in 1915.
Erzurum Province is a north-eastern province of Turkey. It doesn't border any of Turkey's neighbours, but is situated near the former USSR Republics Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. During the First World War, Russian troops defeated the Turkish army in Erzurum.

Answer: The Spirit of Saint Louis

Charles Lindbergh flew the "Spirit of Saint Louis", a custom-made monoplane manufactured by Ryan Airlines (not to be confused with the present-day company Ryan Air, which operates as a low-cost carrier). He tried his hand at the Orteig Prize, a sum of US$25,000 to be awarded to the first pilot concluding a non-stop flight between Paris and New York (in either direction). To make this flight solo was not a requirement.
The distance between Paris and New York approximates to the maximum range of the "Spirit of Saint Louis". With the extra fuel tanks attached, the "Spirit" had a maximum range of about 6,600 km (about 4,100 miles).
Flyer III was one of the aircraft piloted by the Wright brothers in 1903.
Memphis Belle was a bomber used on the European Front in WWII.
Enola Gay is the name of the bomber that dropped the first atomic bomb.

Answer: Felicjan Skladkowski

All those listed at some time acted as Polish Prime Minister.
To avoid confused rendering, I haven't used the Polish spelling of these names. The letters 'l' in 'Skladkowski', 'Wladislaw' and 'Jaroslaw' should be stroked, and the 'n' in 'Kaczynski' bears an accent. Finally, the 'o' in 'Jozef' has an accent as well.
Felicjan Skladkowski took up the position of Prime Minister in Poland in 1936. He was deposed on September 30th, 1939. The Polish government in exile was then lead by Wladislaw Sikorski until 1943.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski was Prime Minister from July 2006 until November 2007. His twin brother was Polish President.
Wojciech Jaruzelski was Prime Minister from February 1981 until November 1985. He opposed the trade union Solidarnosc (which needs an accent on the two last letters).
Jozef Poniatowski acted as de facto head of government of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw from November 1808 until March 1809.

Answer: Farouk

King Farouk was born in 1920. He ascended the Egyptian throne in 1936. In the first few years of his reign he was quite popular, but his good reputation started to fade during WWII. Not only did Farouk enjoy a luxurious life while many of the common people suffered the hardships of war, but there arose also a grudge against him for condoning the de facto British occupation of the country. When Egypt lost a large area of territory to Israel after the first Arab-Israeli War, officers started planning a coup. Farouk was deposed in 1952 and Egypt became a Republic.
Farouk was related to the Egyptian viceroy Mohammed Ali, who ruled at the debut of the Nineteenth Century.
Zog I became King of Albania in 1928. He fled the country in 1939.
Mohammed Reza Pahlavi became Shah of Persia in 1941. He was deposed in 1979.

Answer: I Have a Dream

August 28th, Washington DC. The Million Men March arrived at the Lincoln Memorial. Here someone gave a microphone to the Baptist minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In the sixteen minutes that followed, King delivered a speech that I recommend everyone to hear over and over again. The original tape recording can quite easily be found on internet.
King started out with the finding that Negroes still were second class citizens, one hundred years after the Emancipation Act. He referred to the Constitution with its "unalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness".
King then reminded the audience that time was ripe for revolution, but it must be a peaceful one. He forbade every act of violence.
Then the best known parts of the speech moved the audience: "I have a dream", "Let freedom ring" and "Free at last". According to some sources King had not prepared this part, but was persuaded by the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson to improvise. However, the original recording does not support this theory.

Answer: Ho Chi Minh City

Saigon is the largest city of Vietnam. After the end of the war, the North Vietnamese renamed Saigon after one of its key revolutionary leaders, Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969). Ho was President of North Vietnam between 1945 and his death in 1969.
The other names are Asian airports: Chek Lap Kok near Hong Kong, Narita near Tokyo and Sunan near Pyongyang (North Korea).

Answer: Dow Jones

All of these marked events from the second half of the Eighties.
October 19th, 1987 saw a sudden and sharp fall of the Dow Jones. The New York Stock Exchange had opened on this Monday as every other trading day. Suddenly a wave of selling orders lead the index into deep red figures, losing over 22% in one day.
Although the stockmarkets had some gains later on in October, the final result of Black Monday was a severe decline in the value of equity investments worldwide. But only the people selling in October 1987 realised financial losses. Those who bought quality shares immediately after Black Monday and held on to them for longer periods, did well. Of course, one never knows on the day one should invest - only the hindsight will point out when it was the best time to buy or sell shares. And I have to disappoint many investors: it is quite difficult to pick 'quality' shares.
The Challenger Space Shuttle exploded January 28th, 1986. Seven astronauts were killed in this disaster.
Matthias Rust took off in a Cessna on May 13th, 1987. He landed on the Red Square in Moscow without having been intercepted or challenged by the Soviet Air Force. The Politburo was not amused.
The demolition of the Berlin Wall started November 9th, 1989. People from East and West Germany started tearing down the Wall with whatever implements they could find.

Answer: Nunavut

The correct answer is Nunavut, a territory inhabited mostly by the Inuit. The territory comprises several islands in the Arctic Ocean, as well as a northern region of Canadian mainland. Nunavut is scarcely populated. The "largest" community had only some 6,000 inhabitants in 2006.
Although only English and French are official languages in Canada, most of the inhabitants of Nunavut speak a native language called Inuktitut.
Most of Nunavut is north of the tree line. The only vegetation present is a tundra vegetation: mostly moss and heath.
Yukon and the Northwest Territory are two other territories in Canada.
Labrador is a region in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.