What Happened on this Day? Quite a Lot! Quiz

Answer: Czechoslovakia

Caesar had been warned by several people not to go to the senate on the Ides (15th) of March, including his wife, who had several frightening dreams. One of the conspirators persuaded him not to put stock in such things as women's dreams or "idle gossip by stupid men" about a conspiracy against him, and convinced him that it would be an insult to the Senate not to attend.

He should have listened to his wife! On the same day in 1939, Hitler threatened to bomb Prague unless the Czech President Emil Hacha granted his troops free passage into Czech borders. Hacha was cowed by the threat and German troops entered without resistance, leading to the occupation of the entire country and not just the Sudetenland that he had claimed rightfully belonged to Germany.

Answer: Darwin

The Battle of Lugdunum, which took place in what is now Lyon, France, was an extremely fierce and hard-fought conflict between two rival claimants to the title of emperor that is estimated to have involved over 100,000 combatants. Beginning on February 19, it lasted over two days, which was unusual in an era when battles usually ended within hours.

Although the outcome was uncertain during most of the battle, it ended in a decisive victory for Septimius Severus and death for Clodius Albinus. Darwin is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, and is still the smallest and least populated of Australia's capital cities.

Despite its small size, in World War II, it was an important military base and shipping hub for the Australian Navy and Air Force. Japan's attack on the city was the largest single attack against Australia ever and was the first of a series of Japanese bombing raids on Australian soil between February 1942 and November 1943.

The attack involved 242 Japanese planes and resulted in an estimated 250-262 Australian fatalities, with over 400 people wounded, as well as major loss of cargo shipping needed to support the war in the Pacific.

Answer: Thomas Jefferson and John Adams

The Declaration of Independence was approved by Congress on July 4, 1776, although the actual signing occurred primarily on August 2, 1776. John Adams was responsible for organizing the committee that drafted the declaration and he persuaded Thomas Jefferson to actually write it, although Adams had a major role in completing it. Adams served as the first vice president of the United States and was its second president. Thomas Jefferson was the second vice president and the third president. Jefferson died at 12:50 p.m. on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, while Adams died the same day at 6.20 p.m. Ironically, Adams' last words were, "Thomas Jefferson survives," as he was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before.

Although they were founding fathers, George Washington and Alexander Hamilton did not actually sign the Declaration as they were elsewhere at the time.

Answer: Titanic

Like many tragic events, Lincoln's assassination seemed rather fateful in that it might have been avoided if some different decisions were made. His wife Mary complained of a headache earlier that day and was reluctant to got to the theatre that night, but Lincoln urged her to come as newspapers had announced that he would be attending. One of his bodyguards, who would be off duty that night, also advised him not to go.

A policeman, John Frederick Parker, was assigned to guard the box Lincoln would be sitting in, but Parker apparently went to a tavern during the intermission and was not at his post when famous actor John Wilkes Booth decided to "pay his respects" to the president.

The sinking of the Titanic was also rather fateful, as the crew had received a series of warnings from other ships of drifting ice, yet the ship continued moving at full speed as it was though that ice would not pose much danger to a ship of such a large size.

When an iceberg was spotted in their path, the crew tried to steer around it, but the ship could not manoeuvre quickly enough, and they soon found out how wrong they were about what ice could do to their ship. Tragically, the ship was not equipped with enough lifeboats because the possibility of the ship actually sinking had not been taken seriously enough. About two and half hours after striking the iceberg, the Titanic finally sank in a spectacular fashion, breaking into two pieces before it went down.

There were about 750 survivors, while at least 1500 people were not so lucky.

Answer: Isaac Newton

Although Christmas is celebrated on December 25 in most western countries, there are several variations in the date around the world, depending on local traditions. Although the gospels do not specify the date on whichJesus was born, celebrating it on December 25 has been popular since ancient Roman times, and may have been influenced by the date of the winter solstice in the Roman calendar. Humphrey Bogart, who starred in many films, especially in detective and gangster roles, is considered one of the greatest actors of his time, and "Casablanca" is regarded as one of the greatest films in history. Isaac Newton made pioneering contributions in the fields of classical mechanics, optics, and mathematics, and is regraded as one of the most important scientists of all time. I have often heard people complain that being born on Christmas Day would be a real downer, because you would only get one set of presents a year for your birthday and Christmas combined. Whether this was an issue for either Humphrey Bogart or Isaac Newton is unknown, but it doesn't seem to have held them back in life!

Answer: Spain

President Kennedy was on his way to a meeting with local civic and business leaders when he was fatally shot while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. This event shocked the nation and has spawned countless conspiracy theories, and, would you believe it, a 2004 video game of questionable taste. Juan Carlos I was declared King of Spain following the death of Francisco Franco, who died in much more peaceful circumstances than Kennedy, after decades of autocratic rule. Juan Carlos was personally chosen by Franco as his successor, who granted Carlos the title of Prince of Spain in 1969 and hoped that he would continue Franco's legacy of authoritarian rule.

However, once Carlos came to power, he introduced many reforms that allowed Spain to transition to a democracy, despite considerable pressure from Franco loyalists to keep Spain on a more conservative path.

In 2014, Juan Carlos announced his decision to abdicate his throne in favor of his son, stating that, "I do not want my son to wither waiting like Prince Charles."

Answer: Apollo 17 moon mission was launched

The attack on Pearl Harbor, which was performed without any warning or a formal declaration of war, caught the Americans by surprise and resulted in heavy losses of personnel and ships. Japan hoped that the attack would prevent America from interfering with their military campaign in the Pacific.

The Japanese high command was confident that they could win the war quickly with decisive action and that America would be so demoralized by the attack that they would cave in to Japanese demands. As it turned out, their plans eventually backfired badly.

The Apollo 17 mission, on the other hand, went much more smoothly. As this was NASA's last planned moon mission, they used it to explore areas of the moon that had not been visited previously, and set several records, such as the longest time on the moon, largest lunar sample, longest time in lunar orbit, and most lunar orbits.

As well as the two men who landed on the moon, Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, five mice also went on the journey as part of an experiment to test the effects of exposure to cosmic radiation. Four of the mice survived the trip.

Answer: Anatoly Karpov

Jesse James was an outlaw and bank robber in the Wild West era, who became something of a celebrity in his day. However, his legendary status did not protect him from treachery, as a new recruit to his gang, Robert Ford, shot him while his back was turned in the hope of collecting the reward on James' head. To his chagrin, Ford was actually convicted of murder for the killing of James and sentenced to be hanged, although, fortunately for him, he was granted a full pardon by the Governor and allowed to collect a small portion of the reward. Chess fans might also have felt betrayed on April 3, 1975, when Bobby Fischer refused to play Russian chess great Anatoly Karpov. Fischer, who was known for his eccentricities as much as for his brilliance as a player, had a history of making peculiar demands about the conditions under which he would play.

In 1972, he had almost backed out of a match with then world champion Boris Spassky after a dispute over prize money but went on to win a spectacular victory in what was dubbed the "Match of the Century." In the scheduled 1975 match, Fischer demanded that the format be changed from the standard "Best of 24 games" match to one in which the first player to score 10 wins would win the match, with draws not counting, as he thought this was more sporting.

Unfortunately, the organisers of the match did not accede to his demands and could not work out a compromise, so Fischer refused to play and Karpov won by default. Fischer and Karpov are each considered to be among the greatest players in chess history. Hence, many fans felt cheated out of what could have been an epic event.

Answer: Manchuria

Prior to 1930, astronomer Percival Lowell had predicted that there was a ninth planet beyond Neptune, although he died in 1916 without seeing the (sort of) vindication of his theory. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto by taking photographs of the same section of the sky where the ninth planet was thought to be, on different nights.

After about a year of searching, on February 18, he compared two images taken six days apart, and detected an object that shifted position too quickly to be a star. The object that turned out to be Pluto was declared to be a planet, although it would lose that status when it was reclassified as a "dwarf planet" in 2006, reducing the number of planets to eight again. On the same day in 1932, instead of declaring a new planet, Japan declared a new country in northeast China called the Empire of Manchuria, as a puppet state under their control. Puyi, who was deposed as emperor of China in 1912, was appointed the nominal head of state, to grant the country a semblance of legitimacy, although he was not allowed to exercise any actual power.

He remained in the office of emperor until 1945, when Manchuria was invaded by the Soviet Union and Puyi was taken captive. Although Pluto was universally recognized as a planet for decades before losing this status, the Empire of Manchuria only attained limited international recognition as a country during its more short-lived existence and the League of Nations took the view that it was rightfully part of China.

Answer: Elizabeth II

The Vandals were an ancient Germanic people who decided to attack Rome after the breakdown of a peace treaty between their King Genseric and the Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus. When the emperor saw the army of the Vandals approaching the city, he tried to flee, but was killed by an angry Roman mob outside the city. Pope Leo I beseeched Genseric not to destroy the city nor kill its inhabitants, which he agreed to in return for plundering its treasures for the next two weeks. Even though they were somewhat merciful, they have given their name to the phenomenon of "vandalism," which refers to senseless destruction of property. Compared to that of most Roman emperors, Queen Elizabeth has enjoyed a much more peaceful reign.

She became queen upon the death of her father, George VI, on February 6, 1952, but the coronation was not held until June next year to allow a suitable period of mourning and enough time to prepare for the elaborate ceremony.

The coronation was televised live from Westminster Abbey in London, which was a first for the British royal family, as George VI had not permitted television cameras at his own coronation in 1937, although they were permitted to cover the procession outside. Additionally, the queen's coronation was also the first major world event to be broadcast internationally on television.