When a Day Gets a Nickname Trivia Quiz

Answer: Henri de Navarre and Marguerite de Valois

Henri de Navarre (1553-1610) was baptised as a Roman Catholic but raised as a Huguenot. During his youth, the French nobles of both differing versions of Christianity were staunch adversaries, and many had lost their lives in religious quarrels. In an attempt to reconcile both parties, Henri married Marguerite de Valois (1553-1615). Marguerite was a Catholic princess, sister of the French King Henri II. Paris was to be be the site of a festive celebration during at least a week. But soon the Catholic nobles started murdering every Huguenot they met in Paris (and similar incidents took place in other French cities too). The death toll reached at least 2,000 in Paris, but one source even mentions 70,000 killed France as a whole.
Henri narrowly escaped the massacre thanks to his wife's intervention, and he pledged to adopt Roman Catholicism once more. He only did so many years later. In 1589 Henri (still a Huguenot) was the only possible successor to the French King, his brother-in-law Henri III. Several judges confirmed Henri de Navarre as the next French King, and when he finally converted to Roman Catholicism Henri was crowned in 1593 and took the title Henri IV.
The marriage between Henri and Marguerite has been dubbed the "vermillion wedding" (in Dutch: "bloedbruiloft", which literally translates to "blood wedding"). Hence the image: two intertwined wedding rings with a drop of blood.
Edmure Tully and Roslyn Frey are fictive characters. They married at "the red wedding" in the books and TV series "Game of Thrones". Their religion is unknown.
Ivan Grozny (1530-1584, better known as Ivan IV of Russia) and Anastasia (1530-1560) married in 1547. The couple were Christian Orthodox. Tokugawa (1543-1616, the Shogun of Japan) married Tsukiyama-Dono (1542-1579) in 1557. Tokugawa was a Neo-Confucianist.

Answer: Australia

The Black Thursday bush fires happened in Victoria, Australia. A long period of drought culminated in extremely hot weather, with a strong wind expediting the spread of the fire. Probably the fire started when a small group of cattle drivers left the remnant of a camp fire smouldering when they continued their journey.
Australia is very prone to bush fires. Hong Kong is not, for Hong Kong has very few forests - most of the non-urbanized surface consists of grassland and shrubbery. Ivory coast was never a British colony: like most West African countries it was colonized in the nineteenth century by the French. And the USA, a former British colony, had already been independent since 1776.

Black Thursday is a moniker for several other incidents in other years. The best known Black Thursday is the Wall Street stock market crash of 1929 (October 24); but the nickname Black Thursday was also given for instance to 12 April 1951 (aerial battle during the Korean War); 12 May 1955 (Hock Lee Bus Riots in Singapore); or 17 December 1970 (conflict between police and strikers in the harbour of Gdynia, Poland).
The image is my very personal impression of the presumed cause of the Black Thursday bushfires.

Answer: Chicago, Illinois

The Saint Valentine's Day Massacre happened on a Thursday in Chicago. During the Twenties Chicago happened to be the home-town of two rival gangs: the North Side (mainly of Irish origin) and the South Side (preponderantly of Italian descent). The notorious leaders of these organizations were Bugs Moran for the North Side and Al Capone for the South Side. Both gangs were busy making huge profits by smuggling hard liquor, the sale and production of which was outlawed. Sooner or later the gangs had to collide, and the best known confrontation happened on Valentine's Day in 1929. Four members of the South Side gang executed five members and two associates of the North Side.
Now what has all this to do with the typewriter I sketched as a clue? Well, two of the murder weapons were early versions of the Thompson sub-machine guns, in thieves' argot known under various nicknames (including "Chicago Typewriter"). I didn't find any definitive explanation for this odd nickname, but presumably the distinctive sound produced by an experienced typist resembled a quick round of fire from the Thompson sub-machine gun.
Believe it or not, but all the other American place names I've mentioned were the site of some noteworthy event on a February 14. Knoxville, Tennessee saw the bankruptcy of the local bank in 1983 - probably because the fraud committed by its president Jake Butcher. De Kalb County, Illinois was the site of a university shooting in 2008. And in New York City in 1849 the first photograph was made of an incumbent US President, namely James Knox Polk.

Answer: Sunday

In 1941 the USA and Japan were negotiating a way to live together around the Pacific Ocean. Japan had already invaded China and was determined to conquer more territory in order to lay its hands on vital resources. The USA had responded with some trade embargos and other economic sanctions, and both sides were talking about what would happen next. The Japanese high command was convinced that the continuation of their conquests would sooner or later lead to war with the USA, and so the military devised a plan to hit first. If the Japanese navy could wipe out most of the American ships and naval installations in Hawaii and on various other Pacific islands, they would gain a huge advantage.
December 1941 arrived and the negotiations continued. But On December 7, a Sunday morning, Japanese aircraft from several aircraft carriers hit Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, at dawn. The American army and navy responded slowly and without coordination, because (as happened quite a lot in that time) most officers and soldiers had had big parties the night before. Maybe some still were coping with a hangover.
It turned out the "date that will live in infamy" caused the USA to enter the war, but not as weakened as the Japanese hoped for. Indeed: the US aircraft carriers were not in harbour, and most naval installations were not or only slightly damaged.
I provided a sketchy image of one of the Japanese planes involved. It should vaguely resemble a Mitsubishi Zero fighter plane.

Answer: The Netherlands

The image of a windmill should have pointed you to the correct answer: the windmill is one of the specific symbols of the Netherlands.
After landing in Normandy on June 6, 1944 (incidentally also a Tuesday) the allied armies rushed through France and Belgium, liberating Paris on August 25 and Brussels on September 3. But as the supply lines got overextended, the allied offensive ran out of steam. An attempt to cross several major rivers and free the Netherlands in September (Operation Market Garden) failed, and most of the Netherlands had still suffer a long winter and spring under German occupation. The winter was harsh and food was very scarce, so many Dutch people died during the months between September 1944 and May 1945, when the German army surrendered (May 8) and finally every European country was liberated.
Spain was neutral throughout the Second World War. France was already liberated, and Brazil was not occupied by the Germans.
Mad Tuesday is a nickname given to only one single date. Other Tuesdays that got a nickname, were called Black Tuesday - for example the Wall Street Crash on 29 October 1929 or the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Answer: The Brown vs Board of Education verdict

I've added a drawing of a sword and scales, the typical symbol for justice.
The American Supreme Court rendered a verdict in the case Brown vs. Board of Education, condemning racial segregation in public schools. At the bequest of the Afro-American family Brown, the Supreme Court made the Kansas authorities to let the Brown daughter start her lessons in a public school formerly restricted to "white" people.
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started in 1955, on Monday 5 December. In response to the Rosa Parks incident, civil rights activists boycotted public transport during a full year.
The Million Man March was a large gathering in Washington DC in 1995, on October 16 - also a Monday. The theme was the demand for racial equality in job searching.
Barack Obama was inaugurated as President on January 20, 2009 - a Sunday. He was the first US President of Afro-American descent.
A few other days have been nicknamed Black Monday. Among those were the power blackouts in India in 2012 (July 30-31), the Temple Mount Riots in Jerusalem (October 8, 1990) and the worldwide stock market crash in 1987 (October 19).

Answer: T. E. Lawrence

The first scene on this day happened near Oxford, England, around 17.30 hrs local time. After a long illness, author C.S. Lewis died at home, aged 64. He is best known for his series "The Chronicles of Narnia".
In Dallas, Texas at about 12.30 East Central Time (19.30 GMT) a convoy of open cars drove slowly passed an enthusiastic crowd. One of the open cars was occupied by US President J.F. Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally, with their respective spouses. But then one or more shots fell, and President Kennedy (46 years old) was fatally injured.
Also in Dallas, but around 13.15, Dallas police officer J.D Tippit (aged 39) approached Lee Harvey Oswald, the prime suspect to the murder of President Kennedy. Oswald grabbed his handgun and shot Tippit four times, fatally wounding him.
And the day in the USA was not yet concluded when in Los Angeles the British author Aldous Huxley died of throat cancer at the age of 69. Huxley gained world fame with the dystopian novel "Brave New World". This happened only about three hours after J.D Tippit was shot.
T.E. Lawrence, nicknamed Lawrence of Arabia, did not die in 1963. This British archaeologist and military adviser died in a motorcycle accident in 1935, at the age of 47. Lawrence is best known for his role in turning the Arab people against the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey) in the first World War. The camel I tried to draw, should have led your focus to Arabia.
Other days that have been called Black Friday include a stock market crash (25 October 1929); a number of tornadoes (31 May 1985 in Ohio, US and Ontario, Canada); several terrorist bombings (for instance 12 March 1983 in Mumbai, India; 17 July 2009 in Jakarta, Indonesia).

Answer: U2

30 January 1972 in Derry (Northern Ireland). A number of civilians participated in a protest march against the British policy of jailing hundreds of people because of their supposed links with the IRA - a paramilitary organization outlawed by the British. At a certain moment the British soldiers opened fire on the crowd, stating they felt threatened by bomb throwers. Many years later investigations showed there were no bombs in Derry at that time. Fourteen civilians died, and several others were wounded.
U2 (the Irish rock band consisting of Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen) remembered this Derry incident in their song "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". It was the opening track included on their album "War" (1983). Lyrics describe the incident and include the line "broken bottles under children's feet", which in turn inspired me for the awful drawing accompanying this question.
Jethro Tull released a song "Black Sunday" on their studio album "A" (1980). Black Label Society released an album "Order of the Black" in 2010, containing a song "Black Sunday". Jag Panzer included a song "Black Sunday" on their re-release of the album "Ample Destruction" (1984). None of these songs was inspired by a historic event.
There have been a few other "Bloody Sundays", most famously 22 January 1905 in Saint Petersburg (Russia). Most incidents dubbed Bloody Sunday involved the shooting of several peaceful protesters.

Answer: Ethiopia

Haile Selassie (1892-1975) became Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. In 1974 he was deposed by the Derg (army and police personnel with a programme inspired by Maoist and Leninist ideas), and several of the higher ranking officers loyal to Haile Selassie were imprisoned. The Derg promised a peaceful transition, focusing on redistribution of the agricultural lands and on better education. But after a few weeks, the Derg tried to solve their differences by resorting to violence. Some of the Derg executed 53 imprisoned military officers, while others stormed the house of the temporary head of state, General Aman Amdon. Amdon and five other were killed.
Although there were 59 people killed in this incident, it is known as the "Massacre of the Sixty" - probably because 59 is a number more difficult to remember.
Ethiopia is a country on the African mainland, which I sketched as a clue to this question.
Here's what happened in 1974 to the red herrings. On Thursday 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution took place in Portugal. The Malaysian Communist party raided on Sunday 26 May 1974 a highway construction project. A Greek coup d'état in Cyprus on Monday 15 July 1974 deposed Bishop Makarios.
A few other dates have been dubbed Black Saturday as well. Let's mention 28 December 1929 in Samoa, where New Zealand police killed eleven unarmed civilians; 26 January 1952 - a series of riots in Cairo (Egypt); or 7 February 2009 - devastating bush fires in Victoria, Australia.

Answer: Pound sterling

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) was launched in 1979. Its purpose was to limit the fluctuation between the different currencies of the European Economic Community. Concretely every "optimal" exchange rate was fixed, and if one of the currencies would appreciate or depreciate more than 6% to this optimal exchange rate, the national centralbanks had to intervene.
The economic circumstances in different European countries were quite different, with Germany as an icon of the best economic outlook, while the UK had a bleak economic future. The UK inflation rate was about thrice the inflation in Germany, UK unemployment peaked at more than 10%, and the US dollar in which most of the UK exports were paid, had suffered a serious depreciation. Speculative investors (of whom George Soros was the best known) started short-selling pound sterling, thus augmenting the stress on the currency. On September 16 the pound quit the ERM and depreciated severely. The short-sellers gained billions with their operations.
September 16, 1992 was thus dubbed White Wednesday by the short-sellers of pound sterling, and Black Wednesday by their counterparts.
The image of a clock tower was intended to convey the picture of Big Ben, a symbol of the UK.
As for the red herrings: the German mark was one of the cornerstones of the ERM. The Swiss franc was not part of the ERM, because Switzerland chose to remain neutral and not join the European Community. Poland joined the European Union several years later (in 2004) and kept a floating exchange rate for the first few years.