When is This Going to be Over? Quiz

Answer: 1865

Beginning in 1861, the American Civil War was fought by the northern armies (known colloquially as 'Yankees' or 'Billy Yanks'), who fought to keep certain states from seceding, and the southern armies (known as 'Rebs' or 'Johnny Rebs'), who fought for that right among others.

While it would become popular to consider slavery as the root cause of the war - a view that was only strengthened by the Emancipation Proclamation - the reality was that a host of reasons, including state's rights, slavery, and economic growth/stagnation finally came to a head, and conflict erupted.

The first shots were fired by Lt. Henry Farley, under the command of P.T Beauregard, at Fort Sumter. The war was officially brought to an end on May 9th, 1865, with a declaration by President Andrew Johnson.

Answer: 1989

While the outside world may remember him as Emperor Hirohito, the 124th emperor is now (posthumously) technically known as Emperor Showa. Born April 29th, 1901, he would become the Prince Regent on November 29th, 1921, and ascend to the Emperor's throne December 25th, 1926.

While he and his country had very pronounced differences in life before and after WWII, Hirohito would continue to rule until he died of cancer in 1989 at the age of 87. He was married to Princess Nagako of Kuni, later to be known as the Empress Kojun, and had seven children.

His elder son succeeded him as Emperor Akihito.

Answer: 1775

Born November 7th, 1728 to a Scottish farm laborer and his wife, James Cook led a much more adventurous life than his beginning might have indicated. His first posting in the Royal Navy was aboard the HMS Eagle under a Captain Hamar during the first year and then Captain Palliser. Under these two men, Cook would take part in the Seven Years' War and rise in position from able seaman to boatswain, with a brief stint as master of the Cruizer, a cutter attached to the Eagle while she patrolled.

Cook's expeditions are a subject that one could fill numerous volumes with (and many people have done so), but it was his third that proved to be his last. Commanding the HMS Resolution, he mapped a great deal of land and sea alike, from Cape Foulweather in Oregon, USA, to Nootka (or King George's) Sound, BC, Canada. His downfall though, was his return to the Sandwich Islands - now called the Hawaiian Islands - in 1779. After a series of unfortunate events for both the natives and the sailors, Cook decided to hold the Hawaiian king for ransom. It was during the attempt to take the king that Cook, as well as four of his marines, were killed. Despite having killed him, the Hawaiians held Cook in high regard, and gave him funeral rites akin to a state funeral; his remains were later returned to his crew for a burial at sea.

Answer: 1453

As many others have noted, the Hundred Years' War did not, in fact, last exactly 100 years - it raged from 1337-1453, meaning it was actually a 116 year war. The history of this conflict can become rather tangled, but is highly interesting in my opinion.

In short, the House of Plantagenet, who ruled England at the time, pitted themselves against the House of Valois, which ruled France. This was largely due to two factors - one, that the English had been vassels of French kings for their holdings in France since the Norman Conquest; France had slowly been cutting off these holdings until only Gascony remained under English rule.

The second reason was a matter of succession - France didn't allow women to be royal successors, and the king had died without a direct blood heir; this meant, by the English mode of thinking, that his nephew, who was an English prince, should inherit the French throne. Obviously, the French disagreed.

Answer: 1902

The Second Boer War was fought between Britain on one side and the Orange Free State, South African Republic, and Cape Boers on the other. The first strike was by the Boers, who attacked and took Kraaipan on October 12th, 1899; this was followed on October 20th by the first troop-on-troop engagement of the war - known as the Battle of Talana Hill. By October 13th, the town of Mafeking was under a siege that would not be broken until May 17th, 1900; this was soon followed by similar sieges at the towns of Kimberley (October 14th, 1899-February 15th, 1900) and Ladysmith (November 2nd, 1899-February 28th, 1900). By 1900, Britain annexed both the Orange Free State and Transvaal area, which they followed up with a 'khaki election'.

In turn, the Boers resorted to more guerrilla-style warfare, which would continue for the next two years.

It wasn't until May 31st, 1902, that the Treaty of Vereeniging was signed, putting an official end to the bloody conflict.

Answer: Japan

Beginning on May 4th, and lasting through May 8th, Japanese forces began to carry out a plan to invade and occupy Port Moresby, New Guinea, and Tulagi, Solomon Islands; the operation was known as Operation MO, or the Port Moresby Operation. The Battle of the Coral Sea would become historically significant, not only for being a part of WWII, but also for some of the 'firsts' that occurred.

These include, but are not limited to: the first war action in which aircraft carriers engaged one another, and, perhaps strangely enough, the first battle in which neither combatant's ships directly sighted and/or fired upon each other.

While a tactical victory for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), the losses they suffered made it a strategic Allied victory.

Answer: Wessex

Born sometime between 1003-1005 in Islip, Oxfordshire, England, the man who would become known to history as Edward the Confessor was the seventh son of the Aethelred II, also known as Aethelred the Unready. Because of his birth order, Edward was ranked behind his full brother and several of his half-brothers.

He would spend much of his early life in exile, most notably in Normandy. He would, however, return to his homeland in 1041, when his half-brother Harthacnut would be crowned King of England.

His half-brother's reign would not last long though, and by April 3rd, 1043, Edward had himself been crowned king. During his 24 year rule, Edward would build a reputation for being unusually pious - a reputation he helped along by pushing projects like Westminster Abbey (started a year before he was crowned, but publicized by Edward) to near the front of his list of priorities.

After Edward's death on January 5th, 1066, he was succeeded by Harold Godwinson, a member of the House of Godwin; this marked the end of the House of Wessex dynasty that stretched back to Alfred the Great.

Answer: December 1920

The Spanish Flu epidemic raged from 1918-1920, killing an estimated 3-6% of Earth's population. While most flu strains are more likely to kill juveniles, the elderly, and/or those with a weakened immune system, this outbreak was unusual in the fact that it was most likely to kill otherwise healthy, able-bodied, young adults.

Some recent investigations into the flu, based on some of the medical literature written during the pandemic, suggest that this particular strain of H1N1 may not have actually been anymore virulent, but that the hygiene and treatment of the time may have helped promote the virus into a type of super-virus, causing the high death rate. Of course, other researchers have reached other conclusions, such as it simply being an unusually aggressive strain of the flu, or death caused by a flu-induced cytokine storm. Even with all of our technology today, scientists are unable to confirm exactly how the virus spread worldwide so quickly; theories range from the mobilization of 96,000 Chinese laborers to work behind the French and British lines during WWI carrying it with them as they traveled, to weakened immune response from soldiers returning from war allowing the flu to become stronger than usual. Whatever the case, the horrible outbreak finally ceased terrorizing the world in December of 1920, and has, thankfully, not re-emerged.

Answer: Biafra

Officially known as the Republic of Biafra, this small west African nation existed as a secessionist state in eastern Nigeria from May 30th, 1967-January 15th, 1970. It was formed primarily as a result of the Nigerian Civil War, which is also known as the Biafran War. Both the war and the country are named after the Bight of Biafra, which forms the oceanic border for the modern-day countries of Cameroon, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea.

The state of Biafra was predominantly members of the Igbo people, but other ethnic groups included the Eket, Ibibio, Ejagham, and Ibeno peoples.

The land claimed was approximately 29,848 square miles (77,310 square kilometers), which stretched from the mountains and hills that lead to Cameroon on the east and northeastern borders, Nigeria to the north and west, and the Gulf of Guinea in the south.

The land is now covered by the Nigerian states of Ebonyi, Cross River, Imo, Abia, Enugu, Anambra, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, and Bayelsa.

Answer: 1966

While they would continue to produce music in the form of albums (such as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club), August 6th, 1966 was the last time The Beatles would put on a full commercial concert. They played such songs as "Rock and Roll Music", "I Feel Fine", "Yesterday", and "Long Tall Sally".

Not much can be said about the 'Fab Four' that hasn't already been said, written, and heard a thousand times before - they changed the face of music, shot to stardom as a part of the 'British Invasion' of the 1960s, had artistic disagreements along the way, broke up, and saw some of their members continue in very long, lucrative solo careers. No matter if you love them, hate them, or just don't care about them, there is no doubt that the music of today would have a very different sound if it hadn't been for this trend-setting band.