When the Year Ends in 13 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Qunu

Mandela was brought up in Qunu, Eastern Cape, and he personally stated that he wished to be buried there when the time came. Around 4,500 people attended his funeral, including Bill Clinton, Prince Charles and Oprah Winfrey.

Answer: Emily Davison

Davison had already been jailed nine times for her suffragist activities, when she took the fatal decision to throw herself in front of Abner, a horse belonging to King George V, during the Epsom Derby. She died four days later without ever regaining consciousness.

Answer: Battle of Leipzig

The Battle of Austerlitz took place much earlier, in 1805. The Battle of Dresden saw victory for Napoleon in August, 1813. He was routed at the Battle of Leipzig in October, 1813, by a coalition of forces from Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Austria. His swansong came in his defeat by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

Answer: Gibraltar

Gibraltar is situated at the southern tip of Spain across the Straits of Gibraltar from Morocco. It changed hands numerous times over the centuries until the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht made it a permanent British possession. The Spaniards were still contesting this 300 years later in 2013.

Answer: Virginia

Pocahontas was the daughter of the Algonquian chief, Powhatan. She was captured by English naval office, Samuel Argall. Whilst a captive, she converted to Christianity and changed her name to Rebecca. She married an Englishman, John Rolfe, and travelled with him to London. She died in Gravesend, Kent, in 1617.

Answer: Florida

Ponce de Leon, an explorer and conquistador from Spain, was the Governor of Puerto Rico who set out to explore what he didn't know at the time was mainland North America. He made landfall on the Gulf Coast side of Florida on April 2nd, 1513.

Answer: St Andrews

The University of St Andrews was established by a Papal Bull in 1413, making it the third-oldest university in the English-speaking world, after Oxford and Cambridge. Famous alumni of the university include Edward Jenner, John Knox, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Answer: Denmark

Sweyn Forkbeard, the son of Harald Bluetooth, became King of Denmark in 986. After a series of raids in the preceding years, he launched a full-scale invasion of England in 1013. He deposed Aethelred the Unready, and pronounced himself King Of England, but died just a few months into his reign.

Answer: Bulgaria

Acris was a settlement on the Black Sea coast of present-day Bulgaria. Vitalian later attempted to conquer Constantinople but was thwarted.

Answer: Trajan

Dacia was a province in modern day Romania, conquered by Trajan and his forces in 113. Trajan's Column was built to celebrate this and still stands today, close to the Roman Colosseum.