X Marks The Shot Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hamilton's political opposition to Burr

In the aftermath of the American Revolution, strong political differences arose between the men who had forged the nation. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, both from New York, were leaders of opposing parties. During the Presidential election of 1800, in accord with then US law, the President was the top vote getter and the Vice President the second highest candidate. Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied with 73 electoral votes. The election of the President was determined by a vote of the US House of Representatives where (on the 36th ballot) due in large part to the efforts of Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson was elected over Burr. In 1804 Burr, despite being Vice President decided to run for Governor of New York. Hamilton again used all of his influence to publicly denounce Burr's character.

The feud boiled over in the spring of 1804, and the two men met outside New York City (Weehawken New Jersey) where they each fired a pistol. Hamilton's shot missed, but Burr's did not mortally wounding Hamilton. Burr was charged with murder but was acquitted. He served out the remainder of his term as Vice President but was no longer a viable force in American politics. Ironically, In 1801 Alexander Hamilton's son, Phillip, had also died from injuries suffered from a duel. Both Hamiltons died from wounds inflicted by the same pistol.

Answer: Elephants

The Kingdom of Siam (modern Thailand) and the Burma Empire fought a series of conflicts in the 15th and 16th centuries. For much of the mid-16th century Siam was a vassal state of Burma. In 1585, Siamese forces under King Naresuan, who was educated while a hostage in Burma, defeated the Burmese ending their control of Siam. Burmese Crown Prince Minchit Sra returned to Siam in 1590 intent on reacquiring the lost territory. After several years of battle, the two leaders met in single combat near the village of Nong Sarai. The Royals each mounted on battle elephants fought for several hours before the older, and more experienced Naresuan killed his Burmese opponent with a thrown blade. In keeping with rules of middle age chivalry, Naresuan made the nobles serving with Minchit Sra swear allegiance to Siam and allowed their army to live.

Thailand, as well as other southeast Asian countries, had a long history of using elephants as war animals. Elaborate armor was created to protect the elephants in combat. Usually, a battle elephant required three men. A warrior of high rank sat at the neck and used spears and blades as attack weapons. A man in the middle served as squire to the warrior while a mahout (elephant trainer) sat at the rear to control the elephant.

Answer: Alexander Pushkin

Alexander Pushkin was the leading literary star in early 19th century Russia. During the 1820s and 1830s, Pushkin published some of the most treasured poems in the Russian language along with such enduring works as "Eugene Onegin" and the 1825 play "Boris Godunov". Pushkin also had an eye for the ladies. His scandalous affair with the married Anna Petrovna Kern was immortalized in an 1825 poem that is considered one of the greatest Romantic poems written in Russian. In 1828, Pushkin began courting a young beauty named Nataliya Goncharova. The two were wed in 1831 when Pushkin was 32 and Nataliya but 19. However, by late 1836 Pushkin was heavily in debt, and Nataliya was rumored to have taken Georges d'Anthès, a French diplomat as a lover. To either throw off suspicion or to cover his actions d'Anthès married Nataliya's sister in January 1837.

Pushkin was not mollified by the marriage of d'Anthès to his sister-in-law and continued to believe that he had been wronged by the Frenchman's actions towards his wife. When an anonymous letter was published throughout St. Petersburg that named Pushkin the "Deputy Grand Master and Historiograph of the Order of Cuckolds", Pushkin could stand the situation any longer. He challenged d'Anthès to a duel. The two men met on January 27, 1837 and fought with pistols. d'Anthès wounded Pushkin in the stomach and Pushkin, despite his injury shot Georges in the arm. Pushkin died several days later of his injuries, but not before pardoning d'Anthès of any misdeed. Pushkin's works continue to be discussed and performed ensuring his enduring influence on Russian literature.

Answer: The participants were women

The duel between Neapolitan court ladies Isabella de Carazzi and Diambra de Pettinella occurred circa 1552. The women were rivals for the affection of a young gentleman named Fabio de Zeresola. The women fought a sword duel to determine who might claim Sr. de Zeresola's undivided attention. The outcome of the contest is not known, nor whether de Zeresola abided by the decision and favored either lady. The tale serves to prove that in "matters of the heart" women can be just as violent and irrational as men. Spanish artist Jose de Riberta transformed the otherwise historical oddity into a lasting work of art with his 1636 painting entitled "Duelo de Mujeres" (Women's Duel). "Duelo de Mujeres" is displayed as part of the Prado Museum in Madrid's permanent collection.

Another well-known pistol duel was fought in 1792 by Lady Almeria Braddock and Mrs. Elphinstone. During a visit to Lady Braddock's home, Mrs. Elphinstone apparently angered her hostess with sarcastic comments about Lady Braddock's age. Lady Braddock challenged Mrs. Elphinstone to a duel that has since been known as the "Petticoat Duel". Mrs. Elphinstone shot at Lady Braddock and wounded her hat. The two then took up swords where Lady Braddock scored a hit to her opponents arm. The injury was not fatal, and Mrs. Elphinstone's injury did not prevent her from using her arm to write a public letter of apology.

Answer: Edouard Manet

Luckily for lovers of high art the sword duel between artist Manet and his friend, art critic Louis Duranty, on February 23, 1870 ended with no more than a chest wound for Duranty. The cause of the duel centered on Duranty's less than glowing reviews of Manet's 1869 Paris exhibition. Manet met Duranty at the Café Guerbois, a center for late 19th century Parisian artists and avant-garde élite. Manet slapped Duranty, who then demanded satisfaction for the insult with a duel. The two men met and were seconded by such luminaries as Emile Zola and Paul Alexis (who would later write Zola's biography). The participants were all close friends. Manet wounded Duranty with a thrust to the chest and the combatants parted having each served their honor. Manet and Duranty remained close friends, and Duranty continued to be an important critical voice in support of the developing French Impressionist art movement.

Given the importance of passion and commitment to art it is perhaps no surprise that you find a number of artists have been involved in duels. In 1704, famed German composer George Frideric Handel was seriously wounded by his friend and fellow composer Johann Mattheson. "Don Quixote" author Miguel Cervantes was involved in several challenges that nearly led to duels.

Answer: Switzerland

Ferdinand Lassalle was a German national born in Breslau, Silesia (now in Poland) in 1825. Lassalle studied at the University of Berlin and was heavily influenced by George Hegel and his concepts of absolute idealism. Lassalle was a socialist but favored positive change through cooperation between workers, capitalists and the government. Lassalle worked, in secret, with Bismarck to try and address some of the more pressing issues of class struggle effecting Germany during the mid 19th century. As a moderate he was opposed by Karl Marx and other radical proponents of class warfare.

In 1864 just as his political star was rising, Lassalle became engaged to Helene von Dönniges. Miss von Dönniges' father refused the union (because Lassalle was a Socialist and Jewish) and arranged an engagement of his daughter to Count Janko von Racowitza. Lassalle was enraged and challenged Helene's father to a duel. The Count accepted on behalf of the elder von Dönniges. Lassalle and the Count met in Geneva on August 28, 1864 to settle the matter. Both men shot and hit the other. Lassalle died of his wounds two days later. Count von Racowitza seemingly won the contest and married the fair Helene. However, the Count died of lingering wounds from the duel shortly after his marriage. Helene, now a wealthier widow, in turn married an actor and moved to America.

Answer: Andrew Jackson

Andrew Jackson was an acknowledged duelist who participated in as many as 100 duels during his early life as a businessman, soldier, and lawyer in Tennessee. Jackson was known to have a volatile temper and did not accept insults without retort. Jackson married the former Rachel Donelson in 1794. However, Rachel was a divorcee, and there was some question as to whether her first marriage had been duly ended before her marriage to Jackson. Jackson was very sensitive about the subject of his marriage and become enraged when anyone questioned his or his wife's honor.

In 1806, Jackson became embroiled in a dispute over a horse race with another noted Tennesseean Charles Dickinson. The dispute escalated into a public war of words that included slurs against Jackson's wife. Dickson and Jackson's feud resulted in a duel on May 30, 1806. The duel was fought in Kentucky since Tennessee had already outlawed dueling. Dickinson was considered an expert marksman and fired first hitting Jackson in the chest. The wound barely missed Jackson's heart, but "Old Hickory" as he was to be called, was able to shoot and kill Mr. Dickinson. Jackson carried the bullet from the duel in his chest for the remainder of his life. In 1829, Jackson was elected the 7th US President, where he served two terms before leaving office in 1837.

Answer: 1960s

It is hard to reconcile that the last sanctioned duel in France occurred in 1969, the same year as the Concord supersonic airplane was introduced, and San Francisco hosted the "Summer of Love". Nevertheless, on April 20, 1967, 57-year-old Gaston Defferre and 45-year- old René Ribière fought a duel with epee weapons at a private residence in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Defferre was an Assemblyman and the Socialist mayor of Marseille and Ribière a Gaullist Member of the Assembly. During a heated debate in the Assembly, Mr. Defferre insulted Mr. Ribière and told him to shut up. When Mr. Defferre refused to apologize or retract the insult, the die was cast.

During the duel, Mr. Defferre refused to accept the use of blunted blades or satisfaction at first touch. The two men fought until Ribière was injured twice. Both men survived and continued to be rivals in French politics throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The Defferre- Ribière duel was captured on videotape and is available for viewing on YouTube.

Answer: Benito Mussolini

During the early 1920s, World War I veteran and outspoken newspaper journalist Benito Mussolini created the National Fascist Party. By 1922, Mussolini effectively became the supreme ruler of Italy. As part of his rise to power to power, Mussolini bullied and literally beat with swords any opposition to his agenda. One such unfortunate dissenter was leftist newspaper editor Francisco Ciccotti. When Ciccotti published anti-fascist newspaper editorials, Mussolini challenged Ciccotti to a duel. The two men met on October 27th, 1921 and fought for over an hour and fifteen minutes. Ciccotti suffered many smaller wounds at the hands of the Mussolini who was an expert swordsman.

Mussolini and Ciccotti agreed that they would continue their dispute using pistols, but that event never took place. A year later, in October 1922, Mussolini and his Fascist allies forced the resignation of left-wing Prime Minister Luigi Facta and took control of the Italian government. Mussolini ruled as a virtual dictator for the next twenty-one years before being ousted and later killed during World War II. Mussolini was both the political model and ally of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party. Having failed to avert the rise of the Fascists, Francisco Ciccotti survived his wounds and left Italy after Mussolini gained power.

Answer: Hot air balloons

Love will make men and women do the most insane things. In 1808 in Paris, a young gentleman named Mr. Granpree courted the young ballerina Mademoiselle Tirevit. The woman also, unbeknownst to Mr. Granpree, was seeing a certain Mr. Le Pique. When Mr. Granpee learned of Mr. Le Pique (and presumably vice versa), he issued a challenge to a duel to Mr. Le Pique for the sole right to court Mdm. Tirevit.

The two men decided that as "men of elevated minds" the only suitable place for their contest was suspended in hot air balloons above Paris. On May 3, 1808 the pair of erstwhile suitors ascended to a height of 900 feet in their balloons and positioned themselves about 80 feet apart across the sky. As a crowd of spectators watched, Mr. Le Pique fired first and missed hitting anything. Mr. Granpree fired soon after and missed Mr. Le Pique, but did hit his balloon. Predictably, the punctured balloon lost air and plummeted downward. The balloon and the unfortunate Mr. Le Pique crashed into a rooftop. Mr. Le Pique and his second were killed instantly, leaving Mr. Granpree to pursue his courtship of Mdm. Tirevit without a rival.