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Van Loon's Lives Trivia Quiz

In "Van Loon's Lives", Hendrik Willem Van Loon and his friend held weekend dinner parties for famous people in history. Guess who were invited!

A multiple-choice quiz by rsh437. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
rsh437

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
282,779

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
9 / 15

Plays
149

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. When and where did the dinner parties take place? Hint

An English manor house during WWII

London during WWI

A Dutch village just before WWII

Paris in the 1920s

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Question 2 of 15

2. The first guest was such a kindred spirit that the hosts invited him to stay on sabbatical and attend all subsequent dinner parties. Who was this guest? Hint

Leibniz

Montaigne

Erasmus

Descartes

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Question 3 of 15

3. Once the invitation was sent to the greatest inventor of all time. Who turned up to claim the title? Hint

Inventor of the knife

Leonardo Da Vinci

Inventor of the toothbrush

Thomas Edison

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Question 4 of 15

4. When Confucius came to dinner, how did he communicate with his hosts and fellow guest? Hint

They communicated through signs and pictures.

Confucius picked up Latin in afterlife.

The fellow guest understood Chinese.

Confucius brought an interpreter.

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Question 5 of 15

5. According to Van Loon, his guest Moliere did for theater what this man did for music. Hint

Wagner

Bach

Liszt

Beethoven

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Question 6 of 15

6. When words got around of the fabulous parties, who got jealous and was anxious to get on the guest list? Hint

Queen Elizabeth

Peter the Great

Louis XIV

Napoleon

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Question 7 of 15

7. Sometimes the hosts were surprised by an unexpected guest. Which of these guests showed up uninvited? Hint

Rossini

Robespierre

Voltaire

Van Loon's great grandfather

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Question 8 of 15

8. Sometimes the guest list consisted of entire families of talents. Which of these family were invited together? Hint

The Bernoullis

The Breughels

The Brontes

The Strausses

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Question 9 of 15

9. After a delightful evening with Empress Theodora and Queen Elizabeth, Van Loon planned to invite which other pair of queens/empresses? Hint

Cleopatra and Mary Stuart

Christina of Sweden and Sissi

Eleanor of Aquitaine and Catherine de Medici

Catherine the Great and Marie Antoinette

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Question 10 of 15

10. There was only one other female guest beside the two royals. Who was she and who was her fellow guest of the evening? Hint

Jenny Lind and Hans Christian Andersen

Joan of Arc and William of Orange

Emily Dickinson and Frederic Chopin

Jane Austen and Jan Vermeer

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Question 11 of 15

11. Who followed Hans Christian Andersen to the party? Hint

The little match girl

The naked emperor

The little mermaid

The ugly duckling

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Question 12 of 15

12. When Napoleon came he spent the whole night giving an endless harangue about his grand scheme for Europe. What did his fellow guest Beethoven do during this time? Hint

He stayed silent and wrote down his throughts on paper.

He went to play the piano and drowned out Napoleon's speech.

He fell asleep.

He got up and left abruptly.

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Question 13 of 15

13. After Peter the Great and Charles XII left the dinner party, what activity did they engage in? Hint

Contest in ship building

Fist fight

Sword fight

Horse race

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Question 14 of 15

14. St Nicholas day's dinner was held for the lost children of history. An adult guest was also invited and had a great time partying with the kids. Who was it? Hint

Mark Twain

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Benjamin Franklin

Auguste Renoir

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Question 15 of 15

15. Who was Van Loon's last guest, and most honored of all? Hint

Thomas Jefferson

William Shakespeare

Leonardo Da Vinci

Isaac Newton

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. When and where did the dinner parties take place?

Answer: A Dutch village just before WWII

The author was living in Veere, Holland. The good times and free spirits at the parties were haunted by the looming threat from the growing power of Nazi Germany. Also there was a distinct lack of German guests except Bach and Beethoven.

2. The first guest was such a kindred spirit that the hosts invited him to stay on sabbatical and attend all subsequent dinner parties. Who was this guest?

Answer: Erasmus

For the third dinner they told Erasmus the guest was Martin Luther, his enemy. But the real surprise guest was his best friend Thomas More. It was a heart-warming scene. Montaigne was invited later with Rabelais, Descartes with Emerson.

3. Once the invitation was sent to the greatest inventor of all time. Who turned up to claim the title?

Answer: Inventor of the knife

A prehistoric man showed up and made a mess in the kitchen. The author did not explain why the invention of the knife was so important.

4. When Confucius came to dinner, how did he communicate with his hosts and fellow guest?

Answer: Confucius brought an interpreter.

Confucius brought a descendant of his as interpreter. His fellow guest of the night was Plato.

5. According to Van Loon, his guest Moliere did for theater what this man did for music.

Answer: Liszt

Before Moliere, theater folks were treated no better than strolling gypsies. Their status changed greatly after Moliere was welcomed to the royal table. Similarly Liszt became the social equal of his princely employers and taught them decent manners in attending concerts.

6. When words got around of the fabulous parties, who got jealous and was anxious to get on the guest list?

Answer: Napoleon

Erasmus described Napoleon as someone "who has reached out for everything, who has had everything, yet wants more". He got his wish, and was invited with Beethoven and the author's great great grandfather who served under him.

7. Sometimes the hosts were surprised by an unexpected guest. Which of these guests showed up uninvited?

Answer: Rossini

Rossini came because he was eager to cook for Chopin. Although the chapter title said "Voltaire came anyway", he was invited by Erasmus.

8. Sometimes the guest list consisted of entire families of talents. Which of these family were invited together?

Answer: The Breughels

The Breughels were invited together with the Bachs. It was a huge party of more than 100 guests between them. The Bachs played music while the Breughels painted their portraits.

9. After a delightful evening with Empress Theodora and Queen Elizabeth, Van Loon planned to invite which other pair of queens/empresses?

Answer: Catherine the Great and Marie Antoinette

In the end he never got around to inviting them. Marie Antoinette was mentioned a few times in the book.

10. There was only one other female guest beside the two royals. Who was she and who was her fellow guest of the evening?

Answer: Emily Dickinson and Frederic Chopin

Always the shy recluse, Emily Dickinson initially kept to herself upstairs. As music flowed from Chopin's fingers so did poems from Emily's. Eventually she came down to party with everyone and had a great time.

11. Who followed Hans Christian Andersen to the party?

Answer: The ugly duckling

Great writers often came and went with the signature characters of their creation. Among them were Don Quixote, Hamlet and Gargantua.

12. When Napoleon came he spent the whole night giving an endless harangue about his grand scheme for Europe. What did his fellow guest Beethoven do during this time?

Answer: He stayed silent and wrote down his throughts on paper.

He wrote: "I see no reason to revise my second opinion. He was not really a great man."

13. After Peter the Great and Charles XII left the dinner party, what activity did they engage in?

Answer: Sword fight

After they left, the author took a walk in the field and saw two shadowy figures dueling in the moonlight. It ended with the smaller one of the two running his rapier through the other.

14. St Nicholas day's dinner was held for the lost children of history. An adult guest was also invited and had a great time partying with the kids. Who was it?

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

The author called Benjamin Franklin one of the only two universal geniuses America had produced. The other was Benjamin Thompson.

15. Who was Van Loon's last guest, and most honored of all?

Answer: Thomas Jefferson

Van Loon called Jefferson the greatest champion for freedom the world has ever known. The dinner parties (and this wonderful book) came to an end as Hitler rose to power and the author had to flee to America.

Source: Author rsh437

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