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Quiz about 25 People Who Influenced the World
Quiz about 25 People Who Influenced the World

25 People Who Influenced the World Quiz


This quiz is not about the usual 25 influential people you think of; this is a quiz about influential people that may not come to mind right away. Nevertheless, they influenced the world they lived in as well as the world we live in today.

A multiple-choice quiz by ncterp. Estimated time: 7 mins.
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Author
ncterp
Time
7 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
396,041
Updated
Feb 14 23
# Qns
25
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
19 / 25
Plays
479
Last 3 plays: Guest 94 (12/25), Guest 90 (11/25), Guest 147 (8/25).
-
Question 1 of 25
1. This man was a teacher, philosopher, and spiritual leader. He was born into poverty c. 551 B.C. but his piquant adages still resonate in his home country. Who was this often misunderstood man? Hint


Question 2 of 25
2. Her mother was executed for witchcraft, adultery, and incest. During a time of religious conflict in her country she was briefly imprisoned. By the age of 25 her rights were restored and she led her country for nearly half a century until her death in 1603. Who was this "white-skinned" damsel? Hint


Question 3 of 25
3. He started a company in 1903 to make what was a luxury item into something within reach of the average American worker. He shared his ideas with other companies and soon America began outproducing the world. Who was this innovative engineer? Hint


Question 4 of 25
4. He a was a mid-18th-century Scotsman who was a university professor of moral philosophy and logic. He wrote a book that was immediately influential and remains so today. Who is called "The Father of Modern Political Economics"? Hint


Question 5 of 25
5. She was born the slave of a New York landowner. In 1828 she became the first black woman to sue and win a case against a white man. She was an itinerant preacher, a supporter of women's suffrage, and of course an abolitionist. Who was this fiery woman? Hint


Question 6 of 25
6. This French novelist influenced men such as: Robert Goddard, Werner von Braun and Jacques Cousteau with his futuristic imagination. His science-fiction seemed so real. Who was this remarkably forward French thinker? Hint


Question 7 of 25
7. At a time when it was thought that the Earth was the center of the universe, this amateur astronomer theorized that the Sun was at the center and the Earth and all the planets orbited it. Others built on his theories. Who was this amateur astronomer from Poland? Hint


Question 8 of 25
8. Was this biophysicist the victim of sexual discrimination? In 1952 at King's College in England she made a breakthrough in the theory of the structure of DNA. Three men, using her data, won a Nobel Prize in 1962 and are known as the men who cracked the DNA code. Who was this influential, unacknowledged and largely forgotten woman? Hint


Question 9 of 25
9. He joined the Communist party after college. His star rose quickly and by 1985 he became the last leader of his country. Richard Nixon suggested that he be declared "Man of the Century". Who was this leader who dismantled his country? Hint


Question 10 of 25
10. He began preaching in college where he developed a style, based on sincerity, of a simple direct message of sin and salvation. He decided to become an evangelist for Protestantism. Who was this man President George H.W. Bush called, "America's pastor"? Hint


Question 11 of 25
11. In the 11th Century this man greatly influenced his time and ours by placing his church in opposition to Islam. In 1095 he gave a sermon to Bishops from across Europe in which he called for Christians to destroy that "vile race...Christ commands it." Who was this Pope who started The Crusades? Hint


Question 12 of 25
12. She was born in 1907 in rural Pennsylvania. She loved two things in life: writing and nature. Her books, particularly "Silent Spring" accused the chemical companies of releasing DDT and other insecticides into the environment. Who was this patron saint of the environmental movement? Hint


Question 13 of 25
13. In 1909 he traveled to New York City as part of Fred Karno's Speechless Comedians. He had found his niche. He gained stardom in Max Sennet's Keystone Studios. Who was this silent screen star whose influence still reverberates in Hollywood? Hint


Question 14 of 25
14. This man's work undoubtedly saved millions of lives around the globe. He was an unassuming American agronomist. He received a Ph.D in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He developed a disease-resistant, high-yield wheat variety while working in Mexico. Who was this Nobel Prize winning agronomist? Hint


Question 15 of 25
15. This inventor became fascinated by electromagnetic waves. He experimented with long-wave signals. In 1901 he oversaw the first transatlantic radio message. Who was this entrepreneur who made the world a much smaller place? Hint


Question 16 of 25
16. She was the first feminist, known as the "Mother of Feminism". In 1792 she wrote, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" in which she advocated for men and women to be educated equally. Who was this woman who had a profound influence on the feminists of her day and ours? Hint


Question 17 of 25
17. In an age when polytheistic religions dominated, this man believed in only one God. His existence is impossible to prove, but his name appears in the Bible, the Koran and the Hebrew Bible. Who was this man, whose name means, "father of many nations"? Hint


Question 18 of 25
18. He gave up a legal career to devote himself to the philosophy of communism. During the Tzarist age in Russia he was exiled to Siberia because of his revolutionary activities. Who was this Marxist who would lead the Communist party after the formation of the USSR? Hint


Question 19 of 25
19. She was born in France in 1883. She was egocentric and brash, but at age 18 while singing in a cabaret she attracted the attention of a man who would set her up with her own millinery shop in Paris. Who was this vain woman who changed the world of fashion? Hint


Question 20 of 25
20. His talent was communicated to the world through America's gift to the world: jazz. His personality and groundbreaking combinations of melody and rhythm changed the culture of music. Who was this musical icon? Hint


Question 21 of 25
21. She was a dancer, whose innovative and risk-taking style and courage was influential in creating modern dance. She started her own choreography studio in New York City and wrote herself starring roles well into her 70's. Who was this woman who made her mark with her creativity and boldness? Hint


Question 22 of 25
22. If you were a child growing up in the 1940-1950's you read "Dick and Jane" books that were deadly dull. He was challenged to write a primer with 220 words suitable for a first grader. The book was a best-seller. Who was this influential author of children's books who coined the word "nerd" and helped children worldwide to read? Hint


Question 23 of 25
23. He was "Mr. Modern Architecture". He was irascible, caustic and a visionary who believed the 20th Century was ready for a new kind of architecture. Some of his projects failed miserably, but it was he who opened the door. Who was this "conscience" of modern architecture? Hint


Question 24 of 25
24. At a time when writers such as Upton Sinclair and Lincoln Steffens were chronicling the evils of child labor, this man responded with a camera. Few have used the camera as a social weapon to say with pictures what others were writing about as effectively as this teacher from Wisconsin. Who was this influential photojournalist? Hint


Question 25 of 25
25. She worked as a mid-wife in New York City slums and was appalled that lower-class women did not have the same access to options to control their own destinies as the wealthy. She founded what would eventually become Planned Parenthood. Who was this fierce advocate for women's reproductive rights? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. This man was a teacher, philosopher, and spiritual leader. He was born into poverty c. 551 B.C. but his piquant adages still resonate in his home country. Who was this often misunderstood man?

Answer: Confucius

Confucius' adages were simple and straightforward; care for your fellow man, honor your ancestors, do unto others as you want done to you. These sound like Christian teachings, but they were written 500 years before Jesus was born. Confucius is often quoted today in China.
2. Her mother was executed for witchcraft, adultery, and incest. During a time of religious conflict in her country she was briefly imprisoned. By the age of 25 her rights were restored and she led her country for nearly half a century until her death in 1603. Who was this "white-skinned" damsel?

Answer: Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She was declared illegitimate. The Elizabethan era gave rise to the British Navy and the beginnings of British colonization. Elizabeth restored her father's Church of England and she turned England from a nation of debt and religious strife into a world power, thereby influencing her world and ours.
3. He started a company in 1903 to make what was a luxury item into something within reach of the average American worker. He shared his ideas with other companies and soon America began outproducing the world. Who was this innovative engineer?

Answer: Henry Ford

Henry Ford's influence on American manufacturing was profound. He was the son of an Irish immigrant farmer from the U.S. mid-west. Henry Ford started Ford Motor Company where cars were assembled, not built. The assembly line, where each worker added a part they had been trained for as the cars rolled by.

In 1908 over 15 million Model Ts were produced and sold. As Ford refined his production he reduced the price of the Model T from $825 in 1908 to $360 by 1916 and eventually to $290 in 1926. Ford started with the Model A and went right through the alphabet to T.

The Model T was the first of his cars that was mass produced.
4. He a was a mid-18th-century Scotsman who was a university professor of moral philosophy and logic. He wrote a book that was immediately influential and remains so today. Who is called "The Father of Modern Political Economics"?

Answer: Adam Smith

Although diminutive in stature, Adam Smith was a giant figure in the history of economic thought. In 1776 he published "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations". He argued for less government regulation, low import taxes, and he encouraged free trade. Smith was a major influence on America's and the world's economic development.
5. She was born the slave of a New York landowner. In 1828 she became the first black woman to sue and win a case against a white man. She was an itinerant preacher, a supporter of women's suffrage, and of course an abolitionist. Who was this fiery woman?

Answer: Sojourner Truth

She was born Isabella Bumfree. She changed her name to Sojourner Truth in the 1840s. The suit related to the illegal sale of her son into slavery in the south (New York had abolished slavery in 1827). Truth went on to helping gather supplies for black regiments during the Civil War.

In 1864 she went to Washington, D.C. and met with President Lincoln at the White House. That same year she was appointed to The National Freedmen's Relief Association. Her steadfastness promoted the cause of the abolition movement.
6. This French novelist influenced men such as: Robert Goddard, Werner von Braun and Jacques Cousteau with his futuristic imagination. His science-fiction seemed so real. Who was this remarkably forward French thinker?

Answer: Jules Verne

Jules Verne's book "Paris in the 20th Century" was written in 1863 but set in 1960. It described air-conditioners, gas-powered cars, high-speed trains, calculators, televisions and global telegraphic communications (internet?) to name a few. His book "From the Earth to the Moon" written in 1865 describes 3 astronauts being launched from Florida to the moon and return by splashing down in the ocean. Sounds a lot like Apollo 11 which launched in 1969. Among his other works were "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Around the World in Eighty Days".
7. At a time when it was thought that the Earth was the center of the universe, this amateur astronomer theorized that the Sun was at the center and the Earth and all the planets orbited it. Others built on his theories. Who was this amateur astronomer from Poland?

Answer: Nicolaus Copernicus

Copernicus was born in Poland. He had a doctorate in canon law and spent his career at a cathedral in Frombork. He theorized that the Earth spun on an axis and that the moon orbited the Earth. Copernicus also posited that the planets orbited the sun in a circular pattern, which was later proven wrong.

He wrote "On the Revolution of the Celestial Spheres" which was published in 1543, shortly before his death. This book greatly influenced the work of future astronomers Galileo and Kepler.
8. Was this biophysicist the victim of sexual discrimination? In 1952 at King's College in England she made a breakthrough in the theory of the structure of DNA. Three men, using her data, won a Nobel Prize in 1962 and are known as the men who cracked the DNA code. Who was this influential, unacknowledged and largely forgotten woman?

Answer: Rosalind Franklin

Rosalind Franklin was unfortunate to live in a male dominated society. She died in 1958 of ovarian cancer at age 38, possibly like Marie Curie, from exposure to radiation. The Nobel committee does not make posthumous awards so her name appears nowhere in the citation.
9. He joined the Communist party after college. His star rose quickly and by 1985 he became the last leader of his country. Richard Nixon suggested that he be declared "Man of the Century". Who was this leader who dismantled his country?

Answer: Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev was born in 1931, the son of peasants. He encouraged creativity through "perestroika" and permitted more liberties through "glasnost". The Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989 and by 1991 the USSR had come apart. In 1990 Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His influence in Russian history continues to reverberate worldwide.
10. He began preaching in college where he developed a style, based on sincerity, of a simple direct message of sin and salvation. He decided to become an evangelist for Protestantism. Who was this man President George H.W. Bush called, "America's pastor"?

Answer: Billy Graham

He was born in Charlotte, NC in 1918. Billy Graham's first experience with evangelism was when he was hired to be a traveling preacher for Youth for Christ International. He began his revival meetings, he called them crusades, in Los Angeles. He is reported to have said, "Someday you will hear Billy Graham is dead. Don't believe any of it."
11. In the 11th Century this man greatly influenced his time and ours by placing his church in opposition to Islam. In 1095 he gave a sermon to Bishops from across Europe in which he called for Christians to destroy that "vile race...Christ commands it." Who was this Pope who started The Crusades?

Answer: Pope Urban II

Pope Urban II reportedly promised "immediate remission of sins" for all who died in battle against the "pagans". What began as an assist to Anatolia (Turkey) to drive out the Muslims became a quest to retake Jerusalem. There were a total of 8 Crusades between 1095 and 1270.

It has been estimated that over 1 million lives were lost, making the Crusades one of the deadliest conflicts in history.
12. She was born in 1907 in rural Pennsylvania. She loved two things in life: writing and nature. Her books, particularly "Silent Spring" accused the chemical companies of releasing DDT and other insecticides into the environment. Who was this patron saint of the environmental movement?

Answer: Rachel Carson

Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in rural Pennsylvania. She decried the negative impact humans have on the environment. Carson died at 58 of breast cancer. Her work led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act.
13. In 1909 he traveled to New York City as part of Fred Karno's Speechless Comedians. He had found his niche. He gained stardom in Max Sennet's Keystone Studios. Who was this silent screen star whose influence still reverberates in Hollywood?

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

He was born in London in 1889. In 1919 Charlie Chaplin along Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, and D.W. Griffith formed their own studio, United Artists. Chaplin was one of the first people to control every aspect of film making. His silent films included, among others, "The Gold Rush", "Modern Times" and "City Lights".
14. This man's work undoubtedly saved millions of lives around the globe. He was an unassuming American agronomist. He received a Ph.D in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1942. He developed a disease-resistant, high-yield wheat variety while working in Mexico. Who was this Nobel Prize winning agronomist?

Answer: Norman Borlaug

Norman Borlaug's wheat variety spread quickly to famine-stricken third world countries. He was called the "Father of the Green Revolution". He is one of only seven people in history to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Medal.
15. This inventor became fascinated by electromagnetic waves. He experimented with long-wave signals. In 1901 he oversaw the first transatlantic radio message. Who was this entrepreneur who made the world a much smaller place?

Answer: Guglielmo Marconi

Guglielmo Marconi was born into a wealthy family in Bologna, Italy in 1874. He is known as the "Father of the Radio", but others before him opened the door, Michael Faraday and James Clark Maxwell and others. Those who followed like, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell expanded on Marconi's theories, which eventually made way for television. Marconi shared the 1909 Nobel Prize for Physics with Ferdinand Braun who invented the cathode-ray vacuum tube.
16. She was the first feminist, known as the "Mother of Feminism". In 1792 she wrote, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman" in which she advocated for men and women to be educated equally. Who was this woman who had a profound influence on the feminists of her day and ours?

Answer: Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft was born in London in 1759. She was controversial, she had a child out of wedlock and when she later found out she was pregnant again she married the father. The result of Mary Wollstonecraft's union with William Godwin was a daughter, Mary.

When she grew up Mary Wollstonecraft Shelly authored "Frankenstein". Wollstonecraft developed her ideas by associating with men like Thomas Paine, William Wordsworth and Samuel Colridge. She had a profound influence on Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Virginia Woolf, and Betty Friedan.
17. In an age when polytheistic religions dominated, this man believed in only one God. His existence is impossible to prove, but his name appears in the Bible, the Koran and the Hebrew Bible. Who was this man, whose name means, "father of many nations"?

Answer: Abraham

Abraham, who St. Paul called "Father of us all", was born in Ur in present day Iraq. His people were nomadic, and Abraham traveled throughout the Holy Land. He spread the word of God and in doing so he influenced millions.
18. He gave up a legal career to devote himself to the philosophy of communism. During the Tzarist age in Russia he was exiled to Siberia because of his revolutionary activities. Who was this Marxist who would lead the Communist party after the formation of the USSR?

Answer: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov

Vladimir Lenin, as he is better known (Lenin is a kind of nickname), was a student of Marxism and spread the communist philosophy throughout Russia and Europe. Leninism, apart from Marxism, was anti-imperialist, atheistic, and opportunistic. Lenin ruled as a dictator until his death.
19. She was born in France in 1883. She was egocentric and brash, but at age 18 while singing in a cabaret she attracted the attention of a man who would set her up with her own millinery shop in Paris. Who was this vain woman who changed the world of fashion?

Answer: Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel never married because "there is only one Chanel". She was the daughter of a traveling salesman who, after her mother died, left her in a convent. Chanel has been called the most influential designer of the 20th century. She was not known as a feminist but may have spurred the feminist movement.

She changed all the prevailing rules of fashion by mixing and matching male and female attire, for example, women's suits.
20. His talent was communicated to the world through America's gift to the world: jazz. His personality and groundbreaking combinations of melody and rhythm changed the culture of music. Who was this musical icon?

Answer: Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong was raised in poverty and did time in a reform school. His life was a rags to riches story. He could sing in addition to playing the trumpet. His wide smile earned him the nickname "Satchelmouth", which evolved in to "Satchmo". His gravelly voice was as unique as it was melodious.

The duets he performed with Ella Fitzgerald of show tunes by Gershwin, Porter, and Berlin are timeless classics.
21. She was a dancer, whose innovative and risk-taking style and courage was influential in creating modern dance. She started her own choreography studio in New York City and wrote herself starring roles well into her 70's. Who was this woman who made her mark with her creativity and boldness?

Answer: Martha Graham

Martha Graham was born into an upper-class family in Pennsylvania and later moved to Los Angeles. She was modern dance. Anything that looks new and exciting and bold owes plenty to Graham. Her style became known as the "Graham technique" and is still taught worldwide. She gave modern dance new depth as a vehicle for the intense and forceful expression of primal emotions.
22. If you were a child growing up in the 1940-1950's you read "Dick and Jane" books that were deadly dull. He was challenged to write a primer with 220 words suitable for a first grader. The book was a best-seller. Who was this influential author of children's books who coined the word "nerd" and helped children worldwide to read?

Answer: Theodor Geisel

Dr. Seuss was once bet $50 by Bennett Cerf that he couldn't write a book of 50 words or less. Geisel won the bet with "A Cat in the Hat". He, of course, wasn't a real doctor but he received 7 honorary degrees, an Academy Award and a Pulitzer Prize. Dr. Seuss had no children of his own.

The word "nerd" first appeared in "If I ran the Zoo". March 2nd every year, the day of his birth, has been declared "Read Across America Day" by the National Education Association.
23. He was "Mr. Modern Architecture". He was irascible, caustic and a visionary who believed the 20th Century was ready for a new kind of architecture. Some of his projects failed miserably, but it was he who opened the door. Who was this "conscience" of modern architecture?

Answer: Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier was born in Switzerland in 1887. He designed over 60 buildings. Highly praised as an innovator whose creative designs for urban areas continue to influence ideas of what a town should look like. He was a strong advocate of urban planning.
24. At a time when writers such as Upton Sinclair and Lincoln Steffens were chronicling the evils of child labor, this man responded with a camera. Few have used the camera as a social weapon to say with pictures what others were writing about as effectively as this teacher from Wisconsin. Who was this influential photojournalist?

Answer: Lewis Hine

Lewis Hine's photography brought to light a dark period in American history. In 1908 his photographs of conditions in tenements and sweatshops were published in "Charities and Commons". He was hired by the National Child Labor Committee which was pushing for federal laws to protect America's exploited children. Congress soon passed the Keating-Owen Act of 1916. Hine's photography was influential in saving countless lives and his images helped to change the world. Lewis Hine was also hired to document the building of the Empire State Building.
25. She worked as a mid-wife in New York City slums and was appalled that lower-class women did not have the same access to options to control their own destinies as the wealthy. She founded what would eventually become Planned Parenthood. Who was this fierce advocate for women's reproductive rights?

Answer: Margaret Sanger

Margaret Sanger was born into an Irish-Catholic family in New York. She witnessed her mother die of tuberculosis and cervical cancer after 18 pregnancies and 11 live births. She coined the term "birth control". She opened the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn in 1916. With funding from affluent supporters she hired a team to develop an oral contraceptive.

She lived to see the first marketing of "the pill". There is no question that her work influenced population growth, family dynamics, and a woman's place in the workforce.
Source: Author ncterp

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