A Mixed Bag Trivia Quiz

Answer: Robert H. Goddard

Goddard published his research into achieving extreme altitude using solid fuel rockets in 1919. He also expanded on the future possibility of exploring space. In January 1920, the New York Times printed a front page article about Goddard's beliefs in a negative fashion and followed it up by ridiculing him in an editorial the following day. Goddard had the last laugh though as he invented the liquid fuel rocket essential to spaceflight today just 5 years later. Korolyov was the lead engineer on the early Soviet space program. Edison is known for many things but theories on space flight are not among them. Wernher von Braun worked on the German V2 rocket during the 2nd World War and later led the American Space program where he became the chief architect of the Saturn V rocket.

Answer: Sir Christopher Wren

Wren was the architect of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He was buried in the crypt of the cathedral in 1723. A plain stone plaque is on the grave and a circle of black marble bearing the full inscription quoted below is on the main floor of the cathedral under the dome.
The inscription reads "Here in its foundations lies the architect of this church and city, Christopher Wren, who lived beyond ninety years, not for his own profit but for the public good. Reader, if you seek his monument - look around you. Died 25 Feb. 1723, age 90."

Answer: Rudolf Hess

He was Deputy Fuhrer to Adolf Hitler from 1933 until he flew to Scotland in an attempt to negotiate a peace settlement with the UK. He was taken prisoner and eventually sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against peace at the Nuremburg War Trials of 1946. He died aged 93, still in custody in Spandau Prison, Berlin in 1987.

Answer: Elizabeth II

She was the wife of King George VI and became known as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother when her daughter became Queen. She died in 2002 at the age of 101.

Answer: Florencio Avalos and Luis Urzua

On August 5th 2010, 33 miners were trapped 2,300 feet underground by a cave-in at the San José mine in Chile. Florencio was the first miner to be rescued, some 68 days after the initial collapse. Luis, the last miner, was rescued the following day.

Answer: Dick Emery

He started on radio in the 1950s and had his own TV series from 1963-1981. He died in 1983. He had a whole string of characters that he used in a series of sketches. The public just loved them. Besides those mentioned earlier, there was Hettie the frustrated spinster, Lampwick the stuttering pensioner, Clarence the Gay man and College the tramp.

There were more. He was the inspiration for several British comics who followed him in later years.

Answer: Spencer Perceval

He became Prime Minister in 1809 and was assassinated on 11th May 1812. His killer had been imprisoned in Russia, unjustifiably in his opinion. He believed that the British Government should compensate him but his petitions had been rejected and he had therefore decided to take direct action against Perceval. Bellingham made no attempt to escape and was quickly arrested.

He was tried and found guilty just four days later and hanged three days after that.

Answer: Marie Tussaud

From the late 1770s until the start of the French revolution in 1789, she made many figures of celebrities and was good friends with the Royal family. In 1793, during the Reign of Terror, she was arrested and had her head shaved in preparation to be guillotined. Luckily, she was saved by a member of the Committee of Public Safety and was employed to make death masks of those not so fortunate as herself such as Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Marat, and Robespierre.

In 1802, she travelled to England with her exhibition of masks etc. Madame Tussaud's wax museum has now grown to become one of the major tourist attractions in London, and has expanded, with branches all over the world.

Answer: Tracey Emin

Her grandfather was a Sudanese slave and her father was married to somebody other than her mother but spent time with both families. Financial difficulties followed her family when her father's business collapsed. Emin herself was raped at the age of about thirteen. Not the best start in life for any young girl. She was made Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy in 2011.

Answer: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

He designed the SS Great Britain, the first cast-iron steamer with a screw propeller. It was the biggest ship in the world at the time and travelled between Bristol and New York. He also engineered the Great Western Railway, connecting London to Bristol and the South West of England and South Wales.

In 2002, in a BBC poll, he was voted the 2nd Greatest Briton to have ever lived. De Lesseps developed the Suez Canal. Thomas Telford created the world's first cast-iron arch bridge across the River Severn in Shropshire, England, in 1781. Stephenson built the world's first inter-city railway line using steam locomotives between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830.