Born in the Same Year Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph Haydn

Both Haydn and Washington were born in 1732. Haydn died in 1809 and Washington died in 1799.

George Washington was born into a middle-class family in Virginia, and went to be a surveyor, a lieutenant during the French and Indian War, the commander of the Continental Army during the American Revolution, an important and arguably best-known founding father of the United States, and the first president of the United States.

Joseph Haydn also made extremely important contributions to the world, just in a different field. Born in a small Austrian village to a family that was very musical yet could not read music, he was sent away from his family at a young age to obtain musical training. Having a difficult early life, he was hired by Count Morzin, where he wrote some of his early works, and was eventually hired by Prince Anton Esterhazy. Haydn would continue to be employed by the Esterhazy family for nearly 30 years, where he would write most of his music, and become the most famous composer in Europe. Feeling lonely in the far-away Hungarian palace, Haydn traveled over Europe during the 1790s, composing the London Symphonies, which are his most famous works. During the last few years of his life, he mostly stayed in Austria and did little composing, as he was quite sick.

Mozart was born in 1756, Salieri was born in 1750, and Bach was born in 1714.

Answer: Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. and Anne Frank were both born in 1929.

Anne Frank was born in Germany to a quite wealthy family, and fled the Nazi Regime in 1934 by moving to Amsterdam. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands in 1940, Anne Frank's family was severely affected, eventually losing their jobs, schools, and citizenship. In 1942, the Frank family went into hiding, where they stayed until 1944, when they were found and arrested by the Gestapo. Whilst in hiding, Anne wrote in her diary, which was later published and became the best-selling diary of all time. She died at the young age of 15 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and even though he had a very difficult early life due to segregation in Alabama, he was able to get a quite good education, and was a very smart child. He became a pastor in Montgomery in 1954, and was a leading figure during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Over the next 13 years until his death, he would tirelessly fight for civil rights, less poverty, and many other issues, with his most famous speech being his 'I Have A Dream' speech during the March on Washington. He was assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray.

Malcolm X was born in 1925, Rosa Parks was born in 1913, and John Lewis was born in 1940.

Answer: Adolf Hitler

Hitler was born on April 20th, 1889, and Chaplin was born just 4 days prior to that.

Charlie Chaplin was born into a poor London family, and when his parents separated, his life became one of hardship and poverty. He had to work as a young child to support his family, and at the age of 14, his mother was sent to a mental asylum. Chaplin turned to the comedic stage, and by 30, he was based in the United States, had created some of his most famous characters, such as the Tramp, and was known worldwide. He made many silent films throughout the 1920s and 30s, and moved to sound films with 'The Great Dictators in 1940, which made fun of Hitler. Even though he made films later in his life, he was the subject of many controversies, the largest one being that he was accused of being a Communist sympathizer.

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, and his early life was characterized by his bad relationship with his father, his bad performance in school, and his preference of Germany over Austria. From the time he left school in 1905 to the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he struggled financially, and made most of his little money from selling his paintings. He was a decorated soldier in World War I, and after the war, he seized on the discontent German people and led a failed coup in 1923. His second attempt was more successful, and in 1933, he became Chancellor of Germany. He began to turn Germany into a Nazi state and institute antisemitic laws. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, which led to World War II. On April 30, 1945, when the Allied forces were outside of Berlin, Hitler and his new wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide and killed their dog, Blondi, as well.

Stalin was born in 1878, Churchill was born in 1874, and FDR was born in 1882.

Answer: Shakespeare

Shakespeare was likely born on April 23, 1564. Marlowe was born February 6, 1564. Finally, Galileo was born on February 15, 1564.

Both William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe were successful playwrights in the Elizabethan era. Shakespeare turned out to be more famous, becoming the best-selling author of all time. Shakespeare's most famous works are 'Romeo and Juliet', 'Macbeth, and 'A Midsummer's Night Dream'. Marlowe's most famous works are 'Doctor Faustus' and 'The Jew of Malta'. There is a theory that Shakespeare's work was actually written by Marlowe.

Galileo Galilei was born in Italy, and during the early life, he was interested in music and medicine. He was pursuing a career in the latter when several accidental occurrences made him interested in science and mathematics. He would study astronomy, physics, and engineering for the rest of his life, with his biggest contributions being the basis with which Isaac Newton would create his Three Laws, the study and/or discovery of Jupiter's moons, Saturn's rings, lunar craters, and sunspots, and his support of the theory of heliocentrism first developed by Copernicus, which stated that objects in the Solar System revolved around the Sun. The latter of these got him into a lot of trouble with the Catholic Church, and the last few years of his life were lived under house arrest.

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

Hitchcock was born on August 13, 1899 and Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899.

Alfred Hitchcock was born in London, and during his early life, his family moved several times, and he pursued an education in several subjects, with his favorite subject being geography. After a short stint as a World War I soldier, he became interested in creative writing. In 1925, 'The Pleasure Garden' marked his directorial debut, and his first 'talkie' was 'Blackmail' in 1929. Over the next fifty years, he would make many films, both in Britain, and from 1940, in America, with the biggest stars of the world. His best-known works are 'The 39 Steps', 'The Lady Vanishes', 'Rebecca', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest', 'Psycho', 'The Birds', and many more. Many of his films are considered some of the best ever created.

Ernest Hemingway was born in Chicago to quite a rich family, and in his youth, was quite an accomplished student and athlete. He became a journalist for several years, and while serving in World War I, sustained serious injuries. Continuing his journalistic career, he moved to Paris, where he learned much from the writers of that time. He wrote his first two books while in Paris. Returning to America, he wrote 'A Farewell to Arms' in 1929, which is his first book that is still widely read. He had a turbulent personal life and got into near-fatal accidents several times throughout his life. His most famous works are 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' and 'The Old Man and the Sea', and he received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954.

The iceberg theory is also known as the theory of omissio, and Hemingway wrote, "If a writer of prose knows enough of what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them," to explain the theory.

Other people born in 1899 include Al Capone, Humphrey Bogart, and Duke Ellington.

Answer: Julie Andrews

The King of Rock and Roll, or Elvis Presley, was born in 1935, as was Julie Andrews.

Julie Andrews was born in Surrey into an acting family. Her parents divorced in the early 1940s, and she was sent to live with her mother and her stepfather. By the age of 10, she was performing on stage, and by 13, she was touring England and performing for the royal family. Over the next decade, she would become an accomplished Broadway star, starring in the debuts of 'Cinderella' and 'Camelot', and many more shows. In 1964, she starred in 'Mary Poppins' as the titular role in her film debut, for which she won an Academy Award, and the following year, she portrayed Maria von Trapp in 'The Sound of Music'. She continued to star on Broadway and in films, with her most famous after the aforementioned ones being 'The Princess Diaries' and 'Victor/Victoria'.

Elvis Presley was born in Mississippi, and when he was 20, he recorded his first rockabilly album. The next year, he released 'Heartbreak Hotel', which quickly topped the charts. He made his film debut in the same year with 'Love Me Tender'. During the 1960s, he stayed away from live performances, but had some of his biggest success in film and music, including 'Jailhouse Rock', 'Mystery Train', and 'Are You Lonesome Tonight?'. In the last decade of his life, he returned to live performances, but sadly passed away in 1977 at the age of 42. His music is some of the most transformative and well-known of the past century.

Lansbury was born in 1925, Streisand was born in 1942, and Martin was born in 1913.

Answer: John F. Kennedy

Both Gandhi and Kennedy were born in 1917.

John F. Kennedy was born in Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard in 1940, and fought in World War II as a Reservist in the Pacific Theatre. He became a decorated soldier and sustained serious injuries. From 1947 to 1953, he represented Massachusetts' 11th district in the House of Representatives, and from 1953 to 1961, he was a senator from Massachusetts. He defeated Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. His presidency was defined by the Cold War, including tensions with Cuba and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1963, he was assassinated, and his vice president, Lyndon B. Johnson, became the 36th president of the United States.

Indira Gandhi had a lonely and unhappy childhood, because her mother was often ill and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a leading figure of the Indian nationalist movement, was often in prison or away on a trip. When her father was prime minister of India (1947-1964), she was a key advisor, and in the early 1960s, she was an important member of the Indian parliament. In 1966, she became the first female prime minister of India. Her leadership was characterized by the war against Pakistan, and her attempts to centralize the government as much as possible. In 1984, she was assassinated.

Eisenhower was born in 1890, Johnson was born in 1908, and Nixon was born in 1913.

Answer: George Frideric Handel

Both Handel and Bach were born in 1685, and their places of birth are only about 80 miles away from each other.

Johann Sebastian Bach was born in Eisenach to a large and very musical parents. He was orphaned by the time he was 10, so he moved with his eldest brother who was 14 years his senior. Bach received most of his musical training from his brother, as well as several musical schools that he was enrolled in during his late teenage years. For the rest of his life, he would be employed by many people, with whom he would often have disagreements about his music, and who valued him highly as a composer and an organist. His most famous works include the 'Brandenburg Concertos', 'The Well-Tempered Clavier', and 'Toccata and Fugue in D minor'. Bach transformed music by establishing and developing counterpoint and harmony.

George Frideric Handel was born in Halle, where, along with Hamburg and several places in Italy, he received his musical training. Settling down in London in 1712, he wrote many Italian opera seria and founded several opera companies so that the British nobility could enjoy Italian opera. Around 1740, he stopped writing Italian opera, and started to write music that could be enjoyed more by the lower classes. His most famous works came from this later part of his career, including 'Messiah' and 'Water Music'.

Purcell was born in 1659, Vivaldi was born in 1678, and Gluck was born in 1714, which is actually the same year that Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, Bach's fifth and arguably most musically talented son, was born.

Answer: Conan O'Brien

Both Michael Jordan and Conan O'Brien were born in 1963.

Michael Jordan was born in Brooklyn, and his family moved to North Carolina when he was 5. When he was in high school, he played baseball, basketball, and football, and he was rejected from the varsity basketball team. In response to this, he trained vigorously, and in college, he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels in the University of Chapel Hill. In 1984, he joined the Chicago Bulls, where over the next 15 years, he led the Bulls to numerous NBA championships, made the NBA popular again, and earned the nickname 'His Airness'.

Conan O'Brien was born in Brookline, and attended Harvard University. He began his career by writing for 'Saturday Night Live' and 'The Simpsons'. He then replaced David Letterman on 'Late Night' in 1993, but due to him not being famous, the show was not well-received at first. However, over time, the show became highly regarded by the time of Conan's departure from the show in 2009. He became involved in a feud with Jay Leno in 2010 about who would host 'The Tonight Show', which resulted in Conan moving his show to TBS. He eventually left that show in 2021, but not without firmly cementing his legacy in the late-night industry.

Colbert was born in 1964, Kimmel was born in 1967, and Meyers was born in 1973.

Answer: Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Biden was born in 1942, and Bush, Trump, and Clinton were all born in 1946. Although there are other pairs of presidents that were born in the same year, 1946 is the only year in which 3 United States presidents were born.

Joseph R. Biden Jr. was the 46th United States president. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware when he was ten. He then served as a United States senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009, when he became the 47th vice president of the USA under Barack Obama until 2017. He became president in 2021 after defeating Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

Donald J. Trump was the 45th United States president. He was in charge of the Trump Organization real estate company, and would venture out into many other products, such as Trump Steaks. He was one of the most famous media personalities in New York throughout the 1980s and 90s. From 2004 to 2015, he hosted "The Apprentice". In 2016, he defeated Hillary Clinton to become the president, being the first president without any political or military experience. His presidency was defined by his border policy, namely the separation of families and the building of a wall along the southern border, his tax cuts and judicial appointees, his two impeachments, his slow response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his promotion of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election, which culminated in the January 6th riot on the United States Capitol.

George W. Bush was the 43rd United States president. He worked in the oil industry and co-owned the Texas Rangers before winning the Texas gubernatorial election in 1994. He defeated Al Gore in one of the closest elections in United States history, and became president in 2001. His presidency was defined by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq caused by the September 11 attacks, his focus on cultural issues and tax cuts, and the Great Recession.

William J. Clinton was the 42nd United States president. He was born in Arkansas, and after graduating from Yale Law School, he became the Arkansas attorney general. He then served as the governor of Arkansas for two non-consecutive terms, and defeated George Bush to become president in 1993. His presidency was defined by his economic policies, which led the United States to have a budget surplus for the first time in 30 years, his foreign policy, namely his intervention in the Yugoslavian Wars and his advocacy for the expansion of NATO, and his impeachment in 1999, which was caused by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.