Dead Before You Know It Trivia Quiz

Answer: Alice Cooper

Cooper's heavy rock music has spanned over forty years. He's known for his bizarre concerts designed to shock and alarm people. Don't be deceived by the externals however. Cooper, who's a born again Christian, has been happily married since 1976 and he and his wife have three children. Perhaps the death notice scared him more than he realised. On reading of his demise, many music fans took it for fact, and great consternation was the result. So much so, that Cooper had to laughingly issue a denial which read in part, "I'm alive - and drunk as usual."

Answer: Broke, alone, and unpopular

Garvey was considered a Jamaican national hero. Born in that country, he would grow up to be not only a Black Nationalist, but also a publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, Pan-Africanist and speaker. He was the force behind the Pan-African philosophy, whose intention was for the world to redeem Africa and for all colonial powers to be evicted from that continent.

His policies were controversial and designed to cause havoc. Fellow African American activist, William Du Bois, described him as "the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world.

He is either a lunatic or a traitor." Garvey survived the shock of reading his pre-emptive obituary, but did indeed die that same year. Some of his followers would go on to insist that he was poisoned. Who knows? Stranger things have happened.

Answer: A pall bearer dropped his coffin

The poor man was a deep sleeper - very deep. The impact of the coffin hitting the ground woke him up with a considerable start. People exclaimed in religious fervour, crying out that he had been resurrected from the dead - and this miracle is still celebrated every year in the village of Braughing in the county of Hertfordshire, England.

Answer: Thatcher was the name of a cat

The cat belonged to John Baird, Canadian Minister for Transport, and he'd named his moggy after the former British Prime Minister. When it passed away in November 2009, he'd sent a brief text message, which had somehow gone to the wrong section, saying, "Thatcher has died."

Answer: Rudyard Kipling

British writer and poet Kipling lived from 1865 to 1936. He is noted for works such as "The Jungle Book", "Kim" and "The Man Who Would Be King" to name just a few. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1907, the youngest writer to be awarded this honour in the 20th century. The other three writers mentioned above are all American.

Answer: A great love of racing

In what became known as the CNN.com incident, it was revealed that multiple pre-written memorials of world famous figures were in place in case of sudden death of these international figures. The one template was used and simply altered to suit the occasion.

However, several pieces of information had been mistakenly carried over to the wrong obituaries. Neither of these world figures in fact died in 2003. Pope John Paul died in 2005, and the Queen Mother was already deceased, having passed away in 2002.

Answer: Fidel Castro

Both men were still alive at the time of the report. Mr Reagan did not die until the following year. Castro was still Prime Minister of Cuba, a post he resigned in 2008, after nearly 50 years in the role.

Answer: Sent her bills back, marked as "Deceased"

Cockie Hoogterp was quite an interesting woman, and certainly unflappable. During the period she was married to the Baron, he was so poverty stricken that they lived in a tent for months, before building a very simple hut. When Edward, Prince of Wales, visited Africa during this time for the purpose of going on a lion hunt, the Baron arranged for him to visit, but without informing his wife that the prince was coming. With nothing suitable in the house to serve royalty, she quite calmly served the Prince up a plate of scrambled eggs - which he quite happily helped her cook.

The Baron and his first wife were made famous in the oscar winning movie, "Out of Africa".

Answer: She believed he had turned into a zombie

Sipho William Mdletshe had been involved in a car accident and was thought to be deceased, so his body was shipped to the morgue and placed in a metal box. There that hapless man stayed for two ghastly days until his cries eventually alerted morgue workers.

Then to add insult to injury, his fiancee turned out to be the overly superstitious kind. Personally, I would have gone insane if stuck in a metal box in a morgue for two days, and could care less about romance after being rescued. I would have been far more interested in my straitjacket.

Answer: He turned up and thanked everyone for coming

This peculiar man had placed his own death notice and funeral arrangements in the paper because he wanted to see how many people would bother turning up to mourn his loss. He hid outside the venue for a while to observe the proceedings and then walked in to show his appreciation. Well, I'm not sure about you, but I may have been a tad annoyed about that and most definitely would have refused to attend his next passing over function.