Deaths In The News, 2008 (Part 2) Quiz

Answer: Offensive lineman

Gene Upshaw played on three different Super Bowl teams for the Oakland Raiders in three different decades, winning rings in Super Bowl XI and Super Bowl XV. He was named to the NFL's 1970s All-Decade Team and NFL's 75th Anniversary All-Time Team, and was named an All-Pro 11 times. Upshaw's younger brother, Marvin, spent nine years in the NFL as a defensive lineman, with stops in Cleveland, Kansas City, and St. Louis (with the Cardinals).

Answer: First woman to serve as Secretary of Energy.

Anne Armstrong's career included a number of firsts. Most notable among those first is being the first woman to give the keynote address at a major political convention, speaking at the Republican National Convention in 1972. At the time, she was the co-chairman of the Republican National Committee. Hazel Reid O'Leary was the first woman and the first African-American of either gender to serve as Secretary of Energy, during the Clinton Administration, from 1993 to 1997.

Answer: 1

Estelle Getty was nominated for the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for seven consecutive years (1986-1992), but only won the coveted award once, in 1988. She also won two Golden Globe Awards for the same role, in 1985 and 1986. And she won a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress, for playing Sylvester Stallone's mother in the feature film "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot" in 1992.

Answer: South Carolina

Eartha Kitt was born Eartha Mae Keith on a cotton plantation in northern Orangeburg County, South Carolina, in January, 1927. Although well known for her singing, especially the song "Santa Baby" in 1953, and for her acting in motion pictures and TV shows, she would win awards for her animation voice work late in her life.

In 2001, she received an Annie Award for her work as the evil Yzma in the Disney animated feature "The Emperor's New Groove". She also won Daytime Emmy Awards for voicing the same character in the Disney Channel animated series "The Emperor's New School" in 2007 and 2008.

Answer: Dance Hall of the Dead

A decorated veteran of World War II, Hillerman worked as a journalist after finishing his service, and later spent over 20 years teaching journalism at the University of New Mexico. The second book of his celebrated series of novels featuring Navajo Tribal Police officers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, titled "Dance Hall of the Dead", won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1974.

The Mystery Writers of America conferred the Grand Master Award on Hillerman in 1991.

Answer: January, 1955

An outstanding student who was the salutatorian of her high-school class, Bettie Page originally went to college to be a school teacher. After taking a detour to get into acting, she eventually began her career as a model, first doing nude photos for New York-area camera clubs and then moving on to model in men's magazines.

She also became known for posing in shots involving bondage, playing both dominant and submissive roles, and did do some acting on television and on Broadway. After spending several years in high demand in the 1950s, Page converted to Christianity and got involved in missionary work, revisiting her modeling past in the 1980s, when she was discovered by new audiences.

Answer: Josh Lucas

Don Haskins compiled a 719-353 record as a head coach of Texas Western (later the University of Texas at El Paso), winning 14 Western Athletic Conference championships and 4 WAC tournament championships. But no game he coached has as much historical significance as the 1966 national championship game that the Miners won against the powerful Kentucky Wildcats at College Park, Maryland.

Although black players had been successful in college basketball even before that point, no national champion team had ever featured five black starters.

The fact that Texas Western did it against a powerhouse like Kentucky made the achievement all the more memorable.

Answer: The Pentagon

Graduating from Princeton in 1937 with a degree in civil engineering, Furman worked for Leslie Groves, who was the senior U.S. Army officer responsible for the construction of the Pentagon, the new home for what was then the U.S. Department of War. After construction was completed in 1943, Furman followed Groves to work on the Manhattan Project, the American atomic bomb effort, and worked to ensure that German atomic scientist were not captured by the Soviets after the war.

Answer: John Lange

Crichton published eight books under the pen name John Lange between 1966 and 1972, including his very first novel. He also wrote the novel "A Case of Need" in 1968 under the pen name Jeffrey Hudson, and the co-wrote the novel "Dealing" in 1970 with his brother Douglas, under the pen name Michael Douglas. Crichton's best-known novels are those that have been made into motion pictures, including "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park".

He was also the creator of the long-running TV show "ER", a nod to his education as a doctor.

Answer: 33 years

Jack Alderman was convicted for his role in the murder of his wife, Barbara, in June, 1975, in Chatham County, Georgia. He was sentenced to die then as well as at a second sentencing hearing in April, 1985. Alderman's co-defendant in the case, John Brown, originally admitted to killing Mrs. Alderman, but later changed his story, indicating that he and Mr. Alderman killed her together on the promise that Alderman would pay him. Alderman, who maintained his innocence until the end and who was convicted despite lack of any other evidence tying him to the crime, received legal support from British legal advocates who referred to his execution as "obscene".

The 33 years he spent on Death Row is considered a record for a condemned person in the United States.