Deaths in the News: 1993 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Heart murmur

NASA took advantage of Slayton's rigorous training for Mercury by making him the head of the Astronaut Office. In that capacity, he helped oversee crew training and assignment for the Gemini and Apollo programs. He would fly on the joint Apollo-Soyuz mission in July 1975.

Answer: Playing basketball

A routine pickup basketball game turned into tragedy for Lewis, who was claiming his place among the NBA elite. Lewis suffered from arrhythmia, or an abnormal heartbeat, that caused his heart to enlarge. It is one of the most common causes of cardiac arrest.

Answer: Scrabble

An unemployed architect, Butts decided to try and invent a new board game during the Great Depression. He originally called it Lexico before settling on Criss-Cross Words, and tried unsuccessfully to sell it to major game manufacturers. He kept trying and, in 1948, with the help of business partner James Brunot, finally brought the game, bearing its present name, to market.

It's been in homes across the country ever since. (Thanks to the Hasbro website for historical information on Alfred Butts and Scrabble.)

Answer: Hornet

After the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the US was anxious to strike back at Japan. Taking a crew of well-trained volunteers, Doolittle led a flight of 16 heavily-modified B-25 bombers from the deck of the Hornet on April 18, 1942, and into enemy territory. The low-level bomb runs helped spur American morale, and turned Doolittle into an American legend.

Answer: 2

A native of Missouri, Iba began coaching at Oklahoma A & M (now Oklahoma State) in 1934. During that time, he won back-to-back national championships (1945 and 1946), and became the first coach to win two Olympic gold medals in baskeball (1964 and 1968).

Despite his achievements, he will always be remembered as the coach of the ill-fated 1972 Olympic team that was handed a controversial defeat in Munich. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1969.

Answer: Seven Days in May

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster headlined the cast of the 1964 Warner Bros. feature film, which, like the book, is about a military plot to overthrow a seemingly weak President. Another famous writer, Rod Serling, wrote the screenplay for "Seven Days in May".

Answer: Roman Holiday

Not related to the New England-born Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn (birthname Andrey Kathleen Ruston) was born in Belgium to a well-to-do family. After surviving the perils of World War II in the Netherlands, she would go on to London and take up ballet and modeling, which eventually led to an acting career.

In "Roman Holiday", directed by William Wyler, she played a put-upon princess who wanted to get away from the limelight. (Thanks to the Internet Movie Database for information on Audrey Hepburn and "Roman Holiday".)

Answer: Choreography

At one time told that she was too fat to be a dancer, Agnes de Mille trained in the United States and Britain to achieve her goal. As a member of the American Ballet Theatre, she broke ground with her first original effort, "Black Ritual", in 1940; it was the first ballet ever done with black dancers. Over the course of time, she choreographed numerous hits, including both the stage and film versions of the musical "Oklahoma!".

She was accorded honors by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, in 1980. (Thanks to the Kennedy Center website for information on Agnes de Mille.)

Answer: False

Kulwicki, a Wisconsin native who won the 1992 Winston Cup championship, was killed when the small plane he was traveling in crashed on approach to the airport at Bristol, Tennessee. Davey Allison, an Alabama native and son of Winston Cup champion Bobby Allison, died in a helicopter crash at his home track in Talledega.

Answer: 24 years

Though best known as the first African-American justice on the Supreme Court, Marshall's legacy was secured before his appointment. He won the legendary Brown vs. Board of Education case in 1954 that helped pave the way for school desegregation. During his tenure, 1967-1991, he was known for his liberal tendencies, especially his support of civil rights and opposition to the death penalty. Marshall's seat was eventually filled by another African-American, Clarence Thomas, whose conservative leanings and involvement in a sexual-harrassment scandal left a bad taste in the mouths of many blacks.