Eggheads' Team Heroes Trivia Quiz

Answer: In the Mexico triathlon carrying brother Jonny towards the finish line

At the final race of the Triathlon World Series, held in Mexico in September 2016, younger brother Jonny was well in the lead and in line to win the 2016 World Triathlon title, when his legs buckled with less than half a mile to the finish line. Alistair was in second place in the race but not in a position to win the overall title as he had missed several of the season's earlier races. Rather than pass his brother and win the race himself, he stopped and half carried Jonny towards the finishing line. Unfortunately, this selfless act was in vain as they were both overtaken in the final few yards, Jonny finishing second and Alistair third. It was Spain's Mario Mola who took fifth position on the day and narrowly pipped Jonny for the 2016 World Series title.

During my teenage years my love of sport blossomed, particularly in relation to cross country running which was where I was most at home. Whilst I enjoyed moderate success, I could only dream of reaching the heights that the Brownlee brothers have reached in their chosen field of Triathlon, culminating in winning both the Gold and Silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics. This followed their earlier triumph in 2012 when they won Gold and Bronze medals at the London Olympics.

I have followed their progress from a distance for many a year, and their success has been built on many thousands of hours training in all weathers in their home county of Yorkshire. Alistair the older of the two brothers was born in 1988 whilst younger brother Jonny was born two years later in 1990. Their success has been built in no small way on a healthy sibling rivalry, and the fact that they are able to train together has been invaluable.

I guess the reason I admire the Brownlee brothers so much, is because of their absolute commitment to their cause, through brutal training sessions year after year, from early childhood through to the London and Rio Olympics in 2012 and 2016 where they achieved their ultimate goal.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by moonraker2.)

Answer: Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria lived from 1819 until 1901, with her reign spanning two centuries. She ascended to the throne in 1837, one month after her 18th birthday, a young inexperienced girl who had come from a very oppressive and controlled childhood. Her mother and her mother's very ambitious comptroller monitored every move the child made, trying to force her into their mould so that they could act in Regency should she inherit the throne before legal age - and then to control Victoria even after she did. The old king before her, William IV, knew this was happening and grimly hung onto life until Victoria was of a legal age. After taking the throne, Victoria promptly got rid of the comptroller, placed her mother as far away from herself as possible, and began to learn as much as she possibly could of the work her role would entail from her own trusted adviser, Lord Melbourne. How he ever managed to control and contain Victoria, while at the same time retaining her admiration, should have earned him the highest honour England could offer.

Victoria was strong-willed, determined, impulsive, sometimes short-tempered, warm-hearted, loving, intelligent, passionate, determined to do her duty, fun loving, and, contrary to how history chooses to portray her, possessed a wonderful sense of humour. She was a real handful in other words. How, with that nature, she didn't cause international incidents is astonishing, and, following the guidance and advice of Lord Melbourne, the thanks to that should go to her beloved husband Albert, a man who was conscientious to the extreme, serious, dutiful, firm, a loving father, permanently worried about everything, and the only person who could ever totally control the little wilful Victoria.

Why do I admire her then? Because she was unique, fascinating, complex, one of a kind, and she grasped life with both hands and eagerly partook of its every experience. She loved dancing the night away when she was a young queen, for example, and remarked once to Lord Melbourne that all "this dissipation does me a great deal of good". She was incredibly kind-hearted to the poor whenever she had a chance to be exposed to them (the government always tried to steer her away from poverty on her visits); and she was a comical and doting mother to her many children. She thought they looked like frogs when they were born, but passionately cared about their interests all her life, even going to the extent of writing to the future Edward VII when he was a grown man urging him make sure his bowels worked regularly. She adored her grandchildren, and constantly laughed at their exploits; clucked over her servants and was interested in all aspects of their lives; was fascinated by gossip; kept a VERY revealing diary which is an historian's delight; always tried to do her duty as the monarch of her empire, and had a wonderful, hearty sense of humour. I'll finish with an example of that:

Once while dutifully attending an orchestral concert on a European visit, she heard the French horn play for the first time. Try as she may, she could not control her amusement, and eventually lost her composure in public completely. The audience itself kept bursting out into laughter as well, as the sonorous, rumbling burps erupted from the musical instrument. The queen, always conscious of her public image, remained serious for as long as she could, but finally could do so no longer. She laughed so hard the tears streamed down her face, and wrote in her diary that night that "I was very sorry for the poor man and kept grave very long indeed, but my lips shook and finally some very deep notes vanquished me at last." I'd loved to have known this fascinating woman who summed up completely the saying "To thine own self be true".

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by Creedy.)

Answer: Ben Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a Bostonian who decided to try his luck in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He did pretty well. Besides the inventions mentioned above, he invented the lightning rod, became a newspaper and almanac publisher, helped found a library, a fire department, a university - and more! Franklin was instrumental in the American Revolution and as the Continental Congress moved toward declaring the colonies' independence, he reminded them "We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

Franklin always impressed me because of his forthright and common sense approach to problems. He seemed to have an intuitive grasp of the laws of physics and chemistry that had not really been fully articulated at that point in history. Too, he believed that mankind accomplished most when they were free to choose their own destiny.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by CmdrK.)

Answer: Charlotte Brontė

Charlotte Brontė was born in England on April 21, 1816. She was one of six children, two of whom died in childhood. Her father was Irish and her mother was from Cornwall. Her mother died in 1821 and her father, a vicar, sent his girls away to a boarding school that was for the daughters of clergymen. Charlotte called on her unhappy experience of life at boarding school when creating the fictional school of Lowood in 'Jane Eyre'.

In her late teens and early twenties, Charlotte was employed sporadically as a school teacher and as a governess. She did not enjoy either job, feeling that the long school days kept her away from her writing, but again she was able to reflect on her own experience when writing 'Jane Eyre'

In 1846, Charlotte paid to have a book of poetry published. The book contained poems written by she and her sisters Emily and Anne. They changed their first names to male pseudonyms so that the publishers would not know that they were female. Charlotte used the name Currer Bell and 'Jane Eyre' was published in 1847 in that name. It was not until 1948 that the publishers discovered that Currer Bell was actually a woman called Charlotte Brontė.

'Jane Eyre 'was the first book that my grandmother bought for me and because of that it has always been special to me. When I was older I looked into the life of Charlotte Brontė and I was impressed at how she was able to concentrate her mind on poetry and writing despite some very sad events in her own life. Charlotte was only five years old when her mother died and The two oldest Brontė girls, Maria and Elizabeth, died in 1824 of tuberculosis which they contracted at their boarding school. After her sister's death her father took Emily and Charlotte out of the boarding school. It was when mourning her sisters that Charlotte began writing.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by marym0901.)

Answer: Ulysses S. Grant

Grant, as a boy in Ohio, wanted to be nothing more than a math teacher. His father thought otherwise and sent him to West Point. He left the army in the 1850's and worked as a farmer and several other jobs, failing in all of them. The Civil War brought him back into the army, and his military talents fully emerged. President Lincoln appointed him as overall commander of Union forces in March of 1864. By April of 1865, the war was over. Later, he served two terms as President. In recent years, many military historians have asserted that Grant has been the greatest general in American history. (His given name was Hiram Ulysses Grant, which he changed when he arrived at West Point.)

Grant emerged in 1862 as one of the few Union generals who could win battles. Victories at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga by Grant's armies caused Lincoln to put him in command of all Union forces in March of 1864. In just 13 months, his forces had defeated Robert E. Lee's Confederate forces, which brought the war to its end.

The reason I admire Grant is because without his victories, it is likely that a war-weary North would have let the South go. This is why some military experts claim that it was Grant who saved the United States. A victorious Confederate States of America would have ripped apart the United States and created a nation based, literally, on white supremacy and continued enslavement of more than 3,000,000 people

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by Obiwan04.)

Answer: Meryl Streep

Born Mary Louise Streep in 1949, Meryl Streep is one of the greatest actresses of all time. Her talent for dramatic acting, comedic acting, singing and a wide range of accents has garnered her 20 Academy Award nominations, 30 Golden Globe nominations, 15 British Academy Film Awards, and dozens more.

All told, she has made roughly 60 movies including "Sophie's Choice", "Out of Africa", "Death Becomes Her", "Julie & Julia", and "The Devil Wears Prada".

Meryl Streep and her husband created Silver Mountain Foundation for the Arts that grants over a million dollars every year to places such as New York's Public Theatre and Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, as well as a variety of other organizations including Oxfam America, National Resources Defense Council and Women's Refugee Commission.

I picked Meryl Streep because she's a terrific role model for women. Not only is she one of the greatest actresses ever, she has been (happily) married for 39 years and has raised four talented and well-adjusted children into adulthood.

She has integrity and a good sense of humor. She was never interested in being part of the Hollywood scene or in being a celebrity; rather, her work and her family are what have been important in her life. Finally, she uses her fame and fortune to good ends, having established a foundation that gives generously to a variety of fields and needs.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by VanCoerte.)

Answer: Executed by firing squad

During the German occupation of Belgium, Edith began to work with a "network" to smuggle Allied soldiers safely across the border to the (neutral) Netherlands. It is believed that she saved the lives of over 200 men.

The suspicions of German officials led to her arrest and she was charged with harboring Allied soldiers. In her depositions to German Officials she admitted to aiding British and French soldiers, as well as French and Belgian civilians of military age.

Cavell was executed by firing squad on October 12, 1915. Her execution sparked outrage in the US as well as Britain. After her death, memorials were created worldwide. A peak in Canada's Jasper National Park was named Mount Edith Cavell, a statue was unveiled by Queen Alexandra in front of the main gate to Norwich Cathedral Close, and a memorial statue was erected in Brussels, to name a few. Cavell has also been remembered in art, film, television and music!

As a teenager, reading her biography, I was so moved by her example of bravery and forgiveness. She made a lasting impression on me and she will always be a hero in my eyes.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by sally0malley.)

Answer: 35

When he became Attorney General in 1961, 35-year-old Robert Kennedy was the youngest person to serve in that position since 1814. (When Richard Rush became Attorney General in 1814 at age 34, it was only a part-time job. He still kept his private law practice.) It is widely acknowledged that Robert Kennedy was the second-most powerful person in the United States during his brother's administration. But he was fundamentally changed as a person after the assassination. His pain was so visceral that it clearly defined his last years, when he became the man who reached out to so many to help them. Had Kennedy won the 1968 election, he would have supplanted his brother as the youngest person ever elected president. Not only that, but when sworn in, he would have been younger than Theodore Roosevelt was at his swearing-in following the 1901 assassination of William McKinley. Robert Kennedy would have become the youngest president in American history.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by goodreporter.)

Answer: Nelson Mandela

Boris Yeltsin was President of Russia in the 1990s, and though he helped stop a coup in Moscow his regime was marked by corruption. He was not jailed.

Donald Trump is neither a great reconciliator nor, I believe, greatly respected worldwide. He has not been in jail.

Tony Blair presided over reconciliation in Northern Ireland but though he has not been in jail there are many who would like to put him there for his role in the Iraq war.

Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years for sabotage and conspiracy and was freed to lead the African National Congress to victory in elections in South Africa. He made it his goal to reconcile Black and White in South Africa and was awarded the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with the man who freed him, F.W. de Klerk.

I think him a hero because he realised, despite all those years in jail, that you can make peace with your enemies and that true reconciliation comes through forgiveness and listening to the other side.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by fallingman.)

Answer: C. S. Lewis

Clive Staples Lewis (called "Jack" by those who knew him) is best known as the author of "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" and the other six books in the Narnia series. He was also a keen lay theologian and wrote several books on topics such as basic Christian beliefs, temptation and suffering.

His marriage in April 1956 to American Joy Davidman was somewhat controversial. Not only was Joy 17 years younger than him, she was also a divorcee. On top of that, it was a marriage of convenience, with Lewis agreeing to marry her so that she could stay in the UK once her visa expired. The civil ceremony was described by Lewis as "a pure matter of friendship and expediency".

The couple lived separately, but in October of the same year, Joy tripped and broke her leg. While being treated for the broken bone, it was discovered that she had a secondary cancer in her bones, which had developed from undiagnosed breast cancer. It was at this point that Lewis realised that he had fallen in love with Joy. In March 1957, they were married again in a Christian ceremony in hospital.

With treatment, the cancer went into remission, but sadly in October 1959 a check up revealed that it had returned and this time it did not respond to treatment. Joy died in July 1960. After suffering ill health for a couple of years, on 22nd November 1963, less than an hour before JFK was shot, Lewis collapsed in his room and died.

I admire C.S. Lewis for the way he managed to apply the logical academic style he used in other areas of life to matters of religion. He had a way of untangling a subject, and setting his arguments out clearly and concisely. He was able to take quite nebulous topics and turn them into something more solid, which you could actually get hold of and do something with.

I also admire the way he defied convention in choosing to marry as he did, and the way he dealt with eventually discovering something that was beyond his ability to dissect and explain - his love for Joy, and his suffering following her subsequent death.

After Joy's death Lewis published an extremely candid account of the process of grief entitled "A Grief Observed". As it was so personal, he published it under a pseudonym to avoid it being connected with his other works. At times his grief caused him to fundamentally question his faith. His willingness to use the gift he had for putting the incomprehensible into words in order to give form to the overwhelming experience of grief has helped many people to cope with their own grief.

(Question and Interesting Information contributed by emiloony.)