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Historical Illnesses Trivia Quiz

Illness has played a large (and sometimes overlooked) part in history. I'll give you the name of a famous person and you have to choose what illness they suffered from.

A multiple-choice quiz by potsy81. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
potsy81

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
108,730

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
1157

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. What illness was Franklin Roosevelt diagnosed with in his late 30s that would eventually see him confined to a wheelchair? Hint

Polio

Muscular Dystrophy

Multiple Sclerosis

Spina Bifida

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Question 2 of 10

2. With which disease did Al Capone suffer in the later stages of his life? Hint

Tuberculosis

Syphilis

Herpes

Arteriosclerosis

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Question 3 of 10

3. What is believed to be the illness that was the underlying cause of George III's madness? Hint

Porphyria

Scurvy

Ricketts

Hunchback

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Question 4 of 10

4. What illness was rumoured to afflict Isak Dinesen throughout her life? Hint

Gonorhhea

Glaucoma

Syphilis

Club Foot

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Question 5 of 10

5. Which of the following illnesses is Vlad III (The Impaler) known to have contracted? Hint

Small Pox

Syphillis

None of these

Plague

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Question 6 of 10

6. What illness did Alexei Nikolaevich, heir to the Russian throne, inherit from his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria of Great Britain? Hint

Diabetes

Cholera

Emphysema

Hemophilia

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which of the following afflictions plagued Galileo in his old age, according to the remaining letters that he wrote? Hint

hernia

diabetes

diptheria

blindness

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Question 8 of 10

8. What affliction was the lasting legacy that Thomas Jefferson carried with him as a consequence of his time in France? Hint

Deformed wrist

Club foot

Malaria

Small pox

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Question 9 of 10

9. For which musculoskeletal disorder did Lord Byron receive numerous painful and unhelpful medical treatments throughout his life? Hint

Club foot

Hare lip

Cauliflower ear

Cleft pallet

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Question 10 of 10

10. What condition, one shared with his grandfather Charles IV of France, led to the appointment of a regent to rule in lieu of Henry VI of England? Hint

Plague

Insanity

Small Pox

Dysentary

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What illness was Franklin Roosevelt diagnosed with in his late 30s that would eventually see him confined to a wheelchair?

Answer: Polio

Strangely, Franklin Roosevelt was stricken with childhood paralysis (polio) as an adult. He was in a wheelchair for most of his presidency. The press was much more accommodating in those days and would rarely photograph him being carried or in awkward positions.

In 2003, an academic study suggested that the diagnosis of poliomyelitis was incorrect. The article in "The Journal of Medical Biography" posited the idea that the affliction he suffered from was Guillain-Barr� syndrome.

2. With which disease did Al Capone suffer in the later stages of his life?

Answer: Syphilis

Poor Al. He left prison and retired to Florida with syphilis. Interestingly, the third stage of the disease includes dementia.

3. What is believed to be the illness that was the underlying cause of George III's madness?

Answer: Porphyria

Porphyria, his urine is said to have been blue. This is another illness that includes dementia as a symptom.

4. What illness was rumoured to afflict Isak Dinesen throughout her life?

Answer: Syphilis

Isak Dinesen was the pen name of Karen Blixen. Her most famous work was "Out of Africa". She supposedly contracted syphilis from her wandering husband, Baron Blixen. She left her farm in Kenya to return to Denmark for painful treatment and was spared the ravages of the later stages of the disease.

5. Which of the following illnesses is Vlad III (The Impaler) known to have contracted?

Answer: None of these

Vlad the Impaler was a 15th century prince of Wallachia (now part of Romania). Bram Stoker had read about him and used some of what he learned to create "Dracula". Good old Vlad , had a zest for inflicting cruel and unusual punishments, especially impaling people, and was generally very bad. He could have been suffering dementia from syphillis, but we don't know for sure.

6. What illness did Alexei Nikolaevich, heir to the Russian throne, inherit from his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria of Great Britain?

Answer: Hemophilia

Son of Nicholas II of Russia. He was executed with his family by the Bolsheviks in 1918. His mother was a granddaughter of Queen Victoria who carried the gene for hemophilia. Victoria married her progeny off to European heads of state, thus spreading the hemophilia.

7. Which of the following afflictions plagued Galileo in his old age, according to the remaining letters that he wrote?

Answer: hernia

In letters to his daughter, Sister Maria Celeste, Galileo complained of many diseases in his old age. He mentions his hernia for which he wore a heavy iron truss. He may have suffered from many other diseases but we are not completely sure what they were. (Galileo's letters were destroyed but we know somethings about him based on her concerned responses -- her letters to him were preserved).

8. What affliction was the lasting legacy that Thomas Jefferson carried with him as a consequence of his time in France?

Answer: Deformed wrist

In France as US Ambassador, Jefferson jumped a fence to impress a woman (Maria Cosway - remember the head and heart letter?). He broke his wrist (yeah, the one that wrote the Declaration of Independence) for a woman! It didn't heal correctly.

9. For which musculoskeletal disorder did Lord Byron receive numerous painful and unhelpful medical treatments throughout his life?

Answer: Club foot

The most romantic and handsome of poets had a club foot. This deformity is said to have affected him greatly.

10. What condition, one shared with his grandfather Charles IV of France, led to the appointment of a regent to rule in lieu of Henry VI of England?

Answer: Insanity

The son of the most influential ruler of Western Europe (Henry V - remember Agincourt?) suffered bouts of insanity all of his life. He was imprisoned and died (probably murdered by his enemies).

Source: Author potsy81

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor coolupway before going online.
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