In Memoriam -- 2009 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Michael Jackson

Michael Joseph Jackson began his musical career as the youngest member of "The Jacksons" and then "The Jackson Five", but it was as a solo artist that he took the musical industry by storm in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jackson's 1982 album, "Thriller", remains the world's best-selling album of all time with close to double the estimated sales of any other album. Of the 75 or so albums that have sales in excess of 20 million copies, Jackson is responsible, remarkably, for five of them.

Answer: Sir Bobby Robson

Sir Robert William Robson CBE was born in 1933 in the village of Sacriston in County Durham in north-east England. The son of a coal miner, Robson grew up idolizing Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton, the stars of his beloved Newcastle United in the 1940s and 1950s.

Robson spent his playing career with Fulham and West Bromwich Albion. He then managed Fulham and Ipswich Town before taking over the England job in 1982. After taking England to the semi-finals of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, Robson returned to club management, taking control of some of Europe's top clubs: PSV Eindhoven (twice), Porto, Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon. It was only at the very end of his career, in 1999, that he returned to spiritual home to take charge of Newcastle United. He managed at Saint James Park for five years before finally retiring in 2004 at the age of 71.

Answer: Teddy Kennedy

Edward Moore Kennedy was the youngest brother of President John F Kennedy and Senator Robert F Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated in the 1960s. A senator from 1962 until his death in 2009, Kennedy made only one attempt to follow in his oldest brother's footsteps, but he lost in the race for the Democratic nomination to sitting President Jimmy Carter in 1980.

Of the alternatives, Strom Thurmond served 48 years as the Senator for South Carolina, and retired a month after his 100th birthday, and just six months before his death in June 2003. Robert Byrd was the longest-serving Senator at the time of his death aged 92 in 2010. Although his record has since been broken, he remains the longest-serving Congressman, having served six years in the House before his 51 years as a Senator. Having served as the Michigan representative since 1965, John Conyers became the oldest and longest-serving living Congressman when Robert Byrd died.

Answer: Karl Malden

Mladen George Sekulovich was born in Chicago, the son of a Bosnian Serb milkman and a Czech actress. Raised in Gary, Indiana, Karl Malden first appeared on Broadway in 1937. After serving as a non-commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII, Malden made a handful of film appearances before landing the role of Harold "Mitch" Mitchell in the 1951 classic "A Streetcar Named Desire", for which he won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

Other notable appearances by Malden include "Phantom of the Rue Morgue" (1954), "Pollyanna" (1960), "Birdman of Alcatraz" (1962), "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965) and "The Sting II" (1983).

Answer: David Eddings

David Carroll Eddings was born in 1931 in Spokane, Washington. Most of his novels were co-written with his wife, Leigh, although she only received credits on his later works.

The two classic series written by Eddings are "The Belgariad" and its sequel, "The Malloreon". The first book in "The Belgariad", "Pawn of Prophesy", published in 1982, introduced the characters of Belgarion, Polgara and Belgarath.

If you are fan of demons, gods, magic, wizardry and strange worlds and have not read Eddings... what are you waiting for?

Answer: Bea Arthur

Born Bernice Frankel in 1922 in New York City, Bea Arthur worked as a truck driver for the U.S. Marine Corps Women's Reserve during WWII. Her stage career began in 1947 and was highlighted by the 1966 Tony Award for "Mame" in which she co-starred with Angela Lansbury.

Arthur joined the cast of "All in the Family" in 1971 as Maude Findlay, Edith Bunker's cousin. Less than two years later, the character had her own series which would produce 141 episodes and last until 1978. In 1985, Arthur began playing Dorothy Zbornak, a Brooklyn-born substitute teacher of Sicilian heritage, in "The Golden Girls". The series ran until 1992, producing 180 episodes and twice winning the Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Comedy Series".

Answer: Ingemar Johansson

Jens Ingemar Johansson was born in 1932 in the city of Gothenburg in southern Sweden. Nicknamed "The Hammer of Thor", Johansson knocked out Italian Franco Cavicchi to win the European Heavyweight Champion title in 1956. successful defences of that title followed against Henry Cooper and Joe Erskine.

Johansson's first fight against reigning World Champion Floyd Patterson took place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx NY in 1959. Johansson knocked Patterson down seven times in the third round before the referee ended the fight. Johansson thus became only the fifth Heavyweight title holder born outside the U.S.

Johansson held the title for a few days short of a year before the first rematch with Patterson, at the Polo Grounds in New York City which Patterson won with a 5th-round knockout. Nine months later, Johansson again challenged Patterson for the title, this time in Miami Beach FL, but again Patterson won with a knockout (in the 6th round).

Johansson regained his European title in 1962 but defended it only once before announcing his retirement at the age of 30.

Answer: Corazon Aquino

She was born Maria Corazon Aquino y Cojuangco y Sumulong in January 1933 in the Philippine capital, Manila. In 1954, she married Benigno Aquino, Jr., at the time the Presidential Adviser on Defense Affairs. He would serve as a Philippine Senator from 1967 until 1972 before being imprisoned for seven years and then exiled to the U.S. because of his opposition to the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Aquino returned to The Philippines in August 1983 and was assassinated on his arrival at the airport.

Two years after her husband's assassination, Corazon Aquino had become the leader of the primary opposition to President Marcos. The incumbent 'won' the snap election called in January 1986 but few people either in the Philippines or outside believed the result. A month later, the Defence Minister and the Army surprised the world by announcing that they could no longer support the President. After three days of peaceful mass protests, Corazon Aquino was sworn in as the country's 11th President.

Answer: Patrick Swayze

He was born Patrick Wayne Swayze in 1952 in Houston, Texas. Actor, dancer, singer/songwriter, Swayze made his film debut in 1979. In a 30-year career, he earned three Golden Globe "Best Actor" nominations, for "Dirty Dancing", "Ghost" and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar".

Swayze's best-known films include Francis Ford Coppola's "The Outsiders" with Matt Dillon and Tom Cruise in 1983, "Red Dawn" with Charlie Sheen in 1984, the wonderful "Dirty Dancing" with Jennifer Grey in 1987, the fabulous "Ghost" with Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg in 1990, "Point Break" with Keanu Reeves and Gary Busey in 1991 and "Black Dog" with Meat Loaf and Randy Travis in 1998.

Answer: John Hughes

He was born John Wilden Hughes Jr in 1950 in the Michigan capital, Lansing. When he dropped out of college at Arizona he began to sell jokes to the likes of Joan Rivers and Rodney Damgerfrield. His first major film was as the writer of "National Lampoon's Class Reunion" in 1982. Two years later, he directed his first movie, "Sixteen Candles" starring Molly Ringwald.

Hughes is noted for launching the film careers of many actors including "The Brat Pack" (Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy and others), Michael Keaton, Bill Paxton, Matthew Broderick and Macaulay Culkin. His hit movies include "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and "Uncle Buck", both of which he wrote, directed and produced. Then came the 1990 blockbuster which he wrote and produced, "Home Alone" and its various sequels.

At the age of 59, Hughes set out for a morning walk in Manhattan and he suffered a severe heart attack on West 55th Street.