It Could Be Worse... Trivia Quiz

Answer: The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

Al Capone ordered a hit on Moran and his men, by setting up a fake delivery of hijacked whiskey to a garage Moran owned at 2122 North Clark St. Moran was late for the appointment, and as he approached the garage he spotted a police car parked nearby. Believing this might be a police shakedown, he stopped instead for a cup of coffee nearby.

Unknown to Moran at the time, the police car actually held several members of Capone's gang, including two who were dressed as police officers. After they entered the garage, witnesses heard the sound of machine guns firing, and then the five men came out and drove away. Police found the bodies of seven of Moran's men, who had been lined up against a wall and shot.

While Bugs Moran missed the massacre, this event proved the turning point in the conflict between Capone and Moran. After the massacre, Capone consolidated his power and emerged the leader of organized crime in Chicago.

Answer: The explosion of the space shuttle Challenger

Morgan was the backup candidate for NASA's Teacher In Space program; in her place, Christa McAuliffe was selected to be a member of the Challenger crew, and was killed when the Challenger exploded shortly after takeoff in 1986.

Barbara Morgan joined NASA again in 1998 as a mission specialist. She was selected for the crew of STS-118, which was launched and returned to earth successfully in 2007.

Answer: The Hindenburg

Eckener was the most successful airship commander in history, ultimately becoming the head the Zeppelin Company. As a political moderate, he was encouraged to run in the German presidential election of 1932 to oppose Hitler(he backed out when Hindenburg ran instead). This angered the Nazi Party officials, and later in the 30's when the Nazis nationalized Zeppelin production, Eckener was sidelined. His control over Zeppelin production and operations diminished under the Nazis, and they ultimately prevented him from any further mention in the press.

He was in Graf Austria when he heard news of the Hindenburg disaster. After WWII, he remained an active figure in post-war airship industry circles, as well as local politics and press.

Dr. Hugo Eckener died in 1954.

Answer: The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York

Herzog wasn't present when American Airlines flight 11 slammed into the World Trade Center, killing 297 of his colleagues. The instances of kindness he witnessed that day inspired him to re-evaluate his priorities. He has since gone on to found ZogSports, a company that organizes sports leagues and fosters social action.

Answer: The shoe-shine boy

Kennedy has often been quoted as saying that he knew it was time to get out when he started getting stock tips from the shoe-shine boy.

Prior to becoming the Chairman of the SEC under President Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy often participated in financial dealings that today would be illegal. When asked why he had chosen Kennedy to head up the organization charged with catching financial crooks, Roosevelt replied that it takes one to catch one.

Answer: Showgirls

Showgirls set an all-time RAZZIE Award record with 13 nominations, and its seven wins tied it with Battlefield Earth as the most dis-honored film in RAZZIE history. In the film, Elizabeth Berkley spends approximately 20 minutes - one sixth of the film - completely nude.

Sharon Stone also auditioned for a role - that of Cristal Connors - and the filmakers had originally wanted Madonna and Drew Barrymore to play the two female leads. Imagine that.

Answer: Ritchie Valens

Allsup and Valens were both touring with Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Dion DiMucci (from Dion and the Belmonts), and J.P. 'The Big Bopper' Richardson in a tour dubbed "The Winter Dance Party". The tour was scheduled to cover 24 cities in 3 weeks, but when they reached Clear Lake, Iowa, Buddy Holly had become frustrated with the tour bus, and suggested to his band-mates, Waylon Jennings and Tommy Allsup, that they make arrangements to charter a flight.

In an odd twist of fate, Richardson, who had developed the flu, asked Jennings for his seat, and Allsup agreed to flip a coin with Valens for his seat, since Valens had never flown in a small plane.

When Holly learned that Jennings would not be flying, he told Jennings "I hope your ol' bus freezes up'. Jennings replied 'I hope your ol' plane crashes'. Jennings was haunted by these words for the rest of his life.

All the other choices also died in plane crashes. Patsy Cline died when her plane went down in 1963 near Camden, TN. Ronnie Van Zandt from the band Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of six people who died when their band's plane crashed in 1977 near Gillsburg, MS. Stevie Ray Vaughan died when his helicopter crashed shortly after leaving a concert in 1990.

Answer: He was fired from Apple, then Apple sued him

In 1985, Jobs was maneuvered out of Apple by the man whom he had hired to run the company, John Sculley. Jobs rebounded immediately, going on to found NeXT Computer and Pixar. In his departure, Jobs attempted to bring several employees with him to NeXT, prompting Apple to sue its founder. Jobs' stature within the industry grew through the late 80s and early 90s. Meanwhile, Apple suffered through a series of CEOs.

In 1996, Apple bought NeXT, and Steve Jobs returned as CEO. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Answer: The Kent State Massacre

Saban and a roommate decided to have lunch rather than see the student rally protesting the invasion of Cambodia. During the protest, National Guardsmen fired on the students, killing four and wounding nine. By the time Saban arrived at the scene, the shootings had already happened.

The killings at Kent State sparked protests at campuses across the country, some of which included more clashes with National Guard troops. Five days after the shootings 100,000 people marched in Washington, D.C., protesting the war and the shootings of protesters.

Answer: Survivor's guilt

Survivor or survivor's guilt was originally considered a specific diagnosis, but now is considered a symptom of posttraumatic stress disorder. It can occur when an individual believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event, including non-lethal events such as being laid off from a job.