Loser Like Me Multiple Choice Quiz | Mixed People

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. One of the most famous heavyweight title fights was the 'Thrilla in Manila' in 1975. Muhammad Ali won a close battle by technical knock out in the 14th round. But which former world heavyweight champion lost this fight?

Answer: Joe Frazier

This epic battle was fought at the Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines on October 1, 1975. Originally Joe Frazier and Cassius Clay (who became Muhammad Ali) were on very friendly terms but the relationship soured during the earlier 'Fight of the Century' in New York in 1971. In this fight Frazier unanimously won in a points decision. Ali did not accept this verdict.

2. It was 1911 - the race was on to the South Pole! The first team there, led by Roald Amundsen, raised the Norwegian flag. Who was the leader of the unsuccessful British team that arrived at the Pole five weeks later?

Answer: Robert Falcon Scott

After reaching the South Pole on January 17, 1912, the Scott party of five tragically perished on the return journey to their ship. Their deaths were due to a combination of extremely low temperatures, illness and lack of food. They were declared national heroes when word got back to Britain about their feats. Over the past few decades, there has been a more critical look at why the Norwegians succeeded while the British team lost their lives.

3. Who wrote a famous fable about a race between two animals? The final result came as a surprise, especially to the hare. He'd lost to a tortoise! Surely that was not possible in this very old tale.

Answer: Aesop

In this fable, a hare is challenged to a race by the tortoise in response to constant ridicule. The hare, after taking an early lead, believed he could win easily so took a short sleep. Upon waking the hare found the tortoise had won the race. Interpretation of this fable is controversial and ambiguous - the simplest is that 'slow and steady wins the race', suggesting that persistence in the face of adversity is rewarded.

4. He was the number one ranked player in the world for over 300 weeks in the 1980s and 1990s. Yet almost certain victory was snatched from him in two 'majors' when in 1986 Bob Tway holed out from the sand and then the following year Larry Mize played a freak chip shot. He came very close in several other major tournaments too (and did win two). Affectionately known as the "Great White Shark", who was this man?

Answer: Greg Norman

Greg Norman was born in Queensland, Australia in 1955. He excelled in other sports before taking up golf at the relatively old age of 16. His striking appearance and aggressive 'go for it' play (rather than playing conservatively and staying out of trouble) earned him the nickname of 'The Great White Shark', which was often shortened to simply 'The Shark'.

He won two British Opens and finished 2nd in seven other majors. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001.

5. Which long serving Prime Minister came second to Kevin Rudd in the Australian 2007 federal election? To make it worse for him, he was only the second sitting Prime Minister to lose his own seat. His middle name might evoke memories of a cigar smoking British Prime Minister!

Answer: John Winston Howard

John Howard was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, serving in that role from 1996 until 2007. Previously he had been the federal treasurer in the Fraser government (1977 - 1983). As Prime Minister he won federal elections in 1998, 2001 and 2004. However in December 2007, a major swing to Kevin Rudd's Labor Party ousted his Liberal-National coalition.

In a close result, he lost his Sydney seat of Bennelong to former ABC journalist Maxine McHugh. He joined Stanley Melbourne Bruce (1929) as the only sitting Prime Ministers to lose their place in parliament at the hands of the voters in a federal election.

6. Supposedly, the 'Curse of the Bambino' was the reason the Boston Red Sox did not win baseball's World Series from 1918 until the 'Curse' was finally overcome in 2004. But who was the 'Bambino'?

Answer: George Herman 'Babe' Ruth Jr

Although 'The Curse' didn't gain prominence for many decades afterwards, it was said to start after the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth ("The Bambino"), to the previously highly unsuccessful New York Yankees in 1920. Up until then the Red Sox had won five World Series titles with Ruth playing a major role in the successful 1916 and 1918 campaigns. The Yankees have since become by far the most successful team in Major League Baseball. In 2004, the Red Sox won their sixth World Series when they defeated the St Louis Cardinals 4-0.

7. In 1972, the American prodigy Bobby Fischer won the world chess championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. Whom did he defeat?

Answer: Boris Spassky

This famous chess match up, the best of 24 games, resulted in Fisher gaining 12.5 wins to Spassky's 8.5. It was played out during a thaw in cold war tensions between the USA and the Soviet Union. Interest was so high that the matches were televised. Fischer's win meant that the USA had their first chess champion of the 20th century and ended a 24-year period of Soviet domination.

8. After a lot of pre-event bantering, Billie Jean King won the 'Battle of the Sexes' in Texas on Sept 1973. Who had to eat humble pie after coming second?

Answer: Bobby Riggs

In 1973 Bobby Riggs generated a large amount of publicity by claiming that women's tennis was inferior to the men's game and even at the age of 55 he could beat the best female players. His loss in straight sets to Billie Jean King (in the men's best of five set format) was actually the second of these matches. Earlier, Riggs had beaten the world's top player Margaret Court. Bobby Riggs was one of best tennis players in the USA in the 1930s and 1940s and in 1939, won the singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon.

9. One of the most famous 'firsts' in human history was achieved by Neil Armstrong on July 21, 1969. Who came second, some twenty minutes later?

Answer: Edwin Aldrin

This question relates to the first men to walk on the moon. Armstrong and Aldrin emerged from the Eagle lunar module onto the Sea of Tranquility. They spent 21 hours on the moon. The third member of the team, Michael Collins, was orbiting the moon in the command module, Columbia.

10. Sir Isaac Newton is rightly acknowledged as one of the greatest scientists of all time. Amongst his many accomplishments is the development of the mathematical tool called calculus. However, another man independently developed calculus around the same time but, outside mathematical circles, rarely gets sufficient credit for this. Who was this mathematician and philosopher from Leipzig?

Answer: Gottfried von Leibniz

Gottfried (von) Leibniz (1646-1716) was perhaps overshadowed by the brilliance of his contemporary, Newton, but was nonetheless one of the most impressive intellects of the Baroque period. His contributions to mathematics, including integral and differential calculus were enormous, with the symbology he developed still being used today.

He also invented a range of mechanical devices (notably mechanical calculators) and wrote extensively about ethics, law and politics. A highly entertaining, fictionalized account of the Newton-Leibniz interaction can be found in Neal Stephenson's 'Baroque' series.

Source: Author MikeMaster99

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Snowman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Loser Like Me Trivia Quiz

Winners are immortalized in glowing lights, parades and history books. Losers are quickly forgotten. Or are they? Can you recognize the names of people who came so close to winning but didn't quite make it?

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