Me First! Multiple Choice Quiz | People

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1. The overland route to the Orient was long and dangerous. In 1492 Christopher Columbus had attempted to find a sea route to the Orient, but had found the New World instead. Which of these Portuguese explorers attempted to find the route by going around the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of Africa?

Answer: Vasco da Gama

Roald Amundsen was the first to discover the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. Henry Hudson searched for the Northwest Passage for many years. Marco Polo traveled overland to the Orient.

Vasco da Gama left Portugal on July 8, 1497, with four ships. They passed the Cape of Good Hope on November 22, and after several stops on the African coast, arrived in Kappadu, India on May 20, 1498. The return trip was hazardous due to the monsoon weather and one ship was scuttled. Paulo, Vasco da Gama's brother, was ill, and they stopped at Cape Verde. Vasco da Gama returned to Portugal overland, but his brother died and was buried in the Azores.

2. The year was 1767, and a London teacher took a map of Europe and attached it to a block of wood. He then cut the wood into pieces creating the first jigsaw puzzle, which his students could reassemble to learn about geography. Which of these men is credited with being the first jigsaw puzzle maker?

Answer: John Spilsbury

All of the answers are famous Englishmen. Sir Winston Churchill was Prime Minister from 1940-1945. Sir Laurence Olivier was an actor, famous for many of the roles that he portrayed. Sean Bean, also an actor, performed the role of Boromir in "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy.

John Spilsbury soon began selling his puzzles. He created puzzles of the world, and of the known continents. His puzzles became very popular with the public.

3. Jules Verne published the fictional "Around the World in Eighty Days" in 1873. Many wondered if you could actually complete the trip in eighty days. Which of these courageous lady journalists was the first to not only try, but actually beat the time?

Answer: Nellie Bly

All of the women listed were "firsts". Jean Batten was the first person to fly solo between England and New Zealand. Ann Bancroft was the first woman to travel over the North and South Pole ice caps. Laura Dekker set a record in 1995 for being the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

Nellie Bly was the pen name for Elizabeth Jane Cochran. She set off around the world on November 14, 1889, and would send telegrams and write letters back to the "New York World" with her progress. Bly traveled by steamship and train and completed the journey in 72 days 6 hours and 11 minutes.

On the same day Elizabeth Bisland, sponsored by the "Cosmopolitan", departed on the same voyage but in the other direction. Ultimately she came in second at just over 76 days, but she still beat the book's record.

4. The World's Columbian Exposition was scheduled to be held in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. American engineers were challenged to to create something better than the Eiffel Tower. Who designed what would become the Ferris Wheel to "Out-Eiffel Eiffel"?

Answer: George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.

All of the incorrect answers were architects for the Exposition, also called World's Fair: Columbian Exposition and The Chicago World's Fair.

The directors originally did not believe that Ferris' wheel would be safe, but he was able to convince them with additional endorsements of his idea. The wheel was 264 feet (80.4m) tall and could hold 2,160 people at a time. Passengers paid fifty cents for two revolutions of the wheel taking about twenty minutes.

5. The Niagara River flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Along the way the river goes over the three waterfalls that form Niagara Falls. A woman was first to go over the falls, do you recognize her from the list below?

Answer: Annie Edson Taylor

All of the people listed in the answers survived a trip down the Falls. The Niagara Falls are made up of three waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls, the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls.

Annie had a barrel made but no one wanted to help her, thinking that she would die. The barrel was tested when a cat was put in the barrel and sent over the Horseshoe Falls. The cat survived the trip. So, on October 24, 1901--which was Annie's 63rd birthday--the barrel was put in the river and Annie climbed in. The top was screwed on and the barrel was let go. The trip took less than twenty minutes and not only did she survive, but her only injury was a small cut on her head.

6. Morris Michtom saw a political cartoon in a 1902 publication and decided to create what would become known as the teddy bear. Who was the subject of the cartoon?

Answer: Theodore Roosevelt

All of the answers were men that have served in the office of President of the United States.

President Theodore Roosevelt had been invited on a hunting trip in Mississippi. He had not found a bear and his assistants found and tied one to a tree. The President refused to shoot, calling it unsportsmanlike. This was captured in a cartoon in the "Washington Post" by Clifford Berryman. Morris Michtom, a candy shop owner and creator of stuffed animals, created a stuffed bear called "Teddy's Bear".

7. When a ship sails in rough seas, unless something is bolted down, it can easily be pitched across a deck and maybe fall overboard. A naval engineer was working to develop springs that could stabilize sensitive instruments, when one fell from a shelf, and "stepped" itself to the floor. After some modifications, the Slinky was invented. Who was this engineer?

Answer: Richard James

A character from the book "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", Caractacus Pott was an inventor, and his children believed he could fix anything. Emo Rubik invented the Rubik's cube. John Lloyd Wright invented Lincoln Logs.

Richard James was stationed in Philadelphia at the William Cramp and Sons shipyards in the early 1940s. He and his wife Betty started James Industries. The first order included 400 of the toys for one dollar a piece. They had trouble selling them until Gimbels department store let them set up an inclined plane to demonstrate the toy. All 400 of the toys sold in ninety minutes.

8. In 1852 Mount Everest, in the Himalayas, was recognized as the world's highest peak at 29,002 feet (8,840m). Attempts to climb to the top were restricted by weather and the local government. Who completed the first ascent?

Answer: Edmund Hillary

The leader of the successful expedition in 1953 was John Hunt. Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Peter Hillary are the sons of the first two to reach the top, and are also mountain climbers.

The 1953 British Mount Everest expedition made two attempts to reach the top. The first attempt during this expedition by Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans was unsuccessful due to equipment failure.

On May 27, 1953, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay began the second attempt. This was Norgay's seventh expedition on Everest. They reached the summit on on May 29 at 11:30am. By both of their reports, Hillary was the first to step atop the mountain. They stayed for about 15 minutes taking pictures and then descended.

9. Almost every night when you look up at the sky you can see the moon. Which of these men was the first to walk on the moon?

Answer: Neil Armstrong

Yuri Gagarin was the first man to journey into outer space and the first to orbit the earth in 1961. Buzz Lightyear and Flash Gordon are both fictional characters.

Neil Armstrong after many years of training and several space flights, was given command of Apollo 11. He landed the lunar unit on the moon on July 21, 1969, and was the first to step on its surface. He and Buzz Aldrin would collect moon rocks and dust to bring back to earth. Amazingly, their footprints are still there. While they were on the surface of the moon, Michael Collins orbited the moon in the main rocket.

10. Though several skaters had tried to land a quadruple jump, both in practice and competition, which of these Canadian men was entered into the "Guinness Book of World Records" for completing a quadruple toe loop in the 1988 World Championships?

Answer: Kurt Browning

All of the incorrect answers are World Championship skaters, but Brian Boitano represented the U.S., Alexander Fadeev represented the U.S.S.R, and Takeshi Honda represented Japan.

Kurt Browning was the first to be recognized for a quadruple jump in 1988 and he placed sixth in that World Championship. He won four World Championships. This would eventually become a standard by which other skaters were judged, leaving a quadruple out of your performance could actually count against your performance.

Source: Author mlcmlc

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

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