Poisoned Again! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cleopatra

Cleopatra and Marc Antony had joined forces in an effort to defeat Octavian's armies and gain control of the Roman Empire. In the end, they were conquered and pushed back to Egypt.

In one last effort to defeat Octavian, Antony went back into battle where word spread that he had been killed. Overcome with grief from the news and desire not to be flaunted like a prized trophy through the Roman streets, Cleopatra ended her own life by way of a bite from the venomous asp.

Answer: Marshall Applewhite

Marshall Applewhite began the religious cult know as Heaven's Gate in the early '80s and had upwards of 200 followers. By the mid-1990s, he had trimmed the number of members so that only the most ardent followers remained in the group.

In 1995, Applewhite had become convinced that the comet Hale-Bopp was a space ship that would take him and his followers to the "Next Level." They began preparing, and by the time the comet was passing by Earth two years later on March 26, 1997 they had set everything up and followed through with a mass suicide consisting of an overdose of barbiturates and suffocation.

Answer: Jim Jones

Outspoken political supporter Harvey Milk sent a letter to then President Jimmy Carter praising Jim Jones as "a man of highest character, who has undertaken constructive measures for social problems which have been amazing in their scope and effectiveness." A few months later, Jones coerced his followers, including hundreds of children, to drink punch laced with cyanide. Jones shot himself in the head.

In addition to the church deaths, Congressman Leo Ryan, along with his aides, NBC news reporter and cameraman and several family members of cult followers were gunned down at the airstrip by Jones' security. A total of 918 people died in that incident.

Ryan has been the only US Congressman to have been murdered in the line of duty.

Answer: Ponce de Leon

Best known for his exploration for the Fountain of Youth and discovering Florida. During his second and last journey to Florida, his party was attacked by a tribe of Native Americans and he was shot by a poison arrow. He survived long enough to sail back to Havana, Cuba, where he finally succumbed to his wounds.

Answer: Johann Schobert

Schobert, along with his wife and one of his children, as well as four friends died from mushroom poisoning since they were certain that the mushrooms were of the edible variety instead of a poisonous brand.

Answer: Socrates

Socrates had been brought up on charges of disrespecting the gods and corrupting the youth. He was found guilty by a margin of 280/220.

When asked what he thought his sentence should be, Socrates stated (per Plato's "Apology") that he should be rewarded with free meals, banishment and a fine. The jury sentenced him to death by drinking hemlock. As was the custom of the time, the prisoner would drink the hemlock themselves, thus committing suicide.

Answer: Madge Oberholtzer

Madge Oberholtzer was a quiet school teacher who worked with adult illiterates in the state of Indiana. On March 27, 1925, after refusing a relationship with D.C. Stephenson due to his ties with the KKK, he drugged and imprisoned Oberholtzer on his personal train car as they traveled to Chicago. During the trip he repeatedly raped and bit her all over her body. Though in pain and traumatized, she managed to talk Stephenson into allowing her to be let off the train to go to a store for feminine supplies. His bodyguards had accompanied her but didn't see her buy mercuric chloride tablets. Hours after taking them and once the poison set it, she began coughing up blood, causing Stephenson to have his bodyguards take her home.

Weeks after the horrific event, having developed a staph infection from the bites and kidney failure from the mercuric chloride, Oberholtzer finally passed away. Her dying declaration about the events of that day brought about the conviction of the highest ranking KKK member, causing a mass exodus of members from the organization.

Answer: Olive Thomas

At the time of her death it was rumored that Olive Thomas and her husband, Jack Pickford, were vacationing in Paris as a way to fix a failing relationship. A possible theory as to what had happened the night she died is that she was having difficulty sleeping and reached for sleeping medication, grabbing the bottle of mercury bichloride instead. The mercury bichloride had been prescribed to Pickford for syphyllis.

Upon realizing the mistake, Thomas yelled, "Oh my God," waking Pickford, who was asleep in the next room. He had called for a doctor but by the time he arrived she was already in horrific pain and the drugs were working through her system. She died four days later.

Answer: Hermann Goering

After 218 days of the Nuremberg Tribunal, Goering was one of twelve defendants sentenced to death by hanging. He had requested to be granted a soldier's death, firing squad, but this was refused. On October 15, 1946, the night before he was supposed to be hanged, his American prison guard smuggled potassium cyanide capsules in to Goering.

Answer: Alexander the Great

There has been great debate about the death of Alexander the Great, with theories ranging from natural causes to poison. Even in the theory of poisoning, it is debated whether or not it was accidental or murder.