Potpourri of Well Known People Quiz

Answer: Pirates of Penzance

The character of the Modern Major-General", given the stage name of Major-General Stanley, is a bombastic elderly father of a group of young women who meet up with a group of pirates. The opera really takes off from there, and is filled with excellent music and hilarious lyrics. It is commonly believed that Gilbert and Sullivan based the character of the Major-General on Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley (1833-1913). He served most of his life in Britain's army, in various countries overseas, and back at home as Commander-in-Chief of the forces from 1895-1900. He was noted for his very large, impeccably groomed moustache, and his insistence on efficiency. That efficiency actually led to a popular saying of the times, "Everything's all Sir Garnet", which meant that any work at hand was in top-notch order. Wolseley, who was often parodied by cartoonists in the popular press as well, was endowed with a sense of humour. He wasn't the slightest bit offended at being used in such a comical way in the opera, and often privately entertained his family and guests with a rousing version of the play's hit number "I am the very model of a modern Major-General".

The photo clue is of a cutlass, a weapon commonly associated with pirates.

Answer: Phineas Taylor Barnum

The mighty Brooklyn Bridge was opened to the public on 24 May, 1883. Six days after that opening, a rumour flew around the city that it was unstable and in danger of collapsing. This rumour, when passed to the hundreds of people on the bridge at the time, caused a stampede which, horrifyingly, resulted in twelve deaths. The rumour persisted, in spite of all attempts to assure the population otherwise, and so, on May 17, 1884, that great showman, P. T. Barnum, decided to put a stop to it.

Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) was the consummate showman. Businessman, author, publisher, philanthropist, even a would-be politician, Barnum spent his whole life promoting his businesses, museums and circus in a series of brilliant advertising manoeuvres. Squelching the Brooklyn Bridge rumour was a golden opportunity for him, for, at the time, he was generating publicity for his world famous Barnum and Bailey Circus, the star of which was Jumbo the elephant. On hearing of the rumour and the panic it continually caused, Barnum combined one of the greatest advertising coups of all time with his genuine concern for public safety. He did so by leading a parade of twenty-one elephants, headed by Jumbo, across the bridge, thereby dispelling, once and for all, all doubts about its strength and stability.

The photo clue is of a big top, used in a circus during their shows - for which P.T. Barnum was particularly famous.

Answer: He thought Simpson would be unbelievable as a killer

Irony at its worst. Orenthal James Simpson (born in 1947) first rose to fame as one of most well known football players in the United States. Unfortunately, his resulting statistics in that regard are way too detailed to include here. A lesser known fact is that Simpson was also an extremely fine track athlete as well. After he retired from his sporting career, he moved on to become a successful broadcaster and film actor, established his own acting company and married twice. And that is where the golden years ended.

When his second wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goldman were found murdered in 1994, and with a known record by then of domestic violence, Simpson was charged with their murders. One of the most controversial criminal trials in American history followed, with the media having a field-day. Simpson was acquitted, in spite of all evidence pointing to his guilt. A follow up civil trial in 1997 found him guilty and he was ordered to pay millions in compensation. By 1999, his reputation was destroyed, he was growing low on funds, he owed more than a million dollars in unpaid taxes, and he was signing autographs for a living. By 2007, he had been arrested and charged with "multiple felony counts, including criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and using a deadly weapon". O.J. Simpson, the man whom James Cameron thought would be unbelievable as killer, was sentenced to thirty-three years in prison. In 2013, however, he was granted parole for some of these charges, but not for others.

The photo clue is of a bloodied knife, a horrible murder weapon used in that crime.

Answer: Nose

Lincoln's tomb at the Springfield's Oak Ridge cemetery features a large bronze sculpture by Gutzon Borglum of the President's head at its entrance. Over the years, a superstition has sprung up (very appropriate in a place called Springfield) that rubbing the nose of this sculpture brings good luck to the rubber. Consequently, Lincoln's nose, which not even the kindest person could call dainty, has been rubbed so many times by the thousands of visitors to the tomb each year, that it now stands out rather vividly, shining like a beacon, from the rest of the sculpture.

Just as a matter of interest: After years of debate in Congress, the funding for the construction of the famous Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC was approved in 1914. The statue of the great man himself was only to be ten feet tall, but it was soon realised it would have to be twice that size, or risk being dwarfed by the building around it. The huge project was finally completed, on time, in 1922. Amazingly, Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln, then aged seventy-eight, was in attendance at this ceremony.

The photo clue is of a box of tissues - extremely handy for blowing one's nose.

Answer: Jean Batten

Born in Rotorua, New Zealand in 1909, Jean Batten died in 1982. This famous aviatrix created records all around the world wherever she flew. These included her 1934 flight (after two failed attempts which ended in crashes) where she beat Amy Johnson's historic 1930 flight from England to Australia. In 1935, Jean set another world record flying from England to Brazil, and, in 1936, followed this up by being the first woman to fly solo from New Zealand to England. She was awarded the prestigious international Harmon Trophy an amazing three times during her career as a pilot, and, the only other person apart from a member of royalty to do so, was also awarded the Order of the Southern Cross by Brazil. Other honours included being made a Commander of the British Empire in 1936, receiving the Royal Aero Club's Britannia Trophy and being awarded France's famous Cross of Chevalier in that same year. In 1938, she was awarded aviation's highest honour, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Then came the Second World War and Jean's flying career was suddenly over. After the War, she retired from public life completely and became a virtual recluse, apart from a couple of very rare appearances. She was lovely and she was famous, but this later reclusive behaviour earned this enigmatic woman the nickname of the "Great Garbo of the skies". Such was the extent of her withdrawal from life itself really that when she died alone in a hotel room in Spain in 1982, as a result of a dog bite she refused to have treated, she was buried in an anonymous grave. The world and her remaining relatives in New Zealand did not hear of this lonely death for another five years.

The photo clue is of a bat - as in "Batten".

Answer: He lived in three different centuries

Not as improbable as it seems, Jean Thurel was born in 1698 and died in 1807. But isn't it amazing? A life time that touched three centuries at that time in history. He was 109 years old when he died, and spent an astonishing ninety of those years in the Touraine regiment. Born while Louis XIV was on the throne, he served as a soldier during the reigns of Louis XV and his son Louis XVI - before, still active, he served during Napoleon's rule as well. Over that time, he was wounded very severely on two separate occasions but recovered to fight again. He only received one reprimand during his entire time in the regiment (for being late for muster), insisted on marching long distances alongside his fellow soldiers even when in his nineties, and also refused all promotions he was offered during his entire career.

Jean enlisted in his regiment in 1716 and was still working in that profession until his death in 1807. During his life, he was awarded the Médaillon des Deux Épées three times, the only soldier to ever achieve this. Why? Because that medal is awarded for 24 years of service. King Louis XVI himself pinned the third of these military awards onto Jean's uniform, respectfully addressing the 88 year old private as "Father" while doing so. In 1804, three years before his death, Thurel became one of the first men to be awarded France's highest honour, the newly created National Order of the Legion of Honour. This amazing man died in 1807 after a short, unassuming illness. Wikipedia has a painting of him at the age of 89 if you wish to look it up. He looks fifty years younger. What was his secret I wonder?

The photo clue is of a calendar, used for working out particular dates, months, years - or even centuries.

Answer: Mary Poppins

Australian born writer Pamela Lyndon Travers lived from 1899 until 1996. Hers is the pen that gave us the famous book series about Mary Poppins, that bossy, no-nonsense magical English nanny who has delighted the hearts of children (and some adults...blush) for years. Pamela's mother was Australian and her father was English. He was also a chronic alcoholic and a bank manager, and over the years managed to have himself demoted to bank clerk. The family, unfortunately, was 'demoted' along with him, going from a large home staffed by many servants in Maryborough, Queensland to a very small country town called Allora, in the same state.

Pamela toyed with acting for a time, but her real love was writing, and by 1933, now living in England, she began work on giving us that her crisp, impeccable nanny, Mary Poppins. Pamela was a rather unusual person herself. She would later spend several years living among the Navaho, Hopi and Pueblo peoples in the Americas, studying their folklore and mysticism (Mary Poppins would NOT approve), then time in Japan to study Zen mysticism, but also held down the very pragmatic job as writer-in-residence at Smith and Radcliffe colleges at Massachusetts. She continued to write her books about our bossy nanny right up until 1988, all of which were based on the personality of her great aunt, Agnes Morehead. Remember "Spit, spot, into bed" in the movie? Pure aunt. Pamela never married, but had many relationships with the gents, adopted a baby boy, fell out with him as virulently as she did with Walt Disney, and died at the age of 96, in the words of one of her spiteful grandchildren, "loving no one and with no one loving her". That's a terrible thing to say. She was most definitely hard to get along with, but she didn't deserve that.

The photo clue is of an umbrella, a piece of equipment that enabled Mary Poppins to fly from place to place.

Answer: Pocahontas

President Thomas Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) headed the US from 1913 to 1921. His second wife was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson (1872-1961). Ronald Wilson Reagan (1911-2004) was US President from 1981 to 1989. His second wife was Nancy Davis Reagan, born in 1921. President Wilson's second wife, Edith, was descended from Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe. Their granddaughter, Jane, married Robert Bolling, a wealthy businessman and planter. Through their son John, the family line descended down to such famous people as Edith Wilson, Nancy Reagan, Senator John McCain and both Bush Presidents.

Pocahontas (1595-1617) was the daughter of a chief of many tribes in Virginia. By today's standards, this would make her a very royal personage indeed. She was captured during the early clashes between the European settlers and the Indians in 1613, converted to Christianity, took the name Rebecca, and married English planter John Rolfe in 1613. Their son Thomas Rolfe was born in 1615, but sadly, the little Pocahontas only lived for two more years. After a trip to England in 1615, in which country she was much feted, Pocahontas died on the return trip somewhere near Gravesend in Kent. The location of her grave is unknown. Thomas, her son, had two daughters. The youngest of these, Jane, took her famous grandmother's genes right to the top ranks of US Society in the centuries that followed.

The photo clue is of a tepee, an image commonly associated with indigenous American people.

Answer: Babe Ruth

Virne Beatrice "Jackie" Mitchell Gilbert (1913-1987) was one of the first female pitchers in the history of this popular game. Born in Tennessee, she grew up loving baseball from the time she learned to walk, thanks to a father who taught her how to play and took her along to games - and a next door neighbour, the later very famous Dazzy Vance, who taught her the tricks of the trade and his famous drop ball technique. By the age of 17, her skill at the game saw Jackie being offered a contract with the Chattanooga Lookouts for their 1931 season.

That year, an exhibition game was arranged between the Lookouts and the Yankees. Jackie was brought in to pitch in the first innings, to find herself facing Babe Ruth. She struck him out on her fourth ball. Ruth was furious, abused the umpire, flung his bat to one side, and stormed to the bench. Next up to face her was Lou Gehrig. Jackie demolished him in three balls. One would hope his behaviour was a little better as he too trudged to the bench. Babe Ruth was later quoted in the papers as saying, "I don't know what's going to happen if they begin to let women in baseball. Of course, they will never make good. Why? Because they are too delicate. It would kill them to play ball every day". Sour grapes indeed.

The photo clue is of a set of bootees, articles of clothing associated with babies - as in "Babe" Ruth. Perhaps I should have used a dummy instead, because Babe Ruth well and truly spat his on that day.

Answer: Her face was slapped

Charlotte Corday (1768-1793) became famous as the woman who stabbed to death the French Revolution's radical journalist and politician, Jean-Paul Marat, while he was in his bath. Charlotte, who came from a minor French aristocratic family, was a member of the Gironde Party during those troubled times. This group, while revolutionaries were campaigning for the end of the monarchy, were opposed to the drastic and radical approach of the majority whom they saw as leading France down the path of complete anarchy. They paid for this softly-softly approach with their lives after the radicals assumed full control. It was their influence, however, that led to Charlotte's decision to assassinate Jean-Paul Marat, the most radical revolutionary of all. At her trial she reiterated this belief by stating, "I knew that he was perverting France. I have killed one man to save a hundred thousand."

Justice was swift and merciless for Charlotte. Just four days later she was beheaded for her crime. After the beheading, a man present at the execution reached down and lifted up her head by the hair, and slapped the head across the face. History dramatists, always the first to distort any truth for the sake of a good story, wrote later that "an expression of unequivocal indignation" flickered on her face following this indignity. When word got around that one of the executioner's assistants had performed this outrage on an..er..defenceless head, this was furiously denied. The slapper, it turned out, was a carpenter working on the guillotine. He was caught up in the moment it seems. For his enthusiasm and unacceptable behaviour, however, he was sentenced to three months imprisonment.

The photo clue is of a cat fight, in which one cat is slapping another across the face.