She Said...What? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Rosa Parks

Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, USA 13 years after the Montgomery ordinance had been passed to segregate bus passengers in 1900. Parks moved to Montgomery as a child and was educated and married in the city.

According to the law at the time the segregation was passed, no passengers would be asked to move or give up their seats but it became common practice for black passengers to be moved so that whites could sit down.

Parks made her famous decision on the 1st of December 1955 and refused to move from her seat to allow a white passenger to have it. She was in the first row of her section at the time but the bus driver had decided to move the colored section further back as the white section was full. She was arrested and charged.

She was not the first to be arrested under these laws but it was believed she was a good candidate for the NAACP to back in a challenge in the courts. They, and other political activist groups, banded together and seized the opportunity and passed the word out to thousands of black people to boycott the Montgomery buses on Monday the 5th of December.

The boycott ultimately lasted for 381 days until the law about public bus segregation was finally repealed. In the end it was not Park's law case that brought about the change but an earlier challenge known as Browder Vs Gayle.

Answer: At every party, there are two kinds of people - those who want to go home and those who don't. The trouble is, they are usually married to each other.

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was born in Manhattan, New York in 1884 and married Franklin D. Roosevelt when she was 21. Both before and after his presidential election in 1933 she made public appearances and gave speeches on his behalf. During her husband's four terms in office she totally redefined the role of the First Lady by using her position to further her causes.

She wrote columns for both newspapers and magazines, hosted a radio show and held press conferences of her own. After her husband's death in 1945 she became the country's first United Nations delegate and remained active in politics until her death in 1962.

She is remembered as a tireless worker for human rights although her policies led to her being an extremely controversial First Lady at the time.

Answer: Malala Yousafzai

Malala Yousafzai was born in 1997 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Northern Pakistan - an area which was the scene of numerous battles between the Pakistan army and the Taliban who wanted to impose Sharia law in the district. Malala's ability to attend school depended upon whether the Taliban was in control of the area or not.

Her father was an educational activist who ran a chain of private schools and he taught Malala at home when she was unable to attend school. In 2008, at only 11 years old, Malala began a blog for the BBC describing life under Taliban rule and then appeared in an American documentary the next year.

She began to receive death threats and when these were not successful at silencing her the Taliban decided to murder her. She was shot at close range in the head on the 9th of October 2012 at age 15. Miraculously she survived. When she was stable enough she was flown to England under tough security to commence rehabilitation. She remained in hospital a further three months.

This attempt to silence her voice actually led to it being amplified as her story was told by the media throughout the world. She continues her work in the Human Rights arena and in 2014 she was the co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize "for her struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education." She was the youngest Nobel laureate at the time at 17 years of age.

The other three answers were all joint recipients of the 2011 peace prize for "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work".

Answer: What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.

Mary Jane "Mae" West was born in Brooklyn, New York in August 1893. She was 7 when she began appearing in amateur shows and at 14 became a professional performer. Like many in vaudeville she was a singer, dancer, actress and comedian. In 1926 she began writing her own Broadway plays which eventually led to a Hollywood movie career.

West was 40 at the time which was old for an actress but she was famous for her bawdy comments and sex symbol image which needed an older, more liberated woman. The audiences loved this risqué image but harsher censorship laws led to her leaving films in the mid-1940s.

West remained active in the entertainment world acting on Broadway and opening a show in Las Vegas. She continued to write screenplays and scripts, wrote an autobiography, appeared on radio and TV and had a recording career. She died of a stroke at age 87.

Answer: Anne Frank

Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank was born Into a Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany in June 1929 but moved to Amsterdam with her family when she was 4. They lived a relatively normal life until 1940 when the Germans occupied the Netherlands and the persecution of the Jews began.

In July 1942 her family, which consisted of her father, mother and older sister Margot, moved into hiding into some rooms behind a bookcase where Otto worked. They remained in seclusion there until found by the Nazis in August 1944. All the family were transported to concentration camps and Otto was the only survivor. Anne and Margot both died in February or March 1945.

Anne kept a diary of the time they spent in hiding which was rescued by a family friend and given to Otto when he returned. It was first published in 1947 as "The Annex" but became better known under its English titles "Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl" and "The Diary of Anne Frank."

Another poignant quote was penned on the 5th April 1944:
"I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that's why I'm so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that's inside me!"

Answer: The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.

Helen Adams Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama, USA with full sight and hearing but lost both after an illness at 19 months of age. She was able to partially communicate with family after creating certain signs that they understood.

Her mother began the first steps towards full communication when she sent her to a specialist at age 6, he referred her to Alexander Graham Bell who referred her to a blind institute who recommended private lessons with an ex student, Anne Sullivan.

Much has been written and filmed about the wonders of Helen finally understanding what Sullivan was trying to teach her and once she understood there was no stopping her. She worked her way through her education all the way to attending Radcliffe College where she became the first deaf blind person to receive a Bachelor of Arts Degree.

Keller also taught herself to speak and used her voice to become a political activist for the all the people of the world that faced discrimination of some form. She also authored 12 books and gave lectures throughout the world.

Answer: J.K. Rowling

The quote in question appears in chapter 17 of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" the first book in the series. It is made by Albus Dumbledore at the end of the year feast when he is announcing the house winner. It refers to Neville Longbottom's attempt to stop Harry, Ron & Hermione when they decide to enter the forbidden corridor to save the Philosopher's stone.

He is unaware of what the three were attempting to do but tries to stop them leaving the common room by standing in front of the door and declaring "You can't go out, you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble... I won't let you do it. I'll - I'll fight you!".

Neville's bravery earns him ten points for Gryffindor which pushed them from being tied with Slytherin to winning the House Cup. Although portrayed as a shy, clumsy boy throughout the novels he continues to show moments of extreme bravery culminating at the 'Battle of Hogwarts' where he kills Nagini, the last of Voldemort's seven horcruxes.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher was born in October 1925 in Lincolnshire, UK. She was the first female prime minister and also the longest serving by holding power from 1979 - 1990 after winning three general elections. She was known as the 'Iron Lady' for her policies and her determination to implement them.

Britain was in the grip of a depression during a large portion of her leadership and her economic plans did eventually bring the country back into financial growth and employment. She was known for her hardline policies especially in her anti-welfare and anti-trade union stances. She also pushed deregulation and privatisation of services throughout her term.

1997 saw New Zealand elect their first female prime minister in Jenny Shipley. Kim Campbell, Canada 1993, and Julia Gillard, Australia 2010, were never voted in by the people but won leadership challenges within their parties.

Answer: You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.

Mother Teresa (now St Teresa of Calcutta) was born Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu in 1910 in Albania. Teresa is the name she chose when she took her first vows in 1931 after the patron saint of missionaries, Therese de Lisieux. After her solemn vows in 1937 she spent another 9 years as a teacher and then headmistress of the Loreto Covent School in Calcutta.

In 1946 she received her 'call' to become a missionary and help the poor in Calcutta. She left the convent to work among these people on the streets. Other sisters joined her and she founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950. These sisters now number over 4,500 in number and are spread throughout the world in more than 133 countries. They look after the sick and dying - particularly those with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and TB and their mission is to give "service to the poorest of the poor." Mother Teresa remained in Calcutta until her death in 1997. She was canonised by the Roman Catholic Church in 2016.

Indira Gandhi was India's first female prime minister. She served two different terms 1966-1977 and 1980-1984 when she was assassinated.

Answer: Alice Walker

Alice Malsenior Walker was born in Putnam County, Georgia, USA in 1944 into a poor sharecropper's family. Her mother worked as a maid to supplement their income and to see her children educated. Alice went to school when she was four years old and eventually became valedictorian of her class. She won a full scholarship to college which she completed in 1966.

While away she became interested in the Civil Rights Movement and continued working for their cause afterwards. She met and married Melvyn Rosenman, a civil rights attorney, in 1967 but had to move north as he was white and it was still illegal in the south. They then became "the first legally married inter-racial couple in Mississippi" which lead to much harassment and threats.

Walker did many things after this time - working and teaching in colleges, a Ms. magazine editor, a publisher and she wrote poems and short stories. Her first book was published in 1970, the next in 1976 and then, in 1982, came "The Color Purple". This became her bestseller - winning a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and being made into a 1985 movie.

She has written many other novels, both fiction and nonfiction, but this remains her greatest success. She continues to work tirelessly for civil rights both at home and abroad.