The Key to Success is Patience Quiz

Answer: Anna Roberston Moses

Anna Mary Robertson Moses is better known as "Grandma Moses" did not start painting until she was 76 years old. She took up painting only after her hands became too limited by arthritis for her to embroider. Anna was born in 1860 in Greenwich, New York. In 1887, she married and settled to raise her five children (another five pregnancies resulted in still births). In 1927, after a full life spent as wife, mother and seamstress Anna took to painting. Mrs. Moses proved a prolific painter and often gave her works as gifts or sold at local stores for the sums of two or three dollars. In 1938, famed art collector, Louis Calder, travelled through the small village where Moses lived and happened upon a store selling her works. He purchased these paintings and then went to see Anna at the farm to purchase more. Three of Calder's initial purchases made their way to the New York's Museum of Modern Art, where in 1939 they were included in "Contemporary Unknown Painters". A 1940 one-woman show followed and by 1943 she was a household name. Moses continued to paint until she was well into her 90's. To celebrate her 100th birthday, "Time Magazine" featured her picture on the cover of its September 19, 1960 edition.

Mary Delany (1700-88) was a famed British artist form the 18th century best known for her decoupage pieces. Mrs. Delany created her best work after turning 70 and worked at her art until well in her 80s. Both Georgia O'Keefe and Mary Cassatt are famed female American artists who painted well into their 70s and 80s. However, unlike Anna Moses, both Cassatt and O'Keefe started painting well before they turned 25.

Answer: McDonalds & KFC

In 1955, McDonalds was a small series of hamburger restaurants in Southern California, when 52 year old Ray Kroc made a sales call on the owners trying to sell a multi-cup shake making device. Kroc was impressed with the limited menu and efficient self-service model. Kroc and the McDonald Brothers formed a partnership to grow the chain. Frustrated with working with the brothers, Kroc purchased the brand in 1961. By the time of his death in 1984, McDonalds was one of the world's most recognizable companies. Kroc himself made a fortune and became a noted philanthropist starting the Kroc Foundation.

Harlan Sanders was born in 1890. Sanders spent the first 40 years of his life working in various jobs before he opened a gasoline service station in Corbin Kentucky in 1930. From this station Sanders (who was commissioned with the honorary title "Kentucky Colonel" in 1935) started to cook chicken and other meals for travelers. However, it was not until 1952 when Sanders was 62 years old that he sold his first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise. Sanders operated the company until he sold most of his interest in 1964. However, Sanders continued to be active as a spokesperson and franchisee until he died in 1980. At the time of his death, there were over 6000 KFC restaurants operating in over 40 countries with sales in excess of 2.3 billion dollars.

Answer: Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Ingalls Wilder is the beloved author of the eight "Little House" series of books that have been international bestsellers since their initial publication in the 1930s. The books beginning with 1932's "Little House in the Big Woods" and ending with 1949's "Those Golden Years" told the story of Wilder's life growing up and living on the American prairie in late 19th Century. When the first book was published Wilder was already 65 years old. Wilder wrote steadily until she was in her 80's.

Laura Ingalls was born in 1867 in Wisconsin and married Almanzo Wilder in 1885. Wilder, who can trace her American roots back to the Mayflower crossing, spent most of her childhood in Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and finally South Dakota. From 1885 to 1911 Wilder and her husband farmed. Laura Wilder gained a reputation as a rural life expert and spent much of the 1910s-20s speaking and writing articles. In the early 1930s, the Great Depression wiped out the family's fortunes. Wilder's daughter, Rose, urged her mother to expand her writing from small articles to a novel of her experiences. Rose Wilder Lane was herself a successful travel and political writer. With Rose as an editor and de facto agent, Wilder was able to turn her stories into the novels we know today.

Louisa May Alcott wrote her seminal book "Little Woman" in 1868 at the age of 36. Clara Ingram Judson and Elizabeth George Speare are both successful American children's book authors. Judson and Speare are winners of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, issued by the American Library Association for lasting contributions to the world of children's books. The award is named for Laura Wilder, who was also the award's first recipient in 1954.

Answer: Thesaurus

Peter Mark Roget was born in 1779 in London and practiced medicine during the first sixty years of his life. Roget retired from active practice in 1840. Little is known about Roget other than he had an obsession with list-making. After his retirement, he set about to compile words with a similar meaning and create a work to capture these "lists". Roger worked on his effort until it was published in 1852, when he was 73 years old.

The work entitled "Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases" contained entries for 15,000 words.

The compilation of similar words was an instant success and has been forever known as "Roget's Thesaurus". Over the next 15 years, Roget added to and refined his list of synonyms producing over twenty five editions of his Thesaurus. Roget died at the age of 90 in 1869. "Roget's Thesaurus" continues to be synonymous with the authoritative list of English synonyms.

Answer: Susan Boyle

Susan Boyle's story is an amazing tale of perseverance, luck and talent winning in the end. Ms. Boyle was born in Blackburn, Scotland in 1961. Susan loved to sing and was a part of her church choir form a young age. Boyle never married and spent much of her youth caring for ageing parents.

In the late 1990s Boyle tried to self-produce a recording career but had no success. On a whim, Boyle submitted an audition to the 2008-2009 season of "Britain's Got Talent". Now in her late 40's Boyle had little hope if success, believing that her age and simple looks would not appeal to the show.

When Boyle's initial television appearance was aired the skeptical audience erupted in thunderous applause. Boyle's performance and subsequent 2nd place finish in the event catapulted the singer to a recording contract and whirlwind success. Boyle's first album, "I Dreamed a Dream", released in November 2009 was a Billboard Hot 200 Album number 1 hit in the US and UK was certified multi-platinum in both countries.

Answer: Ruth Westheimer

Ruth Westheimer is an unlikely choice for media stardom. Known affectionately as "Dr. Ruth", the 4'7" (1.4M) dynamo was born in Germany in 1928. Young Ruth was the only child of Orthodox Jews and was smuggled into Switzerland in 1939 to escape Nazi persecution, which killed both her parents. Westheimer migrated to Palestine and served in the Jewish freedom fighter organization, Haganah, which helped establish the State of Israel. In the 1950s Westheimer obtained a psychology degree from the Sorbonne and moved to the United States. In the US, Westheimer earned her doctorate from Columbia University.

In the early 1980s Westheimer started appearing on New York City radio station WNBC with a live call-in show called "Sexually Speaking." Dr. Ruth's show became a national sensation. She followed the radio show with appearances on late-night talk shows. Her appeal led to a 1982 television show of her own, despite boasting a heavy German accent and being 54 years old. Since the early 1980s, Westheimer has become an iconic figure known internationally for her wit, charm and open discussion of sex and sexuality. A "Wall Street Journal" article summed up Dr. Ruth's appeal calling a cross between Minnie mouse and Henry Kissinger.

Answer: Sanremo Music Festival

The incredible Andrea Bocelli was 36 when be performed in and won the "newcomers" section at the 1992 annual Sanremo Music Festival in Italy. The Sanremo singing competition started in 1951, and is widely considered to be the model from which Marcel Bezençon created the Eurovision Song Contest for the European Broadcasting Union. Andrea Bocelli lost his sight as a teenager and originally practiced law.

However, Bocelli's love of music caused him to give up law and seek a career as a singer. Bocelli impressed former Sanremo contestant and Italian record producer, Caterina Caselli. Caselli opened doors for Bocelli and urged him to compete in Sanremo. Since winning in Sanremo, Bocelli has recorded fourteen solo albums, and is listed amongst the world's most successful music artists, selling over 75 million records.

Answer: Julia Child

Julia Child nee McWilliams was born to wealthy parents in Pasadena, California in 1912. Young Julia attended Smith College and graduated with an English degree in 1934. Until the outbreak of World War II, Julia was a copywriter in the advertising industry. During World War II, Julia volunteered to serve in the Office of Strategic Services ("OSS") and was a researcher for the intelligence agency. During an OSS assignment in 1946, she met and married Peter Child, thereafter moving to Paris in 1948. In the early 1950s Child, an admittedly indifferent cook, fell in love with French cuisine and determined to master its cooking. She attended the Le Cordon Bleu and received private lessons from top French chefs.

In her 40s, Julia along with two French women opened a school to teach Americans how to cook French food. The three collaborators published the immensely successful "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in 1961. Julia started to promote the book and her passion for French cooking on American television. In 1963, she began a long running show called "The French Chef" which aired until 1973. From the 1970s until her death in 2004 at the age of 92, Child starred in numerous television cooking shows and wrote over 15 books on French cooking. Julia Child is remembered as one of the leading figures in the late 20th century explosion of gastronomy in the US.

Answer: Wendy's

Clara Peller was a retired manicurist in 1980 living in Chicago, Illinois. Peller was hired to play an old manicurist in a barbershop commercial by a local advertising agency. Despite having no acting training and never having appeared before a camera in her life, Ms. Peller impressed ad executives at Dancer Fitzgerald Sample Advertising who signed her to a contract for more work. In 1984, Ms. Peller was hired by the ad agency for Wendy's, an American hamburger chain, to appear in a commercial with two other elderly ladies. The television spot entitled "Big Bun" found the women inspecting a tiny hamburger served on a grossly oversized bun. Ms. Peller shouts in disgust "where's the beef?" and a cultural icon was born.

Ms. Peller appeared in commercials for Wendy's shouting her signature line for only a few months but impacted the company's future significantly. The popularity of the catch-phrase, as well as the popularity of the diminutive octogenarian shouting the phrase, helped increase Wendy's sales over 30% from 1984 to 1985. Ms. Peller appeared in a commercial for Prego Pasta Sauce in 1985 and shouted "where's the beef", prompting Wendy's to sever the relationship. After separating from Peller, Wendy's went into a sales decline that lasted several years. Ms. Peller, however, remained popular as a cultural icon until her death in 1987.

Answer: Shooting

Oskar Swahn is the oldest competitor and medalist in any athletic event to have competed in the modern Summer or Winter Olympics. Mr. Swahn competed for the Swedish national team in the 1908, 1912, and after an eight year hiatus, at the age of almost 73 years old, the 1920 Olympics. In 1920, Mr. Schwan was part of the Silver Medal team in the 100m double shot running deer event. This event required competitors to shoot a moving target in the shape of a deer. In 1912, Mr. Swahn then a robust 64 year old man became the oldest Gold medal winner in the same event. All told Mr. Swahn won three gold medals, two bronze medals and one silver medal all after his 59th birthday. Amazingly Oskar Swahn qualified for the 1924 Swedish Olympic team, but had to withdraw due to ill-health.

In case you were wondering, tug of war was actually an Olympic sport from 1900-1920, where teams of 5-8 men (depending on year) competed. Over the course of the events, Great Britain's teams won the most tug of war medals with five.