The Most Important 'G' People Trivia Quiz

Answer: Commodus

Galen lived from around 130 to 200 AD, and worked as physician to the emperor Commodus, and also to the gladiators in Rome. Prior to his work with Commodus he had been befriended by Commodus' father Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher emperor. There are many errors in Galen's work, but his writings became the standard for Western medicine for centuries, until they were finally superseded by the work of Harvey, Vesalius and others.

It must be noted that Galen was responsible for some very important anatomical observations, and his accomplishments should not be overshadowed by his failures.

Answer: Hydrostatic balance

Working off of the ideas of Archimedes, the 22-year old Galileo wrote a short tract called 'La Bilancetta' (The Little Balance) in which he described his clever new invention. Two years later he became a professor at the University of Pisa, and began his legendary work on the motion of falling bodies. The gravity of his work cannot be understated...(ugh, awful pun!)

Answer: Hugo Grotius

Grotius wrote the famous treatise 'On the Law of War and Peace' in 1625, laying down the rules of conduct applying to nation to nation interaction, while serving a life sentence in jail! This is perhaps the most productive jail time ever spent, wouldn't you agree?

Answer: Gregory VII

Hildebrand became Gregory VII in 1073, and served 12 productive years in that post. His stint as pope included a number of reforms, including an attempt to rein in church corruption. During his period as pope he often came into conflict with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, and was even forced to flee to Ravenna for a time in 1084 when Henry seized Rome.

Answer: Elisha Gray

Elisha Gray, who lived from 1835-1901, was a significant rival to Bell. Apparently, Bell and Gray simultaneously invented the telephone, but Bell beat Gray to the patent office, leading to a legal battle. Bell won the court case, leaving Gray's name on permanent hold in the history books. Some, including myself, believe he should get much more credit for his work than has been afforded him...

Answer: Gracchus

The brothers Gracchi attempted to undermine the immense power of the rich patricians in the senate by making public redistributions of land among other reforms. Both brothers Gracchi were killed for their efforts, but their goal of undermining the wealthy senate ultimately achieved fruit.

Unfortunately, the senate-dominated republic was replaced by an even less democratic system, that of imperial Rome.

Answer: Satyagraha

Gandhi's 'satyagraha' movement was strongly influenced by the writings of Thoreau, who preached the doctrine of civil disobedience. Gandhi's program in part helped to bring the British to the bargaining table to discuss the future independence of India, which finally occurred in 1947.

Answer: Red

Garibaldi was a brilliant military campaigner, leading his Red Shirts against Austria in the late 1850s, early 1860s. Later, he captured both Naples and Sicily before turning over command of Italy to Victor Emmanuel, who became king.

Answer: George III

Poor George III, not only was he afflicted by madness, he also comes down to us in history as the loser of the 13 colonies that would become the United States. Ironically, George's diary notation for July 4, 1776 states that 'nothing of significance' happened that day. Of course, he was unable to know what was fomenting among his disloyal subjects in the American colonies!

Answer: William Gilbert

Gilbert, who lived from 1544 to 1603, served as the personal physician to Queen Elizabeth for quite a number of years. Why did she prefer him? Perhaps it was his magnetic personality? (Please, don't take your frustration at my terrible jokes out on this quiz's rating...it's innocent!) Thanks for playing, I hope you enjoyed it...and if you did, please try the others in this series.