They Passed On Christmas Day Trivia Quiz

Answer: James Brown

James Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina in 1933. He met Bobby Byrd in a juvenile detention centre. Mr Brown became a member of a prison gospel group run by Mr Byrd. Together they formed the Gospel Starlighters which became the Famous Flames and had one hit in 1958, "Please Please Please" and then they broke up. Mr Brown went on to become one of the most influential singers of all time. His biggest solo hits were, 'Night Train', 'Lost Someone', 'Baby You're Right', and 'Prisoner of Love'.
He was known as 'The Godfather of Soul' and was one of the most influential musicians the last century. He was attributed as the father of funk, soul, and rap music and is considered have been the biggest influences on such big musical names as Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, and rapper Jay-Z.

He was married three times and had at least nine children. He died of congestive heart failure caused by pneumonia in 2006 aged 73.

Answer: Samuel de Champlain

After starting the settlement at Quebec in 1608, Monsieur de Champlain became known as a consolidator of the French colonies in the New World. He was particularly skilled as a mariner, geographer and as a draftsman. His family were mariners and he learned to draw accurate maps at an early age.

He had to return to France in 1610 but returned to Quebec in 1613 where he continued to build Quebec City. In 1627 the Compagnie des Cent-Associés (the Hundred Associates) was created to manage the fur trade in New France. Monsieur de Champlain was appointed Head. Over time the British took interest and Charles I dispatched David Kirke to displace the French. This caused the Anglo-French War and after two years Champlain was forced to surrender the colony in 1629. He was taken to England and in 1632, negotiated the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye: Quebec was formally returned to France. Champlain returned to Quebec in 1633 and served as its administrator for the rest of his life. which ended abruptly in 1635 when he died of a stroke.

Answer: W.C. Fields

William Claude Dukenfield, better known as W. C. Fields was a juggler who later became one of America's greatest comedians. He was widely regarded as one of the greatest personalities of early American cinema. His family was poor, he ran away from home when he was 11. He spent many hours learning skills as a juggler. There are several reports that he would persevere with this self-training until his hands were bleeding. He could juggle cigar boxes, hats, crockery and other objects that gave him an "angle". He was able to support himself with this skill and by the very early 20th century he earned the reputation for being the world's greatest juggler. He made it to Broadway where he acted in stage productions and then quickly moved into films.

He became a movie star in the 30s. He presented on film as a heavy-drinking misanthropist with nothing but contempt for women, children and animals, and yet who could gain the audience's sympathies regardless. However he became an alcoholic which negatively affected both his personal and professional lives. He died as a result of alcohol-related issues in 1946, aged only 66.

Answer: Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt had a tough upbringing. She did not know her father, her mother abandoned her when at an early age. She was raised by two aunts. Nevertheless she was able to attend the 'The High School of Performing Arts' in New York City.

Kitt started professionally as a singer with the 'Katherine Dunham Company' where she sang several hit songs for the company and earned her first acting offer with 'Dr. Faustus', an off-Broadway show. In 'New Faces of 1952,' she sang the popular song 'Monotonous'.

The 1953 Christmas song of Ms Kitt's 'Santa Baby,' is a Christmas standard. In 1967, Ms Kitt was cast as 'Catwoman' in the third season of the TV series of 'Batman.' This caused quite a sensation with her trademark growl and she became type-cast as a 'sex kitten'. She was forced to work in Europe for sometime as a backlash to an anti-war statement she made at a luncheon hosted by Ladybird Johnson in the White House. In 1978 when she returned to the US, she was cast into the musical 'Timbuktu' where made a successful comeback on Broadway earning her a Tony Award nomination.
She wrote three autobiographies and was an activist for empowerment of women and same-sex marriage.

She died in 2008 after a long battle with colon cancer.

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

One of the greatest comedians of all time and certainly one of the greatest stars of the silent film era was born in London in 1889 (on 16 April, four days before Hitler). He got his performing start at ten in a clog-dancing troupe Eight Lancashire Lads. He worked as a toy maker and shoe polisher to support himself after his father left the family. At 12 his first acting role was as a pageboy in a stage production of 'Sherlock Holmes'.

He was versatile. Besides being a comic genius, he acted, directed, and produced his own work He also wrote and composed music for nearly every one of his films. He was a character known 'The Little Tramp', and was one of the founding fathers of the comedy. He influenced a bevy of filmmakers and comedians. Comedy would not be the same today without his influence on so many

He died peacefully on Christmas day in 1977, aged 88, but he was not allowed to rest in peace as grave robbers exhumed the his body from his grave, hoping to get money from his family in exchange for his body. His body was found in a field. The thieves confessed and Mr Chaplin was re-buried under 6 feet of concrete two days later.

Answer: Birgit Nilsson

Birgit Nilsson was one of the elite 20th century Swedish sopranos. She best known for performing the works of German composer Richard Wagner although she was acclaimed for her interpretation of many other composers, especially Verdi, Strauss, and Puccini. Her mother was an amateur singer and apparently she was able to pick out melodies on a toy piano at three years of age.

Initially she wanted to become a concert singer and took classes from Ragnar Blennow for six months to prepare for a planned Royal Academy of Music audition in Stockholm in 1941. She easily won over the judges at the audition. She also won the Christina Nilsson scholarship. Her stage name was formed by combined her middle name with Nilsson. She made her international debut at the Glyndebourne Festival in 1951 in Britain, performing in Mozart's 'Idomeneo' as Electra. Two years later she made her debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1953 which was the turning point of her career as this was the start of a 25 year career in opera singing. She was already an international star when In 1956, she made her American debut as Brünhilde in Wagner's 'Die Walküre' at the San Francisco Opera.

She retired in 1984, after performing at the Metropolitan Opera 223 times, portraying Isolde 33 times and Turandot 52. She had appeared over 230 times at the Vienna State Opera. She died peacefully at home on Christmas day 2007 aged 87.

Answer: JonBenet Ramsey

JonBenet Ramsey was only six when she was found tragically murdered in the basement of her home in Boulder, Colorado in 1996. She was born into a wealthy family and she had been entered into many children's beauty pageant. It was believed she had been kidnapped at first as there was a ransom note and an initial search of the house by family and police did not find the child's body in the basement until a second search later that day.

It was estimated she died in the early hours of Christmas morning.

Her tragic story was sensationalised by the press. Her parents and then older brother were at times blamed for her death but all three were cleared and the state had to apologise for wrongful accusations. It did not help when the ransom note demanded that amount demanded was exactly the same amount that Her father John had received as a bonus. Over 20 years later JonBenet's brother broke his silence on a daytime interview show, but no new information was learned that might have led to someone being charged with the murder of JonBenet.

Answer: Dean Martin

Born as Dino Paul Crocetti in rural Ohio in 1917, Dean Martin was an American singer, actor, and comedian. He was judged by many to be counted amongst the most popular American entertainers of the 20th century. He had two TV shows, i 'The Dean Martin Show' and 'The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast'. He formed a duo with Jerry Lewis that became extremely popular, with Mr Martin playing the straight guy to Mr Lewis' clown. His acting included such films as 'The Young Lions', 'Some Came Running', 'Ocean's 11', 'Sergeants 3', and 'Who's Got the Action?' He was an accomplished singer with his most popular songs being 'Everybody Loves Somebody', 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You', 'Sway', 'Volare', and 'Ain't That a Kick in the Head?', with perhaps 'That's Amore', being his most recognised song.

He died of respiratory failure resulting from emphysema at his Los Angeles home on December 25, 1995. His signature tune, 'Everybody Loves Somebody' is written on his tombstone.

Answer: Nicolae Ceaușescu

Nicolae Ceaușescu was born near Bucharest in the last months of WWI in 1918 He was a Romanian Communist politician who ruled as the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party. He became the Romanian leader in 1965 and ruled the country as dictator for 24 years before he was overthrown.

Initially his rule was moderate but when conditions in his country deteriorated, the people had little access to basic amenities like food, medicinal facilities, fuel and education, he became ruthless and dictatorial.

This led to the Romanian Revolution of 1989. He was tried before an unauthorised court convened by order of the National Salvation Front, Romania's provisional government. The trial culminated in the execution by firing squad of Ceaușescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day 1989.

Answer: George Michael

Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, aka George Michael, was an English singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a star of the 1980s and 1990s. He won a Grammy for best album of the year in 1987. His fame started as a member of the duo Wham! While in high school, he and friend Andrew Ridgeley dropped out of school and started a band which was not successful but soon they earned a record contract.

After several successes with Wham!, he left the group for a solo career. He was one of the best-selling music artists of the 80s, with sales of more than 80 million records as a solo artist.

He had some legal troubles and died in relative obscurity from heart and liver disease on Christmas day 2016. He was only 53.