Veni Vidi Dixi Trivia Quiz

Answer: Exodus

The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue, represent a summary of the rules God expects humankind to abide by. Moses was born in Egypt 1527 BCE. This was a period when the pharaoh had ordered all the male children of Hebrew slaves be put to death.

In an effort to save him his mother out him in a basket and hid him in the reeds of the Nile River. He was found by the pharaoh's daughter who adopted him and named him. Exodus then tells us that Moses grew and led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt.

When they arrived at Mount Sinai, the Mountain of God, God called Moses up the mountain where he presented him with the two stone tablets containing the Commandments. Exodus 20: 1-17 gives those Ten Commandments.

Answer: Elizabeth I

Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, which was welcomed by the Protestant community in England. Following the death Mary I, the wife of King Phillip II of Spain, the latter - encouraged by the Pope - sought to depose Elizabeth and to put a Catholic monarch on the throne. To this end he launched the Spanish Armada. Queen Elizabeth addressed "her loving people" telling them to "let tyrants fear", followed by "I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England, too". The Spanish were defeated by the skill and the seamanship of the English in one of the most famous naval battles in history.

Answer: Mohammed

Mohammed was the prophet founder of Islam. He was born in 570 in Mecca and in 610 the angel Gabriel appeared to him in a vision, instructing him to preach a new religion. This was not well accepted by the people and, under the threat of persecution, he fled to Medina in 622.

At this time he received instruction from God to pray toward the house that his ancestors and the prophets Abraham and Ishmael had rebuilt in Mecca, the Ka'ba. "We have seen you turning your face towards the heaven. We shall surely turn you to a direction that shall satisfy you. So turn your face toward the Sacred Mosque, wherever you are, turn your faces to it. Those to whom the Book was given knew this to be the truth from their Lord". Mohammed amassed an army, marched on and captured the city of Mecca in 630 and imposed Islam upon the city.

Answer: He was beheaded

These were the final words of King Charles I as he bravely faced his death on the scaffolds in London on January 30, 1649. Charles' reign saw him in constant conflict with Parliament, which he eventually suspended to rule on his own for eleven years. This caused further unrest and in 1642 Civil War broke out between Charles' Royalists and the Parliamentarians (Roundheads) led by Oliver Cromwell. Charles and his Royalists were crushed. Cromwell pointed at Charles and declared he was "the grand author of our troubles". Charged with treason, Charles refused to accept the legality of the court, refused to speak in his own defence (until the speech on the scaffold) and was sentenced to death.

Answer: George Washington

George Washington holds a special place in the history of the United States by being their first President. He had a distinguished military career which included action in the bloody French and Indian War (1754-1763) and leading his troops to victory in the War of Independence against the British.

As President he concerned himself with foreign policy. Toward the end of his last term hostilities had erupted between the French and the British. Washington insisted on America remaining neutral and when he delivered his departing declamation he strongly warned his country about the dangers of forming long term alliances.

Answer: True

Napoleon had a brilliant military career and, as Emperor, he pushed France forward to become the leading power in Europe. His greatest triumph was at the battle of Austerlitz where he defeated the combined might of the Austrian and Russian armies. He then attempted to destroy Britain by setting up an economic blockade but Russia refused to co-operate.

This led to his campaign against them (Russia), which ultimately destroyed his Grand Army and led to the fall of Paris in 1814. At this point Bonaparte abdicated, delivering his extraordinary farewell to his Old Army: "I go, but you, my friends, will continue to serve France.

Her happiness was my only thought". Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815 and regained power in a reign that lasted 100 days, ending with his defeat at Waterloo.

Answer: Emmeline Pankhurst

Emmeline was married to Richard Marsden Pankhurst, a Manchester barrister who was a firm believer that women should have the same rights as men. The year he passed away Emmeline started up the Women's Franchise League and, eventually, the Women's Social and Political Union. Initially her movement's means of protest were non-violent but after a continual mistreatment at the hands of police and non-supportive parties they became more aggressive. In 1913, the year she delivered the above speech on women's suffrage in the USA, she had already been arrested and jailed on seven occasions.
"I do not look either very like a soldier or very like a convict, yet I am both ... ".
Emmeline Pankhurst passed away on 28 July, 1928. A mere three weeks later Britain passed a law allowing all women over the age of 21 the right to vote.

Answer: Clarence Darrow

Along with his work in the Sweet trial, Darrow is also noted for his defence in the Leopold-Loeb case and the Scopes "Monkey" trial.
The Sweets had moved to Detroit to find work. On the night they arrived a riot had broken out. Rocks were thrown at their house and windows were broken. Henry Sweet reacted by firing shots from an upstairs window, unfortunately killing a white man, Leon Breiner. The entire family was tried for murder but in this case the jury were unable to reach a verdict. The family were then to be tried individually. As Henry had been the one to fire the shot Darrow sought to have his case heard first, figuring that if he could win that one the others would not proceed. In his defence he claimed segregation and intolerance were at the root of the case while his closing summation, one that went for seven hours, he argued "take the hatred away and you have nothing".
The jury took four hours to reach a not guilty verdict.

Answer: World War I

The speech to Congress was made by President Woodrow Wilson in 1917. Up to that point the US had remained neutral with Wilson campaigning both overtly and in secret to find a peaceful solution. However, when Germany renewed its policy of using all out submarine warfare public opinion in America changed and, as a result, Wilson asked Congress to declare war on the Germans: "it is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war". The USA entered the war but Wilson continued to work tirelessly toward peace, presenting a fourteen point plan in 1918 that managed to bring both Germany and the Allies to the bargaining table. Wilson gained acceptance at the Paris Peace Conference to establish a League of Nations.

In this aspect he was seen a hero at the conference but was met with hostile opposition in his own country.

Answer: Josef Stalin

It was 1939. Hitler had already invaded Czechoslovakia and had his sights set on Poland but, first, he needed to find a way to keep Russia out of the engagement. When Britain, France and Russia's negotiations for an alliance failed Hitler seized his chance and offered Russia a treaty in which they could divide Poland amongst themselves.

The above quote represents part of Stalin's address to the Politburo prior to signing the pact with Germany. The agreement, however, was duplicitous. Neither of these two leaders trusted each other nor did they have time for the other's ideology. For Stalin this pact was merely an opportunity to buy time - his country was technologically backward and the recent purges he'd conducted had removed the best of his military personnel. Stalin knew that a war was brewing and that Russia would be called to answer, he simply wanted to enter the fray on his own terms. "Our goal is that Germany should carry out the war as long as possible so that England and France grow weary and exhausted." Hitler, however, had other intentions and when he attacked the USSR in 1941.

It was swift and brutal and totally caught Stalin unprepared.