Difficult People Trivia: Where Was I Born?

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Sir Cliff Richard has been a popular singer for over forty five years now, but he was not born in the British Isles even though he is English. Where was he born?

Answer: India

His first single was released in the UK on 29 August 1958 and has remained an all-time classic. Entitled 'Move It', it reached Number 2 in the British charts and Cliff has remained a top-selling vocalist ever since, with no less than 36 number one hits all over the world (many in more than one country at a time, a few in 8-12 countries and one ('Congratulations') in seventeen countries!) Cliff has had more than 30 hits in Australia - only Elvis and The Beatles have had more.

2. Which member of Queen Elizabeth II's immediate family was NOT born in Great Britain?

Answer: Prince Philip

Prince Philip was born 'Prince of Greece and Denmark' in Corfu on 10 June 1921. He adopted the family name of Mountbatten when he became a naturalised British subject and renounced his Royal title in 1947, to become Prince Consort to Princess Elizabeth, the Heir Presumptive to the British Throne.

3. One of the requirements for the post of American President is that he/she must have been born in the States, but such is not the case for other countries. Which of the following was actually born in the country in which he/she was political leader?

Answer: Mrs Bandaranaike (Prime Minister of Ceylon)

Mrs Bandaranaike was the world's first elected female Head of State (Indira Gandhi was second, and Golda Meir third), becoming Prime Minister of her native Ceylon in 1960. Golda Meir was born in the Ukraine, Adolf Hitler in Austria and Andrew Bonar Law in Canada.

4. Olympic javelin champion, Tessa Sanderson, won Gold for Britain in 1984, but in which country was she born?

Answer: Jamaica

Tessa retired from competitive sports in 1997 and started working in sporting administration, including liaising with the National Lottery for Grants. In 1984 Tessa and Fatima Whitbread revived British interest in Field Sports by winning the Olympic Women's Javelin Gold and Bronze respectively.

5. Nazi persecutions caused wide-scale evacuation of 'brains' from mainland European countries in the 1930s and 1940s. Which of the following scientists, all of whom escaped The Holocaust, was NOT born in Germany?

Answer: Andrew Schally (American Biochemist)

Penzias was born in 1933 and left Germany with his family in 1940. Chain was born in 1906 and left Berlin in 1933. Herzberg was born in 1904 and left for Canada in 1935 after being forced to leave by the Nazis. Schally was born in Poland and survived the war, leaving for Scotland, and later the USA, in 1945.

6. None of the following well-known French people were actually born in France - but which one was born in Switzerland?

Answer: Jean-Paul Marat (Revolutionary)

Both Yves Saint Laurent and Albert Camus were born in Algeria, which became independent from France in 1962. Alexander Alekhine was born in Moscow in 1892, and became a naturalised French citizen in 1925. Jean-Paul Mara was born in the village of Boudry, Switzerland, in 1743, and later was to add a 't' to his surname to make it sound French rather than Swiss.

7. When one thinks of Mother Teresa, India springs to mind. But this remarkable woman was not Indian, nor was she born there. In which modern day country was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu born in 1910?

Answer: North Macedonia

Agnes was born on August 26 1910 in Skopje, present day North Macedonia (formerly part of former Yugoslavia). At the time of her birth, Skopje was part of the Ottoman Empire. Agnes joined the Sisters of Loreto in 1928 and took the name "Teresa" after St. Teresa of Lesiux, patroness of the Missionaries.

Her entire life has been one of self-sacrifice, a living example of Christ's love for all people. She died on 5 September 1997, at the age of 87, and was mourned on all continents.

8. Which of the following actors/actresses was NOT born in the UK?

Answer: Errol Flynn

Errol was born on 20 June 1909 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Victoria Tennant, who appeared in 'Winds of War', 'Snowy River' and 'The Handmaid's Tale' was born on 30 September 1950 in London.
Cary Grant was born on 18 January 1904 as Archibald Leech in Bristol.
Angela Lansbury was born on 16 October 1925 in London.

9. All of the following are considered to be Australians, but which is the only one who can truly be termed an antipodean?

Answer: Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris was born in Perth, Western Australia, on March 30th, 1930, and as such the only one of these four who could be called an antipodean; Nicole (Hawaii), Mel (New York, USA) and Olivia (England) are all Australian, but none were born there.

10. JRR Tolkien is a well-known English novelist, but he was not born anywhere in the British Isles. Where was this exceptionally gifted writer born?

Answer: South Africa

John Ronald Reuel was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, on 3 January 1892. He was four years old when his father died and the family moved to the West Midlands, England. Just four years later his mother died, leaving two sons to live with unsympathetic relatives and overseen by a conscientious Catholic Priest, Father Francis.

11. The following are all, or have been, well-known faces in Britain, but which of them was NOT born in India?

Answer: Freddie Mercury (vocalist)

Freddie was born in Zanzibar, and named Farrokh Bulsara. With India under colonial rule until 1947 many British people count that country as their place of birth, as their parents were living there until unrest broke out. Margaret Lockwood and Gordon Honeycombe were also born in India, but the places of their birth are now in Pakistan.

12. Which actress was born in Japan?

Answer: Victoria Principal (US Actress)

Lili Palmer was born in Austria, while Joanna Lumley was born in Kashmir and Elaine Smith was born in Scotland.

13. Eric Liddell was a Scottish runner who rose to fame at the 1924 Paris Olympics, because he refused to run in the 100m or the relays' heats on a Sunday, choosing instead to preach in one of the churches in the city. He was not actually born in Scotland though. Do you know in which country was he born?

Answer: China

Part of Eric's story is told in the film 'Chariots of Fire'. Refusing to take part in the 100m or the relay heats, he was automatically disqualified from those events, so he started to train, at the eleventh hour, for the 200m and the 400m (neither of which had been his distances before).

He took an unexpected Bronze in the 200m, and then astounded the world by winning the 400m by a clear five metres, setting a new World Record of 47.6 seconds.

14. Which of the following people was not born in the USA?

Answer: Claude Simon (French Novelist)

Claude Simon was born in Madagascar.

15. The Bee Gees are credited as being an Australian pop group, but none of the brothers were born there. On which island were they born?

Answer: Isle of Man

On 23 February 2003, the Bee Gees were awarded the 'Legend' Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammys), for 'ongoing contributions and influence in the recording field'. Barry and Robin Gibb were there in person to accept the award from Mikhail Gorbachev (Maurice died in January 2003).

Source: Author ArleneRimmer

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Jim_in_Oz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Difficult People Trivia: Where Was I Born? | 15 Questions

The country with which a person is associated is not necessarily the country of their birth. Do you know where these well-known people were born?

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