Who am I? Alan, Allan or Allen Quiz

Answer: Alan Shepard

Alan Shepard (1923-1998) was an aviator, test pilot and businessman. In 1961 he became the first American to travel into space. He achieved this one month after the Soviet Union cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first human to journey into outer space. It was in 1971 that Alan Shepard, at 47 years of age, walked on the moon and hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.

Answer: Allen Funt

Allen Funt (1914-1999) was an American television personality. He created and produced the comedy reality series "Candid Camera" that ran on television in a number of versions from 1948-2014. The show featured practical and harmless jokes on unsuspecting individuals, all recorded by a hidden camera.

Answer: Alan Young

Alan Young (1919-2016) was a British-Canadian-American actor, comedian and television host. He is best remembered for his role as Wilbur Post on the television comedy series "Mr. Ed" (1961-1966). The show's title character was actually a talking horse. Alan Young was, for over thirty years, the voice behind the Walt Disney character Scrooge McDuck. He won two Emmy Awards in 1951 for his own show "The Alan Young Show".

Answer: Allan Border

Allan Border (b. 1955) is a former international cricketer who captained the Australian cricket team in 93 of his 156 Test matches played. He is regarded as one of Australia's greatest players, and at the time of his retirement from cricket in 1994 he held numerous Australian and international cricketing records. Since retirement he has become a cricket commentator/analyst on television.

Answer: Allen Dulles

Allen Dulles (1893-1969) was a diplomat and lawyer and the first civilian Director of Central Intelligence (1953-1961). He was head of the CIA during the early years of the Cold War and was dismissed by John F. Kennedy after the Bay of Pigs invasion fiasco.

Answer: Alan Ladd

Alan Ladd (1913-1964) was an American actor of film and television. He had great success in the 1940s and 1950s, mainly in westerns. He is best remembered for his role of Shane in the movie of the same name in 1953. The film also starred Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Jack Palance, and Ben Johnson. The film received six Academy Award nominations, winning just one for Best Cinematography.

Answer: Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) was a Scottish-American detective and spy. He emigrated to the USA in 1842 and became interested in criminal detective work and in 1850. He established the Pinkerton National Detective Agency with the motto "We Never Sleep". During the American Civil War he served as head of the Union Intelligence Service and he himself often worked undercover behind Confederate lines using the alias Major E. J. Allen. In 1999 the company was bought by the Swedish security company "Securitas AB".

Answer: Allen Iverson

Allen Iverson (b. 1975) is a former professional basketball player who spent 14 seasons in the NBA (1996-2011). He was an 11-time NBA All-Star who won the All-Star game MVP award in 2001 and 2005. In 2001 he was the NBA's Most Valuable Player (MVP). He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.

Answer: Alan Turing

Alan Turing (1912-1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, cryptanalyst, and theoretical biologist. In 1936 he developed the Turing Machine which could mathematically manipulate symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules. It was during WWII that Alan Turing worked at Bletchley Park, Britain's code breaking centre.

He devised a number of techniques for breaking and finding the settings for the Nazi Enigma machine that was used in all branches of the German military. His methods helped the Allies defeat the Nazis in numerous engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic.

In 1952 he was prosecuted for homosexual acts and committed suicide in 1954. He was treated in an appalling way in the 1950s and, in 2013, Queen Elizabeth II granted him a posthumous pardon.

Answer: Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, and literary critic. He is considered to be the inventor of detective fiction with his creation of C. August Dupin in the 1841 short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue". C. August Dupin also appeared in two other mystery short stories by Poe.