X is the Key Trivia Quiz

Answer: Princess X

Princess X is the stage name of Russian singer Liza Fox who first came to attention during the auditions for the tenth season of "American Idol". She has charted on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Gimme All (Ring My Bell)" which peaked at number 12 in 2012.
Malcolm X is best remembered as a human rights activist who disavowed racism and promoted the causes of Pan-Africanism and Black self-determination. In 1964 he repudiated the Nation of Islam and in 1965 he was assassinated by three of its members.
Laura X, born Laura Murra, was the founder of the Women's History Research Centre in Berkeley, California in 1968 and for most of her adult life has been a strong campaigner in making marital rape a crime.
Michael X was a self styled Black revolutionary and civil rights activist in London during the 1960s. It was here that he founded the Racial Adjustment Action Society. He was convicted of murder in 1972 in Trinidad and executed three years later.

Answer: GoldenEye

Born and raised in The Netherlands Janssen declared that the year she spent studying Economics at the University of Amsterdam was "the stupidest idea I ever had", packed her bags for New York in the mid 1980s and established herself as a successful model.

She secured lucrative contracts with the likes of Victoria's Secret, Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent. Her move to acting met with early success, scoring the role of Xenia, a Georgian lust murderer, in Pierce Brosnan's first stint as the super spy James Bond. Five years later another "X" connection would consolidate this start.

This time it was the role of Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix in the "X-Men" series of films. Her performance in "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006) would earn her a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. Famke is an animal rights campaigner and was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Integrity for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in 2008.

Answer: Xylophone

Klezmer is a traditional style of dance music of the Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe. Josef was originally groomed to play the flute. However, poor lungs led him to experiment with percussion based instruments. It's a matter of conjecture as to whether he created the wood and straw contraption that resembled a cimbalom on a straw soundboard or whether that honor belonged to his contemporary, Samson Jakubowski. Regardless, Josef soon developed his skill on the instrument to such a degree that he was sought after for concerts in Moscow, Kiev and Odessa. He impressed the Polish violinist Karol Lipinski so much that Lipinski sponsored him on a tour of Western Europe, a tour that managed to gain recognition for the xylophone as a genuine concert instrument. Gusikov drew praise from musicians as notable as Mendelssohn, Listz and Chopin. Shortly after the tour Josef was consumed by tuberculosis (truly, that pun is not intended) and died at the young age of 31.

The xaphoon is a single reed instrument, a xiaoluo is a small Chinese gong and a xylorimba is similar in make up to a xylophone but has a much higher octave range than its mother instrument.

Answer: Xavier

Born in 1506 in the town of Xavier, in the Kingdom of Navarre, which is now a part of Spain, Francis came from a family that possessed both power and wealth. A co-founder of the Society of Jesus, he took his vows in 1534 and, in 1540, he accepted the role of spreading the faith in the newly gained Portuguese territories in India. The mission here was not merely aimed at spreading the word to the locals but to also reinvigorate the faith of the Portuguese people in the territories, most of whom were being dominated by ambition and debauchery.
The time spent in India had proven to be successful for Francis and he now planned a new mission, the culturally rich people of Japan. Francis arrived in Japan in 1549 but soon found the task here to be a difficult one. The language was a barrier, the Emperor was a barrier and he found that the Japanese were not easily swayed from Buddhism or their Shinto teachings.
Francis is seen as a pioneer and a great organiser within the church. Modern scholars estimate that he may have converted as many as 30,000 people to his faith. He passed away from a fever in 1552, was beatified in 1619 by Paul V and canonized in 1622 by Gregory XV. He is the patron of his native Navarre and his feast day (December 3) is held in such import that it is an official Spanish holiday.

Answer: Had the water whipped

Xerxes took over as King of Persia or, more accurately, the Achaemenid Empire, upon the death of his father Darius I. The conquest of Greece was the mission that his father had commenced as payback for their interfering in the Ionian Revolt and the defeat that they had dished out to the Persians at Marathon.

The invasion, however, proved to be a series of blunders for Xerxes. The bridge at Hellespont was destroyed by a storm and in his frustration Xerxes ordered the Strait to be given 300 lashes of the whip.

They were then held up by a small force of warriors at Thermopylae; there were stories that he foolishly scorched Athens once he captured it; he took on the Greek fleet in unfavorable conditions at the Battle of Salamis (and lost) and was forced to split his army so that he could quell unrest that was surfacing in Babylon.

Answer: X Chromosome

During the late 1880s Henking was working as an assistant to Professor Ernst Ehlers at the University of Goettingen and carrying out extensive research on the fertilisation and embryology of insects. It was during these studies that he observed a small "chromatin element", which he called X, that behaved differently to other chromosomes. During the second meiotic division this lot did not double and would eventually lead to the creation of daughter cells that would contain 11/12 chromosomes respectively.

In 1892 Henking moved to the German Fishing Association where he remained for the next 36 years. His research produced significant data and statistics in areas as diverse as the culturing of oysters to the whaling industry. His work on flounder numbers and the effects of intensive fishing on both numbers and quality was pioneering as was his work on the migration of fish and the various ecological factors that would impact on this.

Answer: Socrates

The facts on Xanthippe are scant, though she features prominently in numerous tales and it's difficult to ascertain how much credence can be placed in these. What is known is that she bore three sons by Socrates; Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus.

It is also believed that she was considerably younger than her husband, some reports indicate by as much as forty years. She is often described as a "hard" woman and both Shakespeare, in "The Taming of the Shrew" and Henry Fielding, in "Tom Jones", use her as a simile for their characters Katherina and Mrs Porridge respectively. Having said that, Plato in "Phaedo" and Xenophon in "Memorabilia" describe her as a devoted mother.

Answer: Shang

Di Xin was often spoken of in his early days as being an almost god-like figure. He was quick of wit but equally short of temper and, reportedly, hunted wild beasts with nothing but his bare hands. After a number of great early victories that added to his empire Di Xin began to ignore the affairs of state, allowing the country to slip into decline. Legends tell that he was strongly influenced by his wife, whom it was claimed was possessed by evil, and the pair engaged in all forms of debauchery, erotic acts and torture.

This extravagant lifestyle (for example vast swimming pools of wine that the pair crossed in canoes to islands of cooked meat) was expensive and the burden of this was borne by the people who were taxed heavily. It came as no surprise that he'd lost the support of his people and was soon defeated by Jiang Ziya at the Battle of Muye in 1046BC. Di Xi's final act was to commit suicide having surrounded himself in his palace with all his treasures and set fire to the building.

Answer: Billy Idol

English born Idol, despite cultivating a punk persona, was strongly influenced by bands such as The Rolling Stones and The Beatles. By the time he went solo those influences and his punk attitudes melded into an edgy glam rock creation that was perfect for the MTV revolution that was taking root.

His debut EP "Don't Stop", released in 1981, included "Dancing With Myself", which Idol had written for Gen X (previously Generation X), and a cover of "Mony Mony", previously a hit for Tommy James & the Shondells.

His subsequent releases, "Hot in the City", "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding" would serve to consolidate his position as a major player in the music industry.

Answer: Patrick Stewart

Stewart is well known for his stage performances and, in particular, his portrayals of Shakespearian kings and tragic heroes. Whilst he was acclaimed, it didn't make him wealthy, but the television series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" did. For seven seasons Stewart portrayed Captain Jean-Luc Picard and soon found himself an international household name. The problem now was that anyone who saw his face saw Picard, anyone that heard his voice, heard Picard. His film options soon dried up and, in his words, "who would want to employ a deep-voiced, bald English guy". Along came the movie franchise "X-Men" or, more specifically, the role of Professor Charles Xavier, the character who creates the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters and is the leader of the "X-Men". The pre-requisite for the role... a deep-voiced, bald English guy.

Patrick has earned a Golden Globe nomination as King Henry II in "The Lion in Winter" (1995) and an Emmy nomination as Captain Ahab in "Moby Dick", a made for television movie from 1996.