You Ain't No Halifax Girl Quiz / Test | People

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1. Hailing from just 8 miles outside of Halifax, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, this ginger-haired singer-songwriter's first single, "The A Team" was the UK's best selling debut single of 2011 and his second album "X" peaked at Number 1 on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200 in 2014. Who is he?

Answer: Ed Sheeran

In December 2014, Ed Sheeran was named the most-streamed artist in the world, with 860 million streams in 2014 alone. Ed Sheeran has written songs for many other famous artists, including Taylor Swift. Perhaps most notably, he wrote One Direction's second UK number one single, "Little Things".

2. In 1787, a Quaker child was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He founded a shipping shipping company which eventually bought a number of its competitors, including White Star Line (the owners of the RMS Titanic). What was his name?

Answer: Samuel Cunard

Although it started as a transatlantic mail service provider, the Cunard Line came to dominate the passenger steamship trade across the Atlantic for most of the 19th century and much of the first half of the 20th century. Cunard's liners were used to transport servicemen across the Atlantic during the First and Second World Wars.

3. Augustus Wade Dwight, born in Halifax, Vermont in 1827, is perhaps best known for his efficiency and strong leadership of a Union Army regiment during the American Civil war. However, he'd had a varied existence before that time doing what?

Answer: Gold rushing in California, circumnavigating the earth and qualifying as a lawyer in New York.

Augustus Wade Dwight attended Yale from 1851, but was unable to afford to complete his degree. To raise funds he tried gold rushing in California, where he continued to study law. He then took a ship to the Hawaiian islands and then another to China, from where he eventually made his way back to the USA. Eventually, he settled down as a lawyer in New York, though he joined the Union Army in 1862 as a captain.

He was singled out in memorial speeches at Gettysburg as "the one to whom the efficiency of [his] regiment was so largely due".

4. For which professional sport are Ward, Jeb and Jeff Burton, all from Halifax, Virginia, all famous?

Answer: NASCAR Racing

John Edward "Ward" Burton had a long NASCAR career which included 5 career wins in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now the Sprint Cup) and 4 wins in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Ward's younger brother, Jeff Burton, had an even more successful NASCAR career, with 27 career wins in the Sprint Cup and 27 wins in the Xfinity Series.

Ward's son, Jeb burton, also joined the big league racing circuits in 2011, when he joined the ARCA Racing Series' Hantz Group 200 at Berlin Raceway.

5. Halifax, Queensland in Australia was founded when a man named August Anderssen settled there in 1880. Though he later set up sugar plantations with other settlers, what was his primary occupation that involved an anvil, fire and a forge?

Answer: Blacksmith

August Anderssen was one of six settlers who moved up the coast of Australia to settle a new town. He was a successful blacksmith who bought 360 acres of land in 1880 and started to develop sugar plantations fairly soon after.

Halifax in Queensland is named after Halifax Bay, which, in turn, was named by James Cook in 1770 after the 1st Earl of Halifax who was the incumbent Secretary of State in Britain at that time.

6. Which actress, famous for her roles in "Juno" (2007) and "Inception" (2010), was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1987?

Answer: Ellen Page

Born with the surname "Philpotts-Page", Ellen Page grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia before starting her acting career in 1997 with a role in a straight-to-tv movie called "Pit Pony", which later became a television series. She became particularly well known following her star turn in the 2007 movie "Juno", in which she played the eponymous pregnant teenager.

7. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK with cerebral palsy in 1992, Hannah Cockroft is a well known British athlete. In which 2012, international multi-sport event, held in London, did she won two gold medals?

Answer: Paralympic Games

Born with cerebral palsy, Hannah Cockroft has used a wheelchair all her life. She became the first Paralympic athlete to break a world record in the London Olympic Stadium in May 2012, when she won the 100 metres T34 in a time of 18.56 seconds, though she then broke her own record by 0.51 seconds in August 2012 when she won the Paralympic gold medal for the 100 metres T34. Cockroft also broke the record for the 200 metres T34 event with a Paralymic win in 31.90 seconds in August 2012.

8. After which British statesman, also known as Viscount Sunbury, was the Halifax River in Florida named during the British occupation of Florida between 1763 and 1784?

Answer: George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax

In 1784, the Earl of Halifax became the British President of the Board of Trade. During his tenure he visited the New World on a number of occasions - and a number of places there were named after him, including Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada and the Halifax River in Florida.

9. Alexander Parris was an architect born in Halifax, Massachusetts in 1780 who was particularly well known for designing a number of the structures that kept sailors and their ships safe at night along the northeastern coast of the USA. What structures was he famous for designing?

Answer: Lighthouses

Though Parris began his career as a housewright, he later designed churches, halls, markets and many lighthouses. In around 1817, he became Boston's most prominent architect. His liking of granite as a building and material led to the emergence of the "Boston Granite Style".

His famous lighthouses are designed in a "windswept" style and are predominantly made from stone.

10. In 2001, the largest college at a university situated in a famous Roman walled town in England was named after Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax. Which university is this?

Answer: University of York

Frederick Lindley Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax was a senior British politician in the years between the World Wars. He served under Stanley Baldwin and Ramsay MacDonald in several posts, including Foreign Minister and Viceroy of India. He was nicknamed "the Holy Fox" by Winston Churchill for his piety.

Halifax College was named for him in 2001 to commemorate and honour his part in founding the York Civic Trust, a charitable organisation which played an important part in the foundation of the university.

Source: Author suzidunc

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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You Ain't No Halifax Girl Trivia Quiz

There are a number of places called "Halifax" around the world. This quiz is about some of the notable men that either hail from or are associated with those places.

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