Who's on Your Wheaties? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lou Gehrig

New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig was not only the first athlete but the first living person to appear on a box of Wheaties. Earlier that year, 1934, the fictional Jack Armstrong had been portrayed. Though it wouldn't be until 1958 that the picture moved to the front of the box with Olympic pole vaulter Bob Richards, precedent had been set.

Answer: Elinor Smith, 1934

Elinor Smith was not a sportswoman as we would now understand the term. Rather, she was an aviatrix. Later in 1934 aviators and wild life photographers cum film makers Martin and Osa Johnson also appeared on Wheaties.

Multi-talented athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias appeared on the box in 1935, while swimmer and film star Esther Williams graced it in 1959. Despite being very possibly the finest female tennis player of all time, Althea Gibson didn't rate a place on the Wheaties box till 2001.

Answer: Jesse Owens, 1936

Track and field star Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, discomforting Hitler and his Nazi government. On his return to the United States, Owens got a ticker tape parade in New York City and his picture on Wheaties, though at this time the pictures were confined to the back and sides of the box. Owens appeared again in 2003, this time on the front.

In 1986 football great Walter Payton became the first black athlete to appear on the front of the Wheaties box.

Boxer Cassius Clay (better known as Muhammad Ali) and baseball's Hank Aaron were superb and indeed iconic athletes, who have since appeared on the Wheaties box.

Answer: 2004

In 2004 the Sox finally broke the Curse of the Bambino and won the World Series (they last win the World Series in 1918 with Babe Ruth on their team - they sold him to the NY Yankees in 1919) . The team was also featured on the box in 2007, when they won the World Series again.

Answer: It didn't.

In its wisdom General Mills has not featured the American tennis star Roscoe Tanner on the Wheaties box.

Answer: No

Although there were no paralympians on the box during the 20th century, in 1984 Wheaties honored wheelchair roadracer George Murray.

Answer: Yes

Several athletes have appeared more than once. Below is a list gleaned from Wikipedia:

1976, 2012 - Bruce Jenner - Decathlon
1984, 1999, 2012 - Mary Lou Retton - Gymnastics
1986, 2000 - Walter Payton - Football
1988 - Michael Jordan - Basketball - Most depictions on box (18 total)
1991, 1992 - Jaromír Jágr - Ice hockey
1991, 1992 - Mario Lemieux - Ice hockey
1991, 1992, 1993 - Horace Grant - Basketball
1992, 1999 - Barry Sanders - Football
1995, 2001 - Cal Ripken Jr. - Baseball
1996, 1999 - Troy Aikman - Football
1996, 2010 - Dale Earnhardt - NASCAR
1996 -2000 - Ken Griffey, Jr.- Baseball
1997, 2007 - Tony Gwynn - Baseball
1999, 2012 - Muhammad Ali - Boxing
1999, 2000, 2001 - Bill Elliott - NASCAR
2004, 2012, 2016 - Michael Phelps - Swimming
2011, 2012 - Aaron Rodgers - Football

Answer: Stone Cold Steve Austin

Also known as the Texas Rattlesnake, Stone Cold Steve Austin was born on December 18, 1964 in Victoria, Texas. Now an actor and television host, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in professional wrestling.

Answer: Baseball

Over 160 individual baseball players have appeared on the Wheaties box over the years, as well as famed Baseball broadcaster Harry Caray and Abner Doubleday, popularly believed to have invented the sport of Baseball. In addition, seven Baseball teams have been featured (the Boston Red Sox twice).

Answer: True

There are two athletes whom General Mills may regret having honored with pictures on the Wheaties box, Pete Rose (1985) and Lance Armstrong (1999).

Pete Rose (b. Apr. 14, 1941), also known as Charlie Hustle, was indisputably one of the greats of Baseball. He played in seventeen All Star games and was on the winning team in three World Series. He was Rooky of the Year, National League MVP and World Series MVP. He was NL Batting Champion three times and won the Roberto Clemente Award a Silver Slugger Award and two Golden Gloves. His records are jaw dropping even to a non baseball aficionado:

4,256 career hits
3,215 career singles
3,562 career games played
14,053 career at-bats
15,890 career plate appearances

But this splendid career ended in ignominy when, as Cincinnati Reds manager in 1989, Rose was found to have gambled on Baseball. The subsequent investigation showed that he had been betting, mostly on the Reds, for several years, both as player and manager. Baseball Commissioner Bart Giamatti permanently banned Rose from the game, the harshest penalty possible, and he subsequently became ineligible for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Though Rose has long pleaded to be reinstated, to date he has not been, and it is highly unlikely that he will be.

Unlike Rose, a great sportsman tragically brought low by his own weakness, Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson; September 18, 1971)was a fraud through and through. As a teenager, Armstrong was a triathlete, and starting in 1992, a successful professional cyclist, but no star. His fortunes rose in the late '90s when, having beaten cancer, he returned to the circuit. Over the next several years he won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven consecutive times and was idolized worldwide for his courage and perseverance.

Still, whispers, suggestions and at length allegations of doping dogged him over the years, allegations he denied until, at last, they were confirmed. In 2012 Armstrong was stripped of his Tour de France wins, medals and honors, and was placed under a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code, which is pretty much all of them.