Special Sub-Topic: What Happened on March 14? Click Here To Play: What Happened on March 14?

In the Roman Empire, March 14 was the day of the Second Equirria, a holy day to celebrate which god or goddess?

Mars, the god of war. Mars was known as Ares to the Greeks. The First Equirria was held on February 17 - both Equirria days would feature horse races on the Field of Mars, or Campus Martius. Also, "rites were performed involving purification of the army" and on the Second Equirria, "a scapegoat was driven out of the city... symbolic of expelling the old and bringing in the new. The month of March (belonged) to the warlike Mars, the deity who (personified) the protection of the state and the productivity of the community... the daily spectacle of the priests of Mars leaping and dancing through the streets of Rome would continue this day." (http://famromo.wiccan.net/iuno/equirr.htm)

On March 14, 1489, Caterina Cornaro, the last ruling sovereign of Cyprus, sold her kingdom to which Italian state?

Republic of Venice. After being forced to abdicate by Venice, Caterina lived in Alonso, Italy, until her death in 1510. In exchange for allowing Venice to take control of her kingdom, she was allowed to retain the title of queen and hold a court in Alonso.

March 14, 1854 was the birthday of German scientist Paul Ehrlich. Which of the following things did he NOT do?

Identified Vibrio cholerae, the bacterium that causes cholera.. The cholera bacterium was identified by Robert Koch. Ehrlich's syphilis treatment (an arsenic compound) was a product of his research into chemotherapy: he aimed to produce chemical substances that would cure diseases. This was intended as an alternative to serums (derived from blood, and containing antibodies that would hopefully combat the disease), which were not always effective. His chemotherapy work began the concept of a "magic bullet" - a compound that would directly attack a disease-causing organism without harming the patient's body. Ehrlich also created compounds to combat malaria and sleeping sickness. Ehrlich received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his study of the immune system (the prize was shared with Ilya Mechnikov, who studied the same area) - he theorised that toxins inside the body could attack cells due to their own chemical structure, and the immune system's response was also based on chemical structure (this was known as the "side-chain theory"). Ehrlich also worked on new techniques of staining bacteria with dyes (to make them more visible under a microscope).

March 14, 1879 was the birthday of another German scientist - Albert Einstein. What were the names of his parents?

Hermann and Pauline. "Josef and Maria" I made up, but Hans and Mileva were the names of Einstein's first son and wife, respectively. Eduard and Lieserl were, respectively, the names of his second son and the illegitimate daughter he had with Mileva Maric before they got married (the child was put up for adoption).

On March 14, 1883, Karl Marx, viewed as the founder of communism, died in London. The British Communist Party erected a monument for his grave in 1954 - what message was engraved on it?

"Workers of all lands, unite". "Workers of all lands, unite" was from the "Communist Manifesto" that was published by Marx and Friedrich Engels together. "The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle" is also from the Manifesto. Marx said "(religion) is the opium of the people" in "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's 'Philosophy of Right'". "Existence precedes consciousness" is a part of Marxist philosophy, meaning that "who a person is, is determined by where and when he is — social context takes precedence over innate behavior" (Wikipedia).

On March 14, 1923, Lionel "Pete" Parker gave the first ever complete radio broadcast of a game of which sport?

Hockey. The game was played in Regina, Saskatchewan, between the Regina Capitals and the Edmonton Eskimos. Edmonton won 1-0.

Two astronauts who went to the Moon were born on March 14. Who are they?

Frank Borman and Gene Cernan. Borman was born in 1928, Cernan in 1934. Borman was commander of the first manned mission to the Moon, Apollo 8, in December 1968 - he and his crewmates, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, orbited the Moon 10 times before returning to Earth. Cernan was one of just three astronauts to go to the Moon twice (the other two being Jim Lovell and John Young) -he first went there in May 1969 on Apollo 10, a dress rehearsal for the first landing on Apollo 11. Three and a half years later, in December 1972, Cernan walked on the Moon on Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the Moon as of 2006.

On March 14, 1967, John F Kennedy's body was moved to Arlington National Cemetery. Exactly three years before, on March 14, 1964, something related to Kennedy's assassination had happened. What was it?

Jack Ruby was found guilty of killing Lee Harvey Oswald. After being found guilty of killing Oswald (Kennedy's assassin), Jack Ruby was sentenced to death. His lawyers later managed to get the original sentence overturned: their argument was that Ruby had not recieved a fair trial, as the trial had been held in Dallas (where both Kennedy and Oswald were killed). However, Ruby died on 3 January 1967, before a new trial could be held in a different location. The Warren Commission's investigation into Kennedy's assassination published its report in September 1964, and "just before the 1964 presidential election [in November 1964], President Johnson ordered the... documentations to be sealed against public availability" (Wikipedia).

On March 14, 1984, Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Fein (an Irish nationalist party), was wounded by gunmen who shot at his car. Where did the attack take place?

Belfast. The Sinn Fein (Gaelic for "we ourselves") nationalist party wants the whole of Ireland to be unified into a republic, independent from Great Britain. Irish unionists, however, want Northern Ireland to remain part of Great Britain. Conflict between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland led to a period known as "The Troubles", between 1968 and 1998 - in that time, violent conflicts between the two sides, as well as the Armed Forces, led to deaths of about 3500 people. The gunmen who attacked Adams were unionists from the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association (Ulster is a province made up of Northern Ireland and three counties of the Republic of Ireland). Adams was badly wounded by the attack but survived, and as of 2006, is still the leader of Sinn Fein.

On March 14, 1991, the Birmingham Six were released from prison. They were six men who had been wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing on two buildings in Birmingham. What were the two buildings that had been bombed?

Pubs. The bombings - on the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern In The Town - occurred in November 1974. The Birmingham Six - Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Hill, Gerry Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker - were convicted in August 1975, and remained in prison for 16 years before the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions.