What Was That Date? Trivia Quiz

Answer: July 18, 64 CE

The Great Fire of Rome began on July 18, 64 CE, erupting in the merchant shops around the Circus Maximus. Fanned by dry summer winds, the devastating inferno raged for six days and nights. It destroyed or severely damaged ten of Rome's fourteen districts, leaving thousands of citizens homeless.

Although a lot of people have blamed Nero for the fire, Roman historian Tacitus claimed that the emperor was not even in the city at the time, and that when he returned he was committed and energetic in organising accommodation and relief for the refugees.

Answer: July 14, 1789

The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period of radical political and societal change. Sparked by severe economic crises, food shortages, and deep social inequality under the Ancien Régime, French commoners overthrew the absolute monarchy and dismantled feudalism to demand "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity".

Fearing a royal military crackdown, an armed insurgency of Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress, on the 14th of July, to secure gunpowder and weapons, which was being stored there. When the Bastille's governor surrendered, the revolutionaries flooded into the fortress, freed the seven prisoners being held inside, and seized the massive stash of gunpowder alongside the fortress's weapons and cannons. This monumental event is considered the flashpoint of the revolution.

Answer: August 7, 1942

The Battle of Guadalcanal (August 1942-February 1943) was a grueling, six-month campaign in the Solomon Islands. As the first major Allied land offensive (with forces consisting of United States Marine Corps, Army, and Navy units, supported by Australian and New Zealand units), against Japan in the Pacific, it halted Japanese expansion.

The victory marked a vital strategic turning point of World War II because it transitioned the Allies from defensive operations to the offensive, ended Japan's seemingly unstoppable expansion, and resulted in a devastating war of attrition that Japan could not sustain.

Answer: April 14, 1865

In 1865 President Abraham Lincoln was shot in the back of the head at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. Lincoln died the following morning. The attack was part of a broader conspiracy intended to decapitate the United States government and revive the collapsing Confederacy.

The conspiracy failed, Booth was shot dead on April 26, and four conspirators (Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt) were hanged on July 7, 1865. Samuel Arnold, Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, and Michael O'Laughlen were sentenced to life in prison, while Edman Spangler received six years.

Answer: March 30, 1856

The Treaty was drafted at the Congress of Paris, and was an agreement between Russia on one side and an allied coalition of Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia-Piedmont on the other.

With the treaty Russia was forced to surrender southern Bessarabia, which was located at the mouth of the Danube River. The Black Sea was declared neutral territory and all warships were banned from its waters, the building forts or maintaining arsenals on its shores was prohibited. The Danube River was opened to the free shipping of all nations. The signatories formally guaranteed the independence and territorial integrity of the Ottoman Empire.

Answer: March 4, 1789

The U.S. Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, and presented to the states. It was officially ratified on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve it, meeting the constitutional requirement for it to become the law of the land. On March 4, 1789, the ratified Constitution went into full effect, replacing the previous Articles of Confederation.

The term officially started on March 4, 1789, which is the date the new federal government operations began. Because of travel difficulties, George Washington was unable to be inaugurated until April 30, 1789, when he took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City.

Answer: April 30, 1945

Hitler killed himself in the Fuehrerbunker underneath Berlin. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and his newlywed wife, Eva Braun, died from consuming a cyanide capsule. Both bodies were carried up to the Reich Chancellery garden, doused in petrol, and burned according to Hitler's explicit instructions to prevent their remains from being captured and desecrated by enemy forces.

Answer: December 24, 1814

The Treaty of Ghent was signed on Christmas Eve, 1814, in Ghent, United Netherlands (now Belgium). It officially ended the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, restoring pre-war borders and returning all captured territories, though it failed to resolve the primary issues that caused the conflict.

Both sides agreed to the status quo ante bellum. All territory, including forts and land captured during the war, was returned to its original owner, and pre-war borders were restored. Despite these being the primary reasons for the U.S. declaring war-namely, Great Britain's impressment (forcible drafting) of American sailors and interference with neutral trade-the treaty made no mention of them.

Answer: August 13, 1521

The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance, was a dominant Mesoamerican civilization that ruled much of central and southern Mexico from 1428 until its fall to the Spanish in 1521. Governed from the magnificent island city of Tenochtitlán (modern-day Mexico City), the empire was renowned for its advanced engineering, rich culture, and military power.

The Aztec Empire came to a dramatic end in 1521. Spanish conquistadors, led by Hernán Cortés and aided by thousands of native allies who resented Aztec dominance, laid siege to Tenochtitlán. The city fell after months of brutal fighting and the devastating introduction of European diseases, such as smallpox, which decimated the indigenous population.

Answer: February 23, 1836

The Battle of the Alamo (Feb 23-Mar 6, 1836) was a pivotal 13-day siege during the Texas Revolution. Mexican forces led by President General Antonio López de Santa Anna attacked the Alamo Mission near San Antonio. Nearly 200 Texan defenders, including leaders William B. Travis, James Bowie, and Davy Crockett, were all killed, but their fierce resistance became a legendary symbol of bravery.