January 6 Birthdays Trivia Quiz

Answer: King Richard II

Richard II was born as 3rd in line to the throne of England. Edward III, Richard II's grandfather, ruled from 1327-1377, and because of that long reign, Richard's father and brother both died before they could take power. Richard exiled his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke, who felt he should be king instead of Richard. Shortly afterwards, Richard left England for Ireland with most of the knights and nobility, and Henry gathered a small group to take over the country.

When Richard returned, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Within the month, Richard resigned his crown, and Henry of Bolingbroke took the crown under the name Henry IV.

Answer: Joan of Arc

After Joan of Arc had turned the tide in the Hundred Years' War (which was 93 years old at this point), she was captured at Compiègne trying to defend the city from an English and Burgundian siege. As was tradition at the time, when she ordered a retreat, she was the last to leave the field, allowing Burgundians to surround her from the rear. During those times, usually a prisoner of war's family paid a ransom, but since Joan came from a peasant family they could not afford to do so.

However, the English government could afford her.

She was executed within six months of going on trial. A posthumous retrial was opened by Pope Callixtus III, which found Joan innocent and a martyr in 1456. In 1909, Joan was beatified, and became Saint Joan of Arc.

Answer: Charles Sumner

In 1856, while tensions were escalating between the North and South, Charles Sumner gave a speech in the US Senate, lambasting slavery, pro-slavery Southerners and President Franklin Pierce. This was in response to those members of the government who sympathized with the violence happening in Kansas, where pro-slavery Border Ruffians had just burned and ransacked much of Lawrence, a headquarters for the Free-Staters. Three days after the speech, Preston Brooks of South Carolina planned on challenging Sumner to a duel, but decided upon attacking him with his cane. Several senators attempted to stop the attack, but fellow South Carolinian Laurence Keitt held them off with a pistol. Due to the attack, Sumner could not return to his post for three years.

In the end, Kansas was admitted to the Union as a free state, Brooks died the next year, and Sumner lived on to watch his Radical Republicans successfully give equal rights (as they thought at the time) to the newly freed slaves.

Answer: Carl Sandburg

Carl Sandburg may have been born in Illinois, but he moved around the Midwest plenty of times before going to North Carolina for the last 22 years of his life. He was born in Galesburg, Illinois, worked in Kansas after leaving school when he was thirteen, moved to Denver to work in a hotel, and then to Omaha as a coal-heaver.

He returned to Chicago to join the "Chicago Daily News" and began writing poems and books of all genres. Sandburg was a member of the Social Democratic Party, and helped Emil Seidel get elected as Mayor of Milwaukee, becoming the first socialist mayor in the United States.

After moving from Milwaukee to Harbert, Michigan, he returned to Chicago, before moving again to Evanston, Illinois, and then Elmhurst, Illinois. In 1945, he moved to North Carolina, where he finally stayed put.

Answer: John DeLorean

The DeLorean Motor Company only produced one car model, but the DMC-12 made quite a dent on popular culture. The DMC-12, with its gull-wing doors, made it perfect for Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) to make into a time machine during the "Back to the Future" trilogy.

In his words, "if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?" Due to its odd look, after the car travels back to 1955 it is mistaken for an alien spacecraft. One gag put into the film by the directors was the speed necessary to make the DeLorean travel through time - 88 miles per hour.

The DMC-12's speedometer only reached 85 mph, so while 88 mph was possible, one would never really know when it was going that fast.

Answer: Lou Holtz

Lou Holtz made his way around much of the football world. He began at William & Mary, where in only his 2nd year he led the Tribe to its first bowl game - the Tangerine Bowl. Following that success, Holtz moved to North Carolina State, and over four seasons made four bowl games, going 31-11-2, with one of the ties actually coming in a bowl.

He was then hired by the New York Jets, but he quickly realized his mistake when the Jets went 3-10 in 1976 under his leadership. The next year he was hired at Arkansas, and in seven years made six bowl games, including a 31-6 victory over Oklahoma in his first season that prevented Oklahoma from winning the national title.

After going 6-5 in 1983 with the Razorbacks, he was fired and quickly hired by Minnesota.

In only two seasons, he took the struggling Golden Gophers to an Independence Bowl victory. In 1986, he began his Notre Dame coaching career, and finally won his first national title. He retired following the 1996 season, but came back in 1999 to coach South Carolina.

The year before Holtz came, the Gamecocks went 1-10, and his first season they went 0-11, but the next year they went 8-4 and won the Outback Bowl over Ohio State.

Answer: Rowan Atkinson

Rowan Atkinson played the part of Edmund Blackadder in the 1982 show "The Black Adder," a medieval sitcom. It ran for six episodes, and then returned three years after it stopped in 1983 as "Blackadder II" for another six episodes. The next year, "Blackadder the Third" came out, followed by "Blackadder Goes Forth." Each sequel portrayed a descendant of the original Edmund Blackadder, but all had the same name.

It also spawned two specials - "Blackadder: The Cavalier Years" and "Blackadder's Christmas Carol." Aside from also playing Mr. Bean, Atkinson played Nigel Small-Fawcett in the James Bond movie "Never Say Never Again," voiced Zazu in "The Lion King," and also played Rufus in "Love Actually."

Answer: Nancy Lopez

Nancy Lopez won her 50th professional tournament at the Chick-fil-A Charity Championship in 1997, her 20th year playing in the LPGA. That included 48 LPGA victories, the JCPenney Mixed Team Classic in 1980 (which she won with Curtis Strange), and the Mazda Champions in 1987 (with Miller Barber).

She only won three major championships, all of those being the LPGA Championship, but also won the tournament that would end up being the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 1981. It was made a major tournament in 1983.

Answer: Howie Long

As the #48 overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft, Howie Long was the lowest pick in the draft to eventually be inducted to the Hall of Fame. He followed the #2 overall pick Lawrence Taylor, the #8 overall pick Ronnie Lott, and the #38 overall pick Mike Singletary. Of those 4 players, Lott was the only one not to play with the same team his entire career. Long was drafted as a defensive tackle, but quickly moved to defensive end.

In his 3rd season, the Raiders (who moved to Los Angeles the year before) won Super Bowl XVIII 38-9 over the Washington Redskins. During his 13-year career, Long totaled 84 official sacks (he had 7.5 during his rookie season, but sacks were not an official statistic that year) and two interceptions over 179 games.

Answer: Gilbert Arenas

Gilbert Arenas left the University of Arizona after only his sophomore year, something usually done if the player has very good prospects and is guaranteed to be picked early. Instead, Arenas was picked in the early second round. In 2003, he won the NBA Most Improved Player Award, and after the Rookie-Sophomore game during All-Star Weekend, he was named the MVP of the game.

He became a free agent after his second year with Golden State, and then signed with Washington. In 2008, Arenas signed one of the most lucrative deals in the NBA by accepting a $111 million, six-year contract extension to stay in Washington.