Famous Person Common Bond Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Battle of Blenheim

All four choices are by Southey (1774-1843), but it is in 'Blenheim' that the boy Peterkin finds a skull in the field, leading Old Kaspar to tell the story of the 'famous victory' by the Duke of Marlborough.

Answer: 1874

Antarctic explorer Shackleton was born in Ireland on 15th February 1874 and died on South Georgia in the south Atlantic in 1922 during his fourth expedition to the region. The transit of Venus on 9th December 1874 had been the last one visible from India prior to that of 8th June 2004.

The Louisville Jockey Club was incorporated in June 1874, and the first Kentucky Derby was run the following year.

Answer: Randolph

This manouever is also known as a 'Randy'. Trampolining moves also include 'Rudolphs' (one and a half twists during a front somersault) and 'Adolphs' (three and a half twists, also during a front somersault).

Answer: Jerome K. Jerome

'Three Men in a Boat', by Jerome Klapka Jerome, was published in 1889, and can still raise a chuckle. Other works include 'The Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow' and 'My Life and Times', an autobiography.

Answer: Harrow

Modern harrows come in many varieties, but the principle remains to break up any remaining lumps of earth and level the soil after the land has been ploughed.

Answer: South Africa

The movie, which also starred Donald Sutherland, was filmed in studios in England, and on location in Zimbabwe, the political climate of the subject nation not yet having been ripe for a film that criticised it.

Answer: Clementine

Some sources indicate that Father Pierre Clement discovered an accidental cross of a mandarin and an orange in his garden in Algeria, others that he purposely crossed the two fruits. Either way, the result bears his name.

Answer: Oldham Pals

The Pals battalions, raised in 1914 in answer to Kitchener's call to arms, received their first major taste of action on the Somme. The resulting carnage was devastating for many communities. The 6th Manchester Pals were the 21st Battalion, the Manchester Regiment; 1st Salford Pals were the 15th Battalion the Lancashire Fusiliers.

The Accrington Pals, otherwise the 11th Battalion the East Lancashire Regiment, suffered close to 600 casualties on the opening day of the Somme offensive, 1st July 1916.

Answer: Admiralty Arch

The two wings of the arch provided offices for the Admiralty, and the treble archway was designed as the entrance to the Mall for ceremonial processions to Buckingham Palace.

Answer: Westerham, Kent

Both Wolfe, and his French counterpart, General Montcalm, died in the battle in September 1759, but the British forces were victorious. Wolfe was born in Westerham, and baptised there early in 1727. He was buried in Greenwich.

Answer: Prime Minister

When the Great War broke out in August 1914, Robert Borden had already been Prime Minister of Canada for three years, serving in that capacity from 1911 until 1920. Joseph Cook was Prime Minister of Australia from June 1913 until September 1914, when he gave way to Andrew Fisher. W.F. Massey held the position in New Zealand between 1912 and 1925.

Answer: V

Englund, more famous as Freddy in the 'Nightmare On Elm Street' series of films, played a more sympathetic role in 'V', wherein the seemingly benevolent 'visitors' turned out to be something much more frightening.

Answer: All were Nobel laureates in the same year, 1953.

Staudinger was 1953's prizewinner in Chemistry, while Zernike took that year's Physics award. Krebs and Lipmann shared the honours in Medicine.

Answer: 90

Ninety is the highest possible number on a British-style Bingo card, which gave rise to this call. Other possible calls are 'legs 11', 'two fat ladies' (88) and 'one little duck' (2).

Answer: Winston Churchill

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace (Q1), most probably NOT in a ladies' rest room, in 1874 (Q2), the son of Randolph (Q3) and Jennie, nee Jerome (Q4). He was educated at Harrow (Q5) and Sandhurst, and after service in India and the Sudan, went to South Africa (Q6) as a war correspondent. Having been taken prisoner by the Boers, he managed to escape and have a reward offered for his recapture.

In 1908 he married his 'Clemmie', Clementine (Q7) Hosier, to whom he remained married throughout his life.

His political career had begun in 1900, when he was elected Conservative MP for Oldham (Q8). During WWI, the disastrous Gallipoli Campaign was instrumental in his loss of the post of First Lord of the Admiralty (Q9).

His home at Chartwell, near Westerham, Kent (Q10) was a place where he could relax, and indulge in his hobbies of painting and building walls, when out of favour in government circles.

He re-entered the limelight during World War Two, returning first to the Admiralty, and then replacing Neville Chamberlain as Prime Minister (Q11) in 1940. His speeches and V for Victory sign (Q12) were rallying points for the nation, especially in the dark early days of the war. Defeated in the 1945 election, he returned to the office of Prime Minister from 1951-55.

An accomplished author, his works included 'A History of the English Speaking Peoples' in four volumes, 'The Second World War' in six volumes and 'The River War', an early work about the campaigns in the Sudan. In 1953 he was awarded the Nobel Prize (Q13) for Literature.

Churchill died in January 1965, at the age of 90 (Q14) and was given a state funeral of the sort usually reserved for royalty.