9 January - A Special Day! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Richard Nixon

Nixon was born on 9 January 1913 in California. He was a consummate politician who influenced US affairs for many years. Unfortunately his involvement in Watergate ruined what otherwise would have been a distinguished career. Kennedy was born on 29 May 1917, Carter on 1 October 1924 and Bush on 7 June 1946.

Answer: Elvis Presley

Elvis nearly made it on the 9 January list, being born just a day too early on 8 January 1935. Crystal Gayle, best known for her ankle-length hair and the song "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue", was born on 9 January 1951. Joan Baez, a great folk singer whose career has spanned from the late 1950s to today, was born on 9 January 1941. Bob Denver, well loved on TV as Gilligan and Maynard G. Krebs, was born on 9 January 1935.

Answer: Tony Bullimore

Tony Bullimore was the lucky man. He survived for five days on "a little chocolate, water and sheer determination" crouched in the upturned hull of his yacht before he was rescued by the Australian Defence Force on 9 January. Coincidently, fellow competitor Thierry Dubois, who capsized at about the same time and place as Bullimore, was also rescued by the Australian Defence Force on 9 January 1997. Chichester was the first to sail solo around the world, with only one stop, in 1966/67. Martin, an Australian 17-year-old, sailed solo around the world nonstop in 1998/99. Cottee, also an Australian, was the first woman to sail solo around the world non stop in 1987/88. Fortunately none of this intrepid trio - Chichester, Martin or Cottee - needed to be rescued during their solo adventures!

Answer: Helicopters

The argument was over the future of UK based helicopter manufacturer Westland. They were in trouble and needed propping up. Heseltine preferred a European contract, which involved co-operation between Westland and Agusta. Prime Minister Thatcher, favoured a US offer.

In the end Heseltine lost, but the European merger took place and Westlands still makes helicopters and merged in 2000 with Agusta! Bloody Sunday was in 1972 and caused much political argument. Budget blowouts are common in Government, while the fall of the Soviet Bloc was still a few years away.

Answer: Anthony Eden

Eden was our man! He took over as Prime Minister following the resignation of Churchill in 1955. Eden's term, and probably his health, suffered as a result of his intervention in the Suez Crisis the following year. Macmillan replaced Eden, and in turn he was replaced by Douglas-Home.

Answer: Concorde

The Concorde, a joint UK and French venture, made its first test flight from Bristol in the UK on 9 January 1969. The Concorde brought supersonic flight to passenger jets, but at a cost that could not compete with the larger, but slower, jets such as the 747.

The first 747 flew on 9 February 1969, one month after Concorde. The Harrier, which could vector its jet thrust to allow vertical take off and landing, first flew on 28 December 1967. The Antonov An-225 (Mirya) is a heavy-lift transport, but a relative baby having first flown on 21 December 1988.

Answer: Copenhagen's Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid statue, which honours Hans Christian Andersen, sits overlooking Copenhagen harbor. The statue is about human size and has been vandalised often and lost her head several times. The first head went missing in 1964 and was replaced by a replica.

This replica was stolen in early 1998, but returned several days later on 9 January. In 2003 explosives were used to totally remove her from the rock on which she sat. She has been repaired and replaced, but for how long? The Lincoln Memorial statue in Washington still has its head. With a statue that is - some 6 metres tall and weighing 175 tons, it would be hard to get this head away without being seen! Donatello's David is probably not the David sculpted by Michelangelo that you can picture in your head right now. Donatello's David is clothed and is standing on the head of his victim, Goliath. So it has two heads to loose, but it has lost neither so far! Rodin's Thinker, who sits deep in thought outside the Musee Rodin in Paris, would need his head to do his thinking, so it's just as well he has not lost it to date!

Answer: Queen Elizabeth

The Queen Elizabeth was under refit as the Seawise University in Hong Kong harbour when fire destroyed her. She had a distinguished life as a troop carrier in WWII and as a Cunard cruise liner from 1946 to 1968. Her conversion to Seawise University, that was to be a world wide mobile learning institution, was nearly complete when the fire broke out.

Her sister ship, the Queen Mary, still serves as a tourist attraction, function centre and hotel in Long Beach California. The Seaborn Legend was the cruise liner that ran ashore in the forgettable movie Speed 2.

The Island Princess was used for the popular TV series "The Love Boat", but I don't know where she is today.

Answer: Wayne Gretzky

According to the Hockey Hall of Fame 5,811 people have played NHL hockey. Of these Wayne Gretzky has been proclaimed the greatest. Not a bad honour. The other guys I just picked at random from the NHL Hall of Fame, so they have bragging rights as well. Joseph Jacques Hughes Laperriere was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1987, Pat LaFontaine in 2003 and Raymond Jean Bourque in 2004.

Answer: Viswanathan Anand

Viswanathan Anand was unfortunately the loser that day. Anand is Indian and played against Karpov who was seeded straight into the finals, which may have given him a distinct advantage. Anand had to play 31 games in 30 days to reach the finals. The finals match was tied at 3-3, but Anand lost in the tie-break.

He became World Champion in 2000. Anatoly Solovyov and Pavel Vinogradov set a new world (or out of this world) record for a 3 hrs 8 mins spacewalk also on 9 January 1998. Lincoln Edward is my son, who doesn't play chess, but he is pretty good at Tae Kwon Do.