It Happened on November 20th Trivia Quiz

Answer: New Jersey

The Bill of Rights laid down the first ten amendments to the US Constitution. It was proposed by Congress in September 1789.

In order the others were New Hampshire (fifth on January 25 1790); New York (seventh on February 24 1790); Virginia (eleventh on December 15 1791).

Once Virginia had ratified the Bill it went into effect.

Answer: Lawyer

Before becoming an astonomer Edwin Hubble obtained a law degree and practiced law for one year. He also served in World War I for two years, rising to the rank of Major.

Hubble discovered that the universe was expanding, which formed the basis of the 'Big Bang' theory.

(Note: Whilst researching this quiz I noticed that a minority of websites give Hubble's birthdate incorrectly as November 29.)

Answer: Mexico

Mexico celebrates the anniversary of its revolution on November 20. This day in 1910 marked the beginning of the war to overthrow General Diaz, who had been in power for over 30 years.
The revolution lasted until 1920 and some of the most important and well known Revolutionaries were Pascual Orozco, Francisco Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

Answer: Leo Tolstoy

Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (Leo Tolstoy) was born on September 9, 1828 and died on November 20, 1910. He is considered to be one of the world's greatest writers.
Born of nobility, his parents died when he was young and he was brought up by relatives. He joined the army and fought in the Crimea, and it was whilst in the army that he published his first novel.
In later years he rejected his inherited wealth and his life as a privileged author and became an educational reformer and pacifist. His ideas on non-violent resistance inflenced Ghandi.
He died of pneumonia at the age of 82.

Answer: Robert F Kennedy

Robert (Bobby) Kennedy was born on November 20 1925. He was Attorney General during his brother John's presidency and worked for Lyndon B Johnson until he resigned to become a senator.
In March 1968 he announced his candidacy for the presidency but was assassinated during celebrations for winning the California primary elections.

Answer: suicide using poison

The Nuremburg trials were conducted by an international tribunal. The defendants in the Major War Criminals trials were high ranking Nazi officers. These were the first trials of their kind and helped define what constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity that were not acceptable even during times of war.

The court also ruled that the 'Nuremburg defence', that a defendant was simply following orders from superiors, was not morally admissible. Hermann Goering (English spelling) was the third highest ranking Nazi officer tried at Nuremberg and commander of the Luftwaffe.

He was sentenced to death but committed suicide by cyanide capsule the evening before he was due to be hanged.

Answer: Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten (UK)

As they married in the post war austerity years, it was originally thought inappropriate for Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip to have an elaborate and luxurious wedding. In the end it was decided to turn the event into a much needed national celebration.

The ceremony was broadcast live on radio with highlights being shown on television.

Answer: Christopher Isherwood

The play was based on "Goodbye to Berlin", written by Christopher Isherwood in 1939. The book presents vignettes of six characters, of which only Sally Bowles and the landlady find their way in to the musical.

The musical is set in 1931 Berlin. It focuses on nightlife at the Kit Kat Klub and is set against the background of the Nazis' rise to power.

The musical was turned into a 1972 film starring Lisa Minelli, Michael York and Joel Gray.

Answer: Diana, Princess of Wales

In the programme Princess Diana talked candidly, and for the first time, about her life and her marriage. In the interview Diana admitted that she had been unfaithful, talked about her bulimia and, referring to Camilla Parker-Bowles, about there being "three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded".

The interview was watched by an estimated 15 million people - a record for "Panorama" and one of the BBC's highest-ever audience figures. In a UK 2007 poll it was voted the most memorable interview of all time (second place went to the Nixon/David Frost interviews).

Answer: China

China launched its first test spacecraft, Shenzhou I, on November 20 1999. The unmanned vehicle orbited in space for 21 hours.

It became the third country, after USSR and USA, to have a successful manned space programme on October 15 2003.