Novel Years: What Really Happened? Quiz

Answer: the Congo River

Published in 1831, Victor Hugo wrote "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" as part of an effort to highlight the beauty of Gothic architecture, which was rapidly being replaced by modern designs. The story revolves around Esmeralda, a beautiful woman who is pursued by several suitors, including the hunchbacked Quasimodo and his adoptive father Archdeacon Frollo. When Frollo cannot reconcile his desire for Esmeralda and his vows to the church, things do not go well.

Diogo Cão (c.1452-c.1486) was a Portuguese explorer.

1500 - Vicente Yáñez Pinzón explores the Amazon River (South America)
1609 - Henry Hudson explores the Hudson River (North America)
1824 - Hamilton Hume and William Hovell explored the Murray River (Australia)

Answer: 1625 - Charles I

Published in 1844, "The Three Musketeers" is the story of d'Artagnan, who is intially unsucessful at joining the Musketeers of the Guard, but ends up befriending three of them (Athos, Porthos and Aramis) and getting involved in adventures.

In the book's preface, Dumas explains that he was inspired by "Mémoires de Monsieur d'Artagnan" by Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras (1700).

The Musketeers of the Guard were established by Louis XIII in 1622, and lasted until 1776, when Louis XVI eliminated them due to budget cuts. A second version existed from 1814-1816.

Answer: 1699 - Treaty of Karlowitz

While the book is usually referred to as "Gulliver's Travels", the complete title is "Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships" and was published in 1726.

The story is a satire that uses Gulliver's adventures in fantastic lands to explore political and philosophical ideas.

In 1215, the Magna Carta brought temporary peace between the English King John and his barons.
In 1783 the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War.
In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I.

Answer: Louis XV

"The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757" was published in 1826, and is a fictional account of the taking of Fort William Henry, inserting protagonist Nathaniel "Natty" "Hawk-eye" Bumppo into events. The French and Indian War was the North American portion of the Seven Year's War, which lasted from 1754 to 1763.

In January 1757, Robert-François Damiens attacked Louis XV with a penknife. Although the wound was minor, in March he was tortured, dismembered, and killed.

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 to 814.
Louis XV was the King of France and of Navarre from 1715 to 1774
Napoleon I was the Emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, and again in a few months in 1815.
Charles de Gaulle was the leader of France from 1940 through 1969.

Answer: 1789

"A Tale of Two Cities" was published in 1859, portrayed both sides of the French Revolution in an unflattering light. The cruelty of the French nobility towards the lower classes is answered with brutality when the peasants come into power.

While the taking of the Bastille was mostly a symbolic event (there were only seven prisoners there at the time), it is the most famous event of the French Revolution and the date (July 14) is a public holiday in France.

Answer: 1866 - H. G. Wells

Published in 1870, "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne is the story of the advanced submarine the Nautilus and Captain Nemo, as they travel in the mysterious world under the ocean.

The "twenty thousand leagues" in the book's title refers to the distance that the submarine traveled, and not the depth. 20,000 leagues would be several times deeper than the Earth itself. The deepest the book mentions is 4 leagues.

Herbert George (H.G.) Wells (1866-1946) was a pioneer of science fiction. Among his famous works are "The Time Machine" (1895), "The Island of Doctor Moreau" (1896), "The Invisible Man" (1897), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898).

Answer: 1881 - James A. Garfield

Starting with "A Study in Scarlet", Sherlock Holmes resided at 221B Baker Street from 1881-1904. A mutual friend introduces Dr. Watson to Holmes because they are both looking for an apartment and a roommate to share the rent.

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote his detective stories, the numbered addresses on Baker Street only went up to 85. While there has been some dispute over mail sent to Holmes at 221B Baker Street, since 2005 mail addressed there has been delivered to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, which is on the same block.

The official Sherlock Holmes canon consists of the 4 novels and 56 short stories written and published by Doyle from 1887-1927. There are a few other "possible" Holmes works authored or co-authored by Doyle, but due to various reasons are not considered definitive.

President James A. Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881, and never recovered, succumbing to his injuries on September 19.

Answer: 1922 - Tomb of Tutankhamun

"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in 1925, but it did not become popular until World War II, after Fitzgerald passed away. The book's protagonist is Nick Carraway, who gets involved in a story of extramarital affairs and murder on Long Island.

While Tutankhamun's tomb was discovered in 1922, excavation lasted until 1932 to document and remove all of the relics. Despite rumors of a curse falling upon anyone who opened the tomb, Carter died of natural causes in 1939.

Answer: Summer Olympics

George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was published in 1949. Winston Smith tries to make sense of a world where thoughts are criminalized, history is constantly rewritten, and "Big Brother is watching."

Los Angeles was selected to host the 1984 Summer Olympics by default when Tehran withdrew their bid due to political and social instability. By using predominantly existing facilities (notable exceptions include the swimming and cycling venues which were paid for by corporate sponsors), the LA games are one of the most financially successful modern Olympics.

The 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo.

The 1984 Friendship Games were held to allow those athletes that did not attend the LA Olympics (either because of the boycott or because they failed to qualify) an opportunity to compete.

The Goodwill Games were started in 1986 by Ted Turner as a response to the Olympic boycotts in 1980 (Moscow) and 1984, but were not profitable and were last held in 2001.

Answer: 2001

Clarke wrote the 1968 novel alongside Stanley Kubrick as Kubrick was working on the 1968 film of the same name. Both are based on some of Clarke's short stories, mostly "The Sentinel" (1951).

The book starts at the dawn of man, where a monolith inspires ape-men to use tools, then shifts to the moon where a monolith sends a signal to one of Saturn's moons. Following the doomed trip to Saturn, the lone surviving astronaut finds another monolith and an immortal and powerful "Star Child".

The 9/11 attacks were four coordinated attacks used airplanes to strike at the two World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon, and an additional Washington DC target (that plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania when the passengers retaliated against the hijackers). This was a turning point in US foreign policy, and began the "War on Terror".