Oh, Happy Date! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 1945

1945 brought joyous millions out to celebrate the end of the Second World War; the end of six devastating years of dictatorships and fighting. There was dancing, fireworks, bonfires and singing in the streets worldwide. Many countries created their own Victory Day, a public holiday to remember the costs, and celebrate the victories of the Allied forces.

Answer: 1999

The 1999 women's (soccer) FIFA World Cup brought record crowds for female sports. Over 90,O00 attended the final playoff at the US Rose Bowl, while an estimated 40 million watched from home, pub and store televisions. The Chinese had outstanding athlete Sun Wen, while Mia Hamm was the best all-around US player.

But US Brandi Chastain sank the winning penalty shot, then stunned and ignited viewers when she ripped off her jersey and fell to her knees in a power stance of joy and victory! An iconic moment in sports.

Answer: 1973

American Thoroughbred Secretariat was a dazzling chestnut stallion born March 30,1970. In 1973 he won the Belmont Stakes by an astounding 31 lengths, breaking a 1943 record. Crowds went near hysterical when soon after he won the Triple Crown, one of only nine horses to ever do so, and the first in 25 years. Secretariat was a millionaire, sired over 600 foals, and graced the cover of multiple magazines. He reminded us what's possible.

Answer: 1927

Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974) defied belief in 1927 by crossing about 3,600 miles (5,800 km) of Atlantic ocean, from New York to Paris, completing the first solo, nonstop transatlantic flight. A crowd of some 100,000 greeted him in France, 21 May when he landed, and he spent the following months in celebrity status touring in "The Spirit of St. Louis", his single engine monoplane.

His Atlantic flight was a catalyst for air travel and aviation.

Answer: 1962

In 1962 the first James Bond movie, "Dr. No" starred Sean Connery and a gorgeous Swiss blonde, Ursula Andress (Honey Ryder), whose accent was so thick she was voiced by Nikki van der Zyl. Honey strides out of the ocean, a white bikini on her 36-24-36 curves, holding a dagger. Bikini sales soared, Andress, who co-designed the swimsuit, became legend, and she remains "Best Bond Girl" as well as number one in "the 100 Greatest Sexy Moments" in film.

Answer: 1936

It's the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. Forty-nine nations participate, and the Games are officially opened by Adolf Hitler. Already an international hero, an African-American called Jesse Owens (1913-1980) wins four gold medals, breaking track and field world records in the process! German opponent Luz Long shakes Jesse's hand, Hitler has left the area, crowds go wild and "the Buckeye Bullet" earned a place in history!

Answer: 1990

Born to royal family, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) walked out of prison in 1990 after serving 27 years. Strong international pressure and fear of a possible racial civil war secured his release. Broadcast around the world, Mandela gave a speech to 100,000, then went on tour to promote social justice and goodwill between human races.

He was elected President of South Africa in 1994, and helped bring apartheid to an end.

Answer: 2001

American multimillionaire Dennis Tito paid about 20 million dollars to fund his 2001 8-day trip in orbital space. As the world's first space tourist, Tito bought a ride on a Russian craft headed to the new International Space Station. NASA and various countries were not happy, fearful that Tito, over sixty with just months of training, might be a liabilit.

But all went well, and commercial space travel was launched. Meanwhile space agency probes to Mars and Jupiter had much success in coming decades.

Answer: 1930

In May of 1930 a nonviolent civil rights leader and lawyer called Mahatma (high or "great soul") Gandhi and a small group set out to walk 241 miles across western India to the sea. There he illegally collected salt, as a nonviolent protest against British tariffs and their monopoly on salt.

Called the Dandi (Salt) March, this simple act ignited boycotts, strikes, arrests and a news frenzy, demonstrating the effectiveness of peaceful mass resistance. The British government was not happy on that date, of course, but the eventual independent India is a wonderful thing.

Answer: 1948

Hilary Koprowski (1916-2013) fled Nazi Poland, and in 1948 in the USA created the first live-polio vaccine. In 1950 he had a successful trial with children, and thereafter reduced crippling polio in other countries. The USA did not recognize it, however, sanctifying a 1955 mass immunization using the Jonas Salk vaccine (created 1952) instead. By 2003 polio was present in few people! Then there were outbreaks 2003-2014, due to mistrust of the vaccine. Still, a preventative exists, happily for millions of kids.