On This Day: III Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thomas Hardy

Hardy passed away at the age of 87. He was born in Dorset, in an age of disease, death and poverty. His mother sent him to school so he could learn to read and write. Hardy became an architect and designed many of the churchs that now stand in Dorset.

But it was his love for writing that led him to write the classics he did. It is said that Hardy's first wife Emma helped him to decribe what life was like for a woman, and much of his work had a sexual nature which had people make the comment "Sex and Wessex". Hardy had a difficult life in terms of his love life.

He was married to Emma and ignored her for long periods until her death, then he married again only to ignore his second wife because he was mourning the loss of Emma! He wrote books with tragedy that mirrored his real life tragedies.

His heart was buried alongside Emma in the churchyard at Stinsfield.

Answer: Mark Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of the UK, was left with much anxiety when news came about of the disappearance her son Mark whilst he was driving through the Sahara Desert. He was found two days later whilst competing in the Paris-Dakar rally.

Answer: Billboard

The Beatles had entered the US pop charts at number 45, and were climbing fast. The group's new single 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', brought the first taste of Mersey Beat from Liverpool. The Billboard predicted the song would hit the top spot and that the Beatles would be "massive". Little did they know, that the prediction would be totally spot on.

Answer: Marilyn Monroe & Joe DiMaggio

Monroe who at the time was the screen star of 'How to Marry a Millionaire' married the very wealthy baseball star Joe DiMaggio. DiMaggio who was 40 when the marriage took place won 10 pennants and 9 World Series titles with the New York Yankees and was not seen by many as the obvious choice of husband for the new siren of the screen, the formerly named Norma Jean Baker.

Answer: The bombing of Vietnam by US warplanes

The President called a halt to bombing raids less than a month after the huge Christmas period bombardment of Hanoi, North Vietnam. The initiative was called as the Paris peace conference opened. The Christmas bombings were carried out by White House strategists as a means to force Viet Cong leaders to moderate their demands at the Paris negotiating table. Women and children were evacuated as 36,000 tons of bombs were dropped over 12 days killing 1,600 civilians, leaving Hanoi like a wasteland. A hostile congress in Washington had signalled its intention to limit Nixon's power to wage war if the bombing continued.

Answer: Joan Baez

Protest singer Baez was no stranger to controversy. The 25 year old left-winger was among 120+ anti-Vietnam demonstraters arrested for blocking the entrance in Oakland, California. She was sentenced to serve 10 days behind bars. A pacifist from a Quaker family, Joan Baez also was famed for not paying 60% of her income tax in protest at US government armaments spending. Six months earlier she opened the Institute for the Study of Non-Violence in Carmel, California, and withheld a further 10% of her tax.

Answer: Scott reached the South Pole

British polar explorers completed a terrible overland journey to reach the South Pole, only to find they were not the first. A Norwegian tent showed Roald Amundsen had beaten Captain Robert Falcon Scott's party by a month. Poor logistics and unreliable equipment hampered the expedition, resulting in the ill equipped party travelling far more slowly than Amundsen, whose men raced along behind dog sleds. None of Scott's men came back alive as they died broken men.

Answer: 890 days

The Red Army re-established land communications with the city, which since September 1941 had been subject to terrible air and artillery bombardment from German forces. During the siege the city received only irregular supplies over the frozen Lake Ladoga and its inhabitants consumed everything edible they could lay their hands on.

The city's relief was the high point of the massive Soviet counter offensive which had moved into top gear as the roads and waterways froze.

Answer: The Tour de France

Promoter and journalist Henri Desgrange announced plans to hold a gruelling bicycle race across France in the summer of 1903. It was to be called the Tour de France, and cover around 2500-3000 miles (4000-4800km) of roads and mountain passes throughout the countryand into parts of its five neighbours. About 60 top cyclists followed a route from Paris to Marseille and back again in six stages over three weeks.

Answer: Parliament

This parliament was called by Simon de Montfort and was unofficial. However, it formed the basis of the Model Parliament called with full royal authority by Edward I in 1295. The basis of representation was two knights from every shire and two burgesses from the towns. For the first time, the whole country was represented in a single chamber at Westminster Hall.

The parliament was convened by the Earl of Leicester, Simon de Montfort, the king's troublesome brother-in-law. Since his return to England in 1262, de Montfort had built considerable power.

Answer: Louis XVI

At 10.30 am on this day, the French Revolution shed royal blood. Louis XVI or Louis Capet had been convicted of treason and sentenced to death in Paris. The king addressed the crowd from the top of the scaffold steps and proclaimed "I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge", he said, yet he forgave his judges before he concluded, "I pray God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France".
The crowd screamed "Vive la Republique!" as the blade cut the head from the shoulders and was held aloft.

Answer: Bjorn Borg

Aged 26 and very rich from an outstanding career, Borg decided to call it quits due to his growing list of commitments and lack of match play. By 1981, Borg had won six French Open titles and five consecutive Wimbledon championships.

Answer: Salvador Dali

The surrealist painter died at his Spanish castle in Figueras aged 78. The final seven years of his life were lived as a recluse after the death of his much loved wife Gala in 1982. Dali was a technical virtuoso and his dream-like scenes, such as melting watches and painstakingly detailed beauties supported by fantastical crutches, commanded huge prices.

He once said his paintings were motivated by his megalomania.

Answer: James Marshall

Marshall struck gold at Sutter's sawmill on the American river in Northern California. It was several years since farmer Francisco Lopez found traces of gold on a freshly dug onion nearby, but the stampede that followed was just the beginning. The government of the Mexican owned territory was spreading news of the find in the hope of increasing the population of California, which had reached just 14,000 inhabitants.

A big gold find would surely bring many searches from all over the globe.

Answer: Sharon Tate

Satanist Manson, who led a drug ridden Californian commune or "family" of disturbed women, warned the judge, "You won't outlive this, old man," as the court took legal steps to have him and his accomplices sent to the gas chamber. The trial was punctuated by Manson's outpourings about race and Satan. As the death penalty had been suspended in California, Manson and his co-convicts started life terms instead. Tate was murdered at the age of 26 and was married to film maestro Roman Polanski, and was expecting her first child when Manson struck. Steven Parent, Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, and Voyteck Frykowski were the other four murder victims. Sharon begged for the life of her unborn child but she was told that the cult had no mercy for her or her child and she was stabbed to death. Tate made 13 movies noteably 'Valley of the Dolls', 'The Fearless Vampire Killers' and 'The Wrecking Crew' which was her last movie.

http://www.sharontate.net/home.html this site provides information about her life and the fact that seven murders were not committed as it has been stressed to me by a fellow funtrivia member.