They Should Have Taken the Train Quiz

Answer: Eugene Lefebvre

Eugène Lefebvre (1878-1909) was a pioneer of French aviation, and participated in the first international air race, the Grande Semaine d'Aviation, and performed a stunt echibition before the race that earned him a fine for reckless flying. He came fourth in the race, which was won by Glenn Curtiss. Less than a fortnight later he was killed when the plane he was test-flying fell to the ground from a height of only twenty feet.

Lefebvre was the first pilot to die in a powered aircraft, but the first passenger to die was Thomas Selfridge, who died in 1908 during a demonstration flight by Orville Wright.

Answer: Harriet Quimby

Harriet Quimby got her license in 1911, and quickly established that women could fly was well as men. In April of 1912 she became the first woman to fly across the English Channel, flying from Dover to Calais in just under an hour. The feat received little press coverage, because it was only a day after the sinking of the Titanic (an event which also overshadowed the opening of Boston's Fenway Park, as all Red Sox fans know).

The accident that caused her death involved the plane tilting sharply for unexplained reasons. She and her passenger both fell out and died from the fall, although the plane itself glided safely to a landing. When they tell you to fasten your seat belts, take the advice!

Answer: Rescue mission for the airship Italia

Amundsen was the leader of the first land expedition to reach the South Pole, and was the first to fly over the North Pole, as well as leading the first expedition to successfully travel by sea through the Northwest Passage. In 1928 the airship Italia crashed on its way back from the North Pole, and Amundsen set out with a crew of five to try to locate survivors.

The plane disappeared, and a few parts later came ashore. No bodies were ever recovered.

Answer: yes

Antony Bulwer-Lytton was the great-grandson of Edward Bulmer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, an author known for his florid language, including the beloved opening phrase, "It was a dark and stormy night". The annual award named after him collects samples of the most egregiously over-written work of the year, and brings them to popular attention.

Antony Bulmer-Lytton attended Eton and Oxford before working as a stockbroker, then entering politics. After joining the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1931, he qualified as a pilot, and was practicing for a show when he was unable to pull the plane out of a dive, and crashed.

Answer: Will Rogers

Wiley Post was the first person to fly solo around the world, and was also known for his research into high-altitude flight. On the fateful day, his plane didn't reach high altitudes - it crashed on takeoff near Point Barrow, Alaska. His close friend Will Rogers had asked him to fly him through Alaska so he could gather material for his newspaper column; sadly, they themselves became the subject of the news.

Answer: The Little Prince

Although he is most widely known for his enchanting and philosophical novella about an aviator's encounter with a young prince who has fallen to Earth, Saint-Exupery also wrote a number of books about his experiences as a pilot, focussing on the joy of flight.

Much of his work was written while living in the United States during World War II, where he started trying to persuade the Americans to join the war in Europe in 1940.

Answer: Dag Hammarskjold

Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld succeeded Trygve Le in 1953 to become the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, and served in that post until he died when his plane crashed en route to cease-fire negotiations in the 1953 Katanga Crisis. The plane crashed in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), while heading to Léopoldville to oversee talks between the troubled Republic of Congo-Léopoldville and the breakaway forces of Moise Tshombe.

There have been persistent rumors, albeit not definitely confirmed, that the plane was shot down, and conspiracy theories abound.

Answer: Saudi Arabia

Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden, a Saudi businessman who made his fortune in construction (not oil!), is perhaps most familiar as the father of Osama bin Laden, who established the militant Sunni Islamist group al-Qaeda. The elder bin Laden was born in a small tribal village, and emigrated to the city of Jeddah before the First World War.

After years of working in relatively menial and unskilled jobs, he started his own construction company in 1930, and became so successful that his family has been designated the richest Saudi family outside of the royal family.

Answer: Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi had carefully groomed Sanjay for a role in politics, and his career was well established, if sometimes controversial, at the time of his death at the age of 33. He was putting a new plane through its paces when he lost control and crashed, killing both himself and his passenger, Captain Subhash Saxena. Following his death, his wife Maneka had a political disagreement with Indira and Rajiv, and set up her own party, called the Sanjay Vichar Manch.

She and her son Varun subsequently became members of the BJP, a main party in opposition to the Congress Party which is led by Sonia Gandhi.

Answer: Walmart

Walmart, whose business is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, operates over 10,000 stores (grocery stores, discount department stores, and hypermarkets) in nearly 100 countries. After serving as a Green Beret in Vietnam, where he earned a Silver Star, John Walton learned to fly, and worked as a pilot for his father's company.

He went on to establish several of his own companies, including one that manufactured trimaran sailboats. He was known for his philanthropy, as well as for his love of an active outdoors lifestyle.

In 1998, he and a friend set up the Children's Scholarship Fund, to help low-income families send children to private schools.