Overachievers of History Quiz | Mixed Bag

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. According to the stories, this overachiever, though born a slave, was raised as a prince and later, (with a little help), freed his people from slavery.

Answer: Moses

In the Bible story, Moses' mother hid him as a baby from Egyptian soldiers, who were killing all newborn Hebrew slave children to reduce their numbers. Found by a daughter of the Pharaoh, Moses was raised as a Prince. He later discovered his true heritage and fled Egypt, where he spoke to God and returned to free the Hebrews, leading them to Canaan and giving them God's laws in the form of the Ten Commandments.

2. This self-educated former telegraph operator set up the first modern research and development laboratory and has his name on almost 1100 patents.

Answer: Thomas Edison

Born in Ohio, USA in 1847, Thomas Edison had barely six months of schooling when he went to work at age 12. Intensely curious, he began doing electrical and chemical experiments while still in his teens. In 1876, set up his "invention factory" in Menlo Park, New Jersey, the first research and development facility in the world. During his lifetime (1847-1931), Edison's name was on 1,093 patents.

3. This man was the longest serving monarch in history, ruling his country for an incredible 72 years.

Answer: Louis XIV of France

Becoming King of France on the death of his father at age 4, Louis was under a Regency, first by his mother, then by Cardinal Mazarin, until 1661. After taking power in his own right, Louis put the "absolute" in absolute monarchy. He ruled without a Chief Minister, making all major decisions himself. Louis fought numerous wars to expand his kingdom and made France the most powerful country in Western Europe. Louis died in 1715 after 72 years on the throne.

4. While the empire this man ruled was built up over several centuries, he was the king when it reached its greatest extent.

Answer: King George V of the British Empire

With the territory gained after World War I, the British Empire reached its greatest extent in 1921, when at least a quarter of the world was ruled from London. King George V, a grandson of Queen Victoria, saw many significant events during his reign, including World War I and the rebellion in Ireland.

The British Empire reached its greatest extent in 1921 with the addition of territories gained from Germany and the Ottoman Empire under League of Nations mandates after World War I.

5. While having one wife at a time is the norm in most of the world today, it wasn't always so. This ancient king reportedly had 700 wives and 300 concubines.

Answer: King Solomon

According to the Bible, Solomon, son of King David and Bathsheba, was the fourth and last king of a united Israel. His reign was prosperous for the country, but his penchant for foreign-born wives, most of whom were not Jewish, led to God punishing him and Israel. According to the stories, Solomon had 700 wives, all of them supposedly non-Hebrew princesses, and 300 concubines. Strangely, the Bible only mentions Solomon having a total of three children.

6. This Italian genius, who excelled in the arts and sciences, has become the very model of the Renaissance Man.

Answer: Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) first achieved fame as an artist, and he is still regarded today as one of the greatest painters of his time. Da Vinci wasn't only an artist; his notebooks are filled with notes on subjects such as botany, engineering, science, architecture, and others.

He designed a tank-like war vehicle and flying machines hundreds of years before they were invented. Leonardo was interested in almost everything, and excelled at virtually everything.

7. This ancient King, who reportedly never lost a battle, not only destroyed a large empire, but kept conquering until his army refused to go any further.

Answer: Alexander the Great

Alexander III, known as Alexander the Great, was the son of King Phillip II of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Assuming the throne in 336 BCE, Alexander set out to conquer the known world. After conquering and unifying most of Greece, Alexander then destroyed the Persian Empire and went as far as India before his Macedonian troops refused to go any further. Sadly, the empire he built fell apart after his death at age 32.

8. Born to a chief of a minor clan in the Mongol tribe, this man united them and founded what would become the largest contiguous empire in history.

Answer: Genghis Khan

Born with the name of Temujin sometime in the mid eleventh century to a clan chieftain of one of the Mongol tribes, Genghis Khan transformed the Mongols from a loose association of tribes into world conquerors. Ruthless in battle, he expanded the empire into Europe and the Middle East, and, under his grandson Kublai Khan, it reached its greatest extent in the late 13th century.

A controversial theory was advanced in the early 21st century that up to 24% of modern Mongolian males are related to Genghis Khan.

9. While he ultimately failed in his ambition to conquer all of Europe, this Emperor waged war for almost fifteen years against sometimes overwhelming odds and won more battles than he lost.

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Born on the French island of Corsica in 1769, Napoleon made a reputation for himself as a soldier during the French Revolution. Becoming Emperor of the French in 1804, Napoleon went to war against virtually all of Europe until he was defeated and exiled to Elba in 1814. Returning from exile in 1815, he raised another army and was finally beaten at Waterloo and permanently exiled to St.

Helena, where he died in 1821. In spite of his many brilliant victories, his ultimate downfall was his 1812 invasion of Russia and his failure to defeat Great Britain.

10. If this man's ambition was to be largely to blame for the most destructive war in history, he certainly succeeded. Too bad art school turned him down.

Answer: Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria in 1889. Wanting to be an artist, Hitler was rejected by the Austrian Academy of Fine Arts twice. He fought in the German Army in World War I, and after the war shared the opinion of many Germans that a "Jewish-Bolshevik" conspiracy defeated Germany in the war. Upon becoming Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler rearmed the country and began bullying neighboring states until open war broke out in 1939. Like Napoleon, Hitler's ultimate defeat was due to his ill-fated invasion of Russia and failure to defeat the British and Americans.

The failed artist was responsible for anywhere from 60-100 million deaths.

Source: Author Reamar42

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Overachievers of History Trivia Quiz

Throughout history, there have always been those who are driven to succeed. There are also those who might have gone just a bit too far, or excelled more than anyone else. This quiz is about those people. Match the achievements to the person.

Questions		Choices
1. According to the stories, this overachiever, though born a slave, was raised as a prince and later, (with a little help), freed his people from slavery.		Adolf Hitler
2. This self-educated former telegraph operator set up the first modern research and development laboratory and has his name on almost 1100 patents.		Louis XIV of France
3. This man was the longest serving monarch in history, ruling his country for an incredible 72 years.		Moses
4. While the empire this man ruled was built up over several centuries, he was the king when it reached its greatest extent.		Napoleon Bonaparte
5. While having one wife at a time is the norm in most of the world today, it wasn't always so. This ancient king reportedly had 700 wives and 300 concubines.		King George V of the British Empire
6. This Italian genius, who excelled in the arts and sciences, has become the very model of the Renaissance Man.		King Solomon
7. This ancient King, who reportedly never lost a battle, not only destroyed a large empire, but kept conquering until his army refused to go any further.		Thomas Edison
8. Born to a chief of a minor clan in the Mongol tribe, this man united them and founded what would become the largest contiguous empire in history.		Alexander the Great
9. While he ultimately failed in his ambition to conquer all of Europe, this Emperor waged war for almost fifteen years against sometimes overwhelming odds and won more battles than he lost.		Leonardo da Vinci
10. If this man's ambition was to be largely to blame for the most destructive war in history, he certainly succeeded. Too bad art school turned him down.		Genghis Khan