More Than a Label Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Iron Lady

Margaret Thatcher's famous nickname, "The Iron Lady", originated in 1976 after she delivered a strongly anti-Soviet speech. A columnist for the Soviet military newspaper "Red Star" described her as "Zheleznaya Dama" ("Iron Lady"), intending it as an insult.

The phrase was translated and popularised by a Reuters report from Moscow. Rather than rejecting the label, Thatcher embraced it, and it became synonymous with her tough leadership style during her years as Britain's first female Prime Minister.

Answer: Lady with the Lamp

Florence Nightingale earned the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp" during the Crimean War. A correspondent for "The Times" described how she would walk through the hospital wards at night, carrying a small lamp and comforting wounded soldiers after other medical staff had left for the day. The image captured the public's imagination and was later immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem "Santa Filomena".

Lo! in that house of misery
A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.

Answer: Lady Lindy

Amelia Earhart became widely known as "Lady Lindy" after her groundbreaking transatlantic flight in 1928, shortly after Charles Lindbergh's famous solo crossing the previous year. Both aviators were charismatic figures, both were tall and slim. Media mogul and publisher George P. Putnam (who coordinated her 1928 flight and later became her husband) immediately recognised the marketing potential of the resemblance. An employee at his publishing house coined the phrase "Lady Lindy" to turn Earhart into a household name and boost book sales.

Although Earhart was said to feel uneasy about the publicity, she accepted the image as it helped to advance her aviation career and her advocacy for women pilots.

Answer: Moses

The name "Moses" was used for Harriet Tubman by abolitionists during her lifetime who compared her to the biblical figure who led people out of slavery. The name referred to her repeated missions of guiding enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad, often at great personal risk.

In some accounts, it was also used as a protective code name to conceal her identity from slave catchers, who had placed a bounty on her.

Answer: Angel of the Battlefield

In the aftermath of the Battle of Cedar Mountain in 1862, Clara Barton arrived with desperately needed medical supplies for the wounded Union soldiers. According to later accounts, an impressed field surgeon remarked that if Heaven had ever sent an angel, she must be one.

It gained national attention a month later after the Battle of Antietam, when surgeon Dr. James L. Dunn praised Barton in a widely published letter, calling her "the angel of the battlefield." Barton later founded the American Red Cross.

Answer: Queen of Soul

Aretha Franklin became known as "Queen of Soul" in the mid-1960s. The nickname is widely attributed to Chicago radio DJ and promoter Pervis Spann, who reportedly coined it when introducing her performance at the Regal Theatre in Chicago in 1964. This specific "crowning" moment is often repeated but not consistently documented in primary sources. From 1967 onward, the title spread more widely as Franklin achieved major commercial success with Atlantic Records, and it became firmly established in US music media as her defining honorific.

Answer: Little Sure Shot

In 1875, Annie Oakley amazed audiences with her precise shooting during a performance in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She hit targets with a consistency that few could match. After witnessing her skill, the Lakota leader Sitting Bull reportedly gave her the sobriquet "Little Sure Shot", in reference to her almost supernatural level of marksmanship.

This name was soon adopted for promotional materials and stage introductions and established Oakley as one of the show's most popular attractions.

Answer: Old Buddha

Within the Qing imperial court, Empress Dowager Cixi was referred to as "Old Buddha" (Lao Foye), a title that was originally used to refer to the supreme imperial authority. Although she could not formally hold the title of Emperor as a woman, she effectively ruled China for nearly five decades as the power behind the throne.

At the time of her 60th birthday in 1894, she staged an elaborate court ceremony in which she elevated her status above the reigning Emperor Guangxu and ordered that she be addressed in quasi-imperial, divine terms.

Answer: Black Venus

In 1920s Paris, Josephine Baker's performances at the Folies Bergère drew intense attention from the French press who soon began started using the term "Vénus noire" ("Black Venus") in their reviews. The expression most probably first appeared in the magazine "Comoedia", where a critic used it after seeing Baker on stage. From there, the label spread through Parisian cultural writing and publicity around her shows.

It reflected both admiration for her stage presence and the exoticised, racialised way Black performers were often portrayed in European media at the time.

Answer: First Lady of the World

By the late 1940s, Eleanor Roosevelt had become one of the most influential figures within the newly formed United Nations. As chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, she played a leading role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948.

In recognition of her international humanitarian work, President Harry S. Truman later hailed her as the "First Lady of the World". This phrase was quickly taken up by journalists, historians, biographers, and political commentators. Over time, it became firmly established in the public consciousness.