My Three (Grand)Sons Trivia Quiz

Answer: Russia

St. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist and recognized Jesus as the Messiah because of John's testimony. In the Orthodox tradition, Andrew is known as Protocletos, which means First Called. He was the brother of Simon (St. Peter) but does not seem to have either a Hebrew or an Aramaic name. Andrew is the anglicized version of the Greek Andreia, which means valour or manhood. Christian tradition has it that following the resurrection and ascension, Andrew preached the Gospel in Asia Minor, in Scythia and as far north as Kiev in what is now Ukraine. In 38 CE he supposedly founded the See of Byzantium and installed Stachys as bishop. Andrew is said to have been crucified by being bound to the x-shaped cross that is now his symbol. The legend is that Andrew chose this method of crucifixion because he did not deem himself worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Christ. Andrew was crucified at Patras in Greece, where his relics (one finger, part of the top of his skull and a piece of the cross on which he met his end) are still kept in the Church of St. Andrew.

My grandson Andrew is a great guy, but I doubt if he'll ever be a candidate for sainthood.

Answer: Pella

Pella was the capital city of Macedon and Alexander's father, Philip, was the King of Macedon. Alexander was born in 356 BCE while his father was off on a military campaign. Philip was informed of his son's birth on the same day that he received two other items of good news - one of his generals had crushed the Illyrians in battle and his horse had won its race at the Olympics. An oracle had foretold that the son of the king who received three pieces of good news on the same day would go on to conquer the world.

Indeed, by the time Alexander was in his early thirties he had conquered all of the then-known world (except Italy), from India in the east to Egypt in the west. He died one month short of his 33rd birthday on June 10, 323 BCE in Babylon. There has been speculation that he was poisoned, but it seems more likely that his death was the result of 12 years of hard campaigning, alcoholism and/or malaria or typhoid.

My grandson Alexander has no ambiton to conquer the world.

Answer: Black Dan

Daniel Webster (1782-1852) was a New England lawyer, orator, US senator for Massachuessetts, and an influential member of the Whig Party. As an attorney he is noted for pleading many cases in the US Supreme Court which established constitutional precedents that served to enhance and increase the authority of the federal government. He was also a member of 'The Great Triumverate', along with Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, seeking to preserve the Union and offering compromises that would eliminate the possibility of war between the Northern and Southern States.

In 1957 Webster was named by the US Senate as one of its five outstanding members no longer living (the other four were Clay (Kentucky) and Calhoun (South Carolina), Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin and Robert A. Taft of Ohio). Webster's nickname 'Black Dan' was bestowed on him because of his swarthy complexion and dark hair.

My grandson Dan has a fair rather than swarthy complexion.

Answer: A lawyer

Andrew Hamilton (1676-1741) was a Scottish lawyer who settled in Philadelphia (although some accounts of his life say that he was born in Virginia). Hamilton established one of the principles of 'freedom of the press', later enshrined in the Constitution of the United States, when he served as pro bono defence attorney for John Peter Zenger, a New York printer and newspaper publisher. Zenger had been charged with seditious libel for his articles criticizing the administration of New York Governor William Cosby. At the 1735 trial Hamilton was victorious and established that truth was a defence against a charge of libel.

In gratitude, the City of New York gave him the freedom of the city and a group of prominent citizens had a gold box made inscribed with a Latin phrase meaning 'Acquired not by money, but by character' which they presented to Hamilton. The box was a family heirloom of Hamilton's descendants for generations but it is now in the collection of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. A replica of the box, complete with the original inscription, is presented to the incoming Chancellor of the Pennsylvania Law Society. The notoriety of the Zenger case gave rise to the term 'Philadelphia lawyer', meaning one who is a clever and astute attorney, well-versed in the law and the loopholes thereof.

Hamilton also served Pennsylvania as a member of the House of Representatives. He was elected in 1727 and served two terms as Speaker - 1729-1732 and 1734-1738.

It is to be hoped that my Andrew will serve his chosen profession as well as did his namesake.

Answer: Nevis

Alexander Hamilton was born on the island of Nevis c1755, the illegitimate son of James Hamilton and Rachel Lavien who were both members of prominent trading families. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and served as the new nation's first Secretary of the Treasury. Young Hamilton spent his youth on the island of St. Croix, where he was apprenticed as a clerk. In 1772 his employer and guardian, Nicholas Cruger, sent him to New York to further his education. Hamilton entered King's College (now Columbia University) and excelled at his studies. He quickly became embroiled in the nascent movement for American independence and wrote several pamphlets based on the teachings of British philosopher John Locke who advocated civil rebellion against authorities who denied people their 'natural rights'.

In 1775 Hamilton enlisted in the militia and soon came to the attention of George Washington who commissioned Hamilton as a lieutenant-colonel and took him on as aide-de-camp, a position he held for four years. However, Hamilton chafed at being a staff officer, longing for action in the field. He achieved this ambition when he led a New York regiment in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781 and acquitted himself well.

Hamilton married into a prominent New York family (his father-in-law was General Philip Schuyler) and soon found himself involved in the political life of the fledgling United States. After leaving the army in 1782 he was admitted to the New York bar and served as assistant to the superintendent of finance. He was elected as a member of the Continental Congress in 1782. Having had the opportunity while aide-de-camp to Washington to observe what he called "the uncontrollable sovereignty in each state", Hamilton became an advocate for a stronger national government than was provided for in the Articles of Confederation. This set him in opposition to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Hamilton's brilliance won him the position of Secretary of the Treasury in the new government of the United States, an office he held from 1789 to 1795.

After he returned to private life he resumed his lucrative law career in New York. He was a bitter opponent of John Adams' somewhat erratic policies, and lobbied ardently against Adams' re-election in 1800. When it appeared that Aaron Burr, whom Hamilton regarded as a man lacking in principle, seemed likely to win the presidency, Hamilton threw his not-insignificant support behind Jefferson, even though Jefferson's views on states-versus-national government were in opposition to Hamilton's. Jefferson, of course, won the presidency, and Burr never forgave Hamilton. It was this and other perceived slights that led Burr to challenge Hamilton to that fateful duel on July 11, 1804. Witnesses reported that Hamilton deloped [fired into the air to indicate that he wanted to end the duel] but Burr took direct aim and fatally wounded his opponent who died the following day, leaving his wife Elizabeth and seven children. Hamilton is buried in Trinity Episcopal churchyard in New York.

My grandson Alexander is too easy-going ever to take part in a duel.

Answer: Daniel Sedin

Daniel Sedin and his identical twin brother Henrik were born in Ornskoldsvik, Sweden in 1980. The brothers Sedin began their professional hockey careers at age 16, playing for Modo in the Swedish Elite League. They were both drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 1999 and have been an enormous asset to the team. On ice, they've established a superb partnership, playing as a team-within-a-team. To their fans, Dan is known as The Scorer and Henrik as The Playmaker.

I'm sure that my Dan would love to play hockey professionally but he has to finish high school first.

Answer: Carnegie

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was born in Dunfermline in Scotland and emigrated with his parents to the US when he was a child. He got his first job in 1848 as a bobbin-threader in a textile mill, and later became a telegraph boy and operator. Hard-working and ambitious, 18-year-old Andrew was hired by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1853 as a telegraph operator/secretary, and rose rapidly in the company, eventually becoming the superintendent of the Pittsburgh division. In 1855, at the tender age of 20, he invested $500.00 in a fledgling freight and cargo transport company which proved to be very successful. Carnegie ploughed back his profits into other investments, and became a wealthy man.

After the Civil War, he and some other businessmen founded the Pittsburgh Steel Company, which Carnegie later owned outright. He changed the name to the Carnegie Steel Company. Carnegie Steel was later absorbed into the monolithic U.S. Steel.

At the time of his death in 1919, Carnegie had accrued a net worth of $298.3 billion (in 2007 US dollars) and was counted as the second richest man in the world (Rockefeller was the richest). Carnegie, however, never drew a salary higher than $50,000 a year and gave huge sums to found schools (Carnegie Mellon University, for instance) and libraries (he was a dedicated reader and thought everyone should have access to books), all over the US, the UK and other parts of the world. He also founded the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

As for the other wealthy choices - Andrew Mellon was born in the US in 1855, the son of immigrants from County Tyrone in Ireland, Du Pont's first name wasn't Andrew, it was Eleuthère and he emigrated to the US from France, not Scotland, in 1802, and Andrew Firestone, who inherited his fortune as a descendant of Harvey Firestone, the founder of the tire company, wasn't born until 1975.

I doubt if my Andrew will ever achieve the personal wealth of Carnegie, but as long as he works hard and makes charitable donations, I'll be satisfied.

Answer: Prud'homme

Alex Prud'homme shares a last name with celebrated Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme, but Alex has retained the apostrophe as in the original French spelling (Prud'homme is an old Norman name meaning 'wise man'). Born in New York in 1962, Alex is a noted writer of non-fiction. His investigation into the ImClone cancer drug scandal resulted in 'The Cell Game', published in 2004 (it also got Martha Stewart a stretch in prison!). The book has been optioned by Showtime for a movie. Alex Prud'homme also co-wrote, with Michael Cherkasky, a book about terrorism and security called 'Forewarned'. His articles and stories have appeared in 'New York Magazine', 'Vanity Fair', 'The New Yorker', 'BusinessMonth', 'People'. 'The New York Times' and 'Talk Magazine'. One of his pieces for 'New York Magazine', entitled 'Slave' was about the irascible soup vendor who formed the basis for the 'Soup Nazi' episode on 'Seinfeld'.

The other three choices - Wolfgang Puck, Nigella Lawson and Gordon Ramsay are not named Alex, nor have they ever written a book with Alex Prud'homme.

My Alex would rather cook than write about it.

Answer: Newfoundland and Labrador

Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, is one of Canada's feistiest politicians who has frequently gone toe-to-toe with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the federal Conservative government on matters pertaining to Newfoundland and Labrador's natural resources. Williams is a lawyer by profession, with law degrees from Oxford (he was a Rhodes Scholar) and Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He was first elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador Legislature in 2001 and became leader of the Newfoundland and Labrador Progressive Conservative Party that same year. He has served the province as Premier since 2003.

At the time of writing, Gary Doer is the Premier of Manitoba, Dalton McGuinty is the Premier of Ontario and Jean Charest is the Premier of Quebec.

My Danny's interest in politics only goes as far as legislation concerning minimum wage! (He's saving for college.)

Answer: Prince Andrew, Duke of York

Prince Andrew (aka, in his salad days, as Randy Andy) is the third of the four children born to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip - and arguably the best-looking of the litter! Should anything untoward happen to his mother, oldest brother Charles, or either of Charles' two sons, Andrew would become king of the UK (he could also become the monarch of 15 other countries if their royal succession was wiped out, because most of European royalty is inter-related as descendants of Queen Victoria!) While standing in line for the throne, Andrew keeps himself busy by travelling the world promoting the interests of British companies, and carrying out whatever royal duties his regal Mum assigns him.

I don't have to tell you that he is the former husband of Sarah Ferguson, the mother of his two daughters Beatrice and Eugenie. At the time of their marriage, Andrew was considering taking on the job of Governor-General of Canada which would have been a good move because Canadians have a soft spot for Andrew (that Lakefield College clue refers to his time at the school in Ontario). However, he opted for a naval career instead and served with distinction as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands War. Sarah has said that if they had become the Vice-regal couple back then they would probably still be married.

Alexander McQueen is a top British fashion designer who is noted for his off-the-wall creations, Daniel Douglas Home was a Scottish medium who was all the rage in Victorian society, and Andrew Bonar-Law was a British politician in the early 20th century.

My Andrew is neither married or divorced, is certainly not in line for a throne anywhere, and does not fly helicopters.