They Died Too Young Trivia Game | Death Becomes Them

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Which King of France ordered an investigation into the trial of Jeanne d'Arc in 1456, 25 years after her death?

Answer: King Charles VII

Jeanne d'Arc is known in France as the "Maid of Orleans". She led a French army loyal to Charles, at that time the dauphin of France, to a series of victories over English troops who were besieging the city of Orleans during the Hundred Years War. She was deeply religious and claimed to have had mystical visions that directed her to become the savior of France. In 1430 she was captured at age 18.

The Church demanded that she be tried by them since she was charged with heresy. The bishops were unable to convict her because she insisted that she had received divine inspiration. Her fate was now at the hands of secular authority. They quickly burned her at the stake in 1431. She was 19 years old.
King Charles VII ordered an investigation into her trial in 1452. The investigation found that the original triers were biased and highly influenced by the political and religious turbulence of the times. Her innocence was declared in 1456, and she was canonized in 1920.

2. What American long-distance runner from Oregon at one time held every U.S. distance running record from 2,000 to 10,000 meters?

Answer: Steve Prefontaine

Steve Prefontaine was simply known as "Pre". He was killed in a car accident on May 30, 1975 while driving home from a post-race party. Allegedly he was run off the road by another driver. Pre was just 24 years old. He never won an Olympic medal or set a world record, but he was considered a favorite to win a medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

He was the first track athlete to sign with Nike.

3. Mary Wollstonecraft was an English writer who grew up during the mid to late 18th century. She was an early feminist whose most famous work was "A Vindication of the Rights of Women", published in 1792. What was the major reform she advocated?

Answer: education

Mary Wollstonecraft's books were revolutionary for the time period. In "A Vindication of the Rights of Women" she ventured that women should not be treated as merely "adornments of the household" and that women should be given the same educational opportunities as men. Wollstonecraft died at age 39 from complications during the birth of her second daughter, Mary.

4. She was simply known as Selena, a Mexican-American singer who rocketed to stardom in the 1980s and 90s. What was her surname?

Answer: Quintanilla

Selena Quintanilla was murdered in 1995. She was 23 years old. She won awards for Best Female Vocalist and Performer of the Year at the 1987 Tejano Music Awards. She was referred to as the "Mexican Madonna". Selena was posthumously honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2017.

Her murderer, Yolanda Saldivar, was the president of Selena's fan club. She was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in a maximum-security prison in Texas.

5. Evariste Galois was a French mathematician who is often called the "Father of algebra". He was also a political radical. How did he die?

Answer: gunshot while dueling

Evariste Galois was a brilliant mathematician. He was also hot tempered politically, so much so that he was seen as a threat to rule of Louis-Philippe. He was arrested several times and served one jail sentence. The reason for the duel in Paris in 1832 is unknown. He was shot in the abdomen and died the following day. He was 20 years old. Interestingly, the night before the duel, Galois wrote down all of his mathematical theories as if he expected to die the following day.

6. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died when he was just 35 years old. During his lifetime he composed over 800 works of classical music. What was the cause of death?

Answer: uncertain

On his death certificate the cause of death is listed as "severe miliary fever", which indicated that it was rash related. Mozart, not being an aristocrat, was buried in a common grave, ruling out exhumation and DNA testing. His cause of death remains a mystery.

7. Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, Mia Zapata, Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones, Rudy Lewis, Robert Johnson, Junghyun and others were extremely talented musicians who are all members of what club?

Answer: 27 Club

Each of these individuals made lasting contributions to the field of music. They all died at age 27. Of the 11 people listed, 8 died of alcohol/drug abuse, 2 died by suicide and 1 was murdered. When Kurt Cobain died at 27, his mother lamented, "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club."

8. Srinivasa Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician.

Answer: True

Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920) was one of India's greatest mathematical geniuses. He made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on elliptic functions, continued fractions, and infinite series. In 1914, he went to England to study Cambridge University and graduated in 1916.

He was a strict vegetarian and was having problems with his diet while in England (due to war rationing). He returned to India in 1919 where the illness became more severe. He died in 1920 at the age of 33.

9. In 1980 an organization was founded after the death of 13-year-old Cari Lightner in California. What is the name of this now global non-profit?

Answer: Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)

Cari Lightner was killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver. The police investigation found that the driver of the car had several previous drunk driving convictions. Cari's mother, Candice, started MADD. MADD's greatest success was the passage of the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act.

10. Silvia Plath was an U.S. novelist and poet. She only wrote one novel, In it she described her struggles with mental illness and the stresses women faced in the 1950s and 60s. She died by suicide at age 31. What was the name of Path's only novel?

Answer: The Bell Jar

Silvia Plath was considered one of the great female poets of the 20th century. Her poems described her own mental state, her troubled marriage and her conflicts with her parents. She dealt with bouts of depression for most of her short life. She committed suicide in 1963; she was 30 years old. Her only novel was "The Bell Jar". She was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously in 1982.

Source: Author ncterp

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor gtho4 before going online.
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They Died Too Young Trivia Quiz

History is full of talented people who died too young. They made significant contributions, or their short lives inspired others to speak for them. Their enduring influence on society lives on. This quiz recognizes ten of them.

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