They're Dead, Jim (1910-1919) Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mark Twain

Mark Twain was born Samuel Clemens and would go on to become one of the most beloved writers in American history. His razor-sharp wit, his keen eye for social commentary, and his vivid use of dialects made his novels and essays entertaining and at times profound. His biting words would often be employed against slavery, imperialism, and corruption, and he did this while never ceasing to entertain. Growing up along the Mississippi River strongly influenced his writing, and that setting became the main artery of his most famous novels.

His death in 1910 came just as Halley's Comet returned. He had been born during its 1835 appearance and once predicted he would "go out with it."

Indeed, he did.

Answer: Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler demonstrated great musical talent as a child and went on to study at the Vienna Conservatory. As a conductor, Mahler was known for his intensity and his discipline. His decade as director of the Vienna Court Opera (1897-1907) made it one of the most prestigious musical institutions, though his Jewish heritage and his fierce strictness made him somewhat controversial. As Mahler would describe his position, he was "thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, as a Jew throughout the world-always an intruder, never welcomed".

As a composer, Mahler sought to express the full range of human emotion, saying that "a symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything." His ten symphonies and numerous songs combined folk melodies and grandeur. Works such as the "Resurrection" Symphony (No. 2) and "Das Lied von der Erde" explore life, death, and transcendence with a complexity that challenged the performers and the listeners alike.

Answer: Joseph Lister

Joseph Lister came into the world in the usual way in 1827 in Essex, the son of a Quaker family deeply interested in science. His father was an amateur microscopist who influenced his son's curiosity about the world of the very tiny. Lister studied medicine at University College London and became a surgeon and a lecturer in Glasgow, where he got the bold notion to question why so many patients died from infections after otherwise successful operations.

In these days, hospitals were breeding grounds for so-called "ward fever" and post-operative sepsis. Lister was struck by Louis Pasteur's discoveries about germs and fermentation, and he theorized that microscopic organisms caused infections of wounds, a novel idea. In 1865, he began using carbolic acid (phenol) to sterilize surgical instruments, wounds, and dressings. The results were astounding for the time. Death rates from infection plummeted. His work became the foundation of the "antiseptic principle" and modern aseptic surgery.

His radical notions were met with skepticism at first, but the grumpy old-school surgeons finally came around, because the numbers were impossible to ignore. His techniques spread throughout Europe and the United States, his fame grew, and in 1871 his reputation and ego got a further boost when he successfully treated Queen Victoria for an abscess in her armpit using antiseptic care (that's something you know now). By the time he died, Lister had been made a baronet, appointed to the House of Lords, and honored as one of medicine's greatest reformers. And, yes, Listerine is named in honor of him. It began life as a surgical antiseptic in 1879.

Answer: Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was born Araminta Ross sometime around 1822 in Dorchester County, Maryland. Born into slavery, she endured harsh treatment and injury at a young age but developed a strong faith and strong resilience. In 1849, she feared that she would be sold, so she took matters into her own hands and escaped to Philadelphia using the secret routes and safe houses later known as the Underground Railroad.

Freedom wasn't enough for her, though. She returned more than a dozen times to lead scores of slaves to freedom, a feat for which she acquired the nickname "Moses." During the American Civil War, Tubman worked for the Union Army as a nurse, scout, and spy. In 1863, she helped lead an armed expedition along the Combahee River in South Carolina that set over 700 enslaved people free, the first woman to direct such a military operation in U.S. history.

After the war, Tubman settled in Auburn, New York, where she devoted her life to caring for family members and the elderly. She became involved in the women's suffrage movement and worked alongside figures like Susan B. Anthony. She later founded the Harriet Tubman Home for the Aged. She died there on March 10, 1913, surrounded by those she had helped and inspired.

Answer: George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse revolutionized railway safety with his fancy compressed-air railway air brake, which he patented and brought into broad use in the 1870s. From that success he was able to build an industrial empire, founding the Westinghouse Air Brake Company and later Westinghouse Electric, which became a prominent proponent of alternating current electricity for large-scale power distribution. During his career, he accumulated hundreds of patents and founded dozens of companies that continue to impact our lives today.

Outside of all this, Westinghouse was a uniquely progressive employer for the time. He introduced a five-and-a-half-day workweek at some of his plants, provided pensions and even medical facilities, and developed company towns to improve workers' living conditions. His business approach also included investments in buying patents and engineering talent to build integrated systems rather than single products. After his death, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in recognition of his Civil War service.

Answer: Edith Cavell

Edith Cavell was born in the village of Swardeston in Norfolk, England, a village so small that my spell-checker absolutely hates it. She was born the daughter of an Anglican minister and trained as a nurse in London, later becoming the matron of a nursing school in Brussels. When World War I broke out in 1914, Cavell chose to remain in Belgium, which soon fell under German occupation. Despite the dangers, she continued her work at the Berkendael Medical Institute, treating soldiers from all sides without discriminating.

Cavell joined an underground network that helped around 200 Allied soldiers escape from occupied Belgium to neutral Holland. The operation relied on secrecy, but in August 1915, the network was outed. Cavell was arrested by German authorities and charged with aiding the enemy.

At her trial, Cavell made a frank confession, stating that she would not deny helping men reach freedom. Many expected leniency for the nurse, but the Germans, never ones to pass up on a public relations debacle, decided to make an example of her. On October 12, 1915, she was executed by firing squad at dawn in Brussels. News of her death shocked the world, fueling anti-German sentiment. Her final words reportedly were, "Patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness toward anyone."

Answer: Grigori Rasputin

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin hailed from a small Siberian village in Tyumen. He was largely uneducated, and in his twenties, he experienced a profound religious conversion. From there, he became a wandering mystic and healer. He gained a reputation and by 1905 he had reached St. Petersburg, where his supposed healing abilities brought him into contact with the Romanovs. Tsarina Alexandra, desperate to ease her son Alexei's hemophilia, convinced herself that Rasputin could relieve the boy's suffering, granting him extraordinary access to the imperial family.

Rasputin's influence and freaky stare alarmed nobles, clergy, and politicians. He was the source of much scandal, from drunkenness and womanizing to political meddling. You know, normal spiritual healer stuff. The extent of this last is still debated, but by 1916 there were quite a few powerful people who thought that his removal was vital to saving the monarchy.

On the night of December 29-30, 1916, a group of conspirators led by Prince Felix Yusupov enticed Rasputin to a palace and attempted to kill him. According to the oft-repeated legend, he survived cyanide-laced wine and cakes, was shot several times, and finally drowned in the freezing Neva River. While it's almost certainly an exaggeration (he likely died of gunshots), who doesn't like a good story? As it turns out, the Romanovs wouldn't be done in by a Siberian healer, but by a Ulyanovsk exile.

Answer: George Dewey

George Dewey graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1858. He served during the Civil War. By the late 19th century, Dewey had become a seasoned officer, and when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, he was put in command of the U.S. Asiatic Squadron.

On May 1, 1898, Dewey led his fleet into Manila Bay and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron, uttering the now-famous order, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." The victory was swift and decisive and would make the United States a global naval power. Dewey returned home a hero and was promoted to the new rank of Admiral of the Navy, the only person in U.S. history to hold that title.

Answer: Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip grew up in poverty in Austria-Hungary but was a bright student, drawn to the ideas of South Slavic unity and independence from Habsburg rule. As a teenager, he became involved in nationalist circles and eventually joined the secretive organization known as the Black Hand, which aimed to create a unified Serbian state through revolution.

On June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Princip and a group of conspirators attempted to assassinate Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. After a failed attempt earlier that day, fate showed up when the Archduke's driver took a wrong turn, bringing the car directly in front of Princip. Princip fired two shots, killing the Archduke and his wife, Sophie. The event caused shockwaves throughout Europe and, long story short, gave Austria-Hungary the reason it wanted to declare war on Serbia, starting the Great War.

Princip was only nineteen at the time of the assassination, which made him too young for execution under the empire's law. He was instead sentenced to twenty years in prison. That didn't mean the guards had to treat him well though, especially as the war turned sour for Austria-Hungary. Malnutrition led to tuberculosis of the bones, and he died in April 1918 at the Terezín fortress in modern day Czechia.

Answer: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Pierre-Auguste Renoir began his artistic career painting porcelain before studying at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In the 1860s he joined a circle of young artists who said "non" to academic traditions, including Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. Together they developed a style that would become known as Impressionism. Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party" and "Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette" became leading symbols of this optimistic new vision.

Unlike some of his peers, Renoir retained a love of the human form, especially... well, the female nude, a charge levied at myself from time to time. His later work moved toward a more classical style influenced by the old Italian masters. However, his palette remained bright, his brushwork remained fluid, and his compositions remained full of vitality.

In his later years, Renoir suffered severely from rheumatoid arthritis, which left his hands permanently deformed. Still, he kept painting, often with brushes tied to his wrists. When he was confined to a wheelchair, he continued on, producing portraits, nudes, and sculptures with the help of his assistants.