What Were They Up To? Trivia Quiz

Answer: First winner of the Oscar for Best Actor

The first Best Actor winner was the German actor Emil Jannings. He got it for two roles in the movies "The Last Command" and "The Way of All Flesh" in the 1929 awards. He made many movies in the 1920s and 1930s. He made some films supporting Nazi Germany after his career in America ended. He died in Austria.

Answer: First husband of Elizabeth Taylor

Hilton and Taylor were married in May 1950 and got divorced in January 1951. Elizabeth was 18 years old when they got married. Conrad had a dependency on alcohol and was abusive. The marriage was the shortest of Elizabeth's eight marriages. Hilton only had one other marriage.

Answer: First men's 100 metre Olympic gold medallist

Thomas Burke was an American athlete, who was born in Massachusetts. He won his medal at the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens. He also won the 400 metres final, which was regarded as his best event. He became a lawyer and maintained his interests in athletics by becoming a coach.

After having seen the marathon at the Olympics, he became one of the founders of the Boston Marathon. He didn't participate, but was the official starter of the first Boston Marathon in 1897.

Answer: First Prime Minister of Pakistan

Liaquat Ali Khan was the first Prime Minister of Pakistan, serving from 1947 until 1951. He had been a lawyer. He was a major figure in the Pakistan Movement, which advocated for the establishment of the country of Pakistan, which finally happened in 1947. He was assassinated in 1951 while speaking to a large gathering of people in Rawalpindi.

Answer: First Indian in space

Rakesh Sharma flew on the Russian Soyuz T-11 in April 1984. Like many famous people in space, he was a pilot, serving in the Indian Air Force. He was a fighter pilot and saw some action. The Soviet Union was looking for international cosmonauts and, in 1982, and he joined the programme to be trained.

After the 1984 flight, he never went to space again. He continued his work in the Indian Airforce.

Answer: First plastic surgery patient

Walter Yeo was an English soldier. During World War I he lost his eyelids. A surgeon named Harold Gillies carried out the operation, using skin from Walter's chest to cover part of his face. While not similar to what is done in modern plastic surgery, it is regarded as the first plastic surgery operation. Walter was eventually able to return to work. Harold went on to perform many more operations and hone the techniques he first used on Walter.

Answer: First Dalai Lama

Gedun Drupa was born in 1391 in Tibet. He was the first Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, and is one of the four main schools. He is also the spiritual leader of Tibet.

Answer: First person to create a microwave oven

Percy Spencer was a gifted engineer. He was self-taught in scientific disciplines. He was also in the Navy. He worked as an engineer in a company called Raythenon. While testing a magnetron, a device that generates electromagnetic waves, Spencer noticed that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted.

Intrigued, he began to experiment with various foods and found they cooked quicker this way. This led to the invention of the microwave oven that we know today. He furthered his work on the microwave oven at Raytheon, eventually leading to the first model for sale, known as the Radarange.

Answer: First person in space

Yuri Gagarin was a pilot, cosmonaut, and a colonel in the Soviet Air Forces. He became the first person in space on April 12, 1961, when he orbited the Earth in Vostok 1. The flight was just under 2 hours long. He became a celebrity for his feat and helped promote the Soviet space exploration programme.

Although he never went to space again, he continued his work as a pilot in the Air Force. He died while flying a MIG-15 jet while on a training exercise in 1968.

Answer: First person to swim the English Channel

Matthew Webb was from England. He learned to swim as a child in the river Severn. He worked as a merchant seaman, and was well known as a life saver and an endurance swimmer. He had achieved many things as a swimmer before his most famous challenge.

He swam across the English Channel on August 24, 1875. It took nearly 22 hours to complete the swim from Dover in England to near Calais in France. He took on other swimming challenges. In 1883 he died near Niagara Falls while trying to swim in the rapids there.

He was washed into a whirlpool and disappeared. His body was found four days later.