Famous Women Trivia

31. This regal woman has co-starred in films with Dick Van Dyke, Christopher Plummer and James Garner. She started on Broadway and moved to films and has played roles from Queen to nun and has won three Golden Globe Awards.

From Quiz Famous Women of the Past and Present

Answer: Julie Andrews

Julie has moved on to stage directing. She is a remarkable woman with wide-ranging talents.

From Quiz The 2006 Above Rubies Awards

Answer: Liberia

Elected in 2005, economist Sirleaf hopes to free Liberia of both economic dependence and political upheaval. Like so much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Liberia has struggled with corrupt governments, coups (including a brutal 14-year civil war) and staggering economic and health issues. It is devoutly to be hoped that Ms. Sirleaf is the leader her beleaguered country deserves.

From Quiz Women in History

Answer: Harriet Quimby

Harriet was born in Michican in 1875. In August 1911 she was the first woman in America to achieve her pilot's license and the second in the world. The first woman in the world was Baroness de la Roche. In 1912 Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. During an exhibition flight in 1912 she fell from her plane and was killed.

From Quiz There's Something About (Typhoid) Mary

Answer: Mary Mallon

"Typhoid" Mary Mallon was born in Cookstown, Ireland in 1869. According to personal accounts she shared with friends, she was fifteen when she left Ireland to make her own way in America. In photographs, she appears to be a healthy and well-groomed woman, not at all the sort one would envision as the notorious carrier of a deadly disease.

From Quiz 10 Women Behaving Badly

Answer: She fled with her court to the country

She fled with her court to Windsor Castle. She then set up gallows and proclaimed that if anyone tried to follow her they would be hanged.

From Quiz Powerful Women in Jewish History

Answer: Life

The Hebrew name "Chava" is derived from the word "Chai", which means life, or living.

From Quiz Wicked Women in History

Answer: Thais

Thais, an Athenian, is said to have wanted to avenge the Persians' burning of Athens in 480 BC. She later married Alexander's general, Ptolemy, and had three children by him. The burning of Persepolis was a senseless act, one that Alexander's advisors cautioned him against.

From Quiz An ABC of Famous Women

Answer: Louisa May Alcott

She lived from 1832-1888. Her first book 'Flower Fables' was written to amuse Ralph Waldo Emerson's daughters. Alcott was good friends with him and Henry David Thoreau. Most notably known for 'Little Women', which in essence, is her autobiography.

From Quiz March - Women's History Month

Answer: Henrietta Johnston

Henrietta Johnston began as a portrait artist in Charles Town (now Charleston) South Carolina in 1707.

From Quiz Famous Women's Claim to Fame

Answer: Mary Baker Eddy

Mary Baker Eddy was the first woman to found a religion in the USA.

From Quiz Extraordinary Women

Answer: Textile factory worker

Valentina Tereshkova (born 1937) was 26 when she took part in a solo space mission in 1963 on Vostok 6. She spent three days in space and orbited the Earth 48 times. Prior to her space mission, she was a worker in the textile factory and was an amateur skydiver. Later she joined the Air Force as part of Cosmonaut Corps, and graduated as an officer. After her retirement as a cosmonaut in 1969, she remained in the space program as an instructor. In 1997, she retired from the Air Force, having attained the rank of major general

From Quiz An Assortment of Women's History

Answer: Marie Curie & Curie

She won her first one in 1903 and her second in 1911.

From Quiz Women In History

Answer: a hermaphrodite or even man

This has been offered as an explanation as to why she never married.

From Quiz Women in Fact and Fiction

Answer: Wallis Simpson

The woman who caused the Abidication Crisis in the UK.

From Quiz Wild Wild Women

Answer: Simone de Beauvoir

It was de Beauvoir, a fellow existentialist.

From Quiz I'm On Your Side

Answer: Abigail Adams

There aren't any records that credit Abigail Adams with working at the war front during the American Revolution. In 1775 she became a member of the Massachusetts Colony General Court, which questioned women who appeared to be Loyalists. Besides that she appears to have successfully run the family farm, cared for her children, and corresponded with her husband about the politics of the time. While John Adams admitted that he sought Abigail's advice and needed her approval, her advice to "remember the ladies" fell upon deaf ears. Why? The Continental Congress was busy trying to break away from England and form a new government. The idea of giving women the same rights as men, even though one would agree that not doing so would create a situation similar to what the men were experiencing at the time, was a bit too revolutionary. Nevertheless, it must be noted that Abigail's opinion was so important to her husband, that after he became president she was known as "Mrs. President".

From Quiz Heroic Women

Answer: Joan of Arc

Mai Bhago was disappointed when she learned that a group of men from her village had deserted Guru Gobind Singh after he was besieged in battle. She led them back to the Guru to apologise for their actions. En route, they came across a force of around 10,000 Mughals, and fought well enough that the troops had to withdraw. The forty Sikhs with Mai Bhago were killed, and she was the only survivor. The Guru honoured the warriors by proclaiming them the '40 Exalted Ones', and, after recovering from her injuries, Mai Bhago became one of Guru Gobind Singh's bodyguards. The remainder of her story is unclear, as are the dates of her birth and death.

From Quiz From Rags to Riches

Answer: Advertising

At the age of 19, Lynda Resnick (then Harris) was already hard at work. She started her own advertising firm, Lynda Limited, after working for a while for Sunset House in their advertising department. After protesting against the Vietnam War, and very nearly getting thrown in jail for publicizing some very secret papers, Resnick moved on to owning some very good companies and making them better. Some of the companies she and her husband were involved in are Fiji Water, POM Wonderful, and Wonderful Pistachios, and Wonderful Halos, but the company that made her leave advertising was Teleflora, a company they purchased in 1979.

From Quiz Celebrating Women's Innovation and Free Thought

Answer: Mathematics

Hypatia of Alexandria and Ada Lovelace stood out in the field of mathematics. Hypatia (born c. 355 CE - March 415, Alexandria), the daughter of Theon of Alexandria, was a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer, who worked to preserve Greek mathematical and astronomical heritage. Hypatia followed in her father's footsteps, continuing his work. She was also a popular teacher and lecturer, attracting large audiences, and was considered the world's leading mathematician and astronomer in her time. For defending scientific rationalism, she was accused of blasphemy, and was brutally murdered by Christian fanatics. Augusta Ada Byron King, known as Ada Lovelace (1815-1852), was the daughter of Lord Byron and was married to William King Noel, 1st Count of Lovelace, hence her name. Her penchant for mathematics came early, which brought her closer to Charles Babbage, known as the "father of computers". The notes that accompanied her translation of the Italian Luigi Menabrea article on the Analytical Engine proposed by Babbage were very important in the early history of computers. She is considered the first programmer in history for having developed the algorithms that allowed the machine to compute values of mathematical functions.

From Quiz Hard Working Woman

Answer: Mary Anne Evans

Ms Evans decided to write under a male pen name for a variety of reasons including not wanting to write light romances typical of other published female authors, having her writing kept separate from her work as an editor and critic, and avoiding undue scrutiny of her private life. All those listed have used male pen names at one time or another. Joanne Rowling, better known as JK Rowling, has also written as Robert Galbraith. All the Brontë sisters used male pen names, namely Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell for Charlotte, Emily and Anne respectively. AM Barnard was Louisa May Alcott's chosen pen name.

From Quiz Notable Women

Answer: Mother Teresa

Agnes was born in Macedonia into a financially comfortable family. From the age of twelve she was fascinated by missionary work, and knew that this was what she wanted to do in life. At eighteen she joined the sisters of Loreto and was sent to Ireland. Once she could speak English she was sent to Darjeeling in India. She became certain that her calling was to help the poorest people of India, and she went to live in the slums of Calcutta. Word spread about the work she was doing and many other people joined her to help. She went on to open a hospice for the poor, a home for sufferers of leprosy, and a home for orphans and homeless. The Roman Catholic Church has made her a saint.

From Quiz "Golden" Girls

Answer: Arthritis in her fingers.

Anna Mary Robertson was born in Greenwich, New York in 1860 to a farming family who owned a mill. She developed her love of art during the time she spent as a pupil in a one-room school, which were common in rural communities in the United States at the time. Even as a child, Anna created her own colors, using combinations of fruit juice, flour, ochre, sawdust and even grass to paint landscapes. At age 27, while working as a housekeeper for wealthier families, she married Thomas Salmon Moses, who worked at a farm to which she had recently moved. Saving their money, they bought their own farm and Anna had ten children, five of whom lived to adulthood. When her husband died at age 67, by which time she was known as "Mother Moses", she gave up farming and moved in with one of her daughters. Inspired most of her life by beautiful objects, she showed her creativity by crafting beautiful embroidery. But as she aged, the arthritis in her fingers ended her ability to do her cherished needlework. So she picked up a paintbrush and switched to the art form for which she would become so well-known, painting as an American folk artist, Grandma Moses. Those works of Grandma Moses are lovely--images of rural and farming life from another era, health and happiness. They can make us smile, shed a tear perhaps for long-ago childhoods, and long to step into their frames to be part of all the happiness portrayed within. (Question by Creedy)

From Quiz Courageous Women in War and Peace

Answer: Ukraine

Golda Meir was born in 1898 in Kiev. Her family moved to Wisconsin USA where Golda became active in Zionist politics. She served in many Israeli government posts including Minister of Labour, and eventually became Prime Minister. She was the third woman worldwide to be a prime minister.

From Quiz Shady Ladies

Answer: Young women

Elizabeth Bathory (1560-1614), along with four "assistants", is believed to have tortured and murdered hundreds of young women over a period of twenty-five years. Her early life gave no indication of the monster into which she would develop. She had a more than comfortable upbringing as a child of the nobility, and was married at fifteen into another aristocratic Hungarian family. With her husband away for most of their marriage, either studying in Vienna, or at war against the Ottoman Empire, Elizabeth was left in charge of his lands and his business affairs. Absolute power to do as she willed ... Following the death of her husband in 1604, strange and eerie rumours began to circulate throughout the land about Elizabeth Bathory, so much so that the authorities reluctantly assigned Gyorgy Thurzo, the highest official in the land, to investigate. The findings were shocking. Of the hundreds of young woman she had tortured and murdered, most had been young peasant girls seeking employment at her castle over the years, or daughters of the lesser gentry who had sought to improve their chances in life by staying and studying with her. I'll spare you the gory details. When finally arrested in 1610, and because of her standing and position in the land, Bathory was not brought to trial for fear of the scandal and uproar that would have ensued. Her accomplices were executed - painfully - but Bathory herself was kept in solitary confinement for the rest of her life. Bricked up in a set of rooms, with only a small opening through which food and drink passed, she died four years later, mourned by nobody, and unloved by all. Elizabeth Bathory was no "shady lady". She was a total eclipse. (Question and Interesting Information supplied by Creedy)

From Quiz Famous Deaf Women in History

Answer: Ella Mae Lentz

Lentz was born on May 5, 1954. Both her parents and her brother are also deaf. In 1975, she graduated from Gallaudet with a bachelor's degree in both Drama and English.

From Quiz She's In Charge

Answer: Cleopatra & Cleopatra VII Philopator & Cleopatra VII & Cleopatra Philopator

Cleopatra VII was the daughter of the pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes. Her mother may have been Cleopatra V but this has never been proven. Cleopatra VII assumed the role of pharaoh along with her husband-brother Ptolemy XIII. However, the relations between the two were horrible and eventually Cleopatra was forced to flee the country. During this time in exile, she went to Rome to ask for the help of Julius Caesar. Tradition says that Cleopatra was smuggled into Caesar's palace in a rolled up carpet. The two had an affair that possibly produced a child, Caesarion. Cleopatra and Caesar soon went to Egypt and set Cleopatra as the pharaoh. Ptolemy soon drowned in the Nile and Cleopatra set up another husband-brother, Ptolemy XIV, as the co-ruler. Soon afterwards, Julius Caesar was assassinated and Ptolemy XIV also died, possibly poisoned by Cleopatra. After Caesar's death, Cleopatra started a relationship with Marc Antony, a Roman general. During this time, Antony and Caesar's nephew, Octavian, were fighting a civil war over control of Rome. Antony eventually was defeated in battle. Cleopatra heard about this and legend says that she killed herself by using an to poison herself. Eventually, the Romans took over Egypt and it became part of the Roman Empire.

From Quiz The Bachelorette

Answer: Emily Dickinson

Now regarded as one of America's top poets, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) had few of her poems published while still alive, and those were modified to fit the mold of popular ideas. In truth, she created over 1,700 poems in a style all her own. Though she had requested that her papers be burned after her death, her younger sister Lavinia found the poems and published them. It wasn't until 1955 that the poems were published unedited, in approximate chronological order. Her poetry is now widely taught in schools and she is recognized as a poet of great distinction. In addition to creating her poetry, she was a good cook and gardener. As the years passed, she became more reclusive, only seeing a few people outside of her family, but she corresponded with many.

From Quiz World HERstory

Answer: Germany

"The Adventures of Prince Achmed", based on stories from "One Thousand and One Nights", is the oldest surviving feature length animation. Reiniger employed an original and laborious silhouette-based animation technique. Her subsequent movies included "Doctor Dolittle and his Animals" and "Papageno". Incidentally, there were two earlier full-length animations, by the Argentinian, Quirino Cristiani, "The Apostle"(1917) and "Leaving No Trace"(1918), but they have been lost to fire.

From Quiz Women of Courage and Creativity

Answer: Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria

According to multiple sources, she not only flew the mission, she led it. At the time of the sortie, she was also the only female fighter pilot in the UAE. She had to wait several years to become qualified for the role, because when she entered her country's army, women were not yet permitted to be fighter pilots.

From Quiz Beauty and the Beautiful Beast

Answer: Become the first female jockey licenced in North America

For decades women could not get a license to ride in a parimutuel horserace in North America, a very silly rule that didn't make sense. Women are good riders and weigh much less and are shorter than men, just another example of "It's a man's world". The 1960s brought many changes, and that rule was one. In 1969 Julie Crump became the first female jockey licensed to compete at a parimutuel track. (A parimutual track is where you can legally bet, and the people who bet on the winners share the money of those who bet on the losers). Julie was also the first woman to ride in the Kentucky Derby, in 1970. Before women were licensed to ride, jockey Wantha Davis was an important jockey in the United States in the 1940s and 1950s. Too bad she isn't given more credit, although she is in the Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

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