People A-B Trivia

1. What was the role of Louis Botha during the Second Boer War?

From Quiz Louis Botha: The Boer Leader

Answer: He was a leader of the Boer resistance against the British

During the Second Boer War (1899-1902), Louis Botha was one of the leaders of the Boer resistance against the British forces. He commanded Boer forces in several significant battles, displaying exceptional military skills and tactical prowess. Botha's leadership and strategic decisions often outmaneuvered the British forces, earning him respect both within the Boer ranks and internationally. His most notable victory came in the Battle of Spion Kop in January 1900 when the Boers successfully repelled a British assault. Botha's ability to mobilize and motivate his troops proved instrumental in their successes throughout the war. Botha's leadership qualities extended beyond the battlefield. He was known for his diplomacy and negotiation skills, which he employed in attempts to secure peace during the later stages of the war. He participated in peace talks with British representatives, including the famous peace conference at Vereeniging, which ultimately led to the end of the conflict. After the war, Botha transitioned from a military leader to a key political figure, working towards the establishment of the Union of South Africa and becoming the country's first Prime Minister. His experiences during the war greatly shaped his political outlook and influenced his commitment to reconciliation and building a unified South Africa. Overall, Louis Botha's role during the Second Boer War showcased his leadership, military expertise, and his dedication to the cause of the Boer people. His contributions during this conflict set the stage for his subsequent political career and his lasting impact on the history of South Africa.

From Quiz Belle Of The Ball -- And A Spy!

Answer: Shenandoah Valley

The Shenandoah Valley is in western Virginia and lies between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountains. During the American Civil War, it was very important as a key strategic location as it gave the Union a route into the Confederate capital and served the Confederacy as both a barrier and a source of rich farming. Belle Boyd's family, with strong Southern ties, was considered affluent and lived at an edge of the Shenandoah Valley.

From Quiz About Margaret Atwood

Answer: Ottawa, Ontario

Margaret Atwood was born on 18th November 1939, to an entomologist father and nutritionist mother. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario and has two siblings, Ruth and Harold. She spent quite a bit of time as a child in northern Quebec as a result of her father's work in entomology. She did not go to school full time until the age of twelve. She spent time as a Brownie with the girls group Girl Guides.

From Quiz W.E.B. Du Bois

Answer: William Edward Burghardt

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born on February 23, 1868. Burghardt was his mother's family name. She was part of the free black population of Great Barrington, and her family had long owned land in Massachusetts.

From Quiz Virgin Man

Answer: Student magazine

"Student" was set up to fill the gap between boring, official magazines about education and in-house educational establishment publications that tried too hard to appeal to the kids and it was immediate success, earning Branson over £50,000 in its first year of publication. It contained its share of student humour, but also covered current events that students were interested in in the late 60s, such as Vietnam, Biafra and modern slavery as well as offering advice on education.

From Quiz Susan B. Anthony on Trial

Answer: Nineteenth

The 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920, 100 years and 6 months after Susan B. Anthony's birth. Before ratification, it was legal for a woman to vote in only one state - Wyoming. On December 11, 1869, the Wyoming legislature passed a law allowing women to vote in all elections.

From Quiz His Excellency, John Buchan

Answer: Perth

The son of a Free Church minister, John Buchan was born in Perth in 1875 but grew up in Kirkcaldy and later Glasgow. He won scholarships to Glasgow University and then to Brasenose College, Oxford.

From Quiz Angela Burdett-Coutts: A Most Remarkable Woman

Answer: Banking

The original Coutts' Bank was founded in 1692, and survives today as a London-based private bank. In 1837, Angela inherited her grandfather's fortune when her step-grandmother died. In today's money, it would have been equivalent to around £130 million, making her reputedly the richest woman in Britain at the time.

From Quiz Ansel Adams: The Man Behind the Camera

Answer: San Francisco, California

Ansel Easton Adams was the only child of Charles and Olive Adams. His father ran a lumber business that his grandfather had founded. Adams had a good relationship with his father. They did many hobbies together, such as astronomy. His relationship with his mother, however, was distant.

From Quiz Not Tonight Josephine ...

Answer: Martinique

Josephine was born on Martinique, French West Indies on 23rd June 1763. Her parents, Joseph Gaspard Tascher and Rose-Claire des Vergers, owned a large sugar plantation on Martinique. Later in life, Josephine was to become the first Empress of France.

From Quiz Eureka!

Answer: Sicily

Very little is known about the details of Archimedes' life. He was born sometime around 287 BC, and died approximately 212 BC. Archimedes said that his father's name was Phidias, and in his work, "The Sand Reckoner" that he was an astronomer. Plutarch claimed that Archimedes was related to the king of Syracuse. Little is known about his personal life; a biography written by Heracleides has been lost.

From Quiz Skydiving the Speed of Sound

Answer: Austria

Felix Baumgartner was born on April 20th 1969 in Salzburg, Austria. Felix is the son of Felix and Eva Baumgartner and as a young boy growing up in Austria he dreamed of skydiving from outer space.

From Quiz Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Answer: French and English

Marc Brunel was a Frenchman, born into a prosperous farming family in Normandy. During a stay with relatives in Rouen, he met his future wife Sophie, an English girl who was working there as a governess. He was a Royalist sympathiser, and during the French Revolution was forced to leave France, going first to America and then England, where he re-established contact with Sophie and married her in 1799.

From Quiz Kevin Ashman - Quizzer Extraordinaire

Answer: UK

Kevin Ashman was born on 2 November 1959 and lives in Winchester, England. Having previously worked as a civil servant, Kevin's quizzing ability has allowed him to become a full-time quizzer. He has said that there is definitely scope for more professional quizzers in the future and is enthusiastic about the growth of competitive quiz tournaments. Kevin regularly leads the way in the British, European, and World Quiz Championships.

From Quiz Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Answer: Enugu, Nigeria

Chimamanda was born in 1977 in Enugu. At a young age she moved to the university town of Nsukka.

From Quiz I Don't Mean to Bragg ...

Answer: Cumberland, England

WH Bragg was born in Cumberland, England in 1862. His father, Robert, was a merchant navy officer and his mother, who died when William Henry was only seven, was the daughter of a minister. After the death of his mother, William Henry was brought up by his uncle (also William Henry) and attended school in Leicestershire and the Isle of Man.

From Quiz Lorena and John Wayne Bobbit

Answer: John Wayne had raped her

In court testimony, Lorena Bobbit, an Ecuadorian native, told police that she had been suffering from years of abuse at John Wayne Bobbit's hands. She alleged that John Wayne stumbled home on June 23, 1993 in a drunken stupor and raped her. Later that night, as she was having a drink of water, she was mesmerized by a large knife in her kitchen. In a haze, she claimed that she held the knife and "memories of past abuse raced through her head". She stated she was inexplicably drawn to hurt him in kind. (truTV website, 2008)

From Quiz Ingrid Betancourt

Answer: 2002

Ingrid Betancourt was running for the Colombian presidency. At that time she was campaigning in a region were the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) were particularly strong.

From Quiz Roald Amundsen , A Norwegian explorer

Answer: South Pole

On the 7th December 1911, Amundsen and his team travelled to a point further south than had ever been reached before (88 degrees 23 minutes S). By doing this, he broke a record previously set in 1909 by Ernest Shackleton. One week later on 14th December, they reached the South Pole. Amundsen named his base there "Polheim", meaning "Pole Home". Unsure whether they would return, Amundsen left a letter at this base to King Haakon VII of Norway telling of his achievement.

From Quiz The Mystery Of Lord Lucan

Answer: Richard John Bingham

The aristocrat was born on December 18th 1934 to George Bingham (the 6th Earl of Lucan) and Kaitilin Elizabeth Ann (nee Dawson).

From Quiz Anne Bonney, Pirate Queen

Answer: County Cork, Ireland sometime between 1697 and 1705.

Most records agree that Anne Bonney was born illegitimately to prominent lawyer Willam Cormac and a family maid named Peg Brennan in County Cork, Ireland sometime between 1697 and 1705. After Anne was born, William moved his family to South Carolina, where he bought a large plantation.

From Quiz The Father of FM Radio

Answer: FM radio

Armstrong was entranced with radio from an early age. He tinkered with and refined the concept of "frequency modulation' at a time when all radio was AM - "amplitude modulation".

From Quiz The Shocking Case of Little Mary Bell

Answer: England

Scotswood lies about 275 miles north of London and at the time of the murders was populated with primarily working-class residents (Mary's own mother was a prostitute), and littered with abandoned and dilapidated buildings. This environment provided not only a grim backdrop for Mary's early childhood, but also a horribly apt setting for the grisly acts she committed.

From Quiz Boudica

Answer: England

Boudica lived in the east of England, in what is now Norfolk.

From Quiz Robert Browning

Answer: Latin, Greek, French and Italian

Browning was an extremely bright child and read voraciously. He read all fifty volumes of the "Biographie Universelle" and learned Latin, Greek, French and Italian by the time he was fourteen.

From Quiz Balzac: His Life and Works

Answer: 1799

Bernard-François Balssa, who had risen from peasant beginnings to become Secretary to the King's Council, relocated to Tours with his wife a few years before the birth of his second son, Honoré, after being charged with co-ordinating supplies to the French Army in the city. The first born son did not survive beyond infancy. Honoré was born in the city on 20th May 1799, and was named for Saint Honoré of Amiens whose saints day is celebrated four days previously. After he tasted early success with a series of novelettes, Honoré Balssa spent much of his time in Paris attempting to make himself an important figure in high society in the city. During this time he adapted his surname to Balzac and added the honorific "de" to make himself sound more noble.

From Quiz The Fascinating Life of Aubrey Beardsley

Answer: tuberculosis

Tuberculosis was endemic in Victorian England - the causes were little understood, treatment consisted of isolating patients in sanatoria or in the case of those who could afford it, sending them to an environment where the air was "pure". The Swiss mountains were a popular destination for prosperous sufferers. Some doctors treated it by injecting air into the chest cavity. It is estimated that in the early 19th century TB caused 40% of deaths in London.

From Quiz Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Answer: England

Elizabeth Barrett was born at Coxhoe Hall in Durham England on March 6, 1806 to Mary and Edward Barrett. She was the youngest of twelve children and was home schooled along with her siblings. Her parents were Jamaican sugar traders.

From Quiz Captain William Bligh

Answer: Fletcher Christian

Of course, Fletcher Christian. Christian and some of the other mutineers settled on Pitcairn Island with their Tahitian women and some Tahitian men. John Adams was the last surviving mutineer of the colony on Pitcairn Island when an American ship landed there in 1808. Peter Heywood was a young mutineer who stayed on Tahiti, returned to England, was court-martialled, sentenced to death, pardoned, reinstated in the navy and enjoyed a distinguished career. Fryer, a loyalist, made the journey in the longboat with Bligh and had a distinguished naval career following his return to England.

From Quiz Life of James Boswell

Answer: Samuel Johnson

James Boswell and Dr. Johnson first met on 16th May 1763 in the back room of Thomas Davies' book shop on Russell St. near Covent Garden, London. Johnson instantly took a liking to the young Scotsman, and a friendship was formed which lasted until Johnson's death in 1784.

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