100 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sir Robert Borden

Sir Robert Borden (1854-1937) was Canada's eighth Prime Minister, serving between 1911 and 1920. Before entering politics, Borden worked for a short while as a teacher before becoming a lawyer. He ran for the Conservative Party in 1896 and became the party leader in 1901, which led to the top job in the country when the Conservatives won the election of 1911.

For his leadership during a trying time in Canadian history (the First World War), Sir Robert Borden was chosen to grace Canada's $100 bill for the first time with the 1975 series, first issued May 31st, 1976. Previous 'residents' of the $100 bill were Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1935 series), Sir John A. MacDonald (1937 series), and Queen Elizabeth II (1954 series).

Answer: Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) was a military leader during the French Revolution who took control of France in November of 1799 (in a coup d'état), becoming the 'First Consul', a role he held for more than a decade before holding a referendum and declaring himself Emperor Napoleon I (the coronation was held December 2nd, 1804).

Many wars ensued (too many battles to go into here), eventually leading to the point where Napoleon, under pressure from his own officers, abdicated the throne and was sent into exile on the island of Elba (April of 1814). He spent a total of nine months and 21 days in exile before returning and reclaiming his title. The Hundred Days War followed, also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, ultimately resulting in Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, his (second) abdication (on June 22nd, 1815) and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII to the throne of France (on July 8th).

After everything, Napoleon was once again sent into exile, this time on the island of Saint Helena, where he stayed until his death in 1821.

Answer: A. A. Milne

Winnie the Pooh first appeared in the mid-1920s after 'Winnipeg the Bear', a mascot for a Canadian regiment, was left behind for the London Zoo after World War I. A.A. Milne (1882-1965) wrote a collection of stories featuring his own son, Christopher Robin, along with Winnie the Pooh and the other denizens of the Hundred Acre Wood.

Before all of that, however, Milne had already established himself as an author and playwright from the early 1900s. He also served in both World Wars, with the (British) Army in WWI, and with the Home Guard in WWII.

Answer: Phil Esposito

Phil Esposito (b. 1942) began his National Hockey League career with the Chicago Black Hawks organization, signing his first contract in 1960. After spending a couple of years in development, he was finally called up to the big show in 1964. In 1967 he was traded to the Boston Bruins, and just a couple of years later, became the first player to eclipse the 100-point mark, reaching 126 points in the 1968-69 season (49 goals, 77 assists). Two other players achieved the same mark that year (Bobby Hull with Chicago and Gordie Howe with Detroit), but Esposito did it first.

Esposito would go on to break the 100-point mark five more times in his career (all of them while with the Bruins). He would take one more trade (to the NY Rangers) in 1975 before retiring from playing in 1981. His career continued in coaching and as a general manager with the Rangers until he helped establish the new Tampa Bay Lightning franchise in 1992.

Answer: James C. Watson

James C. Watson (1838-1880) was a Canadian-born astronomer (he moved to the U.S.A. when he was 12) who was credited with a number of discoveries during his career. His first was 79 Euronyme (an asteroid in the main belt) in 1863. His fourth discovery was 100 Hekate (also in the main belt) in 1868. Over his career he discovered a total of 22 different asteroids.

His impact in his field was noted and recognized. In 1869 he earned the Lalande Prize (for scientific advances in astronomy), and both an asteroid (729 Watsonia) and a crater on the moon (Watson) were named after him.

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, and that was just one of the many great accomplishments of his life. He made a name for himself as an inventor, a writer, a humorist, a philosopher, a statesman, an abolitionist, and a diplomat, was a newspaper editor and printer, the Postmaster-General (for both the British Colonies and the United States), and did a stint as the Governor of Pennsylvania.

That barely scratched the surface of his impact on early American society, but suffice it to say, he more than earned the recognition of being 'immortalized' on the $100 bill, where he has been since 1914.

Answer: Maury Wills

Maury Wills (b. 1932) began his Major League Baseball career in 1959 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The next year he became the first player in 37 years to steal 50 bases, and in 1962 he became the first player to steal 100 bases (he actually stole 104), breaking the 47-year-old record of 96 set by Ty Cobb in 1915. That year, he was selected as the National League's Most Valuable Player.

Wills was moved to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1966 and from there to the Montreal Expos in 1968 before making his way back to the Dodgers in 1969. He retired in 1972 and moved into broadcasting. A few years later, he briefly became the manager of the Seattle Mariners (1980-81).

Answer: Enrico Fermi

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was an Italian physicist who studied physics at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, graduating with his laurea at only 20 years old. Fermi continued to expand his fields of study by studying and working with other physicists and mathematicians (such as Max Born and Paul Ehrenfest) after which he taught at the University of Florence and the Sapienza University of Rome.

Fermi's work (along with many of his colleagues) turned to radioactivity and nuclear physics. In 1938 (at the age of 37), he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for "demonstrations of the existence of new radioactive elements produced by neutron irradiation, and for his related discovery of nuclear reactions brought about by slow neutrons". At the same time, he relocated to the United States, accepted a position at Columbia University, and joined the Manhattan Project.

The synthetic elements Einsteinium (Es, atomic number 99) and Fermium (Fm, atomic number 100) were both isolated following a nuclear test in 1952.

Answer: Kass Morgan

Kass Morgan is the pen name of Mallory Kass (b. 1984) who studied her literary craft at Brown University (Providence, RI) and at the University of Oxford (England). She worked as an editor at Scholastic Books since 2007 and was involved in the "39 Clues" young adult book series before turning her hand to her own writing. In 2013 she published "The 100" as the first in a series of books about an Earth that has suffered a nuclear apocalypse where the only (known) survivors were aboard a number of space stations in orbit.

Her story was adapted for television in the series of the same name that ran for seven seasons between 2014 and 2020 (for, appropriately, 100 episodes).

Answer: Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999) began his professional basketball career with the Harlem Globetrotters in 1958 before joining the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia Warriors in 1959. It was with the Warriors that he became the first player to score 100 points in a game (against the New York Knicks on March 2nd, 1962). The next year, the franchise relocated to San Francisco.

Chamberlain was traded back to Philadelphia in 1965, this time to the Philadelphia 76ers (which just relocated from Syracuse). He stayed with the 76ers until 1968 when he was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He spent a year (1972-73) coaching with the American Basketball Association's San Diego Conquistadors before fully retiring from the game.

At the time of the writing of this quiz, Chamberlain still held 72 NBA records, including the incredible statistic of averaging 50.4 points per game in one season (that same 1961-62 season when he had the 100-point game).