History Around the World 18 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ireland

All of those named held the office of Taoiseach, the head of government in Ireland and the equivalent position to Prime Minister in many other countries. The word Taoiseach means 'chief' in Gaelic and has been used for more than 1,500 years. Appointed by the President, the first modern-day holder of the office was Éamon de Valera, appointed in 1937. Enda Kenny, appointed in 2011, is the thirteenth different person to hold the office in the modern era.

Answer: Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, KT, AK, CH, FAA, FRS, QC was born in 1894 in the small town of Jeparit, Victoria, some 230 miles northwest of Melbourne. He became Australia's twelfth Prime Minister as the leader of the United Australia coalition in April 1939, when he served just over two years. He was returned to office as the leader of a Liberal coalition in December 1949, which was the beginning of the longest continuous term served by any Australian Prime Minister, lasting until January 1966.

Menzies left office at the age of 71, and was the first Prime Minister to serve beyond his 70th birthday, John Howard was the second-oldest, leaving office at the age of 68 after he lost his seat at the 2007 general election.

Answer: Aleutian Islands

A chain of 14 large volcanic islands and 55 smaller ones, the Aleutian Islands occupy an area of 6,800 square miles (the size of Kuwait) in the extreme north of the Pacific Ocean. They extend 1,200 miles westwards from the American state of Alaska towards Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. Known as the Catherine Islands prior to 1867, the Aleutian archipelago consists of five island groups, the Fox Islands, the Islands of Four Mountains, Andreanof, the Rat Islands and the Near Islands.

Answer: Tokyo, Japan

Known as "The Great Kanto earthquake", the 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck just before noon local time on Saturday, September 1, 1923. The epicentre of the quake was some 15 miles beneath Izu Oshima Island, located some 50 miles south of Tokyo in Sagami Bay. The quake, which lasted for between four and ten minutes (according to different reports), also produced a 40-foot tsunami that devastated the port city of Yokohama.

Because the quake occurred at lunchtime, many people were cooking with the result that many fires spread quickly throughout the city. The single largest loss of life occurred in downtown Tokyo at the 'Rikugun Honjo Hifukusho' (formerly the Army Clothing Depot) where some 38,000 were incinerated by a 'fire tornado'.

Answer: 6

Those former First Ladies still alive when Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th U.S. President on January 20, 2009 were Betty Ford (died in 2011), Rosalyn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hilary Clinton and Laura Bush. On January 24, 2016, at the age of 94 years and 202 days, Nancy Reagan passed Lady Bird Johnson to move into second place behind only Bess Truman as the oldest-ever living former First Lady. Truman died in 1982 at the age of 97 years and 247 days.

Of those six, Rosalyn Carter had enjoyed the longest retirement, her husband having left office in January 1981. Carter still had a long way to go to catch the leaders in that category, though, with both Frances Cleveland and Sarah Jackson living just over 50 years after leaving office.

Answer: Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia

Josip Broz was born in 1892 in the village of Kumrovec in what was then the Austria-Hungarian Empire and is now northern Croatia. Conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1913, as a sergeant he was sent to the town of Ruma in Serbia in 1914, where he was arrested and imprisoned for distributing anti-war propaganda. A year later, he was sent to the Eastern Front in Galicia, a historic region straddling the Ukraine/Poland border. Distinguishing himself in battle, he became the Army's youngest sergeant-major and was recommended for a bravery award, but he was seriously wounded in March 1915 and captured by the Russians. During the remainder of the war, Broz escaped and was re-captured numerous times.

In 1920, Broz joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. At the end of WWII, as head of the Party, Broz, who by now had adopted the name Tito, became the leader of the country's provisional government. He was officially appointed as Yugoslavia's first Prime Minister in January 1953, a position he would hold until his death in May 1980.

Answer: Claudius

The younger brother of Germanicus and Livilla, Claudius was born in 10 B.C. in Lugdunum, now Lyon in France. His maternal grandfather was Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar was his great-great-grand-uncle. Claudius became the fourth Roman Emperor on January 24, 41 A.D., succeeding his nephew Caligula. He reigned more than 13 years until his death at the age of 63 in 54 A.D.. He was succeeded by his grandnephew Nero, who was also the stepson of his fourth wife, Agrippina.

Of the alternatives, Tiberius preceded Caligula, ruling from 14-37 A.D. Vespasian and Titus were both members of the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian was the last of the emperors in 69 A.D. (the Year of the Four Emperors), ruling for ten years until June 79, when we was succeeded by his son, Titus.

Answer: 15th

Bartolomeu Dias was born in 1451 in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. In 1487, King John II of Portugal appointed Diaz as the leader of an expedition, the primary objective of which was to find a trade route to India by sailing around southern Africa. After three months at sea, Diaz reached the furthest point on his expedition in February 1488. Having rounded the southern tip of the continent, he planted a cross on the Kwaaihoek headland, on the coast of Algoa Bay in what is now the Eastern Province of South Africa. Although Diaz wanted to go further towards India, he was forced to turn back at this point because his crew refused to go further.

It was on the return journey, in May 1488, that Diaz formally discovered the Cape of Good Hope, having been blown around it without sighting land on the outward voyage. Indeed, Diaz originally named the region 'Cabo das Tormentas' ("Cape of Storms"), but it was subsequently renamed by the king. Diaz sailed his ship, 'São Cristóvão' ("Saint Christopher") back into Lisbon harbour in December 1488. Diaz died on a subsequent expedition, when four ships were in a major storm on may 29, 1500, ironically off the coast of what he had named "Cape of Storms"

Answer: Honourable Artillery Company

The Honourable Artillery Company dates back to the time when 'artillery' meant any projectile, often arrows shot from bows. The regiment served with distinction in both WWI and WWII and is now part of the Army Reserve.

Of the alternatives, The Royal Regiment of Foot, which began life as the 1st (Royal) Regiment of Foot, was originally raised in Scotland in 1633 for service against the French. Officially designated in 1751, it became the Lothian Regiment (Royal Scots) in 1881. The Queen's Royal Hussars, the country's senior light cavalry regiment, dates back to 1685. It is now the armoured regiment for 20th Armoured Brigade stationed in Germany. The 1st (His Majesty's Own) Troop of Horse Guards was formed from followers of King Charles II in 1658. It was renamed 1st Regiment of Life Guards in 1788.

Answer: Malawi

Hastings Kamuzu Banda was born in 1898 in the town of Kasungu, then within the British Central Africa Protectorate and now located in central Malawi. Prior to independence, in 1961, Banda became the de facto leader of the country under the authority of the last British Governor of Nyasaland, Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones. When the country, nicknamed "The Warm Heart of Africa", became independent as Malawi on July 6, 1964, Banda became its first Prime Minister. On Independence Day 1966, Banda declared the country a republic with himself as President. Consolidating power, he later declared Malawi a one-party state and, in 1970, Malawi Congress Party named Banda as "President for Life".

A referendum in 1993 forced by widespread protest and international pressure ended Banda's one-party state and ended his life Presidency. In the elections that followed the following year, Banda was defeated, ending his rule of almost 30 years. Banda died in South Africa just a few months short of his 100th birthday in 1997.