Last in History: II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Hunting by man and other predators

Discovered by Portuguese sailors in 1598, the name 'dodo' derived from the Portuguese for 'simpleton'. The sailors assumed that the bird was stupid because it showed no sign of fear. In actual fact, it was the dodo's innocence due to lack of contact with any form of predator, rather than stupidity. Within 80 years the species had been wiped out by a combination of hunting by man, and falling prey to feral dogs and pigs and other species that the Portuguese had introduced to the island.

Answer: She was deposed by a republican movement

Queen Lydia Liliuokalani ascended the Hawaiian throne in 1891. She was deposed after a short reign that was dominated by political and economic unrest, following which the Republic of Hawaii was established in 1894. Hawaii, which had been economically dependent on the American sugar market, was subsequently annexed by USA in 1898.

Answer: Burning at the stake

Murphy was convicted of coining false money, which counted as a form of high treason at the time on the grounds that the coins bore the monarch's head! In fact, she was hanged for thirty minutes before her corpse was burned at the stake outside Newgate Gaol in London, England. Between 1735 and 1789, some 32 women were sentenced to be burned at the stake in England, although since 1700 (or slightly earlier) it was standard practice to hang first and burn the corpse.

In 1790, an Act of Parliament removed this barbaric form of execution.

Answer: gold-plated silver

It was at the Antwerp Games of 1920, that the first Olympic winning medals made from gold-plated silver were awarded (the 1916 Berlin Games were cancelled due to World War One). For the 2004 Olympics at Beijing, £104,000 (about $182,500) was spent on the 13 kilograms of gold needed to coat 986 winning medals.

Answer: Indianapolis

Elvis' last concert was at the Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA on June 26th, 1977. Elvis died six weeks later. The last song he performed there was 'Bridge over Troubled Water'.

Answer: Great-grandson

Robert Todd Lincoln Beckwith's mother was Jessie, the daughter of Robert Todd Lincoln, who was the only son of the president to survive into maturity. Neither Robert nor his sister, Mary ('Peggy') Beckwith, produced any children.

Answer: fat from melted corpses

Jane Wenham, dubbed 'the wise woman of Walkern', was tried at Hertford assizes. After ransacking her house, the authorities found 'proof' in a tin of grease which they claimed was made from the melted fat of corpses, and cakes said to be made from feathers. Though the trial judge heaped scorn on the whole idea of witchcraft and on the evidence, the jury convicted her.

However, she was granted a free pardon.

Answer: A chief magistrate

The first Doge of Venice was appointed in 697 to hold absolute power. Although this was modified 600 years later, the Doges remained a powerful group of chief magistrates, under whose stewardship Venice became a powerful city state.

Answer: Slave Stealing

'Captain' Jonathan Walker, who was born and raised in Harwich, Massachussetts, had set up a business with his own boat in Pensacola, Florida. It was with this boat that he attempted to help seven slaves escape to The Bahamas in June 1844. After being convicted of stealing slaves, Walker became a celebrity amongst the Abolitionist Movement.

He died in 1878 and 5,000 people attended his funeral.

Answer: Richburg, Mississippi, USA

This bout lasted an amazing 75 rounds, before Kilrain's trainer threw in the towel. Although The Marquis of Queensberry rules had codifed boxing since 1867, bare-knuckle fighting was still actively promoted for some years afterwards. In 1892, Sullivan was defeated by Gentleman Jim Corbett, who became the first world champion under the Marquis of Queensberry rules.