Not Independence Day Trivia Quiz

Answer: Entebbe, Uganda

Operation Thunderbolt was a counter-terrorist raid held by Israeli special forces commandos. The goal was to free hostages that were taken aboard an Air France flight that had been bound for Paris from Tel Aviv and were now being held at the airport in Entebbe, Uganda. Of the 248 original passengers and twelve crew, 106 hostages were being held, 105 at a building at the airport, and all but four were saved; three hostages died during the raid and the one that had been off-site, at a hospital, was killed when the outraged leader of Uganda at the time, Idi Amin, discovered that the other hostages had been freed. Only one member of the commando team was killed as well, the raid commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu.

Answer: Mars

Launched on December 4, 1996, Pathfinder reached its destination on July 4, 1997 - the surface of the planet Mars. Originally intended to be the first of several probes sent to gauge the weather on Mars, Pathfinder also deployed a rover that became the first to operate somewhere other than on the Moon.

It was also an exercise to see if the budget could be trimmed when it came to sending probes out into space as NASA had been tightening its budget. The mission was supposed to last for about a month, perhaps less.

However, the lander-rover tandem were able to keep operating for about three months sending back valuable information about Mars and expanding what we knew of this strange planet.

Answer: First cousin

Prince Michael of Kent is the grandson of King George V and Queen Mary making him Queen Elizabeth II's first cousin. When he was born he was seventh in line for the British throne ... which is usually a sign that that's the closet you'll ever be to becoming the king. Over the years, the different births, and the change in succession laws allowing for female members to assume the monarchy, many people were placed ahead of Prince Michael.

Turns out that I am also related to Prince Michael, though through three marriages. I regret to inform you, dear player, that I am not in line for the throne. Not at all.

Answer: Crab nebula

Starting on July 4 and lasting for months, a light was seen in the sky day and night. This was recorded by astronomers around the world. Chinese astronomers observed during the Song dynasty a "guest star" in the vicinity of Zeta Tauri. It was identified in "the first year of the Zhihe era" referring to Emperor Renzong and was well-documented. It was also mentioned in an ancient Japanese text, as well as a mention referring to ancient Arab (Iraqi) observances. Perhaps some European and Amerindians were able to observe this as well.

Remnants of supernovas are nebulae, and this particular supernova was associated with the Crab nebula by Edwin Hubble. His deduction was assisted by other astronomer observations but the credit usually goes to him.

Answer: 33 days

The Holy Roman Empire had a weird habit of electing and deposing popes on a whim. When Pope John XII fell out of favour with Emperor Otto I, the emperor decided to elect a different pope and to depose John. Leo VIII was installed as the new pope of the Catholic church and John was sent away. However, Leo proved to be quite unpopular and John was sent for. A synod was convened to undo the synod that had removed John as pope. John XII was reinstalled as pope and some of his accusers were dealt with very bloodily.

John, however, passed away shortly after. Since the nobles now had a vacuum to fill, they decided to elect a new pope and Benedict V was installed. However, Otto was extremely displeased with this decision and marched on Rome. After a brief siege, Benedict was deposed and Leo reinstalled. Benedict V was pope in Rome for only 33 days. He lay himself at the mercy of the emperor and was allowed to live in exile. He eventually was sent to Hamburg but he died about a year after being deposed.

Answer: Tanks

On the Eastern Front in Europe, Axis forces intended to come from two directions to use a pincer-like approach and capture or kill the Soviet forces that had advanced beyond the town of Kursk. They also intended to use this victory as propaganda to spur on their allies who were watching and waiting as the Nazi regime began its crumble.

On the Soviet side, they had full knowledge of the impending attack. Intelligence intercepts had allowed them to build up appropriate countermeasures to halt and stall the German advance. However, what happened over the two months of summer was the largest tank battle the world had ever seen.

While the annals cite the beginning of the Battle of Kursk as July 5, 1943, the hostilities actually commenced on the evening of July 4. German advances to the south of Kursk began moving north to take strategic high points, particularly the village of Prokhorovka.

The Germans, ultimately, were unsuccessful. The Soviets were prepared and they also had superiority of numbers while holding the home field advantage. This marked one of the turning points in the war and thus began the fall of the Third Reich.

Answer: Complicated machines that do a simple task

If you've ever played the children's board game "Mousetrap", that's a perfect example of a Rube Goldberg machine. It's a very complicated machine that does a simple task, sometimes using a very indirect and nonsensical approach to get the task done. These machines were inspired by cartoons drawn by Rube Goldberg that were meant to amuse the reader rather than be an actual plan for a practical machine. Nevertheless, it can be a very interesting thought experiment for students to see how energy can be transferred in different ways while actually achieving a goal at the end.

Answer: Elected

Christian III was elected the King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, Denmark. He was a radical choice - he was the first king to be a Lutheran, and his reign helped establish the Protestant Reformation within the kingdom. Already the Duke of Holstein and the Duke of Schleswig, Christian had carried out the reformation within those Duchies and was seen as a threat to the bishops of Denmark and Norway.

However, the pressure of the lesser nobility on the Jutlandic members of the election council garnered the votes needed to have Christian III ascend the throne. Though his reign had a bit of a rocky beginning, Christian III eventually enforced his religious views on the kingdom.

Answer: Lewis Carroll

Charles Dodgson was better known as Lewis Carroll, author of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland", was out one day with the Dean of Christ Church (Oxford), Henry Liddell's kids - Alice, Edith, and Lorina, on a boating trip. After telling the girls a wonderful story, they begged Dodgson to write it down. It became the well-known novel and made Lewis Carroll very successful. A sequel, "Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There", was also written, as well as other books.

Dodgson was also a mathematician and published several papers on different subjects. Finally, Dodgson was the inventor (or at least made popular) an early version of the game of Scrabble as well as doublets (a logic puzzle where you change one letter at a time to transform one word into another).

Answer: First Hungarian Republic

Eva Gabor was the youngest of three sisters. While her two older sisters, Magda and Sári (Zsa Zsa) were born in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Eva was born in Budapest as well, but right after the First World War and the dissolution of the empire in the short-lived (and largely unrecognized) First Hungarian Republic.

Eva officially became an actress at the young age of 22. Her first film, "Forced Landing", was released in 1941. He best known role was perhaps her portrayal of Lisa Douglas in the sitcom "Green Acres" which ran from 1965 to 1971. Children will recognize her voice from "The Rescuers" and "The Rescuers Down Under" for her portrayal of Bianca.

She passed away on July 4, 1995 in Los Angeles due to lung problems that developed when she slipped and fell in the bathtub. She was 76 at the time.