Beyond Trivia Quiz

Answer: Voltaire

Voltaire, whose real name was François-Marie Arouet, was born in 1694 and died in 1778. He was one of the first to think and express himself in favor of freedom of speech, expression and religion. Voltaire was a rather prolific author, who wrote thousands of books, plays, and letters.

Answer: Greek

Epictetus was born in Phrygia (Turkey nowadays), his name in Greek means "acquired". He wrote many works on philosophy itself, and had a wide range of thoughts; according to him, all individuals are connected with the rest of the world, and all external events are determined by fate.

Answer: Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was a German-born physicist, and one of the most intelligent humans to ever live. He made many important contributions to science, such as the equation for mass-energy equivalence, known as E=mc2. After he passed away, his doctor took his brain out for it to be preserved, hoping that one day science would discover what made Einstein so smart.

Answer: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah is one of the most iconic African-Americans of our time. She is the greatest African-American philanthropist in the history of the United States, and one of the richest African-Americans to live. She is most famous for hosting "The Oprah Winfrey Show", which ran from 1986 to 2011.

Answer: Howard Schultz

Howard Schultz began as a Xerox salesman, he then became the general manager of a Swedish coffee maker manufacturer, Hammerplast. During his time there, he visited a store in Seattle called Starbucks Coffee Company, and joined them as Director of Marketing years later, but left after a disagreement on the company's handling.

In 1988, the owner of Starbucks sold the store to Schultz, who made Starbucks a worldwide phenomenon. He stepped down as CEO in 2013.

Answer: John Locke

Locke is a thinker of the Enlightenment, who influenced Frenchmen Voltaire and Rousseau, also from the Enlightenment period. Among some of his contributions are theories on religious tolerance, value and property, and political theory. He believed that at birth the human mind is a 'tabula rasa', a blank slate as it were, and that all knowledge comes from experience. Locke also believed that human nature is characterized by reason and tolerance.

Answer: United Kingdom

Benjamin Disraeli, of the Conservative Party, became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to be born Jewish. Disraeli's political key opponent at the time was William Ewart Gladstone, who was Prime Minister both before and after Disraeli's term.

Answer: Pat Riley

Pat Riley played in the NBA with the San Diego Rockets, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns. Later, he coached the Lakers, as well as the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat, were he also worked as general manager at the same time.

Auerbach was a coach and executive but not a player, while Bonham and Lanier only played basketball.

Answer: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote many notable poems and essays, and influenced many other authors. He was born in Boston and studied at Harvard College. During the Civil War, Emerson gave several lectures on slavery, which he was against.

Answer: They died in the same year

Robin Williams, who acted in important movies such as "Dead Poets Society", "Flubber", and "Jumanji", committed suicide on August 11, 2014, out of depression. Many thought it was incredible that he was a man who made many laugh, but was suffering inside.

Joan Rivers was a legendary comic actress, who also hosted several talk shows. She passed away on September 4, 2014, after suffering a cardiac arrest.

People thought it was amazing how two greats of comedy left with such a short time within the two deaths.