So, What's My Name? Trivia Quiz

Answer: George Washington

During his early military career Washington served with the British Army's Virginia Regiment. During the French and Indian War he carried a British ultimatum to the French. In 1775 he was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and fought for the independence of the British colonies in America.

In April 1789 he was sworn in as the first President of the United States of America. He was unanimously re-elected in 1792. He refused a third term, thereby setting the precedent of a President serving a maximum of two terms.

Answer: Sir Richard Branson

Richard Branson was born in Blackheath, South London, in July 1950. He suffered from dyslexia and had a poor academic record at school. He did, however, have a gift for communicating with people.
In 1970 he launched the Virgin group selling records by mail order and from the boot of his car. Shortly afterwards he opened his first record shop. The brand name of 'Virgin' came from the fact that Branson, and his then business partner, considered themselves virgins in the world of business. The group now has multiple interests and is a world wide company.

Answer: Florence Nightingale

Florence Nightingale was born in May 1820 and was named after the city of her birth. Despite her mother's opposition she entered nursing and worked tirelessly for better conditions for patients. In 1854 she, and a staff of 38 nurses, were sent Turkey to staff hospitals for men wounded in the Crimea. Within months of her arrival the mortality rate dropped from 42% to fewer than 3%.

This was due to her observations of the relationship between sanitary conditions and the rate at which casualties recovered. Later in her life she established a training school for nurses which is now part of King's College, London.

She died on August 13th, 1910. Her family was offered a burial for her in Westminster Abbey, but they refused. She is buried in a churchyard in Hampshire.

Answer: Don Bradman

'The Don' was born in New South Wales in August 1908. As a young boy he practiced by using a cricket stump as a bat and a golf ball. At the age of just 12 years he scored his first century playing for Bowral Public School. He made his first class debut, for New South Wales, at the age of nineteen and scored 118 runs.

He made his first test appearance in the 1928/9 England tour of Australia. It was not a success. Australia lost heavily. During England's tour of Australia in 1932/3 Bradman was involved in the infamous 'bodyline' scandal.

This was a tactic, developed by the English, to deal specifically with Bradman. As a result of this tactic several cricketing laws were changed to prohibit the use of such methods. Don Bradman is widely regarded as one of the finest batsmen ever to take the field.

He passed away, aged 92, in 2001.

Answer: Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC was born at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, on November 30th 1874. The story of him being born in a toilet is probably apocryphal. He was educated at Harrow and entered military service, in the cavalry, shortly after leaving school, in 1893.

He first stood for Parliament in 1900, winning the Oldham seat. He served in several Governments over the next 55 years, most notably during World War II as Prime Minister. He died in 1965, and by decree of Queen Elizabeth II received a State Funeral, a very uncommon occurrence for a non-Royal.

Answer: Ernest Rutherford

Rutherford was born in 1871 to British immigrants. After attending Canterbury University in New Zealand he travelled to England to undertake postgraduate studies at Cambridge University. In 1899 he coined the terms 'alpha' and 'beta' to describe two types of radiation that depended on their penetrative powers.

He continued his work in various places around the world and became known as 'the father of nuclear physics'. He is credited as the first person to have 'split the atom' in 1917, which lead to experiments to 'split the nucleus' in 1932.

There are many institutions, world wide, that are named in his honour.

Answer: Francis Drake

Francis Drake was born around 1540, the exact date is unknown. He began his seafaring life at the age of thirteen and by the age of 20 was owner/master of his own ship. His first Royal commission was in 1577 when Elizabeth I sent him against the Spanish along the Pacific coast of the Americas.

The voyage started disastrously, but after several setbacks became a success. It was during this voyage that the 'Pelican' was renamed the 'Golden Hind'. Drake is best known for his exploits against the Spanish Armada in the years following the outbreak of war in 1585.

At one point he was involved in the slave trade. He died, of dysentry, in 1595 off the coast of Panama. He was buried at sea in a lead coffin but his coffin has never been found.

Answer: Cary Grant

He was born Archibald Leach in Bristol in 1904. He entered the United States, via Ellis Island, in 1920. When the stage troupe he was with returned home he decided to stay. He started out as a stage performer still under his birth name. When he signed for Paramount he had chosen the name Cary Lockwood but that was too close to another actors name and so Cary Grant appeared.

He made over 70 films for a variety of studios before he retired in 1966. During the last few years of his life he embarked on a series of one man shows called 'A Conversation with Cary Grant'.

It was whilst he was preparing for one of these shows that he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. He passed away on November 29th 1986.

Answer: Queen Anne

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs. She was also the first monarch of Great Britain following the Act of Union. Anne also presided over the early years of a two party system in British politics. The conflict with Spain was the War of Spanish Succession, a conflict that lasted thirteen years and fought to prevent Spain and France being unified under a Bourbon monarch.

When Anne died in 1714 she was succeeded by her cousin George I, so beginning the House of Hannover.

Answer: Steve Redgrave

Sir Steve Redgrave was born in Marlowe, Buckinghamshire, on 23rd March 1962. He won his first gold at the 1984 Los Angeles games. His 17th, and last, medal came at the 2000 Sydney games. He was also a formidable competitor at the Henley Royal Regatta where he won 16 times over a 20 year period. Throughout his career he suffered from several serious health problems including an inflammatory bowel disease and, from 1997, diabetes.

He was made an MBE in 1987, a CBE in 1997 and he was knighted in 2001.