The Best of "Time" Magazine Trivia Quiz

Answer: Joseph G. Cannon (US politician)

"Time" magazine, created by Britton Haden and Henry Luce, put out its first issue on March 3, 1923. The cover featured politician Joseph G. Cannon, who had served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1903 to 1911. In addition to its U.S. edition, "Time" also publishes versions of its magazine in Europe ("Time Europe", out of London), Asia ("Time Asia", out of Hong Kong), and an Oceania edition out of Sydney.

Answer: Red border

Nearly every issue of "Time" since 1923 has had a red border around the cover picture. There are only a couple of notable exceptions. The special edition published immediately after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 had a black border, and the April 2008 Earth Day issue had a green border.

Answer: Weekly

"Time" was originally a weekly news magazine - the first such created in America. In 2007, the magazine shifted its publication schedule so that the issues hit newsstands on Fridays. However, declining sales in the early 21st century led to a decision to publish it every two weeks instead, with effect from March 2020.

Occasionally, "Time" will publish special edition issues outside of the normal schedule. A couple of notable examples include an issue put out immediately following the collapse of the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001, as well as a special commemorative issue published following the death of Michael Jackson in June 2009.

Answer: Whittaker Chambers

Whittaker Chambers was born and raised in the Eastern United States (Pennsylvania and New York). He joined the Communist Party when he was a young man in the mid-1920s and worked as a spy for the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. He gradually grew unsatisfied with the Communist Party however, due in part to the party's issue with his family (they disapproved of his wife, who was a pacifist, and hadn't wanted him to settle down and have kids), his growing disgust with Joseph Stalin and the Great Purge taking place in the USSR, and finally out of fear for his own life, as some of his spy friends had gotten themselves murdered. Chambers broke all ties with the Communist Party in 1938 and went into hiding for awhile.

He joined the staff of "Time" magazine in 1939 as a book and film critic.

He was eventually promoted to senior editor in 1943. He had a reputation for writing controversial pieces, including an unfavourable commentary of the Yalta Conference. Chambers ended up resigning from his position at "Time" in 1948 due to the controversy of being tried for perjury in the Alger Hiss case.

Answer: False

Many people think that Person of the Year is an award, a desirable title, and for the majority of People of the Year have indeed been individuals that one would consider a 'good' person, but in actuality the title is bestowed upon anybody who is deemed to have had the most effect on world affairs that year, "for better or for worse".

Some people who fit into the 'worse' category who have been named Man of the Year or Person of the Year include Adolf Hitler (1938) and Joseph Stalin (1939, 1942). There have also been people who aren't necessarily 'good' or 'bad', such as Wallis Simpson (the first woman to be named Man of the Year, 1936), who many people hated.

However, since the naming of Ayatollah Khomeini as Man of the Year in 1979 and the controversy that ensued, "Time" magazine has made an effort to stay more in the "changed the world for the better" category when naming the Person of the Year.

For example, New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani received the title in 2001, when many people thought that Osama Bin Laden undeniably had more of a role in changing the world that year.

In addition, Albert Einstein was named Person of the (20th) Century in 1999, over Adolf Hitler, who arguably was one of the most, if not the most, prominent individual of the 20th century.

Answer: False

Most of the 20th century US Presidents since 1927 were indeed named Man of the Year, with three exceptions. Calvin Coolidge was the President when the first Man of the Year was named (Charles Lindbergh, 1927) and did not receive the title during the remainder of his term.

The next president (1929-1933) was Herbert Hoover, and he was never Man of the Year either. Gerald Ford (President from 1973-1974) never was either.

Answer: Kim Campbell

As the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year feature did not start until 1995, Kim Campbell wasn't considered. She was Canada's first female Prime Minister, serving only in 1993. The first recipient of the title was Lucien Bouchard (who won again in 1998), the leader of the separatist faction of Quebec. Donovan Bailey, Olympic champion, held the title in 1996. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin was the Newsmaker of the Year in 1997 and 2002 (before he was Prime Minister), and Prime Minister Stephen Harper was in 2006 and 2008, chosen for his role in redefining the position of Prime Minister of a minority government.

Other notable holders of the Newsmaker title include the Canadian Dollar (in 2007, the first time in 30 years that the Canadian dollar surpassed the American dollar) and Michael Lesner and Michael Stark (2003, the first legally married same-sex couple in Canada).

Answer: Oprah Winfrey

The "Time 100" list first started in 1999, when it was a list of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century. Since then, it has been a year-by-year list. From 2000 to 2009, Oprah Winfrey made the list six times (2004-2009); seven times total, counting the original 1999 list.

A close runner up for most appearances on the list is Hillary Clinton, at five times (2004, 2006-2009). A handful of other people made three or four appearances on the list, including Bill Gate (the original 1999 list, plus 2004-2006) and the Dalai Lama (2004, 2005, 2008).

Answer: "Titanic" (1997)

There are actually 106 movies on the Top 100 list, as some trilogies and sequels are counted as one entry. For example, the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001, 2002 and 2003) counts as only one entry, and "The Godfather" (1972) and "The Godfather II" (1974) are also only one entry. Most of the films that you would expect to be on a best-ever list are there, though one notable exception stood out to me: James Cameron's "Titanic" (1997) did not make the list.

Answer: J.K. Rowling

All of the novels selected for the list were published between 1923 (when "Time" was first published) and 2005, when the list was compiled. J.K. Rowling's young wizard "Harry Potter", perhaps surprisingly, did not make the list. F. Scott Fitzgerald made the list with "The Great Gatsby", John Steinbeck with "The Grapes of Wrath", and George Orwell with both "Animal Farm" and "1984".