What did Stalin give to almost every major official who helped the city of Leningrad survive its bitter siege?
a) 100,000 roubles
b) A generous pension
c) An execution

Answer below.











c) An execution. After the siege, Leningrad's heroic officials were brought to Moscow and given positions of power. Stalin however, feared they might plot against him and arrested them on trumped-up charges and had them shot after interrogations and secret trials in 1950. He closed the Leningrad siege museum which was only re-opened 40 years later, and suppressed information about the city's history, important aspects of which remain unknown to this day.

What lasted 900 days?
a) JFK's Presidency
b) The Siege of Leningrad
c) The Iran Hostage Crisis

Answer below











b) The Siege of Leningrad lasted from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. Less than two and a half months after German troops invaded Russia on June 22, 1941, they outflanked and surrounded the Red Army in Leningrad. Approximately 1 million inhabitants of the city died in the 900 day siege. (JFK's Presidency lasted 1037 days, The Iran Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days)

What this this Scottish vicar, Reverend Alexander Forsyth, patent in 1807?
a) The chocolate wheel
b) Bingo
c) The percussion lock gun

Answer below.













c) The percussion lock gun. Why a reverend would have need for a gun is a mystery but this Aberdeenshire minister invented and patented the percussion lock gun which fires after the gun's hammer hits a shock-sensitive chemical button held in a nipple screwed into the barrel. Percussion locks replaced flintlock guns which were modified by preplacing the flint and frizzen of the flintlock with a hammer and nipple. Percussion lock guns, easier to load, weather-resistant and more reliable than flintlocks, were used exclusively by both armies during the American Civil War.

Trivia Question #5
Q. During the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 against his enemy Henry Tudor, what did this English King's allies do?
a) Deserted him at the last minute and watched him charge to his death
b) Fought to the last man
c) Crossed over to the other side


Answer below











A. a) Deserted him at the last minute and watched as he charged to his death. Following this, his naked corpse was slung over a horse and displayed in Leicester for two days, after which he was buried in an unmarked grave. 50 years later his bones were dug up and thrown into the River Soar and his coffin used as a water trough. On an upbeat note, Richard III today has a support group known as the Richard III Society which attempts to rehabilitate his memory and claims he was unfairly slandered by his Tudor enemies - their website is http://www.richardiii.net/begin.htm

Adapted from NOT TONIGHT JOSEPHINE history board game with permission

Trivia Question #4
Q. Did Enrico Fermi:
a) design the Ferrari?
b) construct the first nuclear reactor?
c) compose the hit song Chain Reaction?

Answer below










A. b) He constructed the first nuclear reactor. The Italian born US physicist built the first nuclear reactor in 1942 at the University of Chicago and took part in the Manhattan Project. Fermium (Fm), a radioactive element found in the debris of the first nuclear explosion, was named after him. When Fermi produced the first self sustaining chain reaction the achievement was announced cryptically to scientists working on the bomb with the coded message "The Italian navigator has reached the New World".

(With permission from "Not Tonight Josephine" board game)

History Trivia Quiz #3
This is a picture of:
a) musicians practicing the cannon blast in the 1812 Overture
b) a doctor and patient admiring the recently invented armed wheelchair
c) Hiram Maxim demonstrating his machine gun to King Edward VII

Answer below












ANSWER: c) Hiram Maxim (kneeling) demonstrating his automatic machine gun to King Edward VII.

Hiram Maxim had invented an improved version of the hair-curling iron and the incandescent lamp but saw his life change while visiting the Paris Electrical Exhibition in 1881, when someone said to him "If you want to make a lot of money, invent something that will enable these fool Europeans to kill each other with greater facility." He moved to London and produced the world's first automatic machine gun there in 1883.

Reproduced with permission from NOT TONIGHT JOSEPHINE History Trivia Board Game

History Trivia Quiz #2

Everybody has heard of the Molotov cocktail. But who was Molotov?
a) The longest surviving Soviet communist official
b) The head cocktail waiter in the Paris Ritz
c) A bomb designer


Answer below







ANSWER: a) The longest surviving Soviet communist official.

"Molotov" was the alias of Russian diplomat Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin (1890-1986). He was the longest surviving member of the top rank of Soviet communist officials, having been a member of the Bolshevik Party (which predated the Communist Party), participated in the revolution, survived Stalin's purges of the 30s and became ambassador to Outer Mongolia in 1957.

His main claim to fame is that the Molotov cocktail, a home-made bomb, was named after him in irony by the Finns who used them against the Russian tanks in 1940 during the Soviet invasion of Finland known as the Winter War of 1939.

Reproduced with permission from NOT TONIGHT JOSEPHINE, history trivia board game.

History Trivia Quiz #1 Aircraft

Which aircraft is generally held to have won the day battle over Germany in World War 2?
a) The Mustang
b) The Spitfire
c) The Hawker Hurricane

CLUE 1 - It was a single seater long range (1000 miles) fighter.

CLUE 2 - The prototype was built from scratch in America in 120 days by NAA (North American Aviation) in 1940 for the RAF who were running out of planes during the Battle of Britain.

CLUE 3 - Initially it performed badly at high altitudes but when the engine was changed to a Merlin Rolls Royce engine, it could reach over 30,000 feet.

CLUE 4 - It was versatile - it could escort long-range bombers deep into enemy territory because it carried fuel in its wings and drop tanks, could engage in dogfights (6 machine guns) and could bomb from the air (2x 1000 lb bombs)

CLUE 5 - Chuck Yeager famously flew one of these

CLUE 6 - It made its name in long range escort duty, protecting heavy bombers from Luftwaffe raids, outmatching any attacking Fw190 or Bf109s.

CLUE 7 - It was used in the Korean War as a ground attack fighter.


Answer below.

ANSWER - The P-51DMustang

Cold War Warrior puts Career on Ice

"...I want a drink, Harry was thinking. What the hell do I care about his revolution. F___ his revolution. To help the working man he robs a bank and kills a fellow worked with him and then kills that poor damned Albert that never did any harm. That's a working man he kills. He never thinks of that. With a family. It's the Cubans run Cuba. They all double cross each other. They sell each other out. They get what they deserve. The hell with their revolutions. All I got to do is make a living for my family and I can't do that. Then he tells me about his revolution. The hell with his revolution...." Harry Morgan's thoughts after having his vessel commandered and first mate shot by Cuban rebels who have just robbed a bank to raise funds for the revolution in To Have and Have Not by Ernest Hemingway.

81 year old victim of colon cancer, Fidel Castro has just announced his retirement from active political life, replacing himself with his brother Raul and stirring fresh debate about the future of Cuba.

After ousting the decadent US backed government of Fulgencio Batista in the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the Jesuit-educated lawyer and socialist idealist has been in charge for almost 50 years , surviving a crippling economic embargo instigated by the US in 1962 and innumerable CIA assassination attempts. Holding power by force of charisma, cunning and luck and having been given little alternative by the US, he looked for and found political friends wherever he could.

His affiliation with the Soviets bankrolled his regime, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis and provided Cuba with a market for a new export product - soldiers - who fought with the Soviets in Angola and Ethiopia. Castro wryly rid himself of noxious criminals and malcontents by allowing them passage to Florida to expand the USA's underclass. More dangerous political threats were incarcerated. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1989, the resourceful Castro found a new backer, President Chavez, from oil rich Venezuela.

His ideology inhibited investment and industrial development and drove countless Cubans across the water to Maimi , the base of the Anti-Castro movement. Histrionics between the two camps, never in short supply were highlighted by a tortuous public tug-of-war over 6 year old Elian Gonzalez, whose mother drowned while attempting to reach Miami in 2000. Castro's illegitimate daughter is a vociferous critic of his regime and runs an anti Castro radio show in Miami.

Now that Castro is stepping down, what of the future? Cuba has not had a democratic election for almost 50 years. How realistically can one expect an abrupt transition from dicatorship to democracy to be smooth? A rudderless economically weak and ideologically confused post-dictator state without a strong leader is more than likely to crumble into chaos.

King Charles III, George VII or Edward IX?

The eldest son of the ageing Queen of England, HRH Elizabeth II - Charles, Prince of Wales - is next in line for the throne. English monarchs usually choose a regnal (ruling) name to give a sense of continuity.


What are the pros and cons of Prince Charles' options?

Rule as George VII - Pros:
The last couple of Georges - VI & V - have been popular kings.

George VI was a stuttering chain smoker who reluctantly took on the burden of the throne (the stress of which eventually killed him) when his playboy brother abdicated because he wasn't allowed to marry a scrawny American dominatrix.

The modern Georges established the famous George Cross & the Order of the British Empire Medals which everybody loves.

Rule as George VII - Cons:
The earlier Georges in all manner & form constitute the cons.

Starting from George I, a plump disaffected non-English speaking German who imprisoned his wife for the sin of adultery, his son George II who was delighted when his own son was killed by a blow to the head with a cricket ball, and the most infamous of all - George III, the insane porphyria victim who lost the American colonies.

Not to overlook his son George IV whose profligate lifestyle and obscene spending led to this obituary in TheTimes - "There was never an individual less regretted by his fellow creatures than this deceased king."

Rule as Charles III - Pros: Nil

Rule as Charles III - Cons:
Charles I was voted out of office and beheaded.

His son, Charles II roamed aimlessly about Europe for 9 years sponging off sympathisers before being restored to the throne after Oliver Cromwell's grim puritan regime ended. Upon restoration, Charles II lived it up and is remembered as the "merrie monarch" for the number of mistresses he was able to accommodate.

His son, James II was kicked off the throne for being Catholic and despite many attempts, never regained it.

His grandson, Bonnie Prince Charlie, also failed dismally to regain the throne and when his dreams of ruling as Charles III were dashed, he died an alcoholic in Rome.

Not looking good so far....

Edward IX?

I think Prince Charles' best bet to reflect his unique persona would be Edward IX. He fits in well in continuity with Edward VII who came to the throne as an old man after spending a virtual lifetime waiting for his mother Queen Victoria to die and the effete playboy Edward VIII with his divorcee-mistress-wife. But that might be a little too close to the bone...