Q 01/05

Which Beatles song title did Charles Manson adopt as his name for a coming apocalyptic race war?

A) Revolution 9

B) Helter Skelter

C) Back in the U.S.S.R.

D) Rocky Raccoon

Answer · why

B) Helter Skelter

Helter Skelter comes from the Beatles' 1968 White Album. One of Manson's followers scrawled a misspelled version of it in blood at a murder scene in A...

Q 02/05

Which film director, away in Europe at the time, was married to Sharon Tate when Manson's followers killed her?

A) Stanley Kubrick

B) Mike Nichols

C) Sam Peckinpah

D) Roman Polanski

Answer · why

D) Roman Polanski

Roman Polanski was in Europe working on a film that night, while Tate, 26 and eight and a half months pregnant, was at home on Cielo Drive with friend...

Q 03/05

Which U.S. president did Manson follower Lynette 'Squeaky' Fromme try to assassinate with a pistol in Sacramento?

A) Gerald Ford

B) Jimmy Carter

C) Ronald Reagan

D) Lyndon B. Johnson

Answer · why

A) Gerald Ford

Gerald Ford was unharmed: the pistol's magazine held four rounds but the chamber was empty, and a Secret Service agent grabbed Fromme at once.

Q 04/05

What did Charles Manson carve into his forehead before the first day of testimony at his 1970 murder trial?

A) A pentagram

B) An inverted cross

C) The letter X

D) A peace sign

Answer · why

C) The letter X

The letter X was his way of saying he had crossed himself out of the establishment's world. His co-defendants copied it over the weekend, and he later...

Q 05/05

Which Star Wars hero's original surname, Starkiller, was changed partly because it evoked Charles Manson?

A) Han Solo

B) Luke Skywalker

C) Obi-Wan Kenobi

D) Lando Calrissian

Answer · why

B) Luke Skywalker

Luke Skywalker was still Luke Starkiller when filming began. George Lucas said people were confusing the old name with someone like Manson.