Q 01/05

Whose will, signed in Paris in 1895, left most of his fortune to fund annual international prizes?

A) Andrew Carnegie

B) Alfred Nobel

C) John D. Rockefeller

D) Henry Ford

Answer · why

B) Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel signed the will at the Swedish-Norwegian Club without telling his family, setting aside 94% of his assets for the awards.

Q 02/05

Which English playwright's will famously left his wife, Anne, his second-best bed?

A) Christopher Marlowe

B) Ben Jonson

C) William Shakespeare

D) John Milton

Answer · why

C) William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare added the bed in a line squeezed between others, while his daughter Susanna and her husband received most of his goods.

Q 03/05

Which Minneapolis music star died in 2016 with no will, leaving six siblings to claim his estate?

A) David Bowie

B) Tom Petty

C) Glenn Frey

D) Prince

Answer · why

D) Prince

Prince left no will that anyone could find, so a trust company was given temporary control of his estate, and it had his vault drilled open.

Q 04/05

New York hotel magnate Leona Helmsley's will left a $12 million trust fund to which beneficiary, named Trouble?

A) Her Maltese dog

B) Her Persian cat

C) Her pet parrot

D) Her racehorse

Answer · why

A) Her Maltese dog

Her Maltese dog outlived Helmsley by three years, though a judge cut the fund to $2 million and two grandchildren she had disinherited won $6 million.

Q 05/05

Where was Aretha Franklin's handwritten 2014 will found, a document a Michigan jury ruled valid in 2023?

A) Inside a piano bench

B) In a hotel safe

C) Under a couch cushion

D) Behind a framed photo

Answer · why

C) Under a couch cushion

Under a couch cushion is where her niece came across it in 2019, a year after the singer died without a formal typed will.