Q 01/05

Which mission first landed humans on the Moon while Michael Collins stayed in orbit?

A) Apollo 8

B) Apollo 11

C) Apollo 12

D) Apollo 13

Answer · why

B) Apollo 11

Apollo 11 landed on July 20, 1969; alone in orbit, Collins lost radio contact with Earth every time he passed behind the Moon.

Q 02/05

Which test pilot first broke the sound barrier in level flight, flying the Bell X-1?

A) Chuck Yeager

B) John Glenn

C) Scott Crossfield

D) Alan Shepard

Answer · why

A) Chuck Yeager

Chuck Yeager did it on October 14, 1947, with two ribs cracked in a riding fall; a colleague sawed off a broom handle so he could seal the hatch.

Q 03/05

Which senator joined Cassius in leading the plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on the Ides of March?

A) Brutus

B) Mark Antony

C) Cicero

D) Octavian

Answer · why

A) Brutus

Brutus had fought against Caesar in the civil war and been pardoned by him; the Latin 'Et tu, Brute?' was popularised by Shakespeare and appears in no...

Q 04/05

Which Washington state volcano, until then the state's fifth-highest peak, erupted catastrophically on May 18, 1980?

A) Mount Rainier

B) Mount St. Helens

C) Mount Adams

D) Mount Baker

Answer · why

B) Mount St. Helens

Mount St. Helens lost about 1,300 feet of its summit when its north face collapsed in the largest landslide in recorded history.

Q 05/05

Which president called December 7, 1941 'a date which will live in infamy'?

A) Franklin Roosevelt

B) Harry Truman

C) Herbert Hoover

D) Dwight Eisenhower

Answer · why

A) Franklin Roosevelt

Franklin Roosevelt said it to Congress the day after the attack; the House voted 388 to 1 for war, with Jeannette Rankin the lone vote against.