Q 01/05

Which gym machine did English engineer William Cubitt introduce in 1818 as hard labor for convicts?

A) Rowing machine

B) Treadmill

C) Exercise bike

D) Cross trainer

Answer · why

B) Treadmill

The treadmill began after Cubitt saw idle inmates at Bury St Edmunds jail. Convicts climbed its turning steps like an endless staircase, and an 1865 l...

Q 02/05

Where off the coast of Cape Town did Nelson Mandela spend 18 of his 27 years as a prisoner?

A) Robben Island

B) Dassen Island

C) Seal Island

D) Saint Helena

Answer · why

A) Robben Island

Robben Island later sent two more former inmates to South Africa's presidency, Kgalema Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma. Before apartheid it had served as a l...

Q 03/05

Which California prison, the subject of a 1955 Johnny Cash song, hosted his 1968 live album?

A) Soledad

B) Corcoran

C) Folsom

D) Chino

Answer · why

C) Folsom

Folsom hosted two shows on January 13, 1968, with June Carter and Carl Perkins backing Cash. The album reached number one on the country chart despite...

Q 04/05

Which 1994 film shot most of its scenes at the Ohio State Reformatory, closed four years earlier?

A) In the Name of the Father

B) Kiss of the Spider Woman

C) Dead Man Walking

D) The Shawshank Redemption

Answer · why

D) The Shawshank Redemption

The Shawshank Redemption made the reformatory famous, and fans gathered there for a 30th anniversary celebration in 2024. The prison itself was built ...

Q 05/05

Which gangster jailed for tax evasion played banjo in the Rock Islanders, an Alcatraz inmate band?

A) Al Capone

B) Bugsy Siegel

C) Lucky Luciano

D) Dutch Schultz

Answer · why

A) Al Capone

Al Capone earned his place in the band through good behavior, and it gave Sunday concerts for other inmates. He had arrived on the island in 1934.