- True or false: Mariano Melgarejo, a former Bolivian dictator, attempted to intervene during the 1870 Franco-Prussian War by marching his army all the way to Europe.
- Ned Kelly was one of the best-known Australians of the 1870s. What occupation brought him this notoriety?
- A. Con artist and forger
- B. Horse thief, cattle rustler, and bank robber
- C. Pirate and smuggler
- Mae West (1892-1980) shocked and amused audiences with lines like "When I'm good, I'm very good, but when I'm bad, I'm better." True or false: She was once jailed for obscenity.
- Canada united as a country in part due to the fear of annexation by the United States. Which of the following constituted the final armed invasion of Canada across its southern border?
- A. Queen Anne's War (1702-1713)
- B. The War of 1812
- C. The Fenian invasions of 1866 and 1870
- Sir Leander Starr Jameson became notorious in South Africa around the turn of the century. His fame is based upon which of the following?
- A. He led a famous raid against the Boer government of the Transvaal.
- B. He discovered gold in the Transvaal.
- C. He distilled the first good whiskey in Africa.
- In Shakespeare's Othello, the villainous Iago convinces Othello that his loving wife, Desdemona, is unfaithful. True or false: Enraged, Othello kills Desdemona then commits suicide.
- Welsh buccaneer Sir Henry Morgan sacked cities in Venezuela and Panama. True or false: For his success against the Spanish Empire, Morgan became lieutenant governor of Jamaica.
- Lola Montez (1818-1861) was the mistress of such notables as composer Franz Liszt, novelist Alexandre Dumas, and King Louis I of Bavaria. Where was she born?
- A. Brazil
- B. Costa Rica
- C. Ireland
- True or false: Former Nicaraguan Minister of Culture Ernesto Cardenal, a poet and author, gained notoriety entirely from his writing, which supported the Communist Sandinistas.
- Alfred Hitchcock directed the 1946 film Notorious, starring Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains. Where was the film set?
- A. Argentina
- B. Brazil
- C. Colombia
Answers
- True. But he called off the march when it began to rain.
- B. A bushranger in Australian slang, Ned Kelly was captured and hung in 1880.
- True. In the Twenties, West was sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for the content of a play she wrote.
- C. Several hundred Irish-born veterans of the US Civil War, known as the Fenian Brotherhood, attempted and failed to conquer Canada and trade it for Irish independence.
- A. Jameson failed in his attempt to overthrow the government of the Transvaal so it could be annexed as a British colony.
- True. Iago's duplicity is then exposed, and he is arrested.
- True. Sir Henry Morgan died a wealthy and respected man in Jamaica in August 1688.
- C. Marie Dolores Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was born in Limerick, Ireland. Lola Montez was her stage name.
- False. Cardenal, also a Catholic priest, openly defied Pope John Paul II's ban on the participation of the clergy in government.
- B. Much of the action takes place in Rio de Janeiro.