Mrs Bond | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown highlighted below.

One

The actress who played Countess Teresa ‘Tracy’ di Vicenzo in the Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) was born 20 July 1938. Who was she?

• Diana Rigg
• Jill St. John
• Shirley Eaton

Answer: Diana Rigg

Dame Enid Rigg was an English actress known for roles in The Avengers, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and Game of Thrones. She won a Tony Award for her role in Medea and received numerous accolades for her contributions to drama.

All three were Bond Girls with Jill St John appearing as Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever and Shirley Eaton as Jill Masterson in Goldfinger.

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Two

Edmund Hillary, one of the first two men to reach the summit of Mount Everest, was born 20 July 1919. In what city was he born?

• Auckland, New Zealand
• Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
• Canberra, Australia

Answer: Auckland, New Zealand

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition became the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest using the South Col route. The news of their success reached London on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

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Three

Claus von Stauffenberg, a German army officer, is most renowned for his unsuccessful attempt on 20 July 1944, to assassinate Adolf Hitler. At which of Hitler’s headquarters was this attempt executed?

• Felsennest, (Rocky Eyrie), Bad Münstereifel
• Kehlsteinhaus (Eagle’s Nest), above Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria
• Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), East Prussia

Answer: Wolfsschanze (Wolf’s Lair), East Prussia

On 20 July 1944, German resistance members, led by Claus von Stauffenberg, attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. The assassination attempt failed, and the subsequent coup d’état, codenamed ‘Operation Valkyrie’, was quickly suppressed by the Nazi regime, resulting in the execution of many conspirators including von Stauffenberg.

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Four

On 20 July 1992, Václav Havel resigned as president of…

• Albania
• Bulgaria
• Czechoslovakia

Answer: Czechoslovakia

In 1990, Czechoslovakia held its first free elections in 44 years, resulting in a victory for Civic Forum and Public Against Violence. Despite increasing tensions and the Slovak Declaration of Independence, Václav Havel supported the retention of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic and resigned as president in 1992. When the Czech Republic was created as one of two successor states, Havel successfully stood for election as its first president on 26 January 1993.

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Five

On July 20, 1969, during the Apollo 11 mission, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin (Buzz Aldrin) landed on the Moon in the Lunar Module Eagle. How long did they remain on the Moon between the Eagle’s landing and the ascent stage’s departure for their return journey?

• 21 hours and 36 minutes
• 24 hours and 3 minutes
• 32 hours and 28 minutes

Answer: 21 hours and 36 minutes

On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the Moon’s surface in the Eagle lunar module. During the descent, they encountered programme alarms and navigated through a boulder-strewn area. Armstrong successfully landed Eagle with only 216 pounds of fuel remaining, signalling to Mission Control, ‘Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed’.

After a longer-than-expected preparation period, Armstrong became the first human to step onto the Moon’s surface, famously declaring, ‘That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’.

Armstrong and Aldrin deployed scientific instruments, collected rock samples, and planted a flag on the Moon and left behind memorial items, including a message disk with goodwill statements from world leaders. After a 21 hours and 36 minutes, they safely lifted off in the LM ascent stage to rejoin Michael Collins in lunar orbit.