Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. Where and when did these shootings occur?
Two
At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, which female German athlete won gold in the long jump?
Three
Whose single Try Again was Grammy nominated in 2000?
Four
What words describes each of these: a creature which is active in the daytime; one which is active at night; and a creature which is active at dawn or dusk?
Five
What is the largest public park in New York City, and in which borough is it located?
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was born on 21 April 1926. To the nearest year how long did she reign?
Answer: 71 years.
Elizabeth II, born on 21 April 1926, was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death in 2022 — 70 years and 214 days — the longest reign of any British monarch. She was queen regnant of 32 states and monarch of 15 at her death. Educated privately, she served in World War II and married Philip Mountbatten in 1947. Her reign saw significant political changes and historic visits. Despite challenges, her popularity remained high. She died at 96, succeeded by Charles III.
Two
On this day In 1918, the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, Germany’s top World War I flying ace, was shot down and killed near Amiens, France. What act had a novelty song Snoopy vs. The Red Baron in the 1966 charts?
Answer: The Royal Guardsmen.
Snoopy vs. the Red Baron is a 1966 novelty song by The Royal Guardsmen, peaking at No.2 on the Hot 100 and No.1 in Australia and Canada. It sold nearly three million copies. The band released other Snoopy-themed songs, including The Return of the Red Baron and Snoopy’s Christmas.
Three
What was the musical Annie based on, and what type of work was it?
Answer: Little Orphan Annie; Newspaper comic strip.
Annie is a musical with music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Martin Charnin, and a book by Thomas Meehan, based on the 1924 comic strip Little Orphan Annie. It premiered in 1977, ran for nearly six years, won seven Tony Awards, and features popular songs like ‘Tomorrow‘ and ‘It’s the Hard Knock Life‘.
Four
Whose visit to a Caribbean Island nation in 1966 led to the annual celebration of April 21st as Grounation Day?
Answer: Haile Selassie.
In 1966, the Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie I, believed by many Rastas to be the Second Coming of Christ, arrived in Jamaica for a visit. This event is now celebrated annually in the Rastafari movement as Grounation Day, specifically on April 21.
Five
According to legend Rome was founded in what century?
Answer: 8th Century BCE
Ancient Rome, spanning from 753 BCE to 476 CE, evolved from a small Italic settlement into a dominant Mediterranean power. It encompassed the Roman Kingdom, Republic, and Empire, controlling vast territories including North Africa, Egypt, and much of Europe. At its peak in CE 117, it covered 5 million square kilometres with 50-90 million people. Rome’s influence on language, law, architecture, and governance persists, inspiring modern republics and achieving remarkable technological feats like aqueducts and roads. In Ancient Rome, its founding by Romulus was celebrated annually on April 21st.
The Royal Guardsmen
The post title had nothing to do with question one, but everything to do with question two.
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom was born on 21 April 1926. To the nearest year how long did she reign?
Two
On this day In 1918, the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, Germany’s top World War I flying ace, was shot down and killed near Amiens, France. What act had a novelty song Snoopy vs. The Red Baron in the 1966 charts?
Three
What was the musical Annie based on, and what type of work was it?
Four
Whose visit to a Caribbean Island nation in 1966 led to the annual celebration of April 21st as Grounation Day?
Five
According to legend Rome was founded in what century?
All of the questions today relate to the date, April 20th.
One
In 1968, Pierre Trudeau became prime minister of Canada. What political party did he represent?
Answer: Liberal Party.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919–2000) was Canada’s prime minister from 1968 to 1979 and again from 1980 to 1984. A charismatic Liberal leader, he established diplomatic ties with China, improved relations with France, and opposed Quebec separatism. Trudeau’s tenure saw Canada achieve constitutional independence from Britain with a new constitution and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He previously practised law and taught at the University of Montreal before entering politics. He led Canada through economic challenges, minority governments, and the October Crisis of 1970. Trudeau resigned in 1984, leaving a legacy of constitutional reform and progressive social policies.
Two
In 2008, the IndyCar Japan race was won by a female driver, the first time a woman had won an IndyCar event. Who was this driver?
Answer: Danica Patrick.
At the time of writing (April 2026), Danica Patrick is the only woman to have won in IndyCar. Danica Patrick was born on 25 March 1982 in Beloit, Wisconsin. She is a pioneering American former racing driver known for her achievements in both the IndyCar Series and the NASCAR Cup Series. She began karting at age 10, winning the World Karting Association Grand National Championship three times, and left high school at 16 to race in the UK, where she placed second in the 2000 Formula Ford festival. Returning to the United States in 2002, she competed in the Toyota Formula Atlantic. Patrick made history in 2005 by becoming the first woman to lead the Indianapolis 500 and the first woman to win an IndyCar championship event. Her career highlights include being Rookie of the Year in 2005, achieving a third-place finish at the 2009 Indianapolis 500, and setting a pole position at the 2013 Daytona 500. She competed in the IndyCar Series from 2005 to 2011 and the NASCAR Cup Series from 2012 to 2018, retiring after the 2018 Indy 500. Patrick is the most successful woman in American open-wheel racing, with her 2008 Indy Japan 300 win being the only victory by a woman in IndyCar.
Three
In 1968, the Conservative Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Enoch Powell, made a speech which was about immigration. He referred to it as his ‘Birmingham Speech’, but it came to be known by what three words?
Answer: Rivers of Blood.
Enoch Powell’s ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, delivered on 20 April 1968 in Birmingham, criticised post-WWII Commonwealth immigration to the UK and opposed the Race Relations Bill, which became the Race Relations Act 1968. Named after a prophecy from Virgil’s Aeneid, the speech was controversial, showcasing Powell’s classical scholarship. It expressed foreboding about the future, using the Roman prophecy of the River Tiber flowing with blood to symbolise impending doom and significant conflict, highlighting Powell’s deep concern.
Four
Who, on 20 April 1534, sailed from France with a Royal Commission to find a western passage to India?
Answer: Jacques Cartier.
On 20 April 1534, Cartier set sail under a royal commission to find a western passage to the East Indies. After a 20-day ocean crossing, he explored Newfoundland, the Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. He returned to France in September 1534, believing he had reached Asia.
Five
In 1152, after an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of … won sole control of the Kingdom of … from his mother Melisandre. What one word fills both the gaps in the preceding sentence?
Answer: Jerusalem.
Baldwin III, born in 1130, was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1163, succeeding his parents, Fulk and Melisende. Initially co-ruling with Melisende until 1152, he asserted his authority through military campaigns, notably conquering Ascalon in 1153. Baldwin expanded the kingdom’s borders, managed the Principality of Antioch, and allied with Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, marrying his niece Theodora. He died in 1163, succeeded by his brother Amalric, without leaving children.
All of the questions today relate to the date, April 20th.
One
In 1968, Pierre Trudeau became prime minister of Canada. What political party did he represent?
Two
In 2008, the IndyCar Japan race was won by a female driver, the first time a woman had won an IndyCar event. Who was this driver?
Three
In 1968, the Conservative Member of Parliament and Shadow Secretary of State for Defence, Enoch Powell, made a speech which was about immigration. He referred to it as his ‘Birmingham Speech’, but it came to be known by what three words?
Four
Who, on 20 April 1534, sailed from France with a Royal Commission to find a western passage to India?
Five
In 1152, after an eight-year conflict, Baldwin III of … won sole control of the Kingdom of … from his mother Melisandre. What one word fills both the gaps in the preceding sentence?
On 19 April 1999, in politics, what returned to Berlin for the first time in almost fifty years, and where had it returned from?
Answers: Bundestag; Bonn.
The first German Bundestag, the West German parliament, convened in Bonn on 7 September 1949. The Bundestag remained in Bonn until after reunification of Germany, when it returned to Berlin on 19 April 1999.
Two
In 1775, during the opening stages of a revolutionary war, a city was besieged for eleven months from April 19th. What city?
Answer: Boston.
The Siege of Boston (1775-1776) marked the start of the American Revolutionary War. American forces, led by George Washington, besieged the British Army in Boston, ultimately forcing their retreat to Nova Scotia after eleven months.
Three
Observed on April 19th, a celebratory day remembering an experiment where a chemist intentionally ingested LSD, documented it and then went home. What is the day called?
Answer: Bicycle Day.
On 19 April 1943, a few days after accidentally discovering LSD’s effects, which he believed had potential in psychiatry and neurology, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested it and documented the first acid trip. After this experiment, he cycled home, leading to the observance of Bicycle Day, as Encyclopædia Britannica comments, ‘And now April 19 is observed as Bicycle Day—mostly by LSD enthusiasts, not cyclists’.
Four
A poet and playwright who died this day in 1824, first became a celebrity with the publication of the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812. Who is this poet?
Answer: Byron.
George Gordon Byron, a prominent British Romantic poet, is renowned for works like Don Juan and Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. He lived in Italy for seven years, befriending Percy Bysshe Shelley, and later joined the Greek War of Independence, becoming a folk hero before his death at 36. Byron, along with Shelley and Keats, was a major figure in the second generation of English Romantic writers and was a literary celebrity known for both his poetry and personality.
Five
IIn 2011, Fidel Castro resigned from Cuba’s Communist Party central committee. The following March, in his role as an elder statesman, Castro briefly met a visiting dignitary, the sixteenth of the name. Who was this dignitary?
Answer: (Pope) Benedict XVI.
On 19 April 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee, thus stepping down as First Secretary. Raúl was selected as his successor. Now without any official role in the country’s government, he took on the role of an elder statesman. In late March 2012, Pope Benedict XVI visited Cuba for three days, during which time he briefly met with Castro despite the Pope’s vocal opposition to Cuba’s government.
Bits and Bobs
The title is simply another way of saying bits and pieces, an assortment. It was chosen as the title as all the answers begin with the letter B.
On 19 April 1999, in politics, what returned to Berlin for the first time in almost fifty years, and where had it returned from?
Two
In 1775, during the opening stages of a revolutionary war, a city was besieged for eleven months from April 19th. What city?
Three
Observed on April 19th, a celebratory day remembering an experiment where a chemist intentionally ingested LSD, documented it and then went home. What is the day called?
Four
A poet and playwright who died this day in 1824, first became a celebrity with the publication of the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage in 1812. Who is this poet?
Five
IIn 2011, Fidel Castro resigned from Cuba’s Communist Party central committee. The following March, in his role as an elder statesman, Castro briefly met a visiting dignitary, the sixteenth of the name. Who was this dignitary?
The Fairy Tale, a painting by James Sant in 1845. Image Wikimedia Commons
Once upon a time, on today’s date, a wedding which was described as a fairy tale was celebrated. The first question is about that wedding, while the remainder are about opening lines which could be considered modern versions of ‘Once Upon A Time’.
One
This actress, who had starred in High Noon in 1952 and won the Best Actress Academy Award for The Country Girl in 1954, retired from acting in 1956 to marry in Europe. Who is she, and who did she marry?
Answer: Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
Grace Kelly made her film debut in Fourteen Hours (1951) and quickly rose to stardom with roles in High Noon (1952) and Mogambo (1953). Her performance in The Country Girl (1954) earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. In Monaco on 18 April 1956, she married Prince Rainier III in a civil ceremony, with a second religious ceremony taking place the next day. Now known as Her Serene Highness Princess Grace of Monaco, she and her husband had three children. Grace focused on children’s rights and the arts, founding the Princess Grace Foundation and AMADE Mondiale. She died in a car crash in 1982, aged 52. Her son, Prince Albert established the Princess Grace Awards in 1984.
The remaining questions are about opening words, which could be considered a modern equivalent of ‘Once Upon a Time’.
Two
What work of historical fiction published in the mid-nineteenth century opens with the line ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’, and who wrote it?
Answers: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
A Tale of Two Cities, published in 1859 by Charles Dickens, is a historical novel set in London and Paris during the French Revolution. It follows Doctor Manette’s 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille and his reunion with his daughter Lucie in London. The novel explores the conditions leading to the Revolution and the Reign of Terror. Renowned as Dickens’s best-known historical fiction, it ranks 63rd on the BBC’s The Big Read poll and has inspired numerous adaptations.
Three
This Lego product, which debuted in 2001 in an online game, has appeared in comics, books, movies, and animations where it is associated with the opening words ‘In the time before time …’. What product is this?
Answer: Bionicle.
Bionicle, a discontinued Lego line launched in 2001, featured biomechanical heroes called Toa. The theme, which included books, comics, games and films, was a major success and influenced later Lego themes.
Four
In the Star Wars universe what ten words open the nine ‘Skywalker saga’ films?
Answer: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Each Star Wars film, from the original episodes IV, V, and VI; the prequels, I, II, and III; and the sequels, VII, VIII, and XI, opens with the same text, logo, episode number, subtitle, and a three-paragraph summary beginning with ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…’
Five
In music, which 1971 chart-topper begins with the phrase ‘A long, long time ago…’, and what singer-songwriter wrote and recorded it?
Answer: American Pie by Don McLean.
American Pie by Don McLean, released in 1971, became a number-one hit in the US in 1972 and topped charts in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. It reached number 2 in the UK. The song, at 8 minutes and 42 seconds, was the longest to reach number one until 2021. Its lyrics, including the phrase ‘the day the music died’, reflect cultural changes and loss of innocence after the 1959 plane crash in which Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper all died. McLean’s original recording was preserved in the US National Recording Registry in 2017. He celebrated its 50th anniversary with a 2022 European tour.
The Fairy Tale, a painting by James Sant in 1845. Image Wikimedia Commons
Once upon a time, on today’s date, a wedding which was described as a fairy tale was celebrated. The first question is about that wedding, while the remainder are about opening lines which could be considered modern versions of ‘Once Upon A Time’.
One
This actress, who had starred in High Noon in 1952 and won the Best Actress Academy Award for The Country Girl in 1954, retired from acting in 1956 to marry in Europe. Who is she, and who did she marry?
The remaining questions are about opening words, which could be considered a modern equivalent of ‘Once Upon a Time’.
Two
What work of historical fiction published in the mid-nineteenth century opens with the line ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…’, and who wrote it?
Three
This Lego product, which debuted in 2001 in an online game, has appeared in comics, books, movies, and animations where it is associated with the opening words ‘In the time before time …’. What product is this?
Four
In the Star Wars universe what ten words open the nine ‘Skywalker saga’ films?
Five
In music, which 1971 chart-topper begins with the phrase ‘A long, long time ago…’, and what singer-songwriter wrote and recorded it?
The first question today relates to the date, April 17th. The rest follows a theme but I’m not going to say what that theme is.
Martin Luther appearing before Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, at the Diet of Worms. Image Encyclopædia Britannica
One
On 17 April 1521, Martin Luther made his initial appearance at the Diet of Worms which eventually found him to be a heretic and enemy of the state. In what modern country is Worms?
Answer: Germany.
Martin Luther, a German priest and theologian, was a key figure in the Protestant Reformation. He challenged the Catholic Church’s teachings, particularly on indulgences and papal authority, and translated the Bible into German, making it more accessible to ordinary people. Luther’s beliefs, emphasising justification by faith alone and the authority of the Bible, laid the foundation for Lutheranism.
Following on in the theme …
Two
Ben Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. In what two classes did he win his four gold and one silver medal?
Answer: Laser and Finn.
Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie is a British competitive sailor and the most successful Olympian in sailing history. He is CEO of Athena Sports Group and a Patron of the 1851 Trust which supports young people in sailing and STEM education.
Three
List the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle?
Answer: Eggs, caterpillar larva, pupa and adult (or butterfly).
Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis through a four-stage life cycle like other holometabolous insects. Winged adults lay eggs on plant leaves where their caterpillars, or larvae, will feed. These caterpillars grow rapidly and eventually pupate in a chrysalis. Once metamorphosis is complete the pupal skin splits revealing the adult butterfly which then climbs out, dries its wings and flies away.
Four
Name the planets in the solar system?
Answer: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
The Solar System, formed 4.6 billion years ago, consists of the Sun and orbiting bodies, including eight planets. The Sun, comprising 99.86% of the system’s mass, fuses hydrogen into helium, creating the heliosphere. The system also includes dwarf planets, small bodies like asteroids and comets, and natural satellites, or moons.
Five
Can you name the states between Louisiana and Ohio in an alphabetical list of US states?
Answer: Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina and North Dakota.
Sixteen states, eight with names starting with M and, eight with N.
Double Trouble
Today’s title refers to each question doubling the number of answers. Question one has only one answer which was obvious in the question and then number two asks for two answers. You had to work out that the remaining double each time so four, eight and finally sixteen for question five.
Quizology.Online 