Today’s Answers
U.S. Pres. Bill Clinton signing the Oslo II Accords flanked by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left) and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (right) at the White House. September 28, 1995.
Image Encyclopædia Britannica
Today’s theme centres on the date alone: five unrelated questions linked only by 28 September.
One
On this day, The Oslo II Accords, formally known as the Israeli–Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which outlined the extension of Palestinian self-rule to additional population centres beyond Gaza and Jericho were signed at the White House. Who are the three people seated at the table in the above photograph?
Answers: Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (left), US President Bill Clinton and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat (right).
This image captures the signing of the Oslo II Accord in September 1995. The accords, which represented a major step in the peace process, were first signed in Taba, Sinai, Egypt, on September 24, 1995, between Israel and the PLO. The highly visible signing on September 28, 1995, in Washington D.C., saw Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat formally execute the agreement, witnessed by US President Bill Clinton, along with representatives from key international guarantors including Russia, Egypt, Jordan, Norway, and the European Union.
Two
In tennis, Althea Gibson was the first African American to win a Grand Slam championship in the 1950s. Who became the next non-white woman to do so, and in what decade did she do so?
Answers: Evonne Goolagong; 1970s.
Althea Gibson, who was born on this day, won the French Open (1956), Wimbledon (1957 and 1958), and US National (1957 and 1958) (now the U.S. Open). Evonne Goolagong Cawley, an Australian Aboriginal, won the French Open in 1971, the Australian Open (1974, ‘75, ‘76 and ‘77) and Wimbledon (1971 and 1980).
Three
The actress Brigitte Bardot, who was born on this day, starred in a 1956 film which…
… is widely recognised as the vehicle that launched Bardot into the public spotlight and immediately created her “sex kitten” persona.
— Wikipedia
What film, and who was the film’s director?
Answer: And God Created Woman; Roger Vadim.
After retiring from acting in 1973, Brigitte Bardot dedicated herself to animal rights, establishing her own foundation and receiving accolades from the UN and PETA. However, she has also been a controversial figure due to her far-right political views and has faced multiple fines for inciting racial hatred and making public insults against Muslims in France and residents of Réunion.
Four
On what day in 1066 was the Norman ruler William crowned king of England, following his conquest of the country after landing on the south coast on this day in 1066; and what English king was defeated at Hastings?
Answer: Christmas Day (or 25 December); Harold Godwinson (or Harold II).
After securing his hold on England by 1075, William I spent much of his remaining years moving between England and Normandy. His final years were marked by family disputes, threats of invasion and the great Domesday survey of 1085–86. When he died in 1087, Normandy passed to his eldest son Robert, while England went to his second son, William Rufus.
Five
On this day California was ‘discovered’ by a European who became the first such to stand on the west coast of America. Who was he, and in what decade did he first stand on this coast?
- Francisco de Orozco
- Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo
- Hernán Cortés
Answer: Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo. 1540s.
Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese maritime explorer who investigated the west coast of North America for the Spanish Empire. He is best known as the first European to explore present-day Alta California, navigating its coast between 1542 and 1543.
