Tag: US president

Cream of the Crop

Eric Clapton.
Wikipedia

All of the following have a connection to today, 30 March.

  1. On this day in 1945, British rock musician Eric Clapton was born. In 1968, Clapton appeared in a temporary supergroup with John Lennon. Which of the following was the name of the supergroup?
    • The Dirty Mac
    • The Dirty Look
    • The Dirty Laundry
  2. On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was the victim of a failed assassination attempt by John Hinckley, Jr. An obsession with whom was the motivation behind Hinckley’s attack on the President?
    • Carrie Fisher
    • Jane Fonda
    • Jodie Foster
  3. William H. Seward, the Secretary of State under U.S. President Andrew Johnson, signed the Alaska Purchase on 30th March. This treaty ceded Russian North America to the United States. Who was the Russian Tsar at the time of the purchase?
    • Alexander II
    • Catherine II
    • Nicholas II
  4. Today in 2025, Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, passed away in her sleep at Windsor at the age of 101. She was the queen consort of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1936 to 1952 and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II. Where was her childhood home and the birthplace of her second daughter, Princess Margaret?
    • Edinburgh Castle
    • Glamis Castle
    • Eilean Donan Castle
  5. On this day in 1296, England’s King Edward I sacked a town that had changed hands over a dozen times from the 12th to the 15th century. Which town was it?
    • Carlisle
    • Kelso
    • Berwick-upon-Tweed
Edward I of England.
Wikipedia

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

March 29th Mind Benders: Fart Powder to Firsts in the White House! | Answers

The answers to my earlier post are shown in bold below.

Jo Nesbø.
Wikipedia
  1. Jo Nesbø—a Norwegian author and musician, is best known for his crime novels featuring Inspector Harry Hole. He has also written children’s books, including Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder and a retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
    Map of Newfoundland by Vincenzo Coronelli, 1692.
    Library of Congress/Wikipedia
  2. Newfoundland—The British colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada were united as the new Dominion of Canada. At the same time, the Province of Canada was split into Ontario and Quebec. Newfoundland did not become a Canadian province until 31 March 1949.
    John Major, 1993. Wikipedia
  3. John Major—a British politician, served as Prime Minister from 1990 to 1997, leading the Conservative Party and overseeing the UK’s negotiations over the Maastricht Treaty. Despite an economic recovery, his government faced unpopularity and lost the 1997 general election to the Labour Party. His father had been a circus performer and music hall entertainer.
    A terracotta general.
    Wikipedia
  4. 210–209 BCE—The Terracotta Army, a collection of life-size sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, was discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, China. The figures, dating from the late 200s BCE, include warriors, chariots, and horses, and are estimated to number over 8,000.
    Letita Tyler.
    Wikipedia
    Julia Gardiner Tyler.
    Wikipedia
  5. John Tyler—Born on 29 March 1790, John Tyler served as President from 1841 to 1845, taking office upon the death of President William Henry Harrison. Tragically, First Lady Letitia Tyler became the first president’s wife to die in the White House. In 1844, Tyler made history by marrying Julia Gardiner, becoming the first president to marry while in office.
John Tyler.
Wikipedia

March 29th Mind Benders: Fart Powder to Firsts in the White House!

Terracotta Army.
Wikipedia

All of the following are connected to today’s date, 29 March.

  1. Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder, originally published in 2007, was the first children’s book by which author whose birthday it is today?
    • Henning Mankell
    • Jo Nesbø
    • Dag Solstad
  2. On this day in 1867, the British North America Act united colonies in a new Dominion of Canada. Which of these was NOT included in this new Dominion?
    • Newfoundland
    • Nova Scotia
    • New Brunswick
  3. A former British prime minister who was born this day, wrote a book about the history of cricket, More Than a Game: The Story of Cricket’s Early Years and another about music hall, My Old Man: A Personal History of Music Hall. Who is this prime minister?
    • John Major
    • Tony Blair
    • Gordon Brown
  4. The Terracotta Army, a collection of life-size sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, was discovered in 1974 by local farmers in Lintong County, China. The figures date from when?
    • 210–209 BCE
    • 406–407 CE
    • 1153–1154 CE
  5. A US President born on this day holds the distinction of being connected to two firsts during his tenure in office. Tragically, his wife became the first First Lady to pass away within the White House walls. A few years later, he made history as the first president to marry while in office. Can you identify this president?
    • John Tyler
    • James Buchanan
    • Millard Fillmore
Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder,
Front cover (cropped).

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How II | Answers

Here are the answers to my earlier post.

Calvin Coolidge.
Wikipedia
  1. Calvin Coolidge—was US President on the 26 March 1925. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th US President, served from 1923 to 1929. He is known for his small-government conservatism, taciturn personality, and support for racial equality. Coolidge oversaw economic growth during the “Roaring Twenties” but is criticised for failing to address economic inequality and for his potential role in the Great Depression.
  2. World War I—The First Battle of Gaza, fought on 26 March 1917, was a British defeat during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. The British Desert Column, nearing capture of Gaza, withdrew due to darkness and Ottoman reinforcements.
  3. 2000—Vladimir Putin, a former KGB officer, has served as President of Russia since 2012, with previous terms from 2000 to 2008. His rule has been marked by economic growth, military conflicts, authoritarian tendencies, and human rights violations. Putin’s actions have led to international sanctions and a war crimes warrant.
    Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat with U.S. president Jimmy Carter at Camp David in September 1978.
    Wikipedia
  4. Camp David, Maryland—the Camp David Accord was reached the previous September (1978) when President Carter hosted Egypt’s President Sadat and Israel’s Prime Minister Begin at his Maryland retreat.
  5. They believed a spacecraft was arriving to take them as immortal extraterrestrials to a better place—
  6. 16-years—

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How II

Kremlin, Moscow.
Wikipedia

All of the following relate to today’s date, 26 March.

  1. Who was the president of the United States of America 100 years ago today, 26 March 1925?
    • Warren G. Harding
    • Calvin Coolidge
    • Herbert Hoover
  2. What conflict saw the First Battle of Gaza take place on this date?
    • The Six Day War
    • World War I
    • World War II
  3. When was Vladimir Putin, a Russian intelligence officer and politician, elected president of Russia for the first time.
    • 2000
    • 2004
    • 2006
  4. Where did talks, mediated by US President Jimmy Carter, between Menachem Begin, the Israeli Prime Minister, and President Anwar Sadat of Egypt take place? These talks led to an historic peace treaty between Israel and Egypt that was signed on 26 March 1979.
    • Camp David, Maryland
    • Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
    • Plains, Georgia
  5. Why did these members of Heaven’s Gate kill themselves? On 26 March 1997 the bodies of 39 members of Heaven’s Gate were found after a mass suicide.
    • They believed they alone would be reincarnated as gods in an earthly paradise
    • They believed a spacecraft was arriving to take them as immortal extraterrestrials to a better place
    • They believed they had to poison themselves to meet Jesus
  6. How long had this interlude lasted? After a hiatus, the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who made a triumphant return to television with a new episode in which Christopher Eccleston reprised the iconic role of the Doctor.
    • 6-years
    • 10-years
    • 16-years

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Tardis
Wikipedia

Sheelah’s Day—Answers

Here, in bold, are the answers to the questions I posted earlier.

Sophie Myles, 2007.
Wikipedia
  1. Sophia Myles—Wikipedia describes her as “an English actress… best known in film for portraying Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in Thunderbirds(2004), Isolde in Tristan & Isolde (2006), Darcy in Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014), Erika in Underworld(2003) and Underworld: Evolution (2006), and Freya in Outlander (2008)”.
  2. Caldwell, New Jersey—Stephen Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th US President, was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War and the first to serve two non-consecutive terms. Known for his honesty and principled approach, he blocked legislative excesses during his first term and championed political reform, fiscal conservatism, and classical liberalism, gaining support from both Democrats and Republicans. His presidency saw significant legislation such as the Interstate Commerce Act and the Dawes Act. However, his stance on government intervention during the economic collapse and the legacy of the Dawes Act have resulted in mixed assessments of his legacy.
    Wilfred Owen
    Wikipedia
  3. Wilfred Owen, an English poet and soldier, expressed anger at war’s cruelty and waste through his poetry. Based on his World War I experiences, his war poetry was about the horrors of trenches and gas warfare. At only 25 years of age, he was killed in action at the Battle of the Sambre on 4 November 1918, exactly a week before the war’s end. His best-known works— most of which were published posthumously— are Anthem for Doomed Youth, Dulce et Decorum est, Futility, and Spring Offensive. 

    Final draft of Anthem for Doomed Youth by Wilfred Owen, penned by the author.
    Wikipedia
    Honoree Queen Latifah speaks at the Kennedy Center Honors dinner at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Saturday, December 2, 2023. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)
    Wikipedia
  4. Queen Latifah—American musician and actress. She rose to fame in the late 1980s with her debut album, All Hail the Queen, which blended diverse styles and feminist themes. The name Latifah is Arabic for “delicate” or “sensitive”.
  5. Neville Chamberlain—Prime Minister of the UK from 1937 to 1940—is known for his policy of appeasement towards Hitler’s Germany. He served in various government positions, including Chancellor of the Exchequer, before becoming Prime Minister. Despite signing the Munich Agreement with Hitler in 1938, the latter’s invasion of Poland less than a year later compelled Chamberlain to declare war on Germany.
Chamberlain holding up the paper signed by both Hitler and himself on his return to Great Britain from Munich, Germany.
Wikipedia

Sheelah’s Day

Sheelah’s Day is celebrated on 18 March, the day after Saint Patrick’s Day, and is observed in the Irish diaspora in Australia and Canada. Although there are no Sheelahs included in my post today, all of the questions are about people born on 18 March.

Sheelah’s Day

Shamrock
Wikipedia

Sheelah’s Day is celebrated on 18 March the day after Saint Patrick’s Day and is observed in the Irish diaspora in Australia and Canada. No Sheelah’s included here today but all of the following are about people born on 18 March.

  1. Born 1980. Actress who links the following roles: Penelope (in 2004), Isolde (2006), Erika (2003 and 2006), Darcy (2014) and Freya (2008). Who is she?
    • Rose Keegan
    • Sophia Myles
    • Lucy Russell
    Grover Cleveland
    Wikipedia
  2. Born 1837, Grover Cleveland, served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Where was he born?
    • Amherst, New Hampshire
    • Brighton, New York
    • Caldwell, New Jersey
  3. Anthem for Doomed Youth was written by a war poet born this day in 1893. Who was he?
    • Rupert Brook
    • Wilfred Owen
    • Siegfried Sassoon
  4. Who is Dana Elaine Owens, born 18 March 1970, a musician and actress, better known as?
    • Lauryn Hill
    • Missy Elliott
    • Queen Latifah
  5. Born today in 1869, this British prime minister returned from Germany with a “piece of paper” promising to “have brought you back peace — but a peace I hope with honour.” Who was he?
    • Stanley Baldwin
    • Neville Chamberlain
    • Winston Churchill

Good luck! I will post the answers later today.

Interments to Independence: Navigating Anarchy’s Introduction—Answers


The body of former President and Chief Justice William Howard Taft lies in repose in the United States Capitol rotunda.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Taft_funeral_LCCN2016820348.jpg
  1. William Howard Taft—Taft lay in state at the United States Capitol rotunda. On 11 March, he became the first president and first member of the Supreme Court to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. James Earle Fraser sculpted his grave marker out of Stony Creek granite.
    Ned Ludd
    Wikipedia
  2. Someone’s name—Ned Ludd, allegedly a weaver from near Leicester in England, is famously linked to the destruction of knitting frames in 1779. This act, reportedly due to being whipped or taunted, is first mentioned in The Nottingham Review on 20 December 1811, though its truth is unverified. John Blackner’s 1811 book offers a different account of a lad named “Ludlam,” who, instructed by his father to “square his needles,” destroyed them with a hammer. The story spread, and whenever frames were sabotaged, people humorously attributed it to “Ned Ludd,” contributing to the legend of the Luddites.
  3. 1959—In the 1950s, Hawaiʻi’s political landscape shifted as descendants of immigrant labourers, U.S. citizens, broke the plantation owners’ power by voting against the Hawaiʻi Republican Party, supported by plantation owners, and for the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi. This shift led to Democratic dominance in territorial and state politics for over 40 years. Residents campaigned for statehood to gain full congressional and Electoral College representation. Initially, Hawaiʻi was expected to be a Republican stronghold, prompting its admission alongside Alaska, a Democratic stronghold. However, by 2017, Hawaiʻi generally voted Democratic, while Alaska typically voted Republican, contrary to initial predictions.
  4. Penicillin—Penicillin, discovered in 1928 by Alexander Fleming from the Penicillium mold, was found to inhibit bacterial growth, specifically Staphylococcus aureus. Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain later isolated and purified it, making it therapeutically available by 1941. Naturally occurring penicillins, like penicillin G and V, differ in acid stability and administration methods. Semisynthetic versions offer enhanced properties. Penicillins operate by disrupting bacterial cell wall synthesis, targeting actively replicating bacteria without harming human cells. Bacterial resistance led to penicillinase-resistant variants, though challenges like MRSA persist. Side effects include hypersensitivity reactions, ranging from mild rashes to rare, severe anaphylactic shock.
    Flag of Lithuania.
    Wikipedia
  5. Lithuania—On 11 March 1990, Lithuania’s Supreme Council declared independence, becoming the first Soviet-occupied state to do so. In response, the Soviets imposed a 74-day economic blockade on 20 April 1990, causing shortages of essential goods. Despite the blockade, Lithuania maintained its independence declaration. Tensions escalated in January 1991 when a coup attempt was made using Soviet forces, but it failed due to strong public resistance, resulting in 14 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The Medininkai Massacre occurred on 31 July 1991, with 7 border guards killed. Lithuania was admitted to the United Nations on 17 September 1991.

Interments to Independence: Navigating Anarchy’s Introduction

Arlington National Cemetery east entrance
Wikipedia

Sorry that this is a few hours later today, hope you enjoy.

  1. Who, on 11 March, became the first US president to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia?
    • Ulysses S. Grant
    • William Howard Taft
    • John F. Kennedy
  2. Today in 1811, in Nottingham, England textile workers broke machinery that was taking their jobs in what was the first major Luddite riot. The term “Luddite” derives from…
    • Someone’s name
    • The riot’s location
    • The machinery’s manufacturer
  3. Hawaii was admitted into the union as the 50th US state, on 11 March in…
    • 1941
    • 1950
    • 1959
  4. In 1928, Alexander Fleming, a Scottish bacteriologist who died today in 1955, discovered…
    • Penicillin
    • Aspirin
    • Codeine
  5. The first Soviet republic to declare its independence from the USSR did so today in 1990. Which of these was it?
    • Latvia
    • Estonia
    • Lithuania

Good luck! The answers will be posted later today or tomorrow.

Fiddler’s Bridge Rings—Answers

Here are the answers to the questions posed earlier today plus some additional information.

A portrait in oils in the Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna is generally believed to be of Vivaldi.
Image Wikipedia
  1. Venice, Republic of Venice (now Italy)—Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (1678–1741) was a pivotal Italian composer and violinist of the Baroque era, known for his innovative contributions to orchestration, violin technique and the concerto form. Born in Venice, he was ordained a priest in 1703, earning the nickname Il Prete Rosso—the red priest. Vivaldi worked at the Ospedale della Pietà, composing numerous concertos, sacred works, and over fifty operas, including the famous The Four Seasons. Despite initial success, his popularity declined in the 1730s. He moved to Vienna in 1740, seeking royal support, but died in poverty. His works were rediscovered in the 1920s, reviving interest in his music.
    Forth Bridge pier off Inchgarvie Island. The Forth Road Bridge can be seen in the background.
    Image Wikipedia
  2. Edinburgh—The Forth Bridge, a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth (Estuary of the River Forth) in Scotland, was designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker in the late 1880s and opened on 4 March 1890. Initially criticised for its aesthetics, it is now a symbol of Scotland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located 9 miles west of Edinburgh, it carries the Edinburgh–Aberdeen line, is 8,094 feet (2467 m) long and features three 1,348 ft (411 m) cantilevers and two 351 ft (107 m) suspended spans, with a total clear span of 1,699 ft (518 m). Constructed with 58,000 tons of steel at a cost of £3,000,000 (£493,000,000 in 2025). Recent research by the Queensferry Historian Group has discovered that 78 men died during the construction of the bridge.
    A plaque honoring Perkins at Boston’s Logan Airport.
    Image Wikipedia
  3. Franklin D. Roosevelt—Frances Perkins was appointed Secretary of Labor on 4 March 1933. Born on 10 April 1880, in Boston she was a pioneering American workers-rights advocate and the first woman in the U.S. cabinet, serving as Secretary of Labour from 1933 to 1945 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. A key figure in the New Deal coalition, she focused on labour issues and social security policy, developing the Social Security Act in 1935. Perkins championed reforms like the minimum wage, maximum workweek, and child labour restrictions. Educated at Mount Holyoke College, Wharton School, and Columbia University, she passed away on 14 May 1965, in New York.
    Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon during a Beatles performance for Dutch television, 1964.
    Image Wikipedia
  4. John Lennon, Beatles—In 1966, during a controversial interview, John Lennon of the Beatles made a bold statement that would spark widespread debate and backlash around the world. Lennon asserted that the band had become “more popular than Jesus”. This comment was part of a larger discussion about the changing role of religion and the cultural influence of rock music, particularly among the youth of the 1960s. The remark was initially unnoticed in the UK but gained significant attention in the United States, leading to protests and record burnings by those who viewed the statement as blasphemous. Despite the uproar, the Beatles continued to dominate the music scene and influence the cultural landscape, solidifying their legacy as one of the most iconic bands in history.
  5. Voyager 1—Voyager 1, launched by NASA on September 5, 1977, is a pioneering interplanetary probe that visited Jupiter and Saturn, becoming the first spacecraft to reach interstellar space. Part of a twin mission with Voyager 2, it utilised a rare planetary alignment for a multiplanet tour. Voyager 1 discovered Jupiter’s ring and volcanic activity on Io, and revealed Saturn’s ring structures. It carries a gold-plated phonograph record with Earth’s images and sounds. By 2012, it entered interstellar space and is now the most distant human-made object. It is expected to operate until 2030.
Distance from Earth screenshot, 12:42 4 March 2025*
Image JPL NASA Voyager

*Voyager Live information can be viewed at JPL NASA Voyager.