The Post Quiz: Ancestors' Ancestors
Created | Updated Feb 1, 2015
Okay, let's go ancestor-hunting. Other people's ancestors.
The Post Quiz: Ancestors' Ancestors
History is full of the famous and the infamous. People who left 'footprints on the sands of time'1. But who were their ancestors? And were they proud of them? What about modern leaders and celebrities? Do they have historical skeletons rattling round in their closets? Take this quiz and see.
Short answers – maybe a name, maybe just a word or two. You'll be surprised at what you know, or can guess.
- What was Pliny the Younger's uncle's name? And how did this uncle die?
- What sexy goddess did Julius Caesar claim to be descended from?
- Antoine Desasure Perronette de Crocketagne, was born in 1643 in Montauban, Tarn-et-Garonne, Midi-Pyrénées, France. He died in Drumnacannon, Northern Ireland, in 1735. Who was this former musketeer's most famous descendant?
- Alert the Royal Genealogists: What renowned Romanian does Prince Charles claim as an ancestor?
- Actor and world traveller Peter Ustinov had many interesting ancestors: Russian, Armenian, German, Jewish, and Polish. What surprising nationality did he also number among his forebears?
- Former US President Jimmy Carter has ancestors going back to the US War of Independence – but his familial connections do not stop there. What legendary musician was among his distant cousins?
- It is a well-known fact that US President Barack Obama has ancestors in Kenya. But what Irish village also lays ancestral claim to him?
- The village of Bricco Marmorito, Italy, is at the foot of the Alps. What favourite son do these winegrowers celebrate?
- Deep Space Nine fans are used to lots of illustrious types: class-conscious Cardassians, Bajoran Vedeks, even visiting Daughters of the Fifth House2. But forget The Emissary: what real-life royalty lurked among the cast?
- What observant writer said, 'Humans are not proud of their ancestors, and rarely invite them round to dinner'?
Think you knew all these ancestors? Click the pic below for answers, and see if you qualify for the Royal Doulton.
1Longfellow said this. Longfellow, dear reader, was a poet and not a geologist.2Okay, the Sacred Chalice of Rixx is an old clay pot in the back of her closet. You can't have everything.
