Try to remember the kind of September…

How much did you know about these September events?

Multiple choice.

1. In September, 1715, the Sun King died. Who was the Sun King?
   
   • a. Louis XIV of France. (He had costumes.)
2. In September, 1969, Muammar Gaddafi came to power in Libya. What did US President Ronald Reagan call the Libyan leader?
   
   • a. The mad dog of the Middle East. (He was always saying things like that.)
3. In September, 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out. Where did it start?
   
   • a. Pudding Lane. (Its claim to fame.)
4. In September, 1752, Britain switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. Why did Britons protest?
   
   • a. They wanted the missing eleven days back. (We're not really surprised. Actually, the change messed up a lot of liturgical and seasonal festivals, causing much confusion.)
5. In September, 1833, the first penny newspaper began publishing. It specialised in sensational stories and human interest. What was it called?
   
   • a. The New York Sun. (Which later published that Moon Hoax.)
6. In September, 1999, the German Parliament moved back to Berlin. They left their government buildings in the old temporary capital of Bonn for UN use. What is the nickname of the office building they gave up?
   
   • a. Tall Eugene. (Chancellor Eugen Gerstenmaier was short, d'you see…)
7. In September, 1776, the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted to name their new country the United States of America. What was it called before that?
   
   • a. The United Colonies. (Although we like 'Lower Canada'.)
8. In September, 1620, 102 Pilgrims set sail for the New World. What port did they sail from?
   
   • a. Plymouth. (If they'd been in Cowes, they wouldn't have left, of course.)
9. In September, 1810, revolution broke out in Mexico. What did Dolores Hidalgo have to do with it?
   
   • a. It was the name of the town where the revolution started. (Tricky, those Mexican placenames.)
10. In September, 1908, an aeronautical first occurred. What was it?
    
    • a. The first airplane crash fatality. (The plane fell 75 feet and killed Orville Wright's passenger, 26-year-old Thomas Selfridge, in front of 2,000 people.)

How did you do? We promise not to do that with the answers again, but hey, we made you think anyway.

Dmitri Gheorgheni

07.09.15 Front Page

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