The Post Quiz: Troubled November - Answers

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Stories from a disturbing month.

Troubled November: Answers

A US squaddie in Vietnam

If you will notice, this quiz only covers the first half of November. In the second half, Serbian leaders were arrested for genocide, Peter Zenger was jailed for exercising free speech, Lincoln made his speech over the Gettysburg battleground, news broke about the My Lai massacre…you get the idea. Not fun. A lot of gloomy news in November.

Here are the answers.

  1. On 1 November 1770, Charles II of Spain died. He was succeeded by Philip V. What war was caused by this seemingly natural event? The War of Spanish Succession. (Duh.) There have also been wars of Flemish, Thuringian, Euboeote, Limburg, Rügen, Breton, Brabant, Lüneburg, Guelderian, Burgundian, Portuguese, Polish, and Mantuan succession, to mention a few. Moral: write an ironclad will.
  2. Also on 1 November, this time in 1950. What happened to US President Harry Truman? Not much. But one of his bodyguards was killed in the assassination attempt, which took place at Blair House.
  3. 3 November 1839: what war did the British Navy start when they blew up several Chinese junks? The First Opium War. (Yeah, there was another one.)
  4. 4 November 1862: What did Richard Gatling invent, and why was it bad news? A machine gun. Big, nasty thing. Note the date: this was during the US Civil War.
  5. 5 November 1605: What was Guido up to under the Houses of Parliament? Trying to blow it up. He failed, to the glee of celebrating children all over Britain on Guy Fawkes Night.
  6. 7 November 1917: What happened in Petrograd? The Bolsheviks took over. The rest, as they say, is history.
  7. 8 November 1923: What happened in the Munich beer hall, besides spilled Pilsner? Hitler tried to overthrow the German government. He was arrested. Would it had ended there…
  8. 9 November 1872: You could see this event from 100 miles away. What was it? The Great Boston Fire.
  9. 13 November 1942: How did the five Sullivan Brothers make unhappy history? By dying in the same engagement. All five brothers served on the same ship, and were killed at Guadalcanal. This devastating tragedy for the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa resulted in a change of US military policy towards family members serving together.
  10. 15 November 1864: What did General Sherman do on this day? (Extra credit: What war-related event took place on this day in 1969?) Burned Atlanta. And on this day in 1969, the largest anti-war rally in US history took place in Washington, DC. You can see why, from November history.

Small wonder that in many countries, November is the month for laying wreaths and lighting candles. May your month be more peaceful than many in bygone times.

A WWII Veteran recollecting his father's war.
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Dmitri Gheorgheni

09.11.15 Front Page

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