The 10 quiz questions
Question 1 : What major event took place on February 13, 1960 in Algeria?
Possible answers:
- The signing of the Évian Accords ending the Algerian War
- The first French nuclear test in the Tanezrouft desert
- The landing of French troops in Oran
- The proclamation of Algerian independence
Explanation: This first French nuclear test, codenamed "Gerboise Bleue", took place in the Tanezrouft desert, near Reggane. With a yield of around 70 kilotons, four times that of the Hiroshima bomb, it made France the 4th nuclear power in the world after the United States, the USSR and the United Kingdom.
Question 2 : What did the Lumière brothers patent on February 13, 1895?
Possible answers:
- The phonograph patent
- The wireless telegraph patent
- The cinematograph patent
- The color photography patent
Explanation: The Lumière brothers' cinematograph was at the same time a camera, a projector, and a film printer. The first public paying screening took place on December 28, 1895 at the Salon Indien du Grand Café in Paris, a date considered the official birth of cinema.
Question 3 : Which wife of Henry VIII of England was beheaded on 13 February 1542?
Possible answers:
- Anne Boleyn
- Catherine of Aragon
- Catherine Parr
- Catherine Howard
Explanation: Catherine Howard was the 5th of the 6 wives of Henry VIII. She was accused of adultery and treason. Very young at the time of her marriage, perhaps only 16 or 17 years old, she was executed at the Tower of London, sharing the fate of her cousin Anne Boleyn, the king's 2nd wife, who was beheaded in 1536.
Question 4 : Why was Mata Hari arrested on February 13, 1917?
Possible answers:
- She was arrested for desertion and treason against France
- She was arrested by French counter-intelligence, suspected of being a spy
- She was arrested for taking part in a plot against President Poincaré
- She was arrested for distributing pacifist leaflets in Paris
Explanation: Mata Hari, whose real name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, was an exotic Dutch dancer who became famous in Parisian cabarets. Accused of spying for Germany, she was tried, sentenced to death, and shot on October 15, 1917 at the fort de Vincennes. Her actual role as a spy is still debated by historians today.
Question 5 : What tragic event took place in Dresden on February 13, 1945?
Possible answers:
- Soviet troops invade the city and massacre its population
- An earthquake destroys the city and kills thousands
- About 1,500 Allied bombers pound the capital of Saxony, killing 35,000 civilians
- Nazi forces blow up the bridges and destroy the city during their retreat
Explanation: The Allied bombing of Dresden remains one of the most controversial of World War II. Considered one of the most beautiful cities in Europe and thought to be lightly defended, it was razed by successive waves of bombers. The historical debate over the exact death toll and the military justification for the operation continues to this day.
Question 6 : Which Soviet leader became head of state on February 13, 1984, following the death of Yuri Andropov?
Possible answers:
- Mikhail Gorbachev
- Konstantin Chernenko
- Leonid Brezhnev
- Nikolai Tikhonov
Explanation: Konstantin Chernenko, aged 72 when he took power, ruled for only thirteen months before dying in turn in March 1985, paving the way for Mikhail Gorbachev. This rapid succession of elderly and ailing heads of state gave rise to the ironic quip: "The USSR has no foreign policy, it has a funeral policy."
Question 7 : What famous Belgian writer was born on February 13, 1903?
Possible answers:
- Hergé
- Georges Simenon
- Marguerite Yourcenar
- Maurice Maeterlinck
Explanation: Georges Simenon is one of the most prolific authors of the XXe century, with more than 200 published novels. He is world-famous for his character Inspector Maigret, who appears in 75 novels and 28 short stories. His works have been translated into more than 50 languages and adapted many times for cinema and television.
Question 8 : Which play was performed for the first time at the Palais-Royal on February 13, 1973?
Possible answers:
- The Dinner Game by Francis Veber
- La Cage aux Folles by Jean Poiret
- Amadeus by Peter Shaffer
- The First Name by Matthieu Delaporte
Explanation: La Cage aux Folles, written by Jean Poiret and staged with Michel Serrault, became a cultural phenomenon in France. Its success went far beyond the theatre: adapted for the cinema in 1978 by Édouard Molinaro with Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault, it then inspired an American musical on Broadway, and later the American film The Birdcage in 1996.
Question 9 : Which American pilot, born on February 13, 1923, was the first to break the sound barrier?
Possible answers:
- Neil Armstrong
- Charles Lindbergh
- John Glenn
- Chuck Yeager
Explanation: Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier on October 14, 1947, aboard the Bell X-1, at an altitude of around 12,000 meters above the Mojave Desert. The feat was kept secret for several months by the US Army. Yeager had chosen to name his experimental plane "Glamorous Glennis", as a tribute to his wife.
Question 10 : In music, which famous waltz was performed in public for the first time on February 13, 1867?
Possible answers:
- The Emperor Waltz by Johann Strauss II
- The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II
- Les Patineurs by Giacomo Meyerbeer
- Valse triste by Jean Sibelius
Explanation: The Blue Danube, composed by Johann Strauss II, was premiered at a concert of the Vienna Men's Choral Society in Vienna. This waltz is today considered the unofficial anthem of Austria and the city of Vienna. It is notably used in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey to accompany a scene of space flight.