Thursday, April 19, 2007

A History Test For Your Kids...

... or maybe for you. Okay, I was really thinking of giving you another post about 'Today In History', even though I gave you one yesterday; but it appears someone else on my blog roll, The Anarchangel, just did that, and beat me to it. So instead of me getting all too boring through repetition, I have devised a small test for your children. Maybe it is not as much for them, as it is for you to determine just what they may know about history, or in other words what they may have learned at home, on TV, on the Internet, and mostly in school about history. As a matter of fact, maybe it will give you an idea of what you know.

For the test I will use fairly famous historical events, fairly famous names, and the like. The catch is that I will ask questions only about the events or persons who gained fame on this day, and yesterday (since my post about 'today in history' was posted yesterday).

See how good you do, then see how good your kids do; my guess is that anyone should be able to score at least 75%, and that 90% would be more like it, but who am I to say. By the way, just take it for granted the dates are correct, no trick questions about the dates. Here goes:

1) True or False - Colonel Robert E. Lee was offered, and refused, the command of the Union Army on April 18, 1861?

2) Who led the bombing raid on Tokyo on April 18, 1942; was it:

a) Lt. Colonel James Doolittle
b) Commander Ernie Pyle
c) Lieutenant Billy Marten
d) Captain James T. Kirk
e) General Paul Tibbets

3) On April 18, 1861, Confederate General Johnson surrendered to Union Army General Sherman. In what war did this take place?

4) Ernie Pyle was:

a) the U.S. Marine who led the charge at Iwo Jima
b) a character, on The Andy Griffith Show, related to Gomer Pyle
c) a famous wartime news photographer killed in WWII
d) the soldier who was slapped by General Patton for cowardice during WWII
e) none of the above


5) Elliot Ness was born on April 19, 1903. For what, in general, is he most known?

6) Who was the president of the United States of America, who on April 19, 1861, ordered the blockade of confederate ports?

7) On April 19, 1943, the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto began an uprising; against what group were they fighting?

8) What famous war began on April 19, 1775?

9) On April 19, 1995, a terrorist killed 168 people, and wounded scores of others, in what U.S. city?

10) On April 19, 1941, Bulgarian troops attacked Macedonia. Was Bulgaria part of the Allied or Axis forces?

11) On April 19, 1587, Sir Francis Drake sailed into Cadiz Spain and sank the Spanish Fleet. Drake was the commander of which fleet:

a) the German
b) the Dutch
c) the American
d) the English
e) a pirate fleet

12) True or False: April 18, 1946, the USA recognizes Tito's government in Romania.

13) April 18, 1906, an earthquake, and the ensuing fire, destroys almost 3/4 of a U.S. city, and kills over 4,000 people. In what city did this take place?

14) The battle of Harper's Ferry took place in what modern day country?

15) On April 18, 1909, Joan of Arc was named a saint in the Catholic religion. From what country was Joan of Arc?

16) April 19, 1977, author Alex Haley receives the Pulitzer Prize for his book 'Roots'. What in general did Haley write about in this book?

17) On April 18, 1946, the predecessor of the United Nations was dissolved. What was the name of that organization?

18) On April 18, 1885, the Sino-Japanese war ended. Which were the two major countries involved in this war?

19) On April 19, 1977, which country launched its first Salyut space station:

a) Russia
b) China
c) India
d) the USSR
e) none of the above

20) On April 19, 1951, General Douglas MacArthur, after being relieved of his far east command by the then president of the United States, quoted this line in his farewell address to Congress: "Old soldiers never die, they just fade away". What was the last name of the president who relieved MacArthur of his command?

Have fun. I you do not know the answers, they are all really easy enough to find for yourselves, either through a web search or by scrolling down below. Then again, you knew them all anyhow.

No cheating. Good luck.

All the best,
Glenn B







































1) T
2) a
3) The Civil War
4) c
5) 1930's crime fighter, G-Man, etc...
6) Lincoln
7) The Nazis (The German Army would be acceptable)
8) The American Revolution
9) Oklahoma City
10) Axis
11) The English
12) F
13) San Francisco
14) USA
15) France
16) His ancestory (slavery is not the correct answer)
17) League of nations
18) Russia and Japan
19) The USSR
20) Truman

I hope I got them all in the right order.

Things To do Before I Retire

‘Things to do before I die’ is a type of list many people have probably thought of doing before. Another such list thing would be places to visit in a lifetime. I am about to make a list to, but one that will be just a bit different, as it will be a list of things I want to do, but with the definer before I retire.

I have pretty much made up my mind that I am going to retire at year’s end; and for some reason that made me think there are some things I ought to do before then to have made my career complete before I become a retiree.

1) Use all of my sick leave – of course legitimately; and that should not be too hard to accomplish the way I feel lately.

2) Use no vacation time between now and the end of the year (because I get paid cash for the unused vacation time when I retire)

3) Have one heck of a summer vacation while out on sick leave, of course while actually out on doctor’s orders for a legitimate medical reason, but not one that totally debilitates me thereby allowing me to go fishing or something not stressful as I recuperate.

4) Get myself reinstated as a firearms instructor (a collateral duty from which I was banished about 3 ½ years ago, no reason ever given)

5) Discover the reason for the above end to my collateral duties as a FI, this even if I am never reinstated. Somehow, I doubt this will happen because whomever banished me was not man enough to tell me why in the first place.

6) Have a retirement party that I throw for myself and invited guests only. The list would be large, but exclusive of those people who were scumbags less than civil to me throughout my career.

7) Turn down an invitation to my own retirement party thrown by my office, or better yet never receive such an invite.

8) Make out with about 5 of my co-workers, all female, and all gorgeous. This of course is only a hypothetical unattainable fantasy as I have a wonderful lovely wife at home.

9) Work a kiddie-porn case wherein we effect the arrests and convictions of multiple pedophiles. This, for me, would be the most satisfying case to bring to a successful conclusion.

10) Get hired by another federal agency, so that when I retire the word Immigration, as in Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is not on my credentials.

11) Find out I get to keep my issued MP-5 and my issued 870; as for the issue Glock 19, I want to give it back.

12) See the reformation of the United States Customs Service; and thereby the dissolution of both Customs & Border Protection, and Immigration & Customs Enforcement.

13) Work in a capacity, for the next 8 months in which I believe that my investigative abilities and my talents are being utilized to their utmost, and wherein they would make at least a little difference toward getting a good and worthwhile job done before I retire.

14) Make good use of the gym in the office to the point where I lose about 40 or 50 pounds before the end of the year.

15) Not worry too much that it is not yet time to retire; 28 years plus will have been long enough, but I just hope I can convince myself of that.

16) Complete my Master's degree requirements.


17) Find a new job, hopefully as a teacher.

18) Find a nice place to which to retire of which my wife approves, then sell the house, and buy a new one where ever the wife and I can live happily ever after.

All the best,
Glenn B