Tuesday Trivia

1. French was the official language of which country for over 600 years?
2. Which author based his most famous characters on the fascinating case of William Brodie — respected Edinburgh businessman by day, leader of a gang of thieves by night?
3. 'Excuse my dust' was the requested epitaph of which irreverent author?
4. Which great author received the meager sum of 10 pounds for his greatest work of literature?
5. Edgar Allan Poe was expelled from West Point after wearing what to a public parade?

Last Week's Answers


Which was Shakespeare’s first play?

William Shakespeare wrote his first play The Taming of the Shrew in 1593.


When was punctuation invented?

There was no punctuation until the 15th century.


Hamlet--with 1,530 lines--is the longest speaking part in all of Shakespeare's plays. What is the second longest?

Richard III, with 1,164 lines.


Johannes Gutenberg is often credited as the inventor of the printing press in 1454, but what culture discovered, used, and discarded this method long before Gutenberg’s invention?

The Chinese actually printed from movable type in 1040 but later discarding the method.


The first history book, the Great Universal History, was published by Rashid-Eddin of Persia. In what year was it published?

In 1311.