October 12 — This Day in History

 Question 1

On October 12, 1492, explorer Christopher Columbus made his historic landfall in the Americas on an island in the Bahamas today known as what?

A) San Salvador

B) Cuba

C) Hispaniola

D) Jamaica

Correct Answer: A) San Salvador

Question 2

During a legendary 2019 athletic feat in Vienna, who became the first person in history to run a marathon in under two hours (1:59:40)?

A) Kenenisa Bekele

B) Eliud Kipchoge

C) Haile Gebrselassie

D) Kelvin Kiptum

Correct Answer: B) Eliud Kipchoge

Question 3

In an iconic 1960 diplomatic outburst at the United Nations General Assembly Hall, which world leader protested by pounding his shoe on his desk?

A) Fidel Castro

B) Nikita Khrushchev

C) Leonid Brezhnev

D) Joseph Stalin

Correct Answer: B) Nikita Khrushchev

Question 4

At the 1968 Mexico City Games, who made Olympic history by becoming the very first woman to light the Olympic cauldron?

A) Wilma Rudolph

B) Enriqueta Basilio

C) Wyomia Tyus

D) Iolanda Balaș

Correct Answer: B) Enriqueta Basilio

Question 5

In October 1984, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher narrowly survived a targeted assassination bombing by the Irish Republican Army at a hotel in which English town?

A) Brighton

B) Blackpool

C) Bournemouth

D) Birmingham

Correct Answer: A) Brighton

Question 6

On October 12, 2002, coordinated bomb blasts targeted tourists at two popular nightclubs on which Indonesian island, claiming over 200 lives?

A) Java

B) Sumatra

C) Bali

D) Lombok

Correct Answer: C) Bali

Question 7

In October 2000, 17 American sailors were killed when suicide bombers struck the guided-missile destroyer USS Cole in the port of which city?

A) Aden, Yemen

B) Djibouti City, Djibouti

C) Manama, Bahrain

D) Muscat, Oman

Correct Answer: A) Aden, Yemen

Question 8

Following the resignation of Spiro Agnew in October 1973, whom did US President Richard Nixon nominate to serve as Vice President under the 25th Amendment?

A) Nelson Rockefeller

B) Gerald R. Ford

C) George H.W. Bush

D) Bob Dole

Correct Answer: B) Gerald R. Ford

Question 9

Legendary American folk-country singer-songwriter John Denver, who composed classics like "Take Me Home, Country Roads", tragically passed away in 1997 off the California coast while doing what?

A) Deep-sea scuba diving

B) Sailing a racing yacht

C) Piloting an experimental light plane

D) Skydiving in poor weather

Correct Answer: C) Piloting an experimental light plane

Question 10

Celebrating his birthday on October 12, which Australian actor gained global stardom playing the iconic mutant superhero 'Wolverine' in the X-Men franchise?

A) Russell Crowe

B) Hugh Jackman

C) Chris Hemsworth

D) Guy Pearce

Correct Answer: B) Hugh Jackman