Jamaica Talk - Jamaican Forums - View Single Post - Black History Quiz-Part 1

dudley one · #4 (**permalink**) 02-08-2006, 01:16 AM

101 Questions on the African World Experience Africa Past & Present

1. Queen Ann Nzinga...the female Angolan leader who in the mid-1600s successfully resisted for 40 years, colonization by what European country?

2. Name the ancient Egyptian scholar and physician who has been called the "real father of medicine." He is credited with describing the circulation of blood 4000 years before Europe discovered this important body function.

3. What is the name of the archaeological site in East Africa, where, to date, the oldest human-like fossils have been found?

4. What is the name of the Black African township, outside Johannesburg, South Africa, that experienced bloody rioting in 1976, which grew out of Black African student protests against the compulsory use of the Afrikaans language in the schools?

5. Who was the Kenyan president and leader, nicknamed "The Old Man," who led his East African nation to freedom from British colonialism?

6. Name the West African city that was part of the Mali and Songhay empires that flourished from about the 12th century through the 16th century. This city was a center of trade, culture, and Islamic learning. One of its greatest educational centers was the prestigious University of Sankore.

7. Who was the fifth century African bishop of the North African city of Hippo whose writings and teachings form the philosophical basis of modern-day Christianity and whose synthesis of Greek, Roman, Jewish and Eastern cultures form the basis of western culture?

8. Name the North African city-state whose great military leader, Hannibal, in the third century B.C., fought against Roman conquest in the First and Second Punic Wars?

9. Who was the Tanzanian scholar/president, nicknamed "Mwalimu" (Teacher), who instituted a program of Cooperative Economics to help his country grow and develop?

10. On January 1, 1956, this African nation gained its independence from European colonialism, becoming the first of many African nations to begin the long struggle back to traditional greatness, which still continues today. Name the nation.

11. In the late 1960s, this African country's leader Mobutu Sese Seko, initiated his program of "authenticity" where citizens were required to drop their European names for pre-colonial ancestral names. Even the name of the country was changed. Once called the Congo, the country adopted what new name?

12. Who was the Egyptian president who came to power in 1952 with the overthrow of the Egyptian monarchy? His nationalization of the Suez Canal in 1956 caused shockwaves throughout the West. He died in 1970.

13. Who was the great Ethiopian distance runner who won Africa's first Olympic Gold Medal at the 1960 games in Rome? Running barefoot over Rome's cobblestone roads, he won the grueling 26.2 mile marathon in world record time. He also won the gold in the marathon at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first man to win consecutive Olympic marathons.

Important Firsts

14. In 1621, William Tucker became the first black child born in the American colonies. Name the place where the first "African American" was born.

15. In 1783, James Derham, who was born into slavery in Philadelphia in 1762, became the first African American to practice this profession in the United States. What profession did he practice?

16. Who was the first African-American college graduate in the United States, having earned his degree from Boudoin College in Maine in 1826? He became publisher of Freedom's Journal, the first African-American newspaper printed in the United States.

17. One of the earliest novels written by an African American and published was entitled Clotelle: A Tale of the Southern States in 1853 in Boston. Who wrote this novel?

18. In 1862, Mary Patterson became the first African American woman to earn a master's degree. What Ohio college awarded her this degree?

19. Who was the first African American jockey to win the Kentucky Derby? In 1875 at Churchill Downs he rode to victory on a horse named Aristides.

20. Published by W. S. Scott in 1882, this newspaper was the first daily to be owned by an African American. What was the name of this newspaper?

21. In 1892, the first Black college football game was played. Biddle College emerged victorious with a score of 4 to 0. What is the name of the college which lost this historic game?

22. In London, in 1890, boxer George Dixon of Halifax, Nova Scotia, became the first Black man to win a world boxing title. In what weight division did he win this title?

23. In 1939, Jane Matilda Bolin became the first African-American woman judge. Appointed by the mayor to the Court of Domestic Relations, she achieved her judgeship in what city?

24. Who was the first African-American to achieve the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army in 1940?

25. In 1943, the first Liberty Ship to be named for an African-American was launched from a New Jersey shipyard. It carried war cargo to Europe during WWII. What famous African-American scientist was the ship named for?

26. In 1946, the first U.S. coin honoring an African-American was a 50 cents piece that bore the resemblance of a famous educator. Who was the coin honoring?

27. Leo Pinckney, an African-American, was the first draftee of World War I. He was notified to appear for a physical examination by Local Board #44 on August 2nd of what year?

28. What is the name of the former congresswoman from New York who was the first African-American woman to sit in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1969?

29. What is the name of the first African-American university founded in the U.S. in Pennsylvania in 1853? It was originally named the Ashmum Institute.

30. In 1894 in Cambridge, MA, this important scholar, writer, and philosopher became the first African-American male to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

31. Name the African-American poetess, who in 1950, became the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

32. Name the African-American man who was the first to give his life in the skirmish later known as the Boston Massacre, which touched off the American Revolution. He rallied his comrades saying, "Do not be afraid," as he led the ranks. Today his name tops the list of the five carved in the monument erected to commemorate that historic night in Boston Common.

33. In 1772, Jean Baptiste du Sable was the African-American man who established a small settlement, that later grew to become one of America's greatest cities. The establishment of this midwest juncture opened new doors to the West and North. Name the city.

Heroes & Heroines

34. In 1905 this woman invented a hair softener, grower, and straightening comb, that revolutionized the cosmetics industry in the African-American community. Her ingenuity helped her become the first self-made millionaire in America. Name her.

35. Who was the outstanding historian who founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History in 1915, which was later named the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History? He is responsible for founding Black History Month. One of his most famous works is "The Mis-Education of the Negro."

36. Called "The Black Prophet" by some, this visionary slave revolutionary led a small band of slaves on a two-day insurrection that rocked the area of Southampton, Virginia, in August of 1831. He fled to the nearby Dismal Swamp where he remained in hiding for six weeks before being captured. What is his name?

37. Name the free African-American male who, in 1829, published and distributed the militant anti-slavery pamphlet, Appeal to the Colored People of the World, that caused a furor among slaveholders throughout the country.

38. What is the name of the slave ship on which the African leader Joseph Cinque' and his followers revolted against their captors and eventually won their freedom and returned to Africa?

39. Who was the first African-American appointed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1967 by President Johnson?

40. In 1963, this prominent civil rights leader was assassinated in the doorway of his home in Jackson, MS. Name him.

41. Who was the woman called "Black Moses," a major conductor on the Underground Railroad, who returned to the South 19 times, leading over 300 slaves to freedom in the North and Canada?

42. This self-proclaimed "Pilgrim of God" was the first woman orator to speak out against slavery. Having set upon a personal journey for truth and freedom, she became one of the most popular speakers for African-American and women's rights. She coined the popular rallying cry for women's rights -"Ain't I a woman?" Name her.

43. Purchased from the slave auction block at the age of eight, this little girl mastered the English language within 16 weeks. By 1773, she was an internationally known and published poet. She traveled to London and was hailed as a prodigy. In 1776, she wrote a poem entitled, "To His Excellency General Washington." After he read it, George Washington invited her to visit him at Cambridge.

44. This outstanding African-American woman rose from a field-hand picking cotton to confidante and advisor to Franklin Roosevelt. The 17th child of sharecropping parents, this outstanding educator founded and built a well-known Southern liberal arts college that bears her name. Who was she?

45. This prolific poet, novelist, essayist, and world traveler flourished during the Harlem Renaissance. One of his most famous poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," inspired the theme of the African-American Pavilion at the 1984 World's Fair. Who was he?