The New Monday Quiz celebrates the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, within the limited scope afforded by its essential nature.
1. The Federal Holiday is a moveable feast; Dr. King’s actual birthday was last Thursday, January 15th. He shared this birthday with a seventeenth century French playwright who is generally considered one of the comic geniuses of the Western tradition. Who was this author of plays such as
The Misanthrope, The School for Wives, and
Tartuffe?
2. Dr. King was born Michael King; his father was inspired to change his name after a 1934 family trip to this country. Where did the Kings go?
3. King sang with his church choir at the Atlanta debut of this film, which is #158 on imdb’s list, right after
Trainspotting. What’s it’s name?
4. Young Martin King’s high school was named after a nationally known educator and political leader, the first African American to be commemorated on a U.S. postage stamp. What was his name?
5. Dr. King received his doctorate -- his dissertation, alas, tainted by plagiarism -- at a university in a large North American city that was founded on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630. What was the name of this city?
6. The Reverend Martin Luther King was a Baptist preacher. On this map of Christian denominations, Baptists are shown in red. What is shown by gold, grey, and blue?
7. In 1959, Dr. King made a journey to a country whose several official languages include Kannada, Marathi, and Santali. What country is this?
8. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. Exactly 114 years earlier, the Republic of San Marco surrendered to Austria, thus ending the last attempt at sovereignty (so far) for a republic that had maintained its independence for more than a thousand years. What’s the name of the venerable city that was the heart of the San Marco Republic?
9. Here’s a photo of Dr. King chatting with another well-known American political leader. What’s the other guy’s name?
10. A few hours after the April 4, 1968 assassination of Dr. King, someone set aside a planned campaign speech to give a very short address, which included this line:
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
Two months and two days later, he too would be assassinated. Who was he?
