Today’s Tough Trivia question: Ignoring the conspiracy theorists and science deniers, we know that twelve people have so far walked on Earth’s Moon. How many of them can you name? (Bonus: which of the Apollo missions did not land on the Moon?)
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Yesterday’s question was: In this history of the Supreme Court, only one person has resigned from the Court, and then later been reappointed to it. Who was it, and why did he resign the first time?
The answer is:
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. Born April 11, 1862, he was a lawyer, and the governor of New York (1907–1910). In 1910, President Taft appointed Hughes to the Supreme Court (he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate). In 1916, trying to reunify the Republican Party after the Theodore Roosevelt–William Howard Taft schism (which split the party and gave the presidential election of 1912 to Woodrow Wilson), party leaders asked Hughes to accept the nomination for president, and on June 10, 1916, he resigned from the court to campaign for the presidency (he is the only member of the Supreme Court to become a presidential candidate).
Hughes lost the election of 1916 in a fairly close vote, 49.2% to 46.1% (in the electoral college, the vote was 277 for Wilson, and 254 for Hughes). And then he went back to practicing law. In March 1921, new President Warren Harding appointed Hughes the 44th Secretary of State (he served for four years), and then once again returned to his old law firm.
On February 3, 1930, with Chief Justice Taft gravely ill, President Hoover nominated Hughes to be the next Chief Justice. The Senate confirmed Hughes by a vote of 52–26, and he took his oath of office on February 24, 1930. (Hughes’ son, Charles Jr., resigned as Solicitor General when his father became Chief Justice.)
On June 30, 1941, Hughes retired from the Supreme Court for the second time. He died on August 27, 1948.
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Ian’s Tough Trivia is a daily feature of this blog. Each day, I post a tough question, as well as the answer to the previous day’s question. At some point, I’ll offer a prize for whoever has the most correct answers, and another for whoever participates most often (I’ll take into account people coming in after the start: regular participation starting later is just as good as regular participation starting earlier). There may also be a prize for the funniest or most amusing wrong answer. Simply comment on this post with your answer. I’ll approve the comments after the next question is posted. Sure, you can probably find the answers by searching the web, but what’s the fun in that?
Financial support in the form of tips is very much appreciated: paypal.me/ianrandalstrock
2. Victoria, Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, who reigned from June 20, 1837, to January 22, 1901 (63 years, 216 days). Born in June 1819, her father, Prince Edward, was the fourth son of the reigning King, George III. She was fifth in the line of succession at her birth (after George’s four oldest sons). Her father died seven months after her birth, and the king died a week later, putting her third in the succession (she was now the niece of King George IV). In 1830, George IV died, and the throne passed to his brother, William IV, with Victoria next in line. Upon William’s death, Victoria became queen, a month after her eighteenth birthday.
3. George III, Victoria’s grandfather, who reigned from October 25, 1760, to January 29, 1820 (59 years, 96 days). He was 22 years old when his grandfather, George II, died. His father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, died in 1751.
4. James VI of Scotland, also known as James Charles Stuart, and later as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns. He took the Scottish throne on July 24, 1567—barely a year after his birth—and died on March 27, 1625 (57 years, 246 days). The kingdoms of Scotland and England were united under James on March 24, 1603.
5. Henry III, also known as Henry of Winchester, was born in Winchester Castle on October 1, 1207, the eldest son of King John. His father died October 28, 1216, making the nine-year-old Henry King of England, Lord of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine. He held the throne until his death on November 16, 1272 (56 years, 19 days).
Button Gwinnett (1735–May 19, 1777) was born in England, represented Georgia in the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence (top signature in the left-most column), and died in duel. Gwinnett was fairly obscure prior to the signing of the Declaration, and died soon thereafter, so there are only 51 known examples of his signature, making it the rarest and most sought-after (only ten of those signatures are in private hands). The rarity of his signature has become a plot point in a lot of fiction, including the 1932 film Washington Merry Go Round, the 1958 film The Last Hurrah, a 1971 episode of Mannix, a 2018 episode of Elementary, and a 1953 science fiction story called “Button, Button” by Isaac Asimov.
And while this is the age of the internet, and you can probably do a web search and find the right answers to each question, where’s the fun in that? I can’t make you not look it up, but don’t.
Ian Randal Strock 