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4-Letter History Chain #2

For each hint, enter a 4-letter word. The last letter of this word will be the first letter of the next word.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: April 24, 2019
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First submittedJanuary 29, 2018
Times taken40,432
Average score70.8%
Rating4.24
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Hint
Answer
Norse explorer: ____ the Red
Erik
Martin Luther or Billie Jean
King
Naval beverage of water and rum
Grog
Sport invented in Scotland
Golf
Hatfields vs. McCoys, for example
Feud
Hamilton vs. Burr, for example
Duel
Metal used by the Romans to make pipes
Lead
Old unit of measure equal
to 1/16th of an ounce
Dram
Cloister dweller
Monk
Genghis or Kublai
Khan
One of Columbus's ships
Niña
Germany, Italy, and Japan in WWII
Axis
Gandhi marched to the sea to
make this substance
Salt
Hint
Answer
Pinball penalty for excessive
nudging of the machine
Tilt
Formal garment of ancient Rome
Toga
Shakespeare was born in the
town of Stratford upon this river
Avon
River of Memphis and Luxor
Nile
Notable English boarding school
Eton
American and European military alliance
NATO
Scandinavian capital once called Kristiania
Oslo
Cartel that embargoed oil in the 1970s
OPEC
Inventor who was the first to
mass-produce revolvers
Colt
Russian ruler's title
Tsar
Masonic group: The Scottish ____
Rite
84 Comments
+6
Level 73
Jan 29, 2018
Good quiz, the two "vs." questions through me totally. Even seeing the answers I wouldn't have got them.
+8
Level 73
Jan 29, 2018
And having googled them I see why I didn't get them. Not the sort of stuff we hear about in Britain. Very US specific.
+2
Level 81
Jul 3, 2018
... but quite easy to guess for someone from Britain.
+2
Level 58
Jul 24, 2019
which I did, and I am British
+6
Level 70
Mar 24, 2021
I'm sorry you had to learn something new, but now you're aware of the most famous feud in American history and the most famous duel in American history. Those two facts may be useful to know on, say, a trivia website.
+1
Level 90
Jun 23, 2023
It's Algernon. Somehow he always finds a way to make it sound like he doesn't know anything outside of the UK.
+1
Level 82
Jun 23, 2023
I swear I have seen him complain about an Alexander Hamilton question on at least 4 other quizzes. You’d think that at some point it would stick.
+1
Level 73
Jun 23, 2023
When I was in sixth grade I somehow got ahold of a copy of "1066 And All That," which gave me a sort of cockeyed education in British history. I don't recall ever thinking "I'm not supposed to know this."
+4
Level 74
Jan 29, 2018
Remember the duel one - the protagonists appear fairly often in other quizzes on this site!
+1
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
Honestly I have never heard of them, and took quite a few quizzes..

(Maybe they were specifially on Us history quizes? I might have only take a few of those, much more of the general ones)

+5
Level 83
Jan 29, 2018
Ah the Hamilton-Burr duel is a famous event between to massive figures of world history.
+26
Level 82
Mar 21, 2018
I'm not sure either Hamilton or Burr constitute massive figures of world history. I would say significant figures of early US history would be a more apt description. If Washington and Jefferson had duelled, I might be inclined to agree.
+2
Level 83
Jul 3, 2018
Hamilton is a huge figure in perhaps the most transformative series of events in modern western history, I'll concede your point on burr I suppose though.
+13
Level 78
Jul 4, 2018
No they're not. Hamilton's achievements are only significant from a US internal perspective. Burr, not even that. They have only started to become a little more widely known recently due to the success of the musical. But they relevance is still restricted to the US.
+4
Level 83
Jul 4, 2018
I think you underplay the importance of the American revolution to western history.

The term 'Massive figure' will always be open to debate I suppose. I'll choose my words more carefully in future.

+1
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
Sorry but not famous at all... That is a one sided perspective. Because they are a common name for you, you can't assume it is for the rest of the world aswell.

Edit : and being well-known and having played an important role are different things. You could say everything the western society does has an impact on the rest of the world, but does not mean that every single person from western society is relevant/known in others parts of the world.

Usually only direct involvement ensures that persons are known. Even though a person indirectly might have set events in motion that eventually make an impact on certain countries.

+1
Level 57
Jun 23, 2023
I agree with a lot of the above. When that musical came out, I thought it was about the formula 1 driver for months.

And the gun question was presumably also aimed at americans. From a UK perspective we'd probably think that the answer to:-

Person that invented a type of gun that kills people a lot quicker "C _ _ T" had a very different answer. It didn't work, though.

+3
Level 76
Jan 29, 2018
I find the Scottish Masons much harder, had no clue. I have heard of both "vs." questions and didn't find them hard at all. As a non-US person.
+2
Level 73
Jan 30, 2018
The Scottish Masons thing was the only one I didn't get. The two vs. questions were hard for me (non-US person as well), but I figured them out with hints of the previous/following questions.
+1
Level 73
Nov 19, 2018
Yeah, it's kind of like saying that people who graduate high school with honours are a group -- "High School Honours Acquirers." The Scottish Rite is appendant to being a Mason; while you can technically refer to it as a group (or grouping) of people, it's weird to refer to it as such. It's more accurate to refer to it as a degree.
+2
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
I had no idea on all three, but did find the US ones easier to guess. Not because they mean anything to me. But two people going against eachother could only be captured in a few words, fight, courtcase, (boxing)match etc. Where as the scottish one could be anything and I only got it by trying letter combos which sort of made up words.
+1
Level 68
Mar 23, 2021
I went through every combination of R "vowel" "letter" E for the last one. Like RAQE, RAWE, RAEE, etc until I got there. No, I am not proud of that.
+1
Level 73
Jun 23, 2023
You should be--you persisted and prevailed.
+30
Level 70
Jan 29, 2018
I'm just confused as to how Pinball qualifies as a major historical event deserving of its own question... Especially since removing it wouldn't disrupt the chain at all.
+29
Level 76
Jan 29, 2018
It's relating to the Great Pinball Riots of 1712 where half a million people in France lost their lives after one person claimed that the reigning champion kept nudging the machine
+14
Level 78
Feb 7, 2018
It was only stopped when Tommy, the Pinball Wizard rode in on his white horse, his staff blazing with the light of pinball machines past, and spoke to the masses in a booming voice..."hey...knock it off." And it was so......
+12
Level 69
Jul 3, 2018
Wait, how did Tommy *speak*, what with being a "deaf, dumb, and blind kid"? I think you're taking liberties with history!!
+1
Level 66
Jun 23, 2023
I was there. I can confirm buck1017. He used a Marshall loud speaker turned up to 11 and that thing you use when you don't have a voice.
+5
Level 87
Jul 3, 2018
And lo, verily did he play a mean pinball.
+1
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
Pendantic historian here ;) I think you might have you're historic events mixed up. The pinball machine (as we know it) wasnt around untill 1911. It's predecessor around 1712 was bagatelle, and indeed there were riots around that time. But there were more like barfights.

Lots of bars(pubs) were trashed (allegdly due to someone cheating lifting up the table to make the ball go into the desired hole..) And people were thrown around (as happens in barfights) one of which actually died, he was thrown on the till and broke his back, hence the word tilt. (the outcome of a table being lifted and how people went beserk). But other etymologists suggests it comes from "tilled", which meant lifted in old-english. Which is still recognisable in the agricultural term (where the soil is lifted ) and in other germanic languages; tillen still means lift in dutch

+11
Level 85
Jan 4, 2020
Sifhraven: "Pendantic historian here"

Pendantic: adj. being excessively concerned with minor details relating to decorative neckware?

+1
Level 71
Mar 23, 2021
I just can't with this comment thread :')
+4
Level 74
Jul 3, 2018
Yeah, we all know that pinball questions belong in the geography quizzes.
+9
Level 68
Jan 29, 2018
NATO is a North American and European alliance. Don't forget Canada!
+5
Level 90
Jan 30, 2018
+1
+2
Level 51
Jan 30, 2018
Y'know, we have a heart button now.
+3
Level ∞
Jan 30, 2018
Changed U.S. to American
+2
Level 76
Jul 3, 2018
Still kinda inaccurate though. "American" to Spanish speakers means N. and S. American, and to pretty much everybody else, it means the US.
+4
Level 87
Jul 3, 2018
Words are allowed to have multiple meanings depending on context.
+2
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
But it includes canada now, and it doesnt state that the entire continent of america is involved. So I wouldnt call it incorrect, though not a tight fitting description.

Think of a fruitpie, but it hasnt got banana in it, it is still a fruit pie ;) And calling it an apple-pie while there were other fruits in it, (in comparable amounts, not like 1%) would be more wrong.

+1
Level 79
Mar 23, 2021
@Tramp: Not all of Europe is involved either.
+1
Level 72
Mar 23, 2021
Turkey is also a NATO member and is an Asian country...
+6
Level 73
Jan 29, 2018
Too bad that "not my lover" has more than 4 letters. (Martin Luther isn't, either.)
+1
Level 69
Jan 31, 2018
AHA! But Martin Luther KING was, right? Caught ya!
+2
Level 83
Jan 29, 2018
Tzar should be accepted as well.
+1
Level ∞
Jan 30, 2018
Okay
+2
Level 87
Jan 30, 2018
Far too much time, IMHO. I believe a minute or even two should be lopped off.
+2
Level ∞
Jan 30, 2018
Reduced to 4 minutes
+7
Level 46
Jan 30, 2018
100%, 10 minutes left, born a week early, don't speak english, not born usa. Also I'm 7.
+4
Level 69
Jan 31, 2018
This never gets old (said no one, ever).
+6
Level 51
Jan 31, 2018
What gets old are the people who feel the need to tell everyone how much time they had left when they got all of them, and why their age or lack of relative culture makes it significantly more impressive.
+1
Level 69
Jul 3, 2018
That was my point, TennisMan, I just decided to say it all snarky-like.
+3
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
I don;t mind people telling their time. If that is what makes them happy. I do hate the immature comments that follow. And they are most likely made by adults. Not that my view of adults was that terrific, but reading the comments on this site certainly hasnt helped that view..

I wanted to say, amazingly hardly any swearing or inapproprate sexual comments. But I forgot that the worst gets deleted.

+1
Level 51
Jan 31, 2018
Woah, we could be twins.
+2
Level 70
Jan 30, 2018
No idea about Hamilton-Burr or Scottish Rite, pretty obscure trivia those two.
+2
Level 84
Sep 23, 2020
There even is a musical about Hamilton, I wouldn't call it obscure.
+1
Level 51
Jan 31, 2018
I like this.
+1
Level 36
Apr 10, 2018
I disagree that Hamilton-Burr had less influence in the world than

Washington-Jefferson. While Jefferson was indeed a world renown figure, what exactly did Washington do to deserve such notoriety?

On the other hand, Hamilton was responsible for, among other things, the establishment of our Treasury, and without the U.S. Treasury, we would not be able to waste our money in foreign aid to countries which despise us.

+2
Level 79
Apr 29, 2018
I suspect the US would probably have arrived at the idea of a treasury eventually with or without some bloke no one else has ever heard of.
+3
Level 81
Jul 3, 2018
Hamilton is an important historical figure worth knowing about, very influential in American politics and its Constitution and the shape of the many liberal democracies that came to emulate those. He's an important political and economic theorist who influenced both America and the world (and the former, to many Europeans' surprise and chagrin, is part of the latter). No need to assume your ignorance extends to everyone.

Washington is an extremely influential figure, too, though.

On the other hand, Aaron Burr didn't really do much and is only famous for his duel with Hamilton.

+3
Level 58
Jul 24, 2019
As much as you'd like to think that obscure American figures are important throughout the world, they are not
+1
Level 61
Jun 24, 2023
It is a trivia website. I've learned quite a lot on here that I wouldn't call important where I am.
+2
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
I think it is american that think that they are not part of the world, or a world by itself. The rest of the world sees everyone as equal parts of the world but america sees itself as above it.

Ofcourse there are exceptions on both sides. But it is definitely not the other way around.

+3
Level 63
May 19, 2020
He can't be that obscure if he's on the $10 bill and they made a Broadway musical about him.
+1
Level 61
Jun 24, 2023
Keep in mind it's the U.S. $10 bill and a U.S. musical.
+3
Level 78
Mar 23, 2021
Once again a case of "this guy didn't show up in my country's history school books, so he can't be important (especially if he's American)". You probably wouldn't know much about Qian Qichen, Lavrentiy Beria, Joseph Fouché or Hans-Dietrich Genscher either. Doesn't mean that these people weren't actually important to some extent during their times. Sometimes you need to take a closer look and expand your horizon.
+1
Level 78
Mar 23, 2021
And it's not true at all that the rest of the world sees everyone as equal parts. China for one has a history of calling itself the middle kingdom, or central state. It is interesting that many of us European users like to point out US-centric questions only to suggest alternatives whose fame is just as confined to Europe or their own respective European countries. As an Anglophile it saddens me to say that especially Brits do that quite often.
+5
Level 74
Jul 3, 2018
Let's not forget Hamilton's most important contribution to history - he became the first US politician to be blackmailed for having an affair - a legacy that is still with us today. (Not to mention the minor things of establishing trade with Britain, creating the US banking industry, and writing much of The Federalist Papers and Jay's Treaty with Britain.)
+2
Level 87
Jul 3, 2018
Washington was instrumental in establishing the tradition of peaceful transition to a new democratically elected ruler, which, for that time, was pretty significant.

I once had a Chinese teacher who asked us, "If Mao had stepped down after winning the Chinese Civil War, would we talk about him the way we talk about Washington?" The answer we came up with was "probably not," but it was an interesting thought experiment.

+2
Level 87
Jul 3, 2018
Burr's most lasting contribution to history is probably his founding of the Manhattan Company, which was supposed to provide drinkable water to the city but instead decided it would be more profitable to be a bank. Through a series of mergers, they eventually became what is now Chase. The Chase logo is supposedly stylized water pipes, reflecting the company's original, neglected mission.
+2
Level 72
Aug 15, 2019
As is often the case, most influencial and most known do not always go hand in hand. We owe some great things to people we have never heard about and some other people are known for basicly nothing. (for simply having had a title)

Perhaps a good modern day example is the kardashian, they are world famous, but not because they have done such great things. While there have been others that have done great things (or more in line, have an amazing singing talent for instance) which we have never heard.

So these are two different debates. What a certain person has accomplished and whether or not he is know in (other parts of) the world.

+3
Level 71
Mar 23, 2021
Burr was an interesting person. Most popular accounts of Burr (including the musical "Hamilton") end with his duel with Hamilton. What many people don't know is that he later tried to commit insurrection against the US government and establish his own country in the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. Needless to say, the plot didn't go very far, and, after being tried for treason, Burr was forced to live in exile in Europe for a long while (although he came back to America before he died).

That story aside, I do think that Burr made a pretty big (if unintended) contribution to US history in the form of the 12th Amendment, which basically established the concept of the Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket. And I guess the Chase bank thing is big too--I didn't know about that! There's really no way he can be compared to Washington, Hamilton, or Jefferson in terms of contributions to America though.

+2
Level 67
Jul 3, 2018
In Australia, 'Grog' is slang for any alcoholic drink. This is in a country where the only time a government was ever overthrown by the military, was the so-called Rum Rebellion of 1808. If you want to stay in power, never cut off your army's supply of cheap booze.
+2
Level 73
Jun 23, 2023
More on "grog": it got its name because it was made a staple drink for British seamen in the 1740s by Admiral Edward Vernon, who had acquired the nickname "Old Grog" or "Old Grogram" because he wore a coat made of grogram or grosgrain. A factoid I somehow learned along the way even though I have never served in the Royal Navy.
+2
Level 85
Jul 3, 2018
The Genghis and Kublai answer is more than four letters. Its Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!
+2
Level 51
Jul 4, 2018
"I presume he went to Eton as a boy?" "If I know Jethro, he went to eatin' the minute he was born."
+1
Level 49
Mar 21, 2019
Pretty solid. I also have similar quizzes on my page if you'd like to check them out. :)
+3
Level 51
Apr 22, 2020
I found a unit of measure that is even more obscure/outdated than an ounce to be pretty hard to guess :-)
+4
Level 73
Mar 23, 2021
Pinball... history...???
+3
Level 79
Mar 23, 2021
If "tilt" can be included in a history quiz, then you can arbitrarily assign any word to a history quiz.

I can see the difficulty with needing a four-letter word that starts and ends with "T." It looks like you painted yourself into a corner on that one.

Maybe do the history of the first TEXT message sent, and make that an answer. Or if you're going to use "tilt," maybe there's history of when that was first installed on the machines. But leaving it as is really makes that one an outlier.

+2
Level 73
Jun 23, 2023
The only U.S. President to serve as Chief Justice?
+1
Level 61
Jun 24, 2023
Tilt isn't even necessary. It could be placed elsewhere, like m _ _ m or d _ _ d.
+1
Level 74
Dec 20, 2023
I am surprised 95% guessed “Martin Luther or Billie Jean”.
+1
Level 71
Jan 14, 2024
the scottish rite?