People in the News Quiz, 2006
What billionaire gave nearly 85% of his enormous fortune to charity this year?
- Warren Buffet, business tycoon, announced in June that he was giving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation about $31 billion, nearly 85% of his fortune. The foundation, which works to fight diseases in developing countries and to improve the American education system, said it will use the money to help develop a vaccination for AIDS.
Which of these dictators, all of whom died in 2006, had an aftershave and a meteor named after him, as well as the month of January?
- Saparmurat Niyazov "president for life" of Turkmenistan, established an extravagant cult of personality. Countless cities were named for him, and his image was plastered everywhere. Schoolchildren were required to study his book of philosophical musings, Rukhnama (Book of the Soul), and he was known to interrupt sessions of his rubber-stamp parliament to read his own poetry.
This year, the birth of a certain child had far-reaching political consequences. Who is the mother of this child?
- Princess Kiko, wife of the younger son of Japan's emperor, gave birth to a boy in September. The child's birth spares Japan a controversial debate over whether women should be allowed to ascend to the throne.
Which of the following was NOT elected leader of a South American country in 2006?
- Felipe Calder?n was elected president of Mexico in 2006.In South America, Michelle Bachelet was elected president of Chile, and Evo Morales was elected president of Bolivia.
Which of the following best-selling authors fabricated parts of his searing memoir, leading to a heated controversy about what is an acceptable blurring of fact and fiction?
- James Frey, best-selling author, acknowledged in January that he had fabricated and embellished parts of his 2003 memoir, A Million Little Pieces, a story of personal redemption that has sold about 3.5 million copies. Oprah Winfrey chose the memoir as a selection in her book club and initially came to Frey's defense. She later withdrew her support for him, saying she "felt duped." For other literary scandals in 2006, see JT Leroy and Kaavya Viswanathan.
Which of these towering athletes was NOT the subject of scandal this year?
- Unlike French soccer player Zinedine Zidane and American cyclist Floyd Landis, nothing clouded the triumph of snowboarder Shaun White at the 2006 Turin Olympics.
Which person was the victim of a famous accidental shooting during 2006?
- Harry Whittington was accidentally shot by Vice President Dick Cheney in February during a hunting trip.
Which U.S. business leader resigned after a scandal that involved spying on the company's board of directors?
- Patricia Dunn, chairwoman of Hewlett-Packard, admitted that she had authorized an investigation to determine who on the company's board of directors was responsible for leaking information to the media.
Who was the former KGB spy who was mysteriously poisoned in London in November?
- Alexander Litvinenko, died in London in November after being contaminated with the radioactive isotope polonium-210. Who was responsible for his death remains unknown.
Which infamous terrorist was killed in 2006?
- Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia and the most-wanted terrorist in Iraq, was responsible for fueling the insurgency and sectarian violence in Iraq. U.S. troops killed him in an air strike in June.
