Pop Quiz Leaders of the pack

Boris Yeltsin, the first elected leader in modern Russian history, died Monday. Which brought to mind all the big leaders we've been afraid, suspicious and tired of in our history. Here's a quiz on that topic. Thanks to the Free Library of Philadelphia for help in ensuring accuracy.

1. Arrange the following leaders in the order in which they governed the Soviet Union.

a. Yuri Andropov.

b. Mikhail Gorbachev.

c. Leonid Brezhnev.

d. Konstantin Chernenko.

2. How many leaders, in all, did the Soviet Union have?

a. 6.

b. 7.

c. 8.

d. 9.

e. 10.

3. How long was Boris Yeltsin the leader of the Soviet Union?

4. In 2001, the wife of this former dictator opened a museum that was largely an exhibit of her own shoes. Who was she? Who was he? When did he step down?

5. Who is the president of China? Who is the General Secretary of the Communist Party? Who was his predecessor?

6. Everybody's talking about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, possibly because he does a lot of talking himself. Here are the names of the three presidents before him. Arrange them in the order in which they served.

a. Ali Khamanei.

b. Mohammad Khatami.

c. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

7. Sayyid Hasan ar-Rida al-Mahdi as-Sanussi holds the distinction of being the man in front of a much more famous man. Sanussi was king for a little while (1969) but was deposed by a man who never assumed an official title as leader. Who is this longtime unofficial leader?

8. This worrisome country has had exactly two leaders, both with the same family name, father and son. Name them and their country.

9. Speaking of leaders, what was the name of Hamlet's father?

10. According to the Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory, what was the name of the son King Arthur killed - and who also dealt him his mortal wound - at the Battle of Salisbury?

11. Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga held what distinction?

Answers: D3.