Results: Famous Historical Names Starting with "A"

A famous scientist and mathematician who lived in the ancient Greek colonial city of Syracuse was most known for discovering that an object placed in water will displace an equal amount of water. On discovering this, he ran naked through the streets shouting "Eureka!" Who was he?

A philosopher living in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was considered a brilliant forerunner of later figures such as Rousseau, Kant and Spinoza. But he is best remembered for his tragic love affair and numerous love letters to a student and eventual wife which led to him being castrated and both being sent to monasteries by people who opposed their marriage. Do you know his surname?

In late antiquity and the early middle ages, Anglo-Saxon England was made up of several kingdoms, starting with a count of seven and then dwindling down till they were gradually unified. While Alfred the Great considered himself the king of the Anglo-Saxons, he didn't rule over the whole land as a large part was still in Danish hands. Who was the first king to control all of England and call himself "king of the English"? (Note: The prefix "Aethel-" in personal names means "noble" and survives today as the female name "Ethel.")

During the last pat of the American Civil War, Union prisoners of war were held in a prison in Georgia where conditions were so bad it was essentially a death camp. The prison is referred to by the name of a nearby town. What was it?

The answers are (1) Archimedes, (2) Peter Abelard, (3) Aethelstan, (4) Andersonville. How many did you get right?