Wikipedia:Wikifun/Round 12/Answers/Question 12

prohibition
I think it's the war against alcoholism and illegal trade of alcohol:

We find that Martha McClellan Brown died in 1916, and served as vice-president of the Cincinnatti Wesleyan Women's College, so we can suppose that she was an American teacher (which is confirmed on other sites, e.g. here).

We learn that Martha McClellan Brown was a major leader in the temperance movement, published (with her husband) a temperance newspaper, was an organizer of the Women's Christian Temperance Union and a leader in the Prohibition Party.

Thus she was a major actor towards the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established Prohibition in the USA, which was passed by Congress in 1917, and which can be seen as decisive in the war against alcoholism and illegal trade of alcohol. &mdash; MFH:Talk 23:04, 24 January 2006 (UTC)


 * The war I am referring to is another one, sorry. It could be described as a war between nations. -- Ravn 09:58, 25 January 2006 (UTC)

Ireland's war for independency ??
Patrick Pearse was a teacher, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who led the Irish Easter Rising in 1916 and was declared president of the Irish Republic; following the collapse of the Rising, Pearse was executed in the same year, 1916.

The Easter Rising can be seen as a decisive event in Irelands struggle for independency.

However, Pearse was not american....

On the other hand, Eamon de Valera, was american. Best known as a leader of Ireland's struggle for independence from the United Kingdom, at various times a mathematician, teacher and a politician, he is generally regarded as one of the most influential people in the history of 20th Century Ireland. Indeed, it was his american citizenship that saved him (indirectly) his life, while he was prisoner together with Pearse... so his death is not directly connected to the Easter Rising... But annecdotically, in the year he died, 1975, the IRA was outlawed in Great Britain...

I admit... not so neatless... &mdash; MFH:Talk 00:59, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * This is not the war either, sorry. -- Ravn 09:51, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Secretary of...?
Best I can come up with is Lindley M. Garrison, who resigned as United States Secretary of War on February 10, 1916. Mr Garrison, shares his name with a South Park character, who is a school teacher. AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 14:35, 27 January 2006 (UTC)


 * No, sorry. Lindley Garrison is not a war either. -- Ravn 14:45, 27 January 2006 (UTC)

Guess by HereToHelp
It would be someone in Category:1916 deaths.--HereToHelp (talk • contribs) 18:35, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Indeed. -- Ravn 18:55, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

Easter Rising
The Easter Rising (an Irish uprising against British rule) ended in 1916, when Patrick (Padraig) Pearse was executed. Not much of a war, but it's listed on the List of wars... AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 00:00, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * oops didn't see unsuccessful attempt above. AlbinoMonkey (Talk) 00:01, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

William Bell Wait
I used a search for american teacher 1916 and eventually got down to an article on New York Point, a system of writing for the blind developed by William Bell Wait who taught at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. His system competed with the American Braille and British Braille systems for standardization in what was known as the War of the Dots. His death in 1916 coinsided with the adoption of a system close to British Braille, mainly due to the amount of material already written at that time. Unfortunately, I can't find any tie to a Herbert Garrison, which is the only thing that makes me doubt my answer. Hoof Hearted 18:55, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Congratulations, this is correct. -- Ravn 21:13, 30 January 2006 (UTC)