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On the Shelf

By Paul Guffin

3 min read

The United Nations Quiz: Answers #3

How are you doing so far on this quiz? Seventeen questions down — three to go. So, let’s get on with it!

  1. How many times has the United Nation, its agencies, or staff been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize? Answer: 12 times — 1950 to Ralph Bunche (U.N. mediator in Palestine during the 1948 conflict between Arabs and Jews); 1954 to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); 1961 to Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld; 1965 to United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); 1969 to the International Labor Organization (ILO); 1981 to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); 1988 to United Nations Peacekeeping Forces; 2001 to United Nations and Secretary General Kofi Annan; 2005 to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Mohamed ElBaradei (IAEA Director General); 2007 to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Al Gore, Jr.; 2013 to Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW); 2020 to World Food Programme (WFP).
  2. Who is the United States’ current ambassador to the United Nations? Answer: Linda Thomas-Greenfield has served since presenting her credentials to the U.N. on February 25, 2021. With the United States becoming president of the U.N. Security Council on March 1, 2021, Thomas-Greenfield thus became president of the Council as the head of the U.S. delegation. Her term ended on March 31, 2021. There have been 31 U.S. Ambassadors to the United Nations, plus another 8 acting ambassadors.
  3. What milestone document of the United Nations was adopted on December 10, 1948? Answer: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The document was drafted by the Commission on Human rights, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, who was recognized as the driving force for the Declaration’s adoption. The Declaration was adopted by a vote of 48-0 with 8 abstentions (the United Nations voted to adopt). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is generally agreed to be the foundation of international human rights law. Human Rights day is celebrated on December 10 each year.

What’s New on the Shelves of the Downieville Library

Several items new to the library have wandered in and found a home on our shelves. Here are the books:

Fiction

  • Gentlemen of the Road, by Michael Chabon
  • The Mysteries of Pittsburgh, by Michael Chabon
  • Telegraph Avenue, by Michael Chabon
  • The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie (mystery)
  • N or M?, by Agatha Christie (mystery)
  • Passenger to Frankfurt, by Agatha Christie (mystery)
  • Clear and Present Danger, by Tom Clancy (thriller)
  • Winter Chill, by Ernest J. Finney
  • The Trespasser, by Tana French
  • The Big Game, by Tim Green (juvenile)
  • The Last Kind Words Saloon, by Larry McMurtry
  • Olive, The Other Reindeer, by J. Otto Seibold & Vivian Walsh (easy reader)
  • Polar Star, by Martin Cruz Smith (thriller)
  • Rules of Civility, by Amor Towles

Non-fiction

  • The Real Rain Man: Kim Peek, by Fran Peek (biography)

Future Quizzes

Are there subjects you would like to see featured in quizzes sometime in the future? Just let me know, and I’ll see what I can do. You can e-mail me your suggestions at paul@guffin.net.