Happy New Year from Wilson Biographies

Everyone at H. W. Wilson hopes that your 2011 is a happy and productive one. To mark the start of another calendar year, we're celebrating those people whose birthdays fall on January 1. As usual, all the answers can be found in Biography Reference Bank, or you can wait until later today when we will tweet them.

1) Born January 1, 1735, I am best known for my part in the Revolutionary War, but I was also a popular silversmith and engraver. Who am I?
a) Captain John Parker
b) John Singleton Copley
c) Paul Revere

2) Born January 1, 1895, I was named assistant director of the newly-formed Bureau of Investigation of the Department of Justice under William J. Burns in 1921. Who am I?
a) Kenneth McKellar
b) J. Edgar Hoover
c) Joseph McCarthy

3) Born January 1, 1970, I am best known for directing movies like Magnolia and Boogie Nights. Who am I?
a) M. Night Shyamalan
b) Paul Thomas Anderson
c) Kevin Smith

4) Born January 1, 1912, Victor Reuther helped organize the first sit-down strike by which U.S. labor organization, after which the union's membership grew from less than 100 to approximately 30,000?
a) Teamsters
b) Congress of Industrial Organizations
c) United Automobile Workers

5) Born January 1, 1449, I was a scholar, writer, and poet, and was appointed ruler of Florence, Italy, at the age of just 21. Who am I?
 a) Pico della Mirandola
b) Lorenzo De Medici
c) Dante Alighieri

6) Born Jan 1, 1986, I turned down football offers to play basketball and am now a power forward with the Boston Celtics. Who am I?
a) Glen Davis
b) Kevin Durant
c) Dwight Howard

7) Born January 1, 1767, my considerable writing talents were already obvious to my family by the time we moved from Britain to County Longford, Ireland, in 1782. Who am I?
a) Maria Edgeworth
b) Mary Shelley
c) Sarah Siddons