- In 1771, three Scotsmen, Colin Macfarquhar, Andrew Bell and William Smellie, as a counter to the work of Denis Diderot, created an institution that survives to this day. What did they create?
- If Devaki corresponds to Messua, and Yashoda to Raksha, who corresponds to Krishna?
- 20 year old Zoe Roth recently sold an image of herself as a 4-year-old as an NFT for 180 ether(the cryptocurrency) - more than half a million USD. How is Roth better known as?
- If Demas (or Dismas) was one and Gestas (or Gemas) was another, who was the third?
- This is an image of Margaret Kerry, who was the model for the representation of a fictional character on screen in a role that was later played, among other people, by Julia Roberts. Which fictional character?
- These are a pair of Nike's Decade sneakers - and each pair is worth a small fortune to collectors. This sneaker line was discontinued in 1997, following a horrific tragedy. What was the event that led to the discontinuation of these shoes?
- In the summer of 1981, the master knifemaker Jimmy Lile received a request for a knife that was sharp enough to cut through the fuselage of an aircraft, a tool that could perform multiple tasks. Lile adapted a basic clip point Bowie knife which could be used to chop wood and slice food while retaining an edge. He employed a waterproof hollow handle design to store matches, needles, thread, and a compass; the hollow-handle allows the knife to be fitted to a pole to make a spear or gig. The handle was wrapped with nylon line that could be used for fishing or making snares. The tips on the guards were made into a standard and Phillips screwdriver and the spine was serrated. The knife would go on to become a sensation, and would take the name of the person who wielded it. What was the name of the wielder?
- This American doctor has saved the lives of millions - a result of something that he described in the journal Emergency Medicine on June 1, 1974, in a piece titled Pop Goes the Cafe Coronary - something that bears his name. Who was he?
- The name of this element is derived from two Greek words - words for "acid" and "generate". Which element are we talking about here?
- Members of PG Wodehouse's Drones club are usually classified as Eggs, Beans, or Crumpets. There is another class as well. What is the name of this fourth group of Drones?
Answers
- The Encyclopedia Britannica
- Mowgli (Messua was his birth mother, Raksha, the wolf, was his foster mother
- Disaster Girl
- Jesus. Demas/Dismas was the penitent thief, Gestas was the unpenitent thief. They were crucified along with Christ
- Tinkerbell
- Heavens Gate acolytes committed mass suicide wearing these sneakers
- Rambo
- Heimlich of the manoeuvre
- Oxygen
- Pieface
- Archibald Hill is sometimes credited as the founder of the discipline of biophysics. He as awarded the Nobel Prize in 1922 for his work on the production of heat in muscles. Hill's wife Margaret was a prominent social reformer and hostess, and their home had seen a variety of illustrious guests - from Sigmund Freud to Stephen Hawking. But the most famous of Hill's relations was his brother-in-law, who was, among many other things, a member of England's famous "Bloomsbury set" of intellectuals. Who was Hill's brother-in-law? (And I'm not referring Geoffrey, Margaret's younger brother Geoffrey, a distinguished surgeon)
- On March 12, 2020, The Uncensored Library was thrown open to the public. Set up by Reporters Without Borders, this massive institution contains reporting by journalists from Mexico, Russia, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt - reporting that was banned by the country's government. The Mexico wing also contains memorials to journalists who were killed for doing their job. Where would you find this library?
- Abram Petrovich Gannibal was the adopted son of Russian emperor Peter the Great, and the great-grandfather of the poet Alexander Pushkin. He rose to the position of Major General of the Russian army. Thomas-Alexandre de la Pailleterie was a general of the French army, and the father of a famous author. Apart from literary descendants and high military rank, what else connects these two men?
- If the Hippocratic Oath is traditionally taken by doctors, the practitioners of which profession take the Oath of Maimonides?
- This is 'Jimson Weed' by the American painter Georgia O'Keefe. Jimson weed belongs to a genus that takes its name from Sanskrit - a name that is given to a famous poisonous Indian plant. What is the genus of Jimson weed?
- 'A Nice Morning Drive', a short story written by Richard Foster, appeared in the 1973 issue of Road and Track magazine. According to Wikipedia, " The story describes a future in which increasingly stringent safety regulations have forced cars to evolve into massive Modern Safety Vehicles (MSVs), capable of withstanding a 50-mile-per-hour (80 km/h) impact without injury to the driver. Consequently, drivers of MSVs have become less safety-conscious and more aggressive, and "bouncing" (intentionally ramming) the older, smaller cars is a common sport among some." This story was worked into a 1981 hit single for a very literary band. The band's lyricist tried to get in touch with Foster, unsuccessfully, but ended up meeting with him in 2007, when the two went on motorcycle drives through the West Virginia woods during the band's 2007 tour. Name the song and the band.
- This is a scene from Alibi, a 1931 adaptation of a 1928 play of the same name. Alibi was an adaptation of a bestselling 1926 murder mystery, and the British actor Austin Trevor was the first actor to play the role of this detective on the big screen. Name the detective, and the novel the film and play were based on.
- The train from Bombay to Thane, on 16th April, 1853, is generally, if erroneously, considered to be the first train ride in India. What were the two end points of India's first flight?
- Andre Maurois' Ariel was a bestseller on publication. It also stands as a milestone in publishing history as the first Penguin paperback. The book is a biography of Shelley. Why is it called Ariel?
- This is a painting titled Man on a Bridge by an American artiste. Name him.
Answers
- John Maynard Keynes
- Within the videogame Minecraft
- They were both Black.
- Pharmacists
- Datura
- Red Barchetta by Rush
- Hercule Poirot. Alibi was based on The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
- Allahabad to Naini
- Ariel was the name of Shelley's boat - which he was sailing when it sank, resulting in his death. (Wikipedia names it Don Juan)
- Bob Dylan
- Savile Row for tailors, Lincoln’s Inn Fields for lawyers,
Harley Street for doctors. Hatton Garden for whom?
- On June 30, 1898, Willy Wilcke and Max Christian Priester
climbed on to the window sill of this man’s residence and took this
photo. The house owner had been dead for a few hours, and the two
changed the time on the bedside clock to show that the photo had
been taken at the time of death. When they attempted to sell this
photo, they were arrested, and the picture was finally released to
the public only in 1952. Who was the statesman who was the subject
of the photo.
- This festival has been called Beltane, or alternatively,
Bealtaine, Bealltainn or Boaldyn. It celebrates summer, and
traditionally, two huge bonfires are lit in fields. Cattle are
driven through these bonfires to protect them from disease. The dew
gathered on the morning of Beltane is supposed to have magical
powers, and increase sexual attractiveness. Beltane falls on
another, more secular, holiday. When is Beltane celebrated.
- In 2004, it was Tropic Brilliance. In 2006, it was Okal King
Dor. In 2017, it was OOCL Japan. What is it in 2021?
- What is special about this extract from Hannah Glasse’s The Art
of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, first published in 1747?
- In late 1858 - or early 1859, Alexander Rhind, a Scotsman
living in Egypt, purchased a manuscript, a papyrus 18 feet long and
13 inches wide. The papyrus, titled “Accurate Rendering, The
Entrance into the Knowledge of All Existing Things and All Obscure
Secrets” , was believed to date back to 1650 BC. It was a copy of
another work, which was written 200 years earlier. The Rhind
manuscript, as it was called, was the earliest discovered object of
its kind. What was it?
- In 1948, the British engineer Tom Kilburn led the work on
designing and building a Small Scale Experimental Machine, "The
Baby". This tested in practice the ability of the Williams-Kilburn
Tube to read and reset at speed random bits of information, while
preserving a bit's value indefinitely between resettings. And for
the first time in the world a computer was built that could hold
any (small!) user program in electronic storage and process it at
electronic speeds. He wrote the first program for it, which first
worked on June 21st 1948. What did the program do?
- This is a painting of the actress Ornella Muti, created by an
AI after studying the works of a famous painter. Who was the
painter?
- What connects the following locations in the US: Orange
County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey, D.C., Beverly Hills,
Miami, Potomac, Dallas, and Salt Lake City?
- Bel-Shalti-Nanna (or Nannor) was a Babylonian priestess of Sin
(Sin being the god of the moon), who lived in the 6th century BC.
She was a pioneer, and is generally accepted to be the first person
to have done something. What was Bel-Shalti-Nanna credited with
doing?
Answers
- Jewellers
- Otto Von Bismarck
- May 1, May Day
- Evergiven. These were all ships that blocked the Suez Canal
- The first published English recipe for an "Indian Curry"
- Mathematics textbook
- Calculating HCF (Highest Common Factor or Greatest Common Divisor (GCD))
- Raphael
- Locations for the Real Housewives TV show
- Creating the first museum
