Quizzopedia

Prelims

Dr. Ambik Majumdar, well-versed in musical notations, adapted the notations to the song while another Indian played it on the piano. The final version was given

to Dr. Eigel kruettge, the conductor of the radio symphony orchestra of

Hamburg, who made minor changes to it before coming up with the final piece. What was thus done for the first time?

QUESTION 1

Painting by Fournier. There are many stories to how the person being cremated died – his boat sank, or it capsized, he was killed for political reasons, attacked by pirates, etc. Who?

QUESTION 2

QUESTION 2

Which term was introduced by Wilford E. Deming, in one of his articles, for the magazine “The

American Cinematographer” ? [Hint : The term was basically a

portmanteau of two words]

QUESTION 3

QUESTION 4

Which event sparked the set up of The Astronomical Society of India, in

1910, with 192 members from all over Calcutta?

If the El Classico involves Real Madrid and Barcelona, whom does the ‘O Classico’ involve?

*QUESTION 5

When Alexander The Great’s army invaded India what did they

refer to as “Honey-filled bamboos” ?

QUESTION 6

Sir, your profile of Satyajit Ray (Aug 9) states that I “Prompted” him to take

action against the producers of E.T for lifting ideas from the 1967 screenplay, The

Alien (co-authored by my then partner , Mike Wilson). I wrote to Ray pointing out

some striking parallels between the two screenplays

and suggesting that he contact Spielberg. My chief concern – and Ray’s – was

that he might be accused of plagiarism, if The Alien was

ever made.

Who wrote this letter (beside)?

QUESTION 7

If

New York city = Gotham

Hiawatha, Kansas = _____________ ?

QUESTION 8

Fill in the blank (exhaustive list in all probability)

Ron Barassi (football player)Dick Reynolds (football player)

Leigh Matthews (football player)Haydn Bunton, Sr. (football player)

Don Bradman (cricket player)Keith Miller (cricket player)Bill Ponsford (cricket player)Dennis Lillee (cricket player)

______________________Betty Cuthbert (track and field)

Shirley Strickland (track and field)

QUESTION 9

He is an air-force pilot by profession and works under the name Flight

Lieutenant W. Wales. He took his first overseas military tour to Mt. Pleasant air base, Falkland islands in February

2012. Who are talking about ?

*QUESTION 10

X is a ‘chief happiness officer’ by profession since 2003 and is the

second most recognizable character in the world, only after Santa Claus. His friends include the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and The Fry Kids. Identify X? (Only the correct name will fetch full points)

QUESTION 11

According to an advertisement, dated 27th Magh, 1279 (according to the

Bengali calendar), from the Manomohan Basu edited magazine

Madhyastha, something happened for the first time as a part of that year’s Chaitra/Paus Mela. This was the first ever specimen of something that has now become an indispensible part of

our city-calendar. What was it the first specimen of ?

QUESTION 12

Born on 10 March 1985, an outspoken political figure. He considers himself a socialist and is a friend of Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. He started his

career in Italy in 2003. But later he faced a controvery in 2007 and

disqualified for a quite a bit of time. Presently he is again climbing upwards

in his career. Who?

QUESTION 13

What is unique about the first series of books by Janet Evanovich where

Stephanie Plum is the main character, the first book of the series being

“One for the Money”?

QUESTION 14

In Sweden, every year only ten applications, to move graves, are accepted.

When X’s daughter applied for X wife’s grave to be moved from its original site to

a place beside X’s grave in 2007, the quotas were already fulfilled. Eventually X-wife’s grave was moved but she had to be

buried under X’s name, thus making X, officially, the only person to have two

graves under his name. In 2011, Bank of Sweden announced that 2014 onwards X's portrait will feature on the country’s 200

kronor banknote. Identify X.

*QUESTION 15

If legends are to believed, once this weapon was drawn out in battle, it

had to taste blood. If the owner couldn’t use it to kill/injure others he

would have to make himself bleed. Which weapon ?

QUESTION 16

The technique was named _________ , derived from the French word for glue by Picasso and Georges Braque in the beginning of the 20th century, and was first used at the time of the invention of paper in China, around 200 BC.

However it was later popularized by the Japanese calligraphers, who used it while writing their poems. Nowadays though the

technique is not quite related to poem writing, but a common phenomenon in another field. Fill

in the blank.

QUESTION 17

Which person along with two of his daughters authored “The Meat Free Monday Cookbook” as a part of the Meat-

Free Monday Campaign?

QUESTION 18

This Car company was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company by Sir William Lyons in 1922, originally

making motorcycle sidecars before evolving into passenger cars. The name

was changed to X after the Second World War to avoid the unfavorable

connotations of the SS initials (Schutzstaffel, a major paramilitary

organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.).Identify X.?

QUESTION 19

Although native to Tibet, the large-scale

poaching of this animal is currently a major

problem in India. It is the source of a very

famous Indian product (although currently

banned). What is the product?

*QUESTION 20

Whose accounts were for the first time put to paper by his fellow prisoner, Rustichello di Pisa ?

*QUESTION 21

The ones who introduced this word seem unsure about its actual meaning but sources have confirmed that it is an Urdu word. The meaning though is still ambiguous, but the probable list of meanings include specifications like:-

• son of love

• a mad lover who starts flying.

• Lovers from two different communities (mostly religious)

QUESTION 22

What, for the first time, appeared on January 10th, 1929, in the newspaper, Le Xxe Siecle ?

QUESTION 23

QUESTION 24

The picture on your right is of a 5-inch aperture Zeiss telescope. It was given to the Rana of Nepal, in 1938, by Hitler. Later on, The Rana’s son then gave it away to X, in 1968, as a gift of a feat X had achieved. X eventually passed it on to the Himalayan Mountaineering inst. Darjeeling (Photo on the right.). Identify X.