1. Tomorrow (March 20), the Sun crosses the celestial equator from South to North, giving people living on the equator a near 50-50 split of day and night. As we are a bit further north, we will have seven minutes of extra daytime. What is the term for this equal distribution of day and night?
2. This is the first sign of the Zodiac. Astrologists believe it starts on March 21. The constellation it is based on has been known since the 2nd century. Which Zodiac sign am I talking about and what animal is it represented by since ancient Greek times?
3. American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay called ‘An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light’ in The Journal ( Le Journal )of Paris in 1784. In the essay, he jokingly suggested that Parisians could save on candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning, making use of the natural morning light instead. What international practice did this give rise to?
4. In 1876, Sir Sandford Fleming, a chief engineer for British Railways missed his train in Ireland (a confusion over A.M. and P.M.) as the Irish used a different method to calculate time. Focusing his ire on the issue, he proposed a then-revolutionary concept that would go on to benefit the entire globe. What did Sir Fleming propose?
5. One day, Ringo Starr was taking a cab to John Lennon’s house. Ever the chatty type, he asked the driver ‘How’ve you been?’. The driver who had been working overtime responded: ‘Oh working hard, working ___________’. What interesting four-word phrase did he use which went on to become the title of a No.1 song in 1965?
6. With India’s western and eastern borders some 2,900 km apart, India could well have three time zones! (The northeastern states have been asking for a separate time zone (an hour earlier) to increase tea production.) But India has only one time zone. IST is based on the 82.30’ E longitude which runs through which city?
7. You would think that the bigger the country, the more time zones it follows, but nope. You would be wrong. Though quite small, this country has the most number of time zones because of its colonial history and its willingness to keep all these territories. Which country?
8. The Diomedes are a pair of islands lying in the Bering Strait. The Little Diomede island belongs to Alaska and houses a population of 110. The Big Diomede island comes under Russia and is uninhabited. The two islands are located just 4 km apart, but when the people in the little island look at the big island, they see tomorrow. Why?
9. What word in the English language come from the fact that it denotes a period of time equal to 14 nights?
10. Roger Waters of the band Pink Floyd, got the idea for this song when he realised he was no longer preparing for anything in life, but was right in the middle of it. The song starts with layers of clock noises that were put together by their engineer, Alan Parsons. What one word, which is the theme and name of this song, fittingly puts an end to this week’s quiz?
Answers
1. Equinox (Equi=equal; Nox=Night)
2. Aries, and a male sheep or ram
3. Daylight Saving Time [DST], which, thankfully India does not follow
4. Worldwide standard time zones
5. Eight days a week
6. Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh (Shankargarh Fort, to be precise.)
7. France. As French territories are spread across 12 different longitudes, it has adopted 12 different time zones.
8. The International Date Line runs between them so there is a 24-hour difference between both the islands
9. Fortnight
10. Time
A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’.
