Easy like Sunday morning

‘October and kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, But you go on and on’

September 30, 2017 04:00 pm | Updated 04:00 pm IST

 A legend, born 111 years ago.

A legend, born 111 years ago.

1. Launched on October 1, 1908, this was then known as the Tin Lizzie. It was extremely successful as it became the symbol of America’s age of modernisation. It was sold until 1927, by when 16 million pieces had been bought! Its name would indicate that it had 16 predecessors, but in fact there were only seven final products, as many were just design ideas that never got produced. What was this revolutionary product?

2. This type of scanning makes use of processed combinations of many X-ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional images of specific areas of a scanned object. This allows the user to see inside the object without cutting. The first such scan on a patient took place on October 1, 1971, at Atkinson Morley’s Hospital, in London, on a lady with a suspected frontal lobe tumour. There are different versions such as PET and SPECT but the most common one is CAT. What does CAT stand for?

3. This gentleman was the first U.S. president to be born in a hospital. In 1979, he helped end a war between Egypt and Israel. After his presidential term he founded an organisation which was responsible for the near eradication of the Guinea Worm Disease. He has a Nobel Peace prize as well as two Grammy awards. Who is this charismatic politician who is celebrating his 93rd birthday today?

4. This was one of the world’s earliest civilisations and was responsible for some of the most important inventions in history. For thousands of years, the political system was based on hereditary monarchies or dynasties. Finally, on October 1, 1949, it became a Republic. Since then it has grown by leaps and bounds and is currently the largest by purchasing power parity. Which country is this?

5. This is a British-French turbojet-powered passenger jet airliner. Its name came from the fact that these two countries were in agreement with each other on this project. On October 1, 1969, it attained a speed of 1810.5 Km/hr (Mach 1.5) making it the first supersonic passenger aircraft. It had a unique nose with a visor that was lowered during landing but was straight during flying. What was the name of this iconic aircraft?

6. After the Wright Brothers’ historic first flight in 1903, the United States began to fall behind in aeronautical research. With the beginning of World War I, the nation realised it needed to catch up technologically with Europe. In 1915, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics was formed. On October 1, 1958, this was dissolved and a new organisation was created. Which organisation is this whose abbreviation is usually pronounced as a whole word?

7. On October 1, 1964, the ‘dangan ressha’ made its first trip just before the start of the summer Olympics in the city. What used to take six and a half hours was now possible in just four hours. It has become a poster child for punctuality, setting a record in 1997 where over the course of an entire year the overall delay was just 18 seconds! The native name it is known by now means ‘New trunk line’ but the English name is the translation of ‘Dangan Ressha’ and refers to its unique shape. What mode of transport is this that is trending now?

8. Born on October 1, 1906, this gentleman was of royal lineage. His father was from the royal family of Tripura while his mother was from the royal family of Manipur. In 1932, he began singing for the Calcutta radio station where he became famous for his performances of Bengali, Tripuri folk music, and light classical music. In addition to composing music, ‘Karta’ (as he was known in the music industry) has also lent his voice to 14 Hindi and 13 Bengali film songs. Which legendary composer was born 111 years ago?

9. On October 1, 1888, eight months after this society was established with the purpose ‘to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge.’ They launched a magazine. Consisting of 98 pages without even one photograph and having a brown paper cover, it cost 50 cents. The now dramatic photographs started appearing only in 1905. Which magazine is this which is known for its distinctive border?

10. This satellite television channel is a subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). Launched on October 1, 1992, it has a viewership of more than a billion households. This channel was launched as an experiment, having only action and animated comedy. The QM fondly remembers a childhood when his schedule revolved around this channel’s schedule. Which channel is this?

Answers

1. The Ford Model-T car

2. Computer Aided Tomography

3. Jimmy Carter

4. People’s Republic of China

5. Concorde

6. National Aeronautics and Space Administration — NASA

7. The Bullet Train — ‘Shinkansen’

8. S.D. Burman

9. National Geographic Magazine

10. Cartoon Network

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