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’. @bertyashley
Quiz | Easy like Sunday morning: What has August 7 ever given us?
What immense geographical feature did Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl cross on a hand-built raft?
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1 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1903, Louis Leakey was a Kenyan-English palaeontologist who played a vital role in showing that humans evolved in Africa. His legacy was further strengthened by his mentoring three female researchers, Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas. Their studies on a certain family of animals were instrumental in us understanding evolution. Called Hominoidea, how better do we know these animals?
2 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1916, Kermit Love designed and built puppets for one of the most popular and longest-running children’s shows on American TV. Since 1969, the show has used educational goals and a curriculum to shape its content for the young audience. Kermit was responsible for characters such as Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird and Cookie Monster. What show was this, which also features a puppet that shares a name with him purely by coincidence?
3 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1932, Abebe Bikila was an Ethiopian athlete who won Africa’s first ever Olympic gold medal in 1960. He subsequently went on to win gold at the next Olympics as well, and set a world record. His 1960 achievement was even more remarkable, considering he did the whole event barefoot. After him, the event became dominated by athletes from East Africa. What event is this, which is usually the last athletic event?
4 / 10 |
On August 7, 1944, this company released Harvard Mark I, the first programme-controlled calculator. It was used to determine whether implosion was a viable choice to detonate the atomic bomb that would be used a year later. Developed by Howard Aiken it was built by a company that was founded by Charles Flint as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). Now one of the biggest technology companies in the world, how better do we know CTR?
5 / 10 |
On August 7, 1947, the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) formally took over BEST, which was the civic transport and electricity provider public body. It was originally set up in 1873 as ‘Bombay Tramway Company Limited’ and operated trams. In 1905, when it set up a thermal power station to power its trams, it was re-branded as ‘BEST Company’ as it could now supply electricity as well. When BMC took over BEST, what did the letter stand for?
Answer : Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (Currently Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport)
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6 / 10 |
On August 7, 1947, Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa wood raft, the Kon-Tiki, smashed into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands. It had completed a 101-day, 7,000 km journey in an attempt to prove that pre-historic people could have travelled from South America. He proved that what was thought impossible to cross could be done on a boat. What immense geographical feature did Thor cross on a hand-built raft?
7 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1958, Bruce Dickinson is an English singer-songwriter who is the vocalist for one of the most popular heavy metal bands of all time. Their adrenaline-pumping music explores history, Shakespeare, Greek myths, religion and society. The band is named after a torture device, which was an iron cabinet with spikes shaped like a woman. When not singing, he is also a licensed pilot, a fencer and a beer brewer. Which band does Bruce sing for?
8 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1960, David Duchovny is an actor who found fame playing an FBI detective in a science-fiction thriller TV series alongside Gillian Anderson. The show spanned 10 seasons and became a pop culture phenomenon that showcased stories and conspiracy theories that resound to this day. What TV show was this, which gets its name from the fact that they deal with unknown information?
9 / 10 |
Born on August 7, 1966, Jimmy Wales is an entrepreneur who, in January 2001, launched a free open-content encyclopedia that soon became the largest and most-read reference work in history. The name is a combination of two words, the first being Hawaiian for “to hurry; fast, quick” and the second is Ancient Greek for “upbringing, education.” What popular website is this?
10 / 10 |
Born in Transvaal on August 7, 1975, Charlize Theron got her big break in acting when she was discovered while yelling at a bank teller. Since English is not her first language, she learnt it by watching soap operas on television. In 2003, she became the first person from her country to win an Oscar in an acting category for her role of a serial killer in the movie Monster. In which country was Theron born and brought up in?
