4. 1. Gary Mark Gilmore was an American criminal, murderer, who
gained international notoriety for demanding that his own death
sentence be fulfilled following two murders he committed in Utah.
He became the first person executed in the United States after the
U.S. Supreme Court upheld a new series of death penalty statutes
in 1976. Gilmore was executed by firing squad in 1977.
The founder of advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy, Dan Wieden
credits the inspiration for his famous slogan to Gary Gilmore‘s last
words.
What were they ?
10. 3. The ‗Boston _______ ‗is a phrase coined in 1806 to describe New England‘s old,
wealthy families.
It was used to describe people with great wealth, political influence and old New
England roots. They frequently intermarried, founded and promoted Boston cultural
institutions, and had some connection with Harvard and is sometimes applied partly
in jest to characterize their often erudite and pretentious nature.
It is likely that this term was used because the families used to trade with The British
East India Company.
Their _______ like nature is emphasized in the last line of this ‗Boston Toast‘:
"And this is good old Boston,
The home of the bean and the cod,
Where the Lowells talk only to Cabots,
And the Cabots talk only to God‖
13. 4. The Silk Road is an online black market which was launched in
February 2011. It can be accessed only via the anonymizing
network TOR. Users can browse it anonymously and securely
without potential traffic monitoring. All transactions happen
through bitcoins.
The site's terms of service say that they prohibit the sale of
"anything who's purpose is to harm or defraud.‖ This
includes child pornography, stolen credit cards, assassinations
and weapons of mass destruction.
What is this online market for?
20. 6. This is a sample of the large list of songs that was distributed by Clear
Channel Communications, USA to the radio stations they owned. Why/what is
this list?
The Beatles - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
AC/DC - Shot Down in Flames
Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly
Green Day - Brain Stew
U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday
Led Zeppelin - Stairway To Heaven
Dave Matthews Band - Crash into Me
22. Songs that stations were advised not to play
immediately after the 9/11 attacks.
23. 7. ‗Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide,
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For ____ ____ ____ ____ _____‘
Steve Jobs started his speech at a certain event with these lines
taken from a famous song. What event and whose song ?
25. These were recited by Steve Jobs at Apple‘s Annual
Shareholders
meeting in 1984 where the Macintosh was first introduced.
Song is ―The Times Are A-Changin‘‖ by Bob Dylan.
26. 8. This person‘s body was exhumed from his tomb in 1941. It is
alleged that tomb was inscribed with the words, "When I rise
from the dead, the world shall tremble."
It is also said that when his body was being exhumed, an
additional inscription inside the casket was found reading,
"Whoever opens my tomb, shall unleash an invader more terrible
than I."
Two days after the exhumation had begun, Hitler launched the
largest military invasion of all time on Stalin, on whose orders
the tomb was excavated, thus making locals fear that the legend
of the tomb was about to come true.
Whose tomb is this story all about ?
29. 9. An unique project has been started by a Russian percussion
group called ETHNOBEAT from Irkutsk Technical University
where they tour to a particular location to record a sound which
they believe cannot be reproduced elsewhere.
The group owes the project to an incident where the wife of one
of the drummers, had previously fell down when they were
touring there, producing an intriguing musical sound during
impact.
Where is the recording done?
32. 10. Richard Muñoz Ramirez was an American serial
killer, rapist, and burglar. His highly publicized home
invasion crime spree terrorized the residents of the greater Los
Angeles area, and later the residents of the San Francisco area,
from April 1984 until August 1985.
The killer attacked most of his victims by creeping into their
homes late at night, usually through an open window.
He died in prison earlier this year due to health complications,
having been on death row in California for the past 23 years.
What is he better known as ?
35. 11. How would you connect the following ?
Mother Nature (a globe)
Scribble (an origami-esque cat)
Power Pup (a superhero dog)
Will (a caricature of William Shakespeare)
Bosgrove (a butler)
Kairu the Dolphin
The most famous of them all, Clippy.
38. 12. Initial regulations stated that packages sent via the U.S.
Parcel Post Service (began on January 1, 1913) could not
weigh more than 50 pounds.
In Feb 1914, Mr. and Mrs. Pierstorff were responsible for a
rather bizarre post from Grangeville, Idaho to Lewiston, Idaho.
The justification for this was penury.
On 13 June 1920, this practice was officially forbidden in public
interest, after many other such instances. What peculiar trend
was this ?
40. Sending children by the postal service, because it was
cheaper than rail travel.
41. 13. An alarming medical problem arising out of China‘s
population is that of organ donation. Each year 500,000 die
whose lives might have been saved, at least for a while, had
they undergone a heart or liver transplant.
Over the last decade, this problem has spun out of control
because of the halt of organ supply from a fixed source that has
been a settled practice in the country. The process used to
supply nine-tenths of the organs transplanted in China. This
proportion is now halved.
So what is the reason for this fall in organ sources, with this
donor scheme no longer ‗carried out‘ methodically in China ?
43. Executed prisoners were the sources for organs.
This number has fallen by three-quarters in the last decade, with
China slowly moving away from capital punishment.
49. 2. Coined by Dr. Howard J. Bennett in a Letter to the Editor of The
New England Journal of Medicine on October 30, 2003 – this
condition is intended to denote a generalized headache usually
arising from reading gigantic volumes sitting uninterrupted for long
hours of time.
Named after a popular epoch of modern literature that has
confounded many of us into this condition – what is it called ?
50. 3. The following is extracted from the article ―X finally
topped
by Y!‖ dated August 21, 2013:
―Y bumps X from the top spot in a recent survey by
ComScore.
It is noted that X has been No. 1 since April 2008. While Y‘s
numbers have fluctuated, reaching the No. 2 or No. 3
position
occasionally, but never making it to the top.
The boost comes shortly after Y‘s purchase of the popular
blogging site Z in May.‖
X, Y, Z?
51. 4. The Chollima is a mythical winged horse that originates from
Chinese mythology and is common to many Asian cultures. This
winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted
(by any mortal man).
This is the national animal of which country, which often claims
that the animal is real for political propaganda ?
52. 5. Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava was a noted Indian con
man known for having repeatedly "sold" the Taj Mahal, the Red
Fort, and the Rashtrapati Bhavan and also the Parliament House
of India along with its 545 sitting members.
He is also said to have cheated number of industrialists
including Birlas and Dhirubhai Ambani, taking from them huge
money in cash, posing as social worker or needy person.
He shot to fame when an Amitabh Bachchan film of the same
name was released, thus becoming a legend in parts of Bihar.
What is he better known as ?
53. 6. Initially part of a very sparse 1952 Czechoslovak Olympic
contingent, this man had his choice of events and he took part in
all he could. After winning the 5000m and 10000m gold, he
decided to participate in the marathon.
Since he had never really participated in a marathon before, he
decided that the best strategy would be to follow the then world
record holder, Jim Peters. Midway through the marathon he asked
Peters about the pace of the marathon to which Peters answered
―too slow‖ in an effort to tire him out.
He went on win the marathon and set an Olympic record while
Peters never finished.
Who ?
54. 7. Connect the following :
Ludwig van Beethovan
Lee Harvey Oswald
Count Dracula
Egor Korshunov
Richard Crosby
Lord Shen
George Smiley
Sgt. Viktor Reznov
James Gordon
55. 8. Metropolis, where many of Superman‘s action
takes place, is based on New York City. Its nickname
also mimics that of New York.
What is the nickname of Metropolis?
56. 9.
― Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.‖
X gave this to Y in 1995. Who is X and Y? And what happened?
57. 10. You probably have an account already.
Almost everyone you know is on it.
Time-tested sorting algorithms and proprietary
XKeyscore software are used to put you in circles
with the people most like you.
What?
< screenshots to follow >
64. The Lucerne Music Festival.
The ad was for the 75th anniversary of the event.
65. 2. Coined by Dr. Howard J. Bennett in a Letter to the Editor of The
New England Journal of Medicine on October 30, 2003 – this
condition is intended to denote a generalized headache usually
arising from reading gigantic volumes sitting uninterrupted for long
hours of time.
Named after a popular epoch of modern literature that has
confounded many of us into this condition – what is it called ?
68. 3. The following is extracted from the article ―X finally
topped
by Y!‖ dated August 21, 2013:
―Y bumps X from the top spot in a recent survey by
ComScore.
It is noted that X has been No. 1 since April 2008. While Y‘s
numbers have fluctuated, reaching the No. 2 or No. 3
position
occasionally, but never making it to the top.
The boost comes shortly after Y‘s purchase of the popular
blogging site Z in May.‖
X, Y, Z?
71. 4. The Chollima is a mythical winged horse that originates from
Chinese mythology and is common to many Asian cultures. This
winged horse is said to be too swift and elegant to be mounted
(by any mortal man).
This is the national animal of which country, which often claims
that the animal is real for political propaganda ?
74. 5. Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava was a noted Indian con
man known for having repeatedly "sold" the Taj Mahal, the Red
Fort, and the Rashtrapati Bhavan and also the Parliament House
of India along with its 545 sitting members.
He is also said to have cheated number of industrialists
including Birlas and Dhirubhai Ambani, taking from them huge
money in cash, posing as social worker or needy person.
He shot to fame when an Amitabh Bachchan film of the same
name was released, thus becoming a legend in parts of Bihar.
What is he better known as ?
77. 6. Initially part of a very sparse 1952 Czechoslovak Olympic
contingent, this man had his choice of events and he took part in
all he could. After winning the 5000m and 10000m gold, he
decided to participate in the marathon.
Since he had never really participated in a marathon before, he
decided that the best strategy would be to follow the then world
record holder, Jim Peters. Midway through the marathon he asked
Peters about the pace of the marathon to which Peters answered
―too slow‖ in an effort to tire him out.
He went on win the marathon and set an Olympic record while
Peters never finished.
Who ?
80. 7. Connect the following :
Ludwig van Beethovan
Lee Harvey Oswald
Count Dracula
Egor Korshunov
Richard Crosby
Lord Shen
George Smiley
Sgt. Viktor Reznov
James Gordon
83. 8. Metropolis, where many of Superman‘s action
takes place, is based on New York City. Its nickname
also mimics that of New York.
What is the nickname of Metropolis?
86. 9.
― Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.‖
X gave this to Y in 1995. Who is X and Y? And what happened?
88. X- Nelson Mandela; Y – Francois Pienaar
South Africa winning the Rugby World Cup.
89. 10. You probably have an account already.
Almost everyone you know is on it.
Time-tested sorting algorithms and proprietary
XKeyscore software are used to put you in circles
with the people most like you.
What?
< screenshots to follow >
96. 1. Space Oddity is a song written and performed by David
Bowie and released as a music single in 1969. It is about the
launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut; its title alludes to the
film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The lyrics have also been seen to lampoon the failed British
space programme.
It made news world over when it was first recorded, as a result of
which it remains quiz-worthy even today. Why ?
99. 2. The Adidas JS Roundhouse Mid shoes were released on
August 12th 2012.
When they posted a preview picture on Facebook, fans voiced
their strong opposition towards these shoes. The ad for these
shoes said, ―Tighten up your style with the JS Roundhouse
Mids, dropping in August. Got a sneaker game so hot you lock
your kicks to your ankles?‖.
What made these shoes controversial?
102. The shoes had shackles which reminded people of
slavery.
103. 3. Charlemagne, also known as Charles The Great, was the King
of the Franks (France) from 768, the King of Italy from 774, and
the first emperor in western Europe since the collapse of the
Western Roman Empire.
He was called ―The Father of Europe‖ as his empire united
western Europe for the first time since the roman empire.
Charlemagne died in 814 after having ruled as Emperor for just
over thirteen years.
How do we know him better?
107. 4. I went into the Apple shop just before it was released. The windows were whited-
out, and I thought: "Great opportunity. Baker Street, millions of buses going
around ..." So, before anyone knew what it meant, I scraped it out of the whitewash.
A guy in Marylebone rang me up, and he was furious: "I'm going to send one of my
sons round to beat you up." I said, "Hang on, hang on — what's this about?" and he
said: "You've written ____ in the shop window." I had no idea it meant "Jew", but if
you look at footage of Nazi Germany, “_________" was written in whitewashed
windows with a Star of David. I swear it never occurred to me.
I said: "I'm really sorry," and on and on ..."some of my best friends are Jewish, really.
It's just a song we've got coming out. If you listen to the song you'll see it's nothing to
do with any of that – it's a complete coincidence.―
He was just about pacified in the end.
— Paul McCartney, The Beatles Anthology
A failed promotional attempt for what ?
110. 5. We all know what happened until a certain point. This is what happened
after that.
This person runs into a doppelganger of his, goes on The David Letterman
Show and attends the Academy Awards.
He plays football for the New Orleans Saints, sells encyclopaedias door-to-
door, works on a pig farm, and helps develop the infamous New Coke. He
accidentally crashes the Exxon Valdez, helps destroy the Berlin Wall, and
fights in Operation Desert Storm with his friend, an orangutan named Sue.
He meets many celebrities, including Colonel Oliver North, the Ayatollah
Khomeini, John Hinckley, Jim Bakker, Ivan Boesky, Ronald Reagan,
Saddam Hussein, Bill and Hillary Clinton, and his doppelganger.
Who is being referred to ?
112. Forrest Gump.
These are the further adventures of Forrest Gump that
happen in the sequel titled ―Gump and Co.‖ written by
Winston Groom.
113. 6. This track, recorded by Hans Zimmer is a choral
arrangement of a theme from The Dark Knight
Rises soundtrack.
However, this track is not a part of the original album and was
released almost a month after the movie‘s release.
What is the purpose behind its recording?
115. Intended to raise funds for the victims of 2012 Aurora Shooting
incident.
The track is called ―Aurora‖ and contains all the melancholic
parts of the original TDKR soundtrack.
116. 7. Self-styled Italian art history sleuth Silvano Vinceti and his researchers
last month entered the martyrs' crypt in Florence's Santissima Annunziata
basilica, 300 years after it was last opened, in pursuit of a two-and-a-half-
year mission to identify the remains of a certain someone.
Eight skeletons have yet been unearthed from this place and are currently
undergoing carbon dating tests to check if they belong to the 1500s.
While certain sections of other art connoisseurs across Italy and the world
strongly repudiate Vinceti‘s methods, his quest has gone on unhindered,
believing he is a step closer to an important discovery.
What is this enigmatic search all about ?
118. The remains of Lisa Gherardini, the woman thought to
be the model for the Mona Lisa.
119. 8. Ted Cruz, the current senator from Texas, is one of the
Republican Party‘s Presidential hopefuls for 2016.
However, Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution is
a critical hurdle the senator has to clear in order to vie for the
country‘s top job.
George Romney and John McCain‘s prospects for the White
House were doubtful for the very same reason. There‘s also been
talk about amending this rule to permit Arnold Schwarzenegger.
What is this rule that doesn‘t make these candidates feel very
homely?
121. Being born in the USA to be eligible for President.
122. 9. The house of 14, Via Bellini, a nondescript house on the outskirts of Turin was
proudly built by the rough-hewn hands of Stefano, a building worker who after years of
effort had established a small construction business by the 1960s.
He took special pride in his work-worn hands and in the dignity of labour which had
motivated him to build a bungalow for his wife and three daughters, and to establish
that he was a self-made man who had created all that he owned with his own labour.
He wished to disprove the allegations made even then that his family had grown rich
due to a certain connection.
In the autumn of 1977, Stefano was not too happy with his eldest daughter. He
resignedly noted: "After her wedding, everyone thinks we have got rich and made free
trips. But we have paid for everything ourselves. Her marriage has been an expensive
thing for us.‖
The fact that this man was a staunch supporter of Benito Mussolini has also been a
matter of some controversy.
Who is this man ? Why is this quiz-worthy ?
125. 10. ''India is like a historic father of the project,'' Paolo Giubellino,
CERN spokesperson said on a certain occasion in July 2012.
But the very next day, Milan K. Sanyal, the director of the
prestigious Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in Calcutta wrote to
CERN expressing his indignation on behalf of the Indian scientific
community and demanding credit for something.
P.M. Bhargava, director of the CCMB, backed up the demand
saying – ―I believe it is a deliberate omission; this is not the only
such case.‖
What was the omission about ? What was the demand ?
127. Capitalizing the B in ‗Higgs boson‘, because ‗Boson‘
was coined as a tribute to Satyendranath Bose.
128. 11. In May 2004, Singapore Airlines‘ new fleet of Airbus A340-
500 aircraft came with a first-of-its-kind facility – a discreet
locker with special straps next to one of the plane‘s exit doors.
The long duration of their flights compelled the airline to think of
this addition, besides the fact that most routes spanned the
Pacific Ocean with little room for an unscheduled landing. In
response to the skeptics, the airline assured that this would be
used only if there wasn‘t appropriate space elsewhere in the
cabin.
What was the purpose of this addition ?
130. The cupboards were intended for corpses, in the
unfortunate event of a passenger dying during flight.
131. 12. Back in 2003, when France refused to take part in the Iraq
war, the U.S. House of Representatives made a ―major‖ change.
According to one congressman, the change was ―a small but
symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on
Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France.‖
This wasn‘t the first time such a ―major‖ change took place.
During World War One restaurants started calling sauerkraut
―liberty cabbage‖ to spite Germany.
What was this ―major‖ change?
133. The U.S. House of Representatives changed French
fries to ―Freedom fries‖ and French toast to ―Freedom
toast‖.
134. 13. This place was affectionately christened ―the home of
football‖ by the club that played there.
Along with holding football matches it also held boxing,
baseball and cricket matches. It was known for its small but
immaculate pitch, and for the famous clock which was
positioned in the southern side of the ground since its
introduction in 1930.
What, where ?
137. 14. ―I asked Fred where the funds had come from, and he
responded, ‗The meeting with the General Dynamics board was
a bust and I knew we needed money for Monday, so I took a
plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.‘ I said, ‗You mean you
took our last $5,000-- how could you do that?‘ He shrugged his
shoulders and said, ‗What difference does it make? Without the
funds for the fuel companies, we couldn't have flown anyway.‘
Fred's luck held again. It was not much, but it came at a critical
time and kept us in business for another week.―
In this well documented display of bravado, which famous
company was thus saved from being a sinking ‗ship‘ ?
140. Grid-lock To The Finish.
A grid of 9 topics to choose from.
Each team picks one topic. Teams can choose to either make
it a 10-pointer with a minus 5, or a 20-pointer with a minus 10.
Questions on the pass will fetch 10 points with no negatives.
142. This is technically defined as a melanocytic nevus, which is a
type of lesion that causes nevus cells. The most common
variants of this are – junctional, compound, intradermal,
dysplastic, blue, spitz, acquired, congenital, giant pigmented –
among others. The high content of melanin is what makes it a
distinguishing feature.
All suspicion aside, what is the common name for this ?
Lesionnaire
145. The first known form of this was invented in around 400 BC in
the Greek town Syracus. It was called a gatastraphete.
Some subsequent versions were :
Springald
Mangonel
Onager
Couillard
What ?
Hurling
Away!
148. ―I did not kill that man. My God is aware of it. I am big enough
to admit if I had done it, that admission would have been less of
an ordeal and humiliation than this barbarous trial which no self
respecting man can endure. I am a Muslim. A Muslim's fate is in
the hands of God Almighty. I can face Him with a clear
conscience and tell Him that I rebuilt His Islamic State from
ashes into a respectable Nation. I am entirely at peace with my
conscience. I am not afraid of death. You have seen what fires I
have passed through.‖
Whose last words ?
Habeas
Corpus?
151. ―If equilateral triangles are constructed on the sides of any
triangle, either all outward, or all inward, the centres of those
equilateral triangles themselves form an equilateral triangle.‖
Ironically, the concept of equality and the person this theorem is
named after – are so disjoint, that they could possibly be born
apart.
What is the theorem called ?
Occasional
Mathematic
s
154. This expression is said to have had its origin from a chain of
―sanitary cleaning shops‖ used as a front by Chicago gangster
Al Capone – to conceal his earnings from illegal sale of drinks
during the Prohibition.
Commonly used term in global financial circles today, in a
negative context, whose definition is largely determined by
jurisdictions.
What is the term ?
Shenanigan
s
157. Only 3 countries have participated in every modern-day Summer
Olympics – two of them being Greece, where the games
originated, and Australia.
The third country also holds the record for being the only country
to win a gold medal at every Summer Olympics.
Which country is this ?
Midas
Touch
160. Kingdom of Württemberg (1879–1896)
Stateless (1896–1901)
Switzerland (1901–1955)
Austria–Hungary (1911–1912)
German Empire (1914–1918)
Weimar Republic (1919-January 1933)
Nazi Germany
United States
Whom would you connect all of these to ?
Identity
Crisis?
163. A certain specialty store in Brisbane, Australia which sells gluten-
free and wheat-free items, introduced a first-of-its kind policy in
response to ‗showrooming‘ earlier this year, and made news
world over for this.
What is showrooming and what did this store do?
Shopping
Blues
165. Showrooming is when a shopper examines
merchandise or products in a store and then buys it
online for a lower price.
The store levied a charge of $5 per person for ―just
looking‖.
167. Rupture of the proximal head of the biceps tendon involves
tearing of one of two heads of the biceps tendon. This condition
usually occurs in older individuals and is caused by
degenerative changes within the biceps tendon leading to
failure of the structure. After the ruptured tendon retracts
patients may experience a bulge in their arm.
This is the retracted muscle bunched up in the arm and is
named as a tribute to an icon of contemporary popular culture.
What is it called ?
Build And
Sail