The Daily Teaser — 24-06-2012

Hmmm … 

That’s … strangely weird … 

I think … 

I mentioned, yesterday, that I’d started a course of treatment for an underactive thyroid gland … ?

This is going to sound odd, but despite the iffy night’s sleep, today is the first time I can recall not feeling too grotty, afterwards.

Actually … ?

I have to admit, it’s ALSO the first time I can recall my throat not feeling swollen.

And actually feeling rampagingly hungry in the morning … !!!

On the second day of a course of treatment … ?   That’s fairly good, I think.

Let’s get moving on, shall we … ?

☱☲☴☲☱

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi putting in her answers: along with being thankful for the invention of both computers and the Internet*º, also bagging 4 out of 5.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the ‘How To’, License and video … 

Q1) 24th June, 1947, saw Kenneth Arnold make the first widely reported sighting of a UFO: what does UFO stand for … ?

Q2) More to the point, in which US state was this … ?

Q3) 24th June, 1916, saw who become the first woman to sign a $1, 000, 000 Hollywood contract … ?

Q4) 24th June, 2010 saw John Isner beat Nicolas Mahut at the conclusion of their sport’s longest profession match.   What WAS their sport … ?

Q5) 24th June, 972, saw which country win the Battle of Cedynia?

Q6) And finally … 24th June, 1974, saw Britain’s government admit to having tested what … ?

And here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 23rd June, 1912, saw the birth of Alan Turing, the father of the modern computer.   During World War 2, he worked at Britain’s code-breaking centre, in Bletchley Park: what was that centre’s formal name … ?

A1) The Government Code and Cypher School.

Q2) More to the point, name either of the German cipher machines which he helped crack … ?

A2) The Enigma Machine — in part, broken with the device called the Bombe — and the Lorenz cipher machine: broken with the aid of the Heath Robinson and Colossus machines.

Q3) 23rd June, 79 AD, saw who become Roman Emperor … ?

A3) Titus.   (Or Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus, if you want it in full … !)

Q4) 23rd June, 1868 saw Christopher L. Sholes patent the first commercially successful typewriter.   Yes or No: did he himself use it?

A4) No.

Q5) And finally … 23rd June, 1943, saw the birth of computer scientist, Vint Cerf: one of the men known as the father of what … ?

A5) The Internet.

Enjoy those, everyone.

As the rain’s decided to stop at Brentwood on its World Tour of south-east England, birthday boy Jeff Beck has an ideal tune … 

*        Actually, Debbi, I think we need to thank Paul Baran and Donald Davies.   They’re the scientists  who — completely independently of each other — came up with packet-switching, the underlying communication method the ’net uses.   I’m thinking cucumber sandwiches are practically mandatory … !

º        Actually, Debbi, did I ever tell you I’m following Storm Constantine on Facebook … ?   She’s a noted fantasy/sci-fi writer, here in the UK: she might be able to help on that front!   (It’s backgrounds that can be the killer … !   I’m also aware of reading a Terry Pratchett interview, years ago, where he said he kept notes.   Just to make sure that, if he said in one novel that a trip from ⓐ to ⓑ took a week by carriage, that he didn’t say it took half an hour in the next … !   Fans get REALLY geeky about things like thatª.)

ª        No, seriously … !   We’re talking about a variety of people who, for example, have set up the Klingon Language Institute: and have been arguing about whether the Klingons have a word meaning ‘mercy’ for years†.

†        It’s been holding up the Klingon version of the King James Bible for a while.   (Old testament, with tons of sex and smiting?   No problem, not an issue.   The New testament, where mercy gets a mention?   FLAMING row … !)