The Daily Teaser — 26-8-2014

Oh, thank heavens for that … !

The Bank holiday … ?   Is now officially over.

Which is actually a good thing, from where I’m sitting.

I don’t know about you, but I usually get incredibly bored with public holidays.  Usually because I’ve nothing to do: and no money to remedy that.

Saying that … ?

Saying that, I did manage to watch the Scottish referendum debate on BBC 2, last night.

Yes, I know that’s a bit strange.

But frankly … ?   Frankly, I think whatever happens, that’s a BIG decision, that’s going to affect everyone in the UK.

~≈®≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser was quiet: with no-one putting in their answers.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s questions, shall we?

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

Q1) 26th August, 1873, saw the birth of Lee de Forest: the man who invented the Audion valve.   Was this valve an amplifier, an oscillator or a rectifier?

Q2) Talking of patents … 26th August, 1791, saw inventor, John Fitch receive the patent for what: the steam engine, the steam boat or the loom?

Q3) 26th August, 1676, saw the birth of Sir Robert Walpole: generally regarded as Britain’s first Prime Minister.   What was his actual title, from 1721?

Q4) 26th August, 1978, saw John Paul 1st elected as Pope.   Which Italian city had he been Patriarch of, prior to his election?

Q5) Finally … 26th August, 1498, saw the commissioning of the Pieta sculpture, in the Vatican.   Who sculpted it: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, Leonard Da Vinci or Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 25th August, 1991, saw the start of the Battle of Vukovar.   Vukovar is now in which small European country: Croatia, Slovenia or Macedonia … ?

A1) Croatia.

Q2) Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia had all been part of which Communist country?

A2) Yugoslavia.

Q3) 25th August, 1989, saw the first non-Communist Prime Minister named, in any Communist European country: which country?

A3) Poland.   (The chap’s name was Tadeusz Mazowiecki.   Just don’t ask me to pronounce it … )

Q4) 25th August, 2012, saw the Voyager 1 probe become the first man-made object to enter what: the deep sea, interstellar space or the atmosphere of Neptune?

A4) Interstellar space.

Q5) Finally … 25th August, 1912, saw the founding of the Chinese Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang.   The Kuomintang is now the party of government in which country … ?

A5) Taiwan: or the Republic of China, if you want to get like that …

I’ll leave you with this piece by Branford Marsalis … 

And this thought …

“… the truth is far more extraordinary. Everything has mathematics at its heart.”

Marcus du Sautoy, born 26 August 1965.

Enjoy your day!