[99]

This athlete’s signature move was born when his younger brother dared him to perform a Tony Yayo/50 Cent dance move on stage infront of spectators.
The athlete added a line along with the move and both because hugely popular.
Name the athlete & the move.

Show Answer
The athlete is John Cena & the move is 'You can't see me'.
Here's a Video of John Cena talking about the origin.
Here's the Video with Tony Yayo performing the original move, at 0:30 mark.

[98]

The Scientific Revolution is commonly regarded to have been in full swing at the turn of the 17th century, and it was right around this time that a German scientist came up with a quick and easy (for the time, at least) nomenclature system for his particular field of study. This system, named after the scientist himself, originally consisted of a lowercase Greek or Latin letter that (loosely) pinpointed a particular attribute, coupled with a specific set of Latin words that worked to swiftly assign names to what he was working on.

The system has since been tweaked and expanded by other scientists building off of his work, but is still very much recognizable and in use today.

What is this naming system called, and what does it classify?

(Bonus: In an interesting overlap, one of the subjects of study under this classification indirectly inspired the name of a former Formula 1 team.)

Show Answer
Bayer designation, named after astronomer Johann Bayer. The initial letter represents the star's brightness, followed by the genitive Latin name of the constellation the star is in.

Aldebaran is the brightest star in the constellation Taurus, and its Bayer designation is therefore α-Tauri - which inspired Scuderia AlphaTauri.

[96]

Jean _____ was a French diplomat and scholar, in 1560 & introduced a plant in the French court initially for medicinal purposes. This introduction gave rise to a culture associated with the plant and its eventual dissemination and popularization throughout Europe.
Name the plant and tell in what way the French diplomat’s name was immortalized later by Carl Linnaeus?

Show Answer
The plant is tobacco. It was introduced in European circles by a named Jean Nicot who promoted tobacco's healing properties. The active ingredient in tobacco - Nicotine is named after him.
Read More about the man & the introduction of tobacco in France.

[95]

During Marco Polo’s visit to India, he came across a plant that looked like dates, also known as ‘tamar‘ in Arabic.
It was also referred to as ‘Tamar-ul-Hind’, or Date from India.
What do we call it today?

tamar ul hind
 

Show Answer
Tamarind
Read More.

[94]

In the 1800s, with Britain’s Industrial Revolution in full swing, English workers and craftsmen began to find themselves in increasingly tight competition with the advanced mechanization and factories that enabled mass production of goods, combined with underhanded labor practices implemented by the top bosses in control of those factories to squeeze out as much product as possible.

Naturally, some of them expressed their resentment by going on a violent rampage against the machines that were destroying their livelihoods. Most legendary of these was “X”, who as the tale would have it, smashed two knitting frames in “a fit of passion” — an action that would result in his name being used for the entire movement. The name is still used today to refer to individuals who find themselves particularly opposed to modern technology and its ubiquity.

Who is X?

Show Answer
"Ned Ludd", a mythical figure most likely based on a weaver called Edward Ludlam who probably did actually smash up some textile machinery.

Disaffected members of the 19th-century English working class banded together to protest unfair working conditions and rapid industrialization without labor protections (notably, they were not against industrialization itself), and the movement came to be known as the Luddites.

[93]

The restaurant chains Moti Mahal recently filed a lawsuit against Daryaganj for the use of their tagline.
What does the tagline say, which has become contentious?
dmm

Show Answer
The inventors of Butter Chicken & Dal Makhani.
Both parties claims that it was their predecessor who had invented the dish.
Read More.

[92]

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Santa Maria delle Grazie (“Holy Mary of Grace”) is a lovely, if initially unassuming, 15th-century terracotta-stone church and convent located in Milan, Italy. While every brick of the church is rightly regarded as an architectural and artistic jewel, there’s something special about the north wall in the dining hall that led to the building’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On the night of August 15, 1943, an Allied aerial strike partly destroyed the site — that north wall was one of the few left standing, having been protected since the start of World War II by sandbags and scaffolding.

Santa Maria delle Grazie Milan bombardamento del 1943

The north wall, protected by scaffolding
The wall in question after the bombing

Why is that wall so important?

Show Answer
The entire north wall of the refectory is home to the original fresco of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper.

[91]

In 2020, L&T bagged the construction contract for the project & given the significance decided to give its services for free. Tata Consulting Engineers was brought in for its project management services.
The overall project is estimated to cost Rs 1800 crore and is said to be built without the use of any steel or concrete.
Which project am I talking about?

Show Answer
Ram Mandir at Ayodhaya.
Here's an Article from ET behind the planning of the project.

[90]

X is:

-the name of author Ian Fleming’s Jamaican estate, now a major hotel and resort, located right next to the aptly named James Bond Beach,

-the name of the first James Bond film to not be based on any of Fleming’s James Bond novels, named after the estate,

-part of the name of the videogame based on the film, often regarded as one of the greatest videogames ever made.

Name X.

Show Answer
Goldeneye, which lent its name to 1995's GoldenEye, and 1997's GoldenEye 007 for the Nintendo 64.

[89]

There is a trend of, technology reaching a larger audience faster. One way to measure this is to look at the time taken to reach 100 million users. Which service launched in 2023 broke all previous records & reached 100M users in just 5 days?

Rank Platform Launch Time to 100M Users
1 ? 2023 5 days
2 ChatGPT 2022 2 months
3 TikTok 2017 9 months
4 WeChat 2011 1 year, 2 months
5 Instagram 2010 2 years, 6 months

Show Answer
Threads. The app launched on the back of Instagram to complete with Twitter/X.
Here's a Cool Infographic on the journey of some of these technologies.

[88]

One of these is not like the others — which one, and why?

Record 22 and 20 inch Blackbuck Hunts - Once In A Lifetime Opportunity ...
Blackbuck
Arabian Oryx – 777 Ranch
Arabian oryx
R
Sitatunga
MG 5289
Mule deer
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Goitered gazelle
Wildebeest, Black – Taxidermy Quote
Wildebeest
Show Answer
The mule deer is the odd one out -- the others are all technically antelopes. While antelopes and deer are commonly confused with one another, they're actually very distant cousins. Antelopes also grow permanent horns, while deer grow and shed a new set of antlers each year.

[87]

X is a small town in Swiss Alps with a population of about 12,000 residents. The town is known for its skiing activities & great climate recommended by authors like RL Stevenson & Arthur Conan Doyle.
However, the town is more in the news for an annual event in which around 2700 people from various nations come & have discussions.
Identify the town.

Show Answer
Davos, the town where the World Economic Forum is organized.
Read more about The Event & Its History.

[86]

The Spanish city of Bilbao, on the Bay of Biscay, has two official languages – one is, quite obviously, Spanish. The other language, last of its kind, bears no relation whatsoever to Spanish or any other modern European language. What language is this?

Show Answer
Basque, the last surviving descendant of any Paleo-European language, spoken in parts of northern Spain and southwestern France

[85]

Decode the clues and connect them to a common theme:
Sesame + Jaggery
Capricorn Festival
A dish whose name means ‘to boil over’

Show Answer
Winter Harvest festivals in India
Lohri - is the amalgamation of two Punjabi words - 'Til' meaning sesame and 'Rorahi' meaning jaggery - 'Tilohri' over the years became Lohri.
Makar Sakranti - “Makar” refers to Capricorn, and “Sankranti” denotes the movement of the sun into a new celestial orbit.
Pongal - Pongal is also the name of the dish made and eaten during this festival. It is a mixture of boiled sweet rice. It is derived from the Tamil word pongu, which means “to boil over”.

[84]

What is the common thread here?

When pop went Desi - Seniors TodayStream Nazia Hassan - Disco Deewane (Tribal Mix) DJ Vipul by Vipul Pawar | Listen online for free on SoundCloudundefined

Show Answer
All three were produced by British Indian producer and composer Biddu Appaiah, who also engineered Nazia Hassan's meteoric rise to fame with Aap Jaisa Koi.

Fun fact: Biddu's production style inspired two of his session musicians to found the new wave band The Buggles, whose greatest hit was Video Killed The Radio Star -- which in turn "inspired" Bappi Lahiri to knock out Koi Yahaan Naache Naache from 1982's Disco Dancer.

Full circle.

[83]

Which sport are these 4 trophies connected to? Can you name all of them?trophies

Show Answer
There are the 4 Grand Slam trophies of tennis.
From top left in clockwise direction these are
Australian Open: Held annually in Melbourne, Australia, typically in January. It is played on hard courts.
French Open (Roland Garros): Held annually in Paris, France, usually from late May to early June. It is played on clay courts.
Wimbledon: Held annually in London, United Kingdom, typically in late June and early July. It is played on grass courts.
US Open: Held annually in New York City, United States, usually from late August to early September. It is played on hard courts.

[82]

1879 turned out to be a damn good year for chocolate, when chocolatier Rodolphe Lindt supposedly (possibly accidentally) left a chocolate mixer running over a weekend and came back to realize he’d created a chocolate that tasted far smoother and richer than ever before, owing to the cocoa butter mixing evenly over granules of cocoa.

What is this process called (and why’s it called that)?

Show Answer
Conching, so called because the rollers in the mixer (known as a conche) were initially shaped like conch shells

[81]

This company was originally called Yadi Electronics, named after the Yadi Road in Guangdong, China where it was started. Later, the character ‘Bi’ was added so that it can get an alphabetical listing advantage at trade shows.
The company today is a world leader in a category, which is set to disrupt a 100+ year old industry.
Identify the company.

Show Answer
BYD the EV company which recently posted higher global sales than Tesla.
Originally called Yadi Electronics, then BiYadi, the company has also back formed a slogan 'Build Your Dreams'.
Here's More about the company.