Quiz 22- 10 Questions on Escatology

Eschatology literally means " doctrine about the last things" and concerns the end of the world. Eschatology also includes religious doctrines concerning the human soul in its relation to death, judgment, heaven, and hell.

1. On the orders of god Puluga, an earthquake will destroy the earth and the bridge of heaven. The souls of the dead men and animals will then arise and be reunited. There will not be any sickness,death, and marriage.The roots of the palm tree which supports the earth are already being shaken by the impatient spirits of the underworld, to quickly bring the end of this present world. Eschatological belief of the people of which island?

2. This concept/ idea in Jewish and Christian eschatology originated from a place called Gehenna, a valley south west of Jerusalem, where Israelites burnt their children as sacrifices to the Ammonite god Moloch. This practice was carried out by the Israelites during the reigns of King Solomon in the 10th century B.C. and King Manasseh in the 7th century B.C. and continued until the Babylonian Exile in the 6th century B.C. Gehenna later was made a garbage centre to discourage a reintroduction of such sacrifices. The imagery of the place however remained in the minds and stories of people giving rise to what idea that still resonates strongly in the minds of many religious people ?

3. In Islamic eschatology, Yajuj and Majuj are two hostile forces who will ravage the Earth before the end of the world.The Koran tells that, people who were terrorized by Yajuj and Majuj forced a king to construct a great wall between them that neither could scale or penetrate (Suras 18:94–97), trapping both between two mountains until just before the Last Judgment (Suras 18:98–100, 21:96) . Yajuj and Majuj, were thus trapped between two mountains and will remain so until the last days of the world. According to the Hadith, Yajuj and Majuj dig under the wall every night trying to escape but each morning they find that the wall has been restored by Allah. Which king constructed the wall?

Building a wall against Yajuj and Majuj, painting by Qasim, 16th century; in the British Library  (Source: Britannica.com)

4.Revelation is the only apocalyptic book in the canon of the New Testament, which is the only apocalyptic book to be admitted to the Old Testament canon?

5. Antiochus IV Epiphanes, king of the Hellenistic Syrian kingdom who reigned from 175 to 164 BC, the persecutor of the Jews, served as its model. Since then this figure has been characterized as a mighty ruler at the head of gigantic armies, destroyer of three rulers, persecutor of saints,and devastator of  the Temple of God. Jewish and Christian writers of apocalypses saw him in the emperors Nero, Diocletian, Julian, and Caligula. Many Protestant reformers, saw it as the Pope. He also features as an evil figure in Islamic eschatology.  Who?

6. Saoshyans, the final saviour of the world, is the foremost of three saviours. The other two saviours are Oshetar and Oshetarmah, sons of the religions founder. Each one of these saviours will appear at the end of each of the three last millennia of the world and will be conceived by a maiden who has swum in a lake where the founders seed was preserved. After 57 years Saoshyans, will break the demonic power and resurrect the bodies of the dead and then lead the work in the seven zones of the world. When all souls have been cleansed, Saoshyans will prepare a ritual drink which will bestow eternal perfection on their bodies.Eschatology of which religion?

7. The founder of this religious group was Charles Russel Taze, who based on his complex biblical calculations preached that 'Christ had an invisible return' in 1874 and that the end of Gentile times would come in 1914 after which God's kingdom would rule earth. Their eschatological teachings say that the forces of good, led by Christ, will defeat the forces of evil, led by Satan, in the final battle. Thereafter Christ will rule the earth for a thousand years. During this time the dead will rise again, and all people will have a second opportunity to achieve salvation. At the end of the millennium Satan will return to earth, and he and those who support him will finally be destroyed. A perfect humankind will then enjoy eternal life on earth.Which religious sect?

8.The Palestinian city of Megiddo had a fortress that stood on a hill, the city itself commanded the road leading from Egypt and the coastal plain of Palestine into Galilee, Syria, and Mesopotamia. Megiddo was the scene of many battles due to its strategic importance.Which English term owns its origin to this city ?

9."We're gonna stay on until the end of the world. And when that day comes we'll cover it, play 'Nearer My God to Thee' and sign off." Whose ambitious words?

10.The final incarnation of Lord Vishnu will appear at the end of the Kali Yuga or the present age, when virtue and religion have disappeared and the world is ruled by unjust men. He will be seated on a white horse with a naked sword in his hand, blazing like a comet and will destroy the wicked and usher in a new age.According to some legends of the end of the world, his horse will stamp the earth with its right foot, causing the tortoise which supports the world to drop into the deep. Then the gods will restore the earth once again to its former purity.Name the incarnation?

Quiz 21 - 10 Questions on pickled or embalmed bodies - Answer

1.In the 11th-century Spanish hero El Cid, was embalmed and his body was kept seated on an ivory chair in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardena for a decade before burial. Similarly which well known king was embalmed and seated on a marble throne, dressed in imperial robes, with his crown on his head, the Gospels lying open in his lap, and his scepter in his hand at Aachen in Germany after his death ?

Ans: Charlemagne

2. According to an Indian Epic, the body of which king was preserved in a Cauldron of oil, until the return of his son the crown prince ?

Ans: King Dasharatha, in the Ramayana.

3. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. in Babylon, his body was embalmed and was on its way to Macedonia for burial. Ptolemy however had other plans- he organized an attack against Alexander's funerary procession and intercepted the body of his former master which he then buried in Egypt. During all these years of fighting and bickering over Alexanders body, what edible item, which is mostly consumed by us today, was used to preserve Alexander's body?

Ans: Honey

4. Which English word has its origin in Persian for 'wax' ?

Ans:  Mummy. The Persian translation of wax was mum,since Egyptians preserved the dead bodies of their royalty by first sealing them with bandages and then coating it with a mixture of wax, oil and salt.

5. He is one of the most widely recognized Russian physician, scientist and public figure. He is considered to be the founder of field surgery and was the first surgeon to use anesthesia in a field operation (1847). Other than inventing various surgical equipments, he also invented an amputation technique that is today named after him. As a tribute to his achievements a glacier in Antarctica and an asteroid are named after him and so were various medical colleges and Soviet Unions highest humanitarian award. Anatomically too he is well remembered and various tendons, nerves and veins are named after him. When he died in 1881 his body was preserved using embalming techniques he himself developed and rests today  at Vinnitsa in Ukraine at room temperature without requiring any maintenance. Which well known Russian figure?

Ans : Nikolay Pirogov.  Pirogoff angle; the Pirogoff aponeurosis, the Pirogoff triangle are named after him.

6.The Jivaro tribes of Ecuador and Peru took additional precaution to preserve the embalmed bodies of their chiefs, thus ensuring their immortality. What additional procedure, not practiced by any other culture did they follow ?

Ans: They roasted the embalmed body over slow fire.

7. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo is a macabre tourist attraction in Italy (The last I checked, Trip Advisor has given it a 'certificate of excellence' and  is Rated No 18 in Palermo.) There are shelves, rooms and cases of dehydrated mummified bodies going back to many centuries. There was a time when it was a status symbol to be entombed into the Capuchin catacombs. The most well preserved among all the bodies in the catacombs is that of Rosalia Lombardo an Italian child who died of pneumonia. Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs in 1920.  Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, worked on the body which has now been revealed to be a mixture of Formalin, Zinc, Glycerin and Salicylic acid. But what nickname, straight from a fairy tale, is Rosalia known to the residents of Palermo or to the tourists visiting the catacombs ?

Ans: Sleeping Beauty of the Capuchin Catacombs  (Sleeping beauty will get points)

8.  In the Royal Navy, sucking the monkey, bleeding the monkey, or tapping the admiral was the practice of sucking liquor from a cask through a straw. This usually involved making a small hole with a gimlet in a keg or barrel and using a straw to suck out the contents. When this British hero died on board a ship, his body was preserved in a cask of brandy, or rum, to allow transport back to England. Upon arrival however, the cask was opened and found to be empty of brandy/rum. The pickled body was removed and, upon inspection, it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk all the brandy/rum. Which personality ?

Ans: Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. Shot fatally on board, during the Battle of Trafalgar, where his fleet defeated the combined might of the French and Spanish navies.  This tale also serves as a basis for the term "Nelson's blood" used to describe brandy/rum.

Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London

9. Grauballe man ,Tollund man and Lindow man are thousands of years old bodies, preserved in immaculate condition. Even the wrinkle on their skin are preserved. The preservation of these bodies is credited to which natural phenomenon?

Ans: Peat-bogs. Because of their highly acidic nature, wetness, low temperature, and absence of oxygen, they are a repository of past life. The Tollund man, a 2000 year old body was discovered in a peat bog in Denmark in 1952, and was dressed only in a pointed cap and belt. His body was castoff into the peatbog after being strangled.

10.During the Third Crusade, en-route to Jerusalem this well known Emperor drowned in the Saleph river (present day Turkey) sending his massive army into chaos. Some of the Emperor's men pickled his body in a barrel of vinegar to preserve it and eventually bury it in Jerusalem. But efforts to conserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of St Peter in Antioch, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Tarsus. Which Emperor?

Ans: Frederick I or Frederick Barbarossa

Quiz 21 - 10 Questions on pickled or embalmed bodies

1.In the 11th-century Spanish hero El Cid, was embalmed and his body was kept seated on an ivory chair in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardena for a decade before burial. Similarly which well known king was embalmed and seated on a marble throne, dressed in imperial robes, with his crown on his head, the Gospels lying open in his lap, and his scepter in his hand at Aachen in Germany after his death ?

2. According to an Indian Epic, the body of which king was preserved in a Cauldron of oil, until the return of his son the crown prince ?

3. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C. in Babylon, his body was embalmed and was on its way to Macedonia for burial. Ptolemy however had other plans- he organized an attack against Alexander's funerary procession and intercepted the body of his former master which he then buried in Egypt. During all these years of fighting and bickering over Alexanders body, what edible item, which is mostly consumed by us today, was used to preserve Alexander's body?

4. Which English word has its origin in Persian for 'wax' ?

5. He is one of the most widely recognized Russian physician, scientist and public figure. He is considered to be the founder of field surgery and was the first surgeon to use anesthesia in a field operation (1847). Other than inventing various surgical equipments, he also invented an amputation technique that is today named after him. As a tribute to his achievements a glacier in Antarctica and an asteroid are named after him and so were various medical colleges and Soviet Unions highest humanitarian award. Anatomically too he is well remembered and various tendons, nerves and veins are named after him. When he died in 1881 his body was preserved using embalming techniques he himself developed and rests today  at Vinnitsa in Ukraine at room temperature without requiring any maintenance. Which well known Russian figure?

Google doodle on his 200th Birthday on November 25, 2010.







6.The Jivaro tribes of Ecuador and Peru took additional precaution to preserve the embalmed bodies of their chiefs, thus ensuring their immortality. What additional procedure, not practiced by any other culture did they follow ?

7. The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo is a macabre tourist attraction in Italy (The last I checked, Trip Advisor has given it a 'certificate of excellence' and  is Rated No 18 in Palermo.) There are shelfs, rooms and cases of dehydrated mummified bodies going back to many centuries. There was a time when it was a status symbol to be entombed into the Capuchin catacombs. The most well preserved among all the bodies in the catacombs is that of Rosalia Lombardo an Italian child who died of pneumonia. Her body was one of the last corpses to be admitted to the Capuchin catacombs in 1920.  Alfredo Salafia, a noted embalmer, worked on the body which has now been revealed to be a mixture of Formalin, Zinc, Glycerin and Salicylic acid. But what nickname, straight from a fairy tale, is Rosalia known to the residents of Palermo or to the tourists visiting the catacombs ?

8. In the Royal Navy, sucking the monkey, bleeding the monkey, or tapping the admiral was the practice of sucking liquor from a cask through a straw. This usually involved making a small hole with a gimlet in a keg or barrel and using a straw to suck out the contents. When this British hero died on board a ship, his body was preserved in a cask of brandy, or rum, to allow transport back to England. Upon arrival however, the cask was opened and found to be empty of brandy/rum. The pickled body was removed and, upon inspection, it was discovered that the sailors had drilled a hole in the bottom of the cask and drunk all the brandy/rum. Which personality ?

9. Grauballe man ,Tollund man and Lindow man are thousands of years old bodies, preserved in immaculate condition. Even the wrinkle on their skin are preserved. The preservation of these bodies is credited to which natural phenomenon?

10. During the Third Crusade, en-route to Jerusalem this well known Emperor drowned in the Saleph river (present day Turkey) sending his massive army into chaos. Some of the Emperor's men pickled his body in a barrel of vinegar to preserve it and eventually bury in Jerusalem. But efforts to conserve his body in vinegar failed. Hence, his flesh was interred in the Church of St Peter in Antioch, his bones in the cathedral of Tyre, and his heart and inner organs in Tarsus. Which Emperor?

Quiz 20 - 10 questions on the Hammer.- Answer

1. Dave Scott and Jim Irwin were carried to the Lunar surface in July 1971 on Apollo 15’s lunar module- Falcon. On the lunar surface Scott carried out and video taped an experiment to confirm the experiments conducted by a famous scientist. This experiment could only be conducted on the moon because of moons special property. The hypothesis of which famous scientist was confirmed by Dave Scott?

Ans:  Scott dropped a feather and a hammer in the Moon’s airlessness,the feather and the hammer landed simultaneously Confirming Galileo’s hypothesis that falling objects travel at equal speeds irrespective of their weights.

Scott conducting the experiment during the Apollo 15 moon landing

2. As per legend, what originated during the Tailteann funeral games (athletic competitions held in honor of a recently deceased person) held in Ireland around 2000 BC, when the Celtic hero Cu Chulainn gripped a chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it around his head and threw it farther than did any other individual?

Ans: The sport of Hammer throw. Wheel hurling was later replaced by throwing a boulder attached to the end of a wooden handle and in the modern day game the boulder is replaced by a heavy metal ball and the handle with a flexible wire.

3. Mjollnir the Magic hammer of this god never failed him. It was forged by dwarfs and  he used it as a weapon to crash down on the heads of giants and as an instrument to hallow people and things.  He threw the hammer with the aid of iron gloves and it always returned back to him like a boomerang. Which mythological god?

Ans: Thor.  Norse god of thunder.  Thunder was supposed to be the sound of the rolling of his chariot. Thursday is named for Thor.

4. Two of the three are  hammer (malleus) and anvil (incus) , which is the third?

Ans: Stirrup (stapes). These are the three bones in the middle ear which help transmit sound. Vibrations of the eardrum move the hammer. The motion of the hammer moves the anvil, which in turn moves the stirrup. The stirrup is the smallest bone in the human body.

5.In the early 1800's to use what, one had to follow the instructions “cut round the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer.” written on it ?

Ans: Canned food. Invented by Peter Durand for the British navy,  the cans were made of solid iron and usually weighed more than the food inside them.Can openers were invented only after 1860, a very cumbersome one by Ezra Warner and in 1870 the modern can opener was invented by William Lyman and  included a cutting wheel to roll around the rim.

One of the early 'Roasted Veal' cans made by John Gamble & company with opening instructions. 

6. In Japan the seven gods of good fortune are traditionally thought to bring good luck, wealth, and a long life. One of the seven is Daikoku, a mixed Shinto-Buddhist god of wealth and agriculture, with a rice bag and wooden hammer. What is special about the hammer?

Ans:  Simple- It is a wish granting hammer. Other gods are Ebisu, who carries a lucky sea bream( a red snapper ) ;Bishamonten god of good luck, dressed in armor ;Benzaiten, goddess of water, music, and wealth, who plays a lute; Hotei, a fat-bellied Chinese Zen monk who brings good luck; Fukurokuju, who grants longevity; and Jurojin, a god of long life, usually accompanied by a deer.

7. What was invented or created by Italian harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 when he experimented with a “harpsichord with hammers”?

Ans: Piano.

The 1720 Cristofori piano in the Metropolitan Museum in New York

8.In 1917 Anatoly Lunacharsky held a competition to create a symbol or an emblem. The winning designer was Yevgeny Ivanovich Kamzolkin. The symbol or emblem is still widely used today. Which Symbol ?

Ans: Hammer and the Sickle.

9.   This song was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in 1949 in support of the United States Progressive Party. The Song was not very successful until it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962 and numerous versions of the song have since been made by many artists notably Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Trini Lopez,  Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Richard Barone and Al Jardine (for the ONE Campaign) etc, etc...
The song went on to become a Freedom Song of the American Civil Rights movement and Wikileaks chose the song as its "Wikileaks song".
Which Song ?

Ans: "If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)" . Lyrics at the end of this quiz, 

Raghupati Raghav rendition by Peter Seeger in 1963 Kolkata

10. What word ( describing an animation terminology) should appear in the blanked out space ?

Ans: Hammerspace. (... yes the answer was in the question)

Lyrics of the Hammer Song (Question 9)

If I had a hammer I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening all over this land
I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a bell I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening all over this land
I'd ring our danger, I'd ring out warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a song I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening all over this land
I'd sing out danger, I'd sing out warning
I'd sing out love between my sisters and my brothers
All over this land

When I've got a hammer, and I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing all over this land
It's a hammer of justice, it's a bell of freedom
It's a song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Quiz 20 - 10 questions on the Hammer.

As a famous saying goes. "If you know the facts hammer the jury ,if you know the law only and not the facts hammer the judge ,if you do not know either Hammer the table"

1. Dave Scott and Jim Irwin were carried to the Lunar surface in July 1971 on Apollo 15’s lunar module- Falcon. On the lunar surface Scott carried out and video taped an experiment to confirm the experiments conducted by a famous scientist. This experiment could only be conducted on the moon because of moons special property. The hypothesis of which famous scientist was confirmed by Dave Scott?

2. As per legend, what originated during the Tailteann funeral games (athletic competitions held in honor of a recently deceased person) held in Ireland around 2000 BC, when the Celtic hero Cu Chulainn gripped a chariot wheel by its axle, whirled it around his head and threw it farther than did any other individual?

Figure of Cú Chulainn on a ten shilling coin.

3.Mjollnir the Magic hammer of this god never failed him.It was forged by dwarfs and  he used it as a weapon to crash down on the heads of giants and as an instrument to hallow people and things.  He threw the hammer with the aid of iron gloves and it always returned back to him like a boomerang. Which mythological god?

The Stenkvista runestone at a churchyard in Sodermanland, Sweden, shows Mjollnir instead of a cross.

4. Two of the three are  hammer (malleus) and anvil (incus) , which is the third?

5.In the early 1800's to use what, one had to follow the instructions “cut round the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer.” written on it ?

6. In Japan the seven gods of good fortune are traditionally thought to bring good luck, wealth, and a long life. One of the seven is Daikoku, a mixed Shinto-Buddhist god of wealth and agriculture, with a rice bag and wooden hammer. What is special about the hammer?

7. What was invented or created by Italian harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1698 when he experimented with a “harpsichord with hammers”?

Bartolomeo Cristofori

8. In 1917 Anatoly Lunacharsky held a competition to create a symbol or an emblem. The winning designer was Yevgeny Ivanovich Kamzolkin. The symbol or emblem is still widely used today. Which Symbol ?

9.  This song was written by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays in 1949 in support of the United States Progressive Party. The Song was not very successful until it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962. Numerous versions of the song have since been made by many artists notably Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin, Trini Lopez,  Brian Johnson (AC/DC), Richard Barone and Al Jardine (for the ONE Campaign) etc, etc...
The song went on to become a Freedom Song of the American Civil Rights movement and Wikileaks chose the song as its "Wikileaks song".
Which Song ?

Peter Seeger who died in Jan 2014, popularised the song "We Shall Overcome" (Hum Honge Kaamyaab) and composed songs like "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and  "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" among others.

10.What word ( describing an animation terminology) should appear in the blanked out space ?

Quiz 19- 10 questions on stairs - Answers

1. On December 4, 1981, lights went out on the spiral staircase of this famous monument and the resulting panic created a stampede in wich forty-five people were trampled to death. The incident resulted in the government banning tourist from ever entering the monument. Which monument?

Ans: Qutub minar

2.The escalator was originally a trademark of which company ?

Ans: Otis Elevator Company, the word was adjudged in 1949 to have become public property through popular use.

3.On a display screen or monitor curved or slanted edges on type characters are prone to a 'staircasing effect', also called as the “jaggies.”It happens because the resolution of the image is too coarse to achieve the appearance of a smooth line or curve. What term is used to define the smoothing of this jagged, “stairstep” appearance ?

Ans: Anti-aliasing

4. On Prinsengracht, street was a three storied building, the first floor was a warehouse, the second floor consisted of offices, and the third floor served as a storeroom.The staircase of the building had a sliding bookcase and behind this bookcase was a secret area. Which famous book was written here?

Ans:The Diary of Anne Frank.

5.  This American film comedian and directors original name was Joseph Frank. He earned his famous nickname when, at age 18 months he fell down a long flight of stairs; magician Harry Houdini picked up the unhurt infant, turned to the boy's parents and chuckled “That's some ________ your baby took.” Joe and Myra the boy's parents added the name to  his name and has been known ever since by that name. Who?

Ans: Buster Keaton.

Six-year-old Buster Keaton with his parents Myra and Joe Keaton during a vaudeville act

6.The Winchester Mystery House is a bizarrely constructed Victorian mansion in California. It was the house of Sarah L. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune.The 160 room mansion contains stairs and passages that lead to nowhere or to a brick wall. Why was the house constructed in this fashion ?

Ans: Sarah believed in Ghosts, hence she built the mansion to confuse the ghosts and spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifle.

7.Where will you find this stairway?

Ans: Inside the statue of Liberty.

8.If a dam has a fish ladder, what is it used for or what is its purpose ?

Ans: Mature diadromous fish like Salmons swim upstream for spawning, but many of these rivers have dams built across them thus creating obstacles for the salmon from reaching their breeding place. A fish ladder consists of a series of small pools, each slightly higher than the one below it. Water rushing from one pool to the next simulates the flow of a natural river. Driven by instinct, fish leap from one pool to the next until they eventually bypass the dam entirely and thus swim up past the dam .

Fish ladder safety sign 

Different types of fish ladders.

9. The name for the phenomenon comes from French encyclopedist and philosopher Denis Diderot's description of such a situation in his 'Paradoxe sur le comédien' he called it  'esprit de l'escalier'. In English it is 'called staircase wit' or ' "escalator wit", what is it ?

Ans: It is a repartee (quick and witty reply) thought of only too late, as one is leaving and on the way downstairs.

10.The below work titled 'The Rude descending a staircase (Rush-Hour at the Subway)' was printed in The New York Evening Sun, on 20 March 1913 and was a parody of a famous painting that was creating a sensation in New York because it was considered too radical. The painting was synthesis of two modern-art styles: cubism and futurism and was  popularly described as “an explosion in a shingle factory" Which painting does the below comic caricature and who was the artist (of the actual painting) ?

Ans: Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 by Marcel Duchamp

Quiz 19- 10 questions on stairs

1. On December 4, 1981, lights went out on the spiral staircase of this famous monument and the resulting panic created a stampede in which forty-five people were trampled to death. The incident resulted in the government banning tourist from ever entering the monument. Which monument?

2.The escalator was originally a trademark of which company ?

3.On a display screen or monitor curved or slanted edges on type characters are prone to a 'staircasing effect', also called as the “jaggies.”It happens because the resolution of the image is too coarse to achieve the appearance of a smooth line or curve. What term is used to define the smoothing of this jagged, “stairstep” appearance ?

4.On Prinsengracht, street was a three storied building, the first floor was a warehouse, the second floor consisted of offices, and the third floor served as a storeroom.The staircase of the building had a sliding bookcase and behind this bookcase was a secret area. Which famous book was written here?

5. This American film comedian and directors original name was Joseph Frank. He earned his famous nickname when, at age 18 months he fell down a long flight of stairs; magician Harry Houdini picked up the unhurt infant, turned to the boy's parents and chuckled “That's some ________ your baby took.” Joe and Myra the boy's parents added the name to  his name and has been known ever since by that name. Who?

6.The Winchester Mystery House is a bizarrely constructed Victorian mansion in California. It was the house of Sarah L. Winchester, heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune.The 160 room mansion contains stairs and passages that lead to nowhere or to a brick wall. Why was the house constructed in this fashion ?

7.Where will you find this stairway?

8.If a dam has a fish ladder, what is it used for or what is its purpose ?

9.The name for the phenomenon comes from French encyclopedist and philosopher Denis Diderot's description of such a situation in his 'Paradoxe sur le comédien' he called it  'esprit de l'escalier'. In English it is 'called staircase wit' or ' "escalator wit", what is it ?

10.The below work titled 'The Rude descending a staircase (Rush-Hour at the Subway)' was printed in The New York Evening Sun, on 20 March 1913 and was a parody of a famous painting that was creating a sensation in New York because it was considered too radical. The painting was synthesis of two modern-art styles: cubism and futurism and was  popularly described as “an explosion in a shingle factory" Which painting does the below comic caricature and who was the artist (of the actual painting) ?

Quiz 18 -10- Questions on what the discoverers of Psychoactive drugs had to say.- Answer

1.  It has been used as a pain killer since neolithic times and although Paracelsus did not discover it, he was responsible for its introduction in western medicine where he combined it with gold and pearls. He philosophised " All things are poison and nothing is without poison. The dose alone makes a thing no poison". What?

Ans: Opium

2. This drug was prepared by Thomas Sydenham by dissolving opium in alcohol and was used to treat pain. The drug was given a Latin name, meaning 'praise'. He described his preparation " Among the remedies which it has pleased Almighty God to give to man to relieve his sufferings, none is so Universally and so efficacious as opium" Which drug did he prepare?

Ans: Laudanum. (derived from the Latin verb laudare, to praise- English word Laud has the same roots)

3.  First synthesized at Sandoz Laboratory in Switzerland by Albert Hofman, its mental effects were discovered five years later when Hoffman accidentally ingested a small quantity  . He wrote " I was forced to stop my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and to go home as I was seized by a peculiar restlessness associated with a mild dizziness...characterised by extreme activity of imagination. As I lay in a dazed condition with my eyes closed there surged upon me an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness and accompanied by and intense, kaleidoscope like play of colours" Three days later on 19th April, Hofmann intentionally ingested this drug and this day is now known as "Bicycle Day" Which drug?

Ans: LSD. On 19 April 1943, Hofmann intentionally ingested 250 micrograms of LSD. This day is now known as "Bicycle Day," because after starting to feel the effects of the drug he rode home on a bike, and that became the first intentional acid trip.

4. W.B. O'Shaughnessy introduced it to western medicine. In 1939 while working with the substance in India he described the following incident " The fourth case of trial was an old muscular coolie, a rheumatic malingerer, and to him half a grain of hemp resin was given in a little spirit. The first day's report will suffice for all. In two hours the old gentleman became talkative and musical, told several stories and sang songs ate the dinner of two persons sought also for other luxuries and finally fell soundly asleep" Which drug?

Ans: Cannabis. He introduced Cannabis indica to western medicine, where he successfully relevied the pain of rheumatism and quelled the wrenching muscle spasm of tetanus and rabies.

5. After a lot of testing, he was the first to describe it's mental effect. " I existed in a world of new connection and newly modified ideas. I explained to Dr Kinglake ' nothing exists but thoughts! the universe is composed of impressions, ideas, pleasure and pain.'" His use of the substance did not stop after some trials, infact he developed and addiction to it. He was so fascinated by its psychedelic effects that he did not bother to propagate it and for another 50 years the world was none the wiser about it. He grew so attached to his discovery that he used to use it three to four times a day and eventually in 1829 it killed him. Who and what did he discover?

Ans: Humphry Davy describing Nitrous Oxide (Laughing gas)

6.  R. Gordon Wasson an amateur mycologist and a photographer were the first white men to record their ingestion. Wasson described it as " a soul -shattering experience. I felt that I was now seeing plain, whereas ordianry vision gives us an imperfect view. I was seeing the archetypes, the platonic ideals, that underlie the imperfect images of everyday life. The thought crossed my mind: could they be the secret that lay behind the ancient mysteries?" What was Wasson describing?

Ans: Psilocybe Mushrooms also called Magic Mushrooms

Psilocybe caerulescens var. caerulescens. Wasson ingested this species on June 29, 1955.

7. Gordon Alles synthesized this drug in 1927 and  became the first to study its psychological effects. In 1932 the Benzedrine inhailer was introduced after he noted " its stimulating effect on the central nervous system and its relative lasting effect on oral administration and as an inhalant" . Which drug?

Ans: Amphetamine. Benzedrine is amphetamine sulphate. (There was a small clue in the question. *methylenedioxyamphetamine*)

8. This Cactus is well known for its hallucinogenic effects, used by Native North Americans for spiritual purposes,  and contains at least 28 alkaloids. John Raleigh Briggs,the first to draw scientific attention to this cactus ate one third of it and wrote thus " It is certainly the most violent and rapid of fruits or medicines, known to me. I know of nothing like it except opium and cocaine . The most notable point is the rapidity with which it increases the hearts action. Next, the intoxication and subsequent depression. I think it is well worth the trouble to investigate the matter" Identify the Cactus?

Ans: Peyote. Lophophora williamsii

9. This drug was isolated by Arthur Heffter from the Cactus mentioned in the previous question and wrote about it thus " While reading, green and violet spots appear on the paper. The same occurs when I look up at the bright sky. I have predominantly images of kaleidoscopic figures, patterned carpets and cloth, luxurious articles of clothing and architectural scenes" . Aldous Huxley's book 'The Doors of Perception' deals about his experiences with the drug. Which drug?

(1955, English politician Christopher Mayhew took part in an experiment for BBC's Panorama, in which he ingested 400 mg of this drug and praised the experience, calling it "the most interesting thing I ever did". The show was never aired.)

Ans: Mescaline.

10.Isolated by Friedrich Wilhelm Adam in 1806, and named after the Greek god of dreams, he reported " In order to subject my previous experiments to a rigorous test, I persuaded three people under the age of 17 to join me in taking it...a response occurred quickly in the three young men and...I shared the same fate. Lying down, I got into a dreamy state." Which alkaloid?

Ans: Morphine named after Greek god of dreams, Morpheus, for its tendency to cause sleep