2. The Shaare Shalom Synagogue (pic) in the Jamaican capital is one of five
functioning synagogues in the world with sand floors.
The most common explanation is that the practice originated in the early
1600s in the northern region of Brazil, where Spanish-Portuguese conversos
(forced converts) who had returned to Judaism were trying to retain their
jewish traditions while subject to the hostile eyes of Iberian ecclesiastical
authorities. Because synagogues were not permitted to operate, the
conversos had no choice but to meet in private homes. As such, they put clay
and sand on the floor of the prayer rooms to muffle the sounds made by the
comings and goings of worshipers, and the prayers themselves.
What was the other important religious connection for having sand floor?
3.
4. It is said that the sand symbolizes the terrain of the Sinai
Desert, through which the Children of Israel wandered for 40
years after the Exodus
5. In medieval Europe the scribes-in-training were made
to copy passages from Bible as part of their training.
What was the equivalent source for the scribes-in-
training in the middle east in ancient times? This source
was discovered by Egyptologist Gustave Jéquier in
1901.
7. As a tradition the referee in Sumo wrestling carries a
ceremonial sword with short blade (called tanto) in his
belt. What is the reason behind this custom?
8. In ancient times the referees were expected to commit
seppuku if they made wrong decisions.
However, in modern days it is just a ceremonial
accompaniement to signify that the referee
understands the seriousness of the decisions he has to
make and his symbolic willingness to commit seppuku
if his decision is overruled by the shimpan (the judges).
9. For years, scientists and armchair philosophers have
pondered on one of humanity's great evolutionary
question: Why do humans _______?
Some of the theories propounded to explain this were:
It helped them expend less energy
It helped them in carrying more food
It helped them control their temperature better by
reducing the amount of skin directly exposed to the sun
What was this great evolutionary question?
11. Ahnighito, also known as the Cape York Meteorite is a 4.5 billion-year-
old piece of an asteroid that fell out of the sky and landed in
Savissivik, about 10,000 years ago. Non-natives first heard about it in
1818. But it was first located in 1894 by Y, who achieved much greater
fame later. For some reason, he thought it would be a great idea to
take it back to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
Before he could get the meteorite onto a ship, he had to get it to the
coast, and that required the construction of ________’s first and only
railroad. It took three years to get all that done and transport the
meteorite to its present location, where it sits on a special display
stand whose supports are anchored into the bedrock beneath the
museum. Identify the country and the person?
14. D. R. Wijewardena, a press baron, and E. W. Perera, a prominent figure
of the independence movement traced the location of this belonging
to Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, the last king of the Kingdom of Kandy to the
Royal Hospital Chelsea where it was kept since the surrender of the
Kingdom to the British in 1815. The recovered item became a focal
point in the independence movement of Ceylon.
What are we talking about?
19. The Mystery of Picasso is a 1956 Documentary film made by
the acclaimed French Director Henri-Georges Clouzot. This
film looks in to Picasso’s creative process and captures him in
the act of creating paintings for the camera.
While this was one of the greatest documentaries on art ever
made what other important reason made the French
Government to declare this documentary as a National
Treasure?
20. All the paintings created by Picasso for this
movie were subsequently destroyed so that
they would exist only on film.
21. __________ is a category of foreign policies institutionalized by leaders who
asserted that their nations' best interests were best served by keeping the
affairs of other countries at a distance, as well as a term used, sometimes
pejoratively, in political debates. Many advocates of this theory believe that
limiting international involvement keeps their country from being drawn into
dangerous and otherwise undesirable conflicts.
The America First Committee (AFC) was the foremost non-interventionist
pressure group in US against the American entry into World War II. Peaking at
800,000 paid members in 450 chapters, it was one of the largest anti-war
organizations in American history. Started in 1940, it shut down after the
attack on Pearl Harbor in December 7, 1941.
FITB and Which well known American was the face of this committee and its
most prominent spokesman?
24. Language isolates are natural languages that have no known historical
or linguistic relationship to any other languages. Since the language of
Basque bears no similarity to Indo-European Romance languages
spoken in the surrounding regions, it’s considered an isolated
language.
Some linguists have theorized that Basque language is a prehistoric
language and to prove this they give the example of words such as
"knife" (aizto), "axe" (aizkora) and "hoe" (aitzur) etc., Basque-type
skulls discovered in Neolithic archaeological sites support this theory.
What is their argument in favour of this theory?
25. Words such as "knife" (aizto), "axe" (aizkora) and "hoe"
(aitzur) are all derived from the word for "stone"
(haitz), and have therefore concluded that the
language dates to the Stone Age, when those tools
were made of stone.
26. In most of the East European countries, Greece &
Russia the surname based on this profession is very
common and in fact it is the most popular surname in
Romania & Greece. Which profession?
28. Who classified the Romance languages into three different
groups solely based on how they said “____.”
In his De vulgari eloquentia, he wrote in Latin, "nam alii oc,
alii si, alii vero dicunt oil“ thereby highlighting three major
Romance literary languages - Occitan, French & Italian - that
were well known in Italy, based on each language's word for
“_____"
29. Dante Alighieri
Yes
“For some say ‘oc,’ others say ‘si,’ others say oïl."’
Oc – Occitan
Oil - Oui – French
Si - Italian
30. Modern reading is a silent and solitary activity. Ancient
reading was usually oral, either aloud, in groups, or
individually, in a muffled voice.
What change in the writing system, introduced by the Irish
monks at the end of the 7th century, led to the development
of silent reading?
31. The practice of transcribing Greek and Latin manuscripts without spaces, or in
scriptura continua, made reading silently a mind-bogglingly difficult task. The task of
separating the words in continuous written text became instead a labor of
professional readers and scribes. It was only after the introduction of word separators
by the Iris monks that the practice of silent reading became practical.
Introduction of Word Separators
Ancientandmedievalmanuscriptslookedlikethisanditwaseasiertoreadthemaloud
32. During the prolonged civil war in the early part of 19th century, Henri
Christophe (King Henry I) who ruled this country devised a novel
monetary system. While poverty prevailed everywhere, he came to
know that there was plenty of ______ in the farm fields and hence
ordered, in fact commanded that the entire harvest of _____ be
brought to treasury. He released this from treasury as currency and to
this day the ______ of 100 centimes is the nominal currency of this
country. Identify the country and the currency?
34. Till late 19th century some churches in US would
hang a pinewood slab on the door with a comb
hanging from a string. Why?
35. Discrimination against Blacks
A person could enter the church only if his or her skin was lighter
than the pinewood and if they could run the comb through their
hair without it snagging.
36. The earliest reported research in this area came from Welshman
Rice Vaughan who examined this in his 1675 book A Discourse of
Coin and Coinage. In 1707 Englishman William Fleetwood
created perhaps the first true _____ ______.
An Oxford student who stood to lose his fellowship requested his
help since a 15th century stipulation barred students with annual
incomes over five pounds from receiving a fellowship.
Fleetwood, who already had an interest on this subject, had
collected a large amount of data going back hundreds of years.
He argued on behalf of the Oxford students and published his
findings anonymously in a volume entitled Chronicon Preciosum.
What very commonly used economic indicator did he create?
38. While the coining of this phrase (X) by Y is usually
thought to be in response to a pessimistic essay, it
was infact first used by X in an 1849 essay called
"Occassional Discourse on the Negro Question".
X was rebutting JS Mill's arguement that all races
were equal and was arguing for the reintroduction of
slavery as a means to regulate labour market in the
West Indies and against supply and demand.
What is X? Who is Y?
40. The Trial of the Pyx, established in 1279 by Edward I, It is one
of the oldest statistical sampling inspections. It involves an
independent jury meeting multiple times a year and choosing
and assaying a random sample. It is named so for the box
(pyx) in which the samples are placed. It is a plot point in Neal
Stephenson's The System of the World. What is the Trial of
the Pyx or what are sampled and tested?
42. “We are suffering from the ruinous competition of a rival who
apparently works under conditions so far superior to our own for the
production of X that he is flooding the domestic market with it at an
incredibly low price; for the moment he appears, our sales cease, all
the consumers turn to him, and a branch of French industry whose
ramifications are innumerable is all at once reduced to complete
stagnation.
This rival, which is none other than the Y, is waging war on us so
mercilessly we suspect he is being stirred up against us by perfidious
Albion ..We ask you to be so good as to pass a law requiring the
closing of all .. openings, holes, chinks, and fissures through which
the ... is wont to enter houses, to the detriment of the fair
industries... “.
A 1845 Jonathan Swift-esque essay by Frederic Bastiat. Who is he
writing the petition on Behalf of?
44. X is a type of medieval world map described by the
7th century scholar Isidore of Seville in his
Etymologiae "The world is called 'round' after the
roundness of a circle, because it is like a wheel ...
Because of this, the Ocean flowing around it is
contained in a circular limit, and it is divided in three
parts, one part being called Asia, the second Europe,
and the third Africa."
Two examples shown. What descriptive name is given
to such maps?
45.
46. T in O Map
T and O Map
Beatus or Beatine Maps
Orbis Terrarum
47. The answer to the Needham Question given by Joseph
Needham himself include antagonism between mental
and manual work, failure of the rise of the merchant class
to power, Confucianism and Taoism promoted a way of
life incompatible with the objective of the question,
respect to elders meant they couldn't be questioned
meant doing things the tradtional way and discouraged
new thinking.
Needham spent half his life answering the question. Other
historians have criticized his answers and even the way
the question was formulated.
So what is the Needham Question?
48. What were the inhibiting factors in their
civilisation which prevented the rise of modern
science in Asia?
(or)
Why did modern science emerge in the West
and not China?
49. In his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
Edward Gibbon cites 2 main weakness (one
internal, one external) of the Roman Empire
that caused its fall. The External Weakness was
the Barbarians attacking Rome.
What did Gibbon suggest was the internal
weakness that caused Rome's ultimate fall?
51. During a 1991 Congressional testimony, Grateful Dead member
Mickey Hart said the following:
"Typically, people gather in X with others from the surrounding
community. The X offers equality because there is no head or tail. It
includes people of all ages. The main objective is to share rhythm
and get in tune with each other and themselves. To form a group
consciousness. To entrain and resonate. By entrainment, I mean that
a new voice, a collective voice, emerges from the group as they ----
together"
The term X originated in the US in the 1960s and was used especially
for counterculture groups. This practice can also be found among
neotribals, neopagans and shamanic cults.
What is X?
53. Robert Hall, in a paper from 1976, identified 2 distinct
strains of macroeconomics (and economists)
- one group (X) who came out of universities located
around the North American Great Lakes who held the
Government was incapable of affecting level of economic
activity and
- another group (Y) from universities on the American
coast that Government is capable of affecting demand.
What name did he assign to two groups based on their
geographic location?
54. X = Freshwater Economics/Economists
Y = Saltwater Economics/Economists
55. The creator X of Y drew this map to give an
idea to the decision makers where the action
would take place. Id X and Y.
57. The word X referred to a toilet in medieval times.
Clothes such as coats were hung over the toilet shaft
as the ammonia fromn urine was thought to kill fleas
and moths. So X literally meant a place to protect
coats etc., This has lead to the modern word Y
where clothes are stored. X or Y?
59. The poem X by Lord Byron was
about a world weary young man
traveling in foreign lands seeking
distraction. Part of its name
comes from a medieval title for a
young man who is a candidate
for knighthood. Name the poem.
The following lines were penned
against an early 1800s
controversial act of a rival. What
controversial act?
Let ABERDEEN and X still pursue
The shade of fame through regions of
Virtu;
Waste useless thousands on their
Phidian freaks,
Mis-shapen monuments, and maimed
antiques;
And make their grand saloons a general
mart
For all the mutilated blocks of art.
60. Poem is Childe Harolde’s Pilgrimage
The lines were an attack on Lord Elgin for
his removal of the Elgin Marbles from
Parthenon.
61. Robert Putnam's book X Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community is about the collapse of social
interaction in America since the 1950s. Putnam chose a
particular example, which was usually a group activity - the
number of people participating in this increased over the
years but the number of groups or leagues decreased.
What is X, which was also part of the title of the unrelated
2003 Oscar for Best Documentary?
63. • X described in Chapter 12 of his 1936 magnum opus a
hypothetical game - consider a newspaper contest
where entrants are to choose the most beautiful from
a set of 6 photographs of women. Those who picked
the most popular face would be eligible for a prize.
The strategy is then to choose the one a majority of
the others would consider the most beautiful face. X
believed a similar behaviour was at play in stock
market.
• What is this kind of game called?
65. The Nolli Map, by Giambattita Nolli, of Rome from
1748 is considered a landmark in Urban Planning -
measure 7 x 6 ft, it showed the city's street network
and was the most accurate map of the city since
Roman times. It was used in city planning till the
1970s and is in use even now.
What now common practice in map making did Nolli
establish?
66. • He portrayed the entire city from above without a single
focal point - so it looks as if the cartographer is above
every single block
67. Sociologist Robert Merton coined the term XY as per
which "public definitions of a situation (prophecies or
predictions) become an integral part of the situation
and thus affect subsequent developments".
Philosopher Karl Popper used a mythology-derived
term Z for the same.
What is XY? What is Z?
69. If the law of large numbers from probability theory is
one of the keystones of the insurance industry, Nobel-
winner X's work shows that people make mistaken
economic decisions because they believe in "the law
of small numbers", that is they make decisions based
on small sample size.
X found this in his own behaviour while evaluating
candidates for office training in the army. Who?
71. Construction on this began in 1248 AD. Its
completion in 1880 AD, 632 years later was
celebrated as a national event. This UNESCO World
Heritage site is Germany’s most visited landmark,
with over 6 million visitors annually.
Various church building had stood at this site since 4th
Century AD and it was sought to be expanded to
accomodate the crowd and be fit for worship for the
Holy Roman Emperor. Damaged during WW II, allies
supposedly let it stand to use it as a navigational aid.
What?
73. Surveyors preparing for a Hydroelectric dam project
in the Samanalawewa in 1988 discovered multiple 1st
century AD industrial sites – the structures at the site
indicated that a previously undiscovered technique of
using the monsoon wind to keep charcoal fires
consistently stoked.
Constant supply of oxygen was key to the process,
something other ancient cultures had not yet
mastered. The output of these sites were shipped
thousands of kilometers west to make what world
renowned object?
74. Damascus Steel Swords were made from the high quality
steel exported to West Asia. Syrian records show swords
being made from steel received from a "sivhala", thought
to refer to Sri Lanka.
75. Co-designed by Robert
Hooke and Christopher
Wren, it is a doric column, it
doubled as a scienctific
instrument – the central
shaft could be used a zenith
telescope (to look straight
up at the sky) and for
gravity and pendulam
experiments.
Built to commemorate the
Great Fire of London and
completed in 1677, what?
77. X was a League of Nations Mandate under Britain and
after WW II, a UN Trust Territory. It existed as an
independent republic between 1962 to 1964.
Y was under the Sultanate of Oman since the 17th century
and the Sultan of Oman moved there in 1840. It was an
important port for Arab slave trade. It came under British
Protectorate on the condition that the slave trade ended.
Y got independence from Britain in 1963 and endured a
month of bloody revolution.
X and Y then merged under a portmanteau name Z. Give
X &Y or Z.
79. With the civil war in progress, Secretary of Treasury
Salmon Chase received a number of appeals from the
general public in 1861 to make a particular gesture.
However, an 1837 act of US Congress prohibited him
from doing so. On Chase’s request, the US Congress
permitted the minting of a 2 cent coin for the
purpose and permitted Chase to make what gesture?
80. Adding a motto recognizing God on US coins – “In
god we trust” was added to the 2 cent coin for
the 1st time in 1864 and in various coins and
currency notes since.
81. The first in 1960 was code named Gerboise Bleue.
Gerboise Blanche and Gerboise Rouge soon followed,
all named as a nod to the Jerboa( a desert rodent
found in North Africa among other places) and to the
tricolor.
The first one elicited a “Since this morning, she is
stronger and prouder” message.
What are we talking about?
82. First 3 French atomic bomb test in
Sahara Desert.
The tricolors are of course the colours of
the French Flag.
83. Marcelino de Sautuola and his daughter Maris were out
exploring at a place where bones of extinct animal were found
when Maria shouted “Look Papa, Bulls”.
Having seen something similar at the World Exposition in Paris
in 1878, Sautuola with an archaeologist published the results
of rhir finding at Prehistoric Congress in Lisbon in 1880 but
they were ridiculed and accused of forgery. Academics later
apologised to Sautuola and recognized his claims.
What Maria saw inspires the protagonist in Agantuk to study
tribals. What did Maria and her father discover?