|
|
|
| ||||
|
Tuesday, 10 April 2012 |
|
|
|
This week marks the centenary of one of the biggest ever maritime disasters during peace time: the sinking of the supposedly ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic while on her maiden trans-Atlantic voyage. She was the largest ship afloat at the time of her maiden voyage, and her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world who were travelling in luxurious first class. Among the other passengers were over 1,000 ordinary people from Britain, Ireland and elsewhere in Europe who were journeying to North America to start new lives as immigrants. On the night of April 14 , 1912 four days into the journey and about 375 miles south of Newfoundland, Canada, the Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40 pm ship time. Although she had advanced safety features -- such as watertight compartments and remotely activated watertight doors -- she carried lifeboats only for 1,178 people – a third of her total passenger and crew capacity. The iceberg damage doomed the mighty ship, which sank in less than three hours. Over 1,500 persons perished. The 710 survivors were later rescued from the lifeboats. Today’s Wiz Quiz opens with a few questions recalling the maritime tragedy. 1.RMS Titanic was one of three Olympic class ocean liners operated by the White Star Line. She was built between 1909 and 11 at a shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. She embarked on her maiden voyage on April 10, 1912 from Southampton, England, carrying a total of 2,224 people, which included 885 crew members. After leaving Southampton, England on April 10, 1912, Titanic called at Cherbourg in France and one other port before heading westwards across the Atlantic Ocean towards its destination New York. What was the Titanic’s last port of call? 2.Shortly after the Titanic hit the iceberg on the night of April 14,1912, its Captain E J Smith asked the ship’s radio operators to send out messages seeking help from any and all nearby ships. Jack Phillips and Harold Bride, the ship’s ‘Marconi operators’ (as they were then known, after radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi), then repeatedly sent out the Morse Code the Marconi conventional distress signal ‘CQD’, as well as the more recently adopted international distress signal 'SOS.'Both were accompanied by the TITANIC's unique call sign. What was it? 3. As things turned out, responses to the Titanic’s distress call on the night of April 14 and 15, 1912 arrived too late to save the ship’s 1,500 passengers and crew. A series of unfortunate factors compounded the disaster. The most ironic among them was that the wireless operator on the ship located closest to the Titanic at the time had shut down for the day just 30 minutes before the first Titanic distress call was sent out. Had he been listening, his large ship could have responded hours before the Carpathia, the eventual rescue vessel. What ship thus missed the opportunity to help the Titanic’s hapless passengers? 4.The wreck of the Titanic was discovered in 1985 by deep-sea archaeologist and oceanographer Robert D Ballard. He is a former commander in the United States Navy and a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. For this discovery, which had eluded many other search teams for decades, he drew on his experience with scuba diving and using small, unmanned submersibles controlled from a surface ship to scan the ocean floor. In particular, he used an unmanned deep-towed undersea video camera sled developed through the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's Deep Submergence Laboratory. What was this submersible named as? Ballard also used it in the discovery of the wreck of the German battleship Bismarck in 1989. 5.The world’s worst peace-time maritime disaster was, in fact, not the sinking of the Titanic. That dubious distinction goes to an event that happened 75 years later, in Asia: when a Philippine-registered passenger ferry sank after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector on 20 December 1987. At the time, the ferry was travelling from Leyte island to Manila, the country's capital, and was overcrowded due to the upcoming Christmas holidays. With more than 4,300 people dead – twice the number who perished in the Titanic -- this accident is sometimes called ‘Asia’s Titanic’. Only 24 people survived. What was the ill-fated passenger ferry’s name? 6.Three years after his acclaimed play ‘Apahu Herenna Be’ (No Return), the award-winning Lankan playwright Rajitha Dissanayake returned to the stage in 2011 with his latest play. In all his plays, Dissanayake deals with contemporary socio-political realities. Unreserved in its experimental theatricality and witty black comedy, this 2011 play is an inventive modern-day fable, which can both charm and challenge audiences. Written and directed by Rajitha Dissanayake, the play includes versatile actors such as Shyam Fernado, Jayani Senanayake, Priyankara Rathnayake, Dharamapriya Dias, Prasad Suriyaaracchi, Sampath Jayaweera, Nalin Lusena and Samitha Sudheeshwara. Name this stage play. 7. Some geologists now believe that human activity has so irrevocably altered our planet that we have entered a new geological age. The proposed new epoch was discussed at a major conference held at the Geological Society in London in the summer of 2011. The term was coined by ecologist Eugene F. Stoermer, and has been widely popularized by the Nobel Prize-winning atmospheric chemist Paul Crutzen. What is this new geological age for our times? 8.The musical score for the landmark Lankan Sinhala film Sath Samudura (Seven Seas, 1967) was composed and directed by Somadasa Elvitigala. It contained only a few songs sung by W D Amaradeva, of which the most popular is the theme song, Sinidu Sudu Mudu Thalawe… Name the well known Sinhala writer and artist who wrote the lyrics of this ever-green song, for which he won the Best Lyricist award at Sarasaviya film festival for that year. 9.Which well known movie character once famously remarked, in 1964: “My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!” 10. BRICS is an international political organisation of the world’s leading emerging economies. The alliance originally started in 2006 as BRIC, bringing together Brazil, Russia, India and China. With South Africa joining in 2010, BRIC became BRICS. As of early 2012, the five BRICS countries represent almost half of the world's population, and have a combined nominal GDP of US$13.6 trillion. Where in Central Russian was the first BRIC Summit held in June 2009, conducted by Dmitry Medvedev, president of the Russian Federation? 11. Who is he? An American marathon runner born in 1948, he is also an author, columnist and comic -- and the spokesperson for the slow-running movement. He is widely known as ‘The Penguin’ for his waddling pace.
For two decades, he has encouraged runners of all shapes, sizes and speeds to follow his example and change their lives for the better by taking up the sport. He has written several books including "An Accidental Athlete" -- a memoir that tells for the first time the story of how he took up running at the age of 43 to become the unlikely icon of today's running boom. 12.“Parental Advisory” is a message affixed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to audio recordings in the United States cautioning about the excessive use of profane language and/or sexual references. Albums began to be labeled for ‘explicit lyrics’ in 1985 after pressure from the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). The label is also seen in some foreign countries’ albums of American origin. An album with the label is automatically banned in some countries (such as China and Saudi Arabia). Which American social activist had a visible role in PMRC in 1985 (she was married to a Democratic senator who went on to become Vice President)? 13. Name the American satirist and writer who said: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes?” 14. Basketball has been a regular Olympic sport since 1936. From that year until 2008, only four teams have won the Gold medal in men’s basketball. The USA and former Soviet Union are two of them. Name the only other two countries which have won Gold medal in Olympic men’s basketball event. 15.Some believe that iron working was first developed in China, but this is not so. The earliest Chinese use of iron dates from somewhere around 600 before christ (BC). The discovery of iron-working probably originated elsewhere and slowly traveled to China. Around 1200 BC, iron was first smelted and worked in which part of the world according to current archaeological evidence? Last week’s answers1. Admiral Sir Geoffrey Layton (1884 – 1964) |
|
