If at first you don’t succeed……

 

You may aspire to winning a Nobel Prize. But you may have to be satisfied with an Ig-Nobel Prize.

And there is at least one person who won an Ig-Nobel Prize before getting a Nobel Prize a decade later:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Geim

especially this bit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Geim#Ig_Nobel

Similarly, if you cannot reach Singapore during the lockdown you can go to:

This place in Odisha was once listed as Singapore Road. Later it became Singapuram Road before settling on its present name.

If you cannot reach Kuala Lumpur, there is

This is in the hills of southern Assam.

If you want to visit the capital of New Zealand, there is

in the Nilgiris. Both are named after the same person.

Riga is the capital of Latvia in Europe. For this we have one in Bihar:

This Riga was of some interest to steam enthusiasts, as you can see above.

If you wish to venture further to Dundee in Scotland, there is

near Jabalpur in MP.

Not sure if you really want to go to Accra, the capital of Ghana. For that, we have this place near Kolkata:

A smaller country in Africa is called Guinea-Bissau. For that we have Bissau in Rajasthan:

However, you have to draw the line somewhere. If you are going to Jakarta and you are sent to this place instead, you should not accept it.

This is in one of the more remote parts of Uttarakhand, where the Special Frontier Force roams. Even the elite troops of the Mukti Bahini trained here in 1971.

 

Centurion Test-some obscure facts

JM Anderson took Elgar’s wicket with the 1st ball of a Test (and the series).

Taking a wicket with the first ball of  a match is rare enough to merit a separate list:

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/records/283164.html

Anderson is playing in his 150th Test. This by itself is no big deal. But he extends his record of the most Tests without ever captaining his side. Next in line is Warne (144) and Broad (playing his 135th Test) and VVS Laxman (134).

AK Markram is playing his 20th Test. His previous 19 Tests included 11 wins and 8 losses and no draw. He holds the record of the most Tests played without a draw. Next is old-timer GA Lohmann (18 Tests, 15 wins, 3 losses) followed by current player KK Jennings (17/12/5) and Alok Kapali (17/0/17). Jennings may play in the future.

Update: Markram played in his 20th Test at Centurion which SA won. So he extended his record to 20 Tests without a draw (12 wins and 8 losses).

ALSO-6 of the playing 11 for England have a given name starting with J: Anderson, Archer, Root, Denly, Buttler and Bairstow. Would this domination by one letter be a record? Maybe there have been Pakistani teams with more players with names starting with M?

Another oddity: South Africa now have two different Test players named D Pretorius. The earlier Dewald P played 4 Tests in 2002-2003 as a pace bowler:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/46784.html

Today Dwaine Pretorius, a pace bowling all-rounder, made his debut:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/southafrica/content/player/327830.html

Bad days for geography quizzers

Geography used to be a stable subject which did not need much updating. For many years the only genuine new country formed was Bangladesh, and the dubious Republic of Northern Cyprus a little later.

But quizzers in this line took a long time to recover from the twin shocks of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, which meant about 23 new countries which had to be memorized along with their capitals. The reunification of Germany and (earlier) Vietnam at least helped to REDUCE the number of countries to be studied.

Then people had flights of fancy, changing Swaziland to Eswatini (to encourage E-commerce?) Its neighbors had earlier made the switch from Bechuanaland and Basutoland to Botswana and Lesotho. Meanwhile a few other new countries such as Eritrea and South Sudan sneaked in when nobody was looking.

Then we have the renaming of cities in India. Many of them involved reverting from the British pronunciation to the original pronunciation (as in Calcutta-> Kolkata, Calicut -> Kozhikode and so on). This topic is enough for a few doctoral dissertations.

Now the rulers of India have bigger ideas, playing around with the names of larger entities. The creation of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir AND Ladakh was hailed as a masterpiece. So next comes a mini-masterpiece, the Union Territory (yes, just one) of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu:

https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/bill-to-merge-uts-of-dadra-nagar-haveli-daman-diu-passed-by-lok-sabha-150241

(It will take a while to figure out where the “and” and “&” will be used). Also, the people in these places do not seem to have asked for this reunification of the smaller bits of Portuguese India.

Perhaps there is a point here. How many of you can find D & NH on a map? Even if you can, do you know WHY it is an Union Territory? (Another interesting point is why Chandernagore is a part of West Bengal and not an Union Territory like the rest of French India); see

https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/04/21/oddities-in-indian-history-chandernagorechandan-nagar/

75 years ago-the Fugo bombs

There were many things happening in World War 2 75 years ago. One of them was Japan launching their little-known weapon against the US. This started on Nov 3, 1944.

You may have heard of Japan’s Fugu fish:

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18065372

But the Fugo bomb was something else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu-Go_balloon_bomb

This was then the weapon with the longest range, as they successfully crossed the Pacific to land on the west coast of the US.

And they were the only example of an enemy attack causing fatalities on the US mainland during wartime. 9/11 was not a wartime attack.

Now for the Ig-Nobel prizes

You must have had enough of the Nobel Prizes. Now for something different.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ig_Nobel_Prize

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners

There is one instance of someone winning an Ig-Nobel as well as a Nobel Prize-for more details look at the frog illustrated in the top right of the first link. (Read up on Andre Geim): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Geim

Go through the list of past winners. There are a few Indian names there. And many famous names like Dan Quayle,  Erich von Daniken and assorted financial fraudsters.

There is at lease one case of Indian scientists claiming to have received an Ig-Nobel Prize, although it does not seem to appear in the “official”  lists above. I am providing the link to give you an idea of what is required:

http://www.ildidu.altervista.org/ignobel/immagini/elephant.pdf

I can see how this would be useful in a place like Kerala. Any time you may be met by an elephant demanding to be painted blue or pink. Or gold, if it was from Thrissur. This way, you can quickly estimate how much paint is needed before the elephant gets impatient.

Probably many economists, politicians and other notables in present-day India have good chances of winning prizes in the near future.

One such award should go to the godman who claims he declined the Nobel Peace Prize. Anyone a little familiar with the workings of the awards will realize this is rubbish.

The longest-lived US President and other obscure facts

On October 1, 2021 James Earl Carter Jr (born October 1, 1924) became the first US President to celebrate his 97th birthday. On March 22, 2019 he became the longest-living US President when he crossed the mark set by George Herbert Walker Bush.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Carter#Longevity

More about George Bush Sr here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_and_state_funeral_of_George_H._W._Bush

He passed one more landmark on October 17, 2019 when his marriage to Rosalynn became the longest-lasting of Presidential unions. (See update at end). They were married on July 7, 1946. They will cross the record of 73+ years of George Bush Sr (again!) which ended with Barbara’s death on April 17, 2018.

However, Rosalynn Carter (born August 18, 1927) is now 95 and has some time to go before she can overtake Bessie Truman (97, 1885-1982) as the longest-lived First Lady. In the past few years, she overtook others such as “Lady Bird” Johnson (94), Betty Ford (93) and Nancy Reagan (94).

There is, however one Vice-President who has lived longer than any President: John N Garner (98, 1868-1967, VP to Franklin Roosevelt in 1933-41).

Joseph Biden (20 Nov, 1942) is the oldest person to become President surpassing Ronald Reagan’s 73+ at the start of his second term in 1985. Donald Trump (born Jun 14, 1946) was so far the oldest to become President for the first time at 70+, just edging out Reagan’s accession in 1981.

Meanwhile, Queen Elizabeth II (born April 21, 1926) continues to break longevity records as the longest-lived British monarch (93+) with the longest reign (67+ years). Her consort Prince Philip died about two months before what would have been his 100th birthday.

As pointed out earlier here, Queen Elizabeth’s reign has seen 14 US presidents (Truman to Biden) and 15 British PMs (including Harold Wilson twice). It is likely that she will see the successors of the present incumbents.

Also: “Significant events have included her coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, and Diamond Jubilees in 1977, 2002, and 2012, respectively. In 2017, she became the first British monarch to reach a Sapphire Jubilee. Next is the Platinum Jubilee in 2022. She is the longest-lived and longest-reigning British monarch as well as the world’s longest-serving female head of state, oldest living monarch, longest-reigning current monarch, and the oldest and longest-serving current head of state. ”

English cricket fans will remember major Ashes victories at home in the Coronation year (1953) as well as the Silver Jubilee (1977).

Quiz answers (29 Sep)

1. Why did Morarji Desai celebrate his first birthday when he was eight years old?

He was born on Feb 29, 1896. Thus his birthday appears only in leap years. There is also a rule that a century year such as 1900 is a leap year only if it is divisible by 400. Thus he saw Feb 29 only in 1904, when he was 8 years old.

2. There was a West Indies cricketer named Sewnarine Chattergoon. What would the original first name and second name be if his family had remained in India?

Sewnarine = Shivnarain is simple enough. Chattergoon is derived from Shatrughan, according to a Trinidadian friend of Indian ancestry.

3. Which famous American writer has a close connection with Halley’s Comet?

Arthur Hailey was a nice guess. However, the answer is:

(This used to appear on US aerograms some years ago).

4. Which American President has lived the longest?

Jimmy Carter, who will celebrate his 95th birthday on Oct 1.

Earlier this year he overtook George Bush (Sr) who passed away last year at 94+.

5. Which presently famous town in Pakistan was a part of Oman until 1957?

Gwadar. See more details here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwadar#Omani_rule

6. What does Mukesh Ambani have in common with British politician Keith Vaz?

They were both born in Aden, then a British colony and now a part of Yemen. There used to be a sizeable Indian population there.

7. You have heard of Christ and Antichrist. Which state in India has an (almost) anti version in the form of another country?

Goa and Antigua (strictly, Antigua and Barbuda).

8. The Karakoram Highway does not pass through the Karakoram Pass. Which pass does it go through?

The Khunjerab Pass. See this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karakoram_Highway

9. Which popular German band had a name which is the German for “power station”?

Kraftwerk (known for electronic music since the 1970s)

10. Back to 1. Morarjibhai was not the longest lived PM of India. Who was?

Remember that Gulzarilal Nanda does appear in the list of Indian prime ministers.

See this chart: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_of_India

Both Morarji Desai and Gulzarilal Nanda crossed 99. If you look at their individual articles, you can see that the latter lived for 99/06/12, overtaking the former who reached 99/01/13. Manmohan Singh is a youngster who has just celebrated his 87th birthday. Next in line is HD Deve Gowda who is 86+. AB Vajpayee crossed 93.

11. The only non-human ape native to India is the Hoolock gibbon. How did it get this name?

The official answer appears to be that this is the Assamese name for it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoolock_gibbon

However, other sources mention that this is related to the sound they make. Google for audio/video of the animal and decide.

If you have heard of the Rafflesia and Russell’s Viper, you would be excused for thinking that it was discovered by an Englishman named Hoolock (as in Jackson Pollock and Shaun Pollock).

 

 

Hamilton Masakadza at Hamilton

Today (Sep 20) marked the last international appearance of Hamilton Masakadza, who captained Zimbabwe in this T20I match.

As you can see, he played a major role in the victory:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/19449/scorecard/1197144/afghanistan-vs-zimbabwe-5th-match-bangladesh-twenty20-tri-series

This was Zimbabwe’s first T20I victory against Afghanistan.

More details about his career:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/zimbabwe/content/player/55608.html

He made his debut in 2001. At that time he was a little short of his 18th birthday, and was then the youngest to make a century on debut. Later this record was taken by M Ashraful.

He has played in 38 Tests, 209 ODIs and 66 T20Is.

He played only one Test in New Zealand, which was not at Hamilton.

His ODI career was somewhat more satisfactory, as he did play one ODI at Hamilton during the 2015 World Cup. While Zimbabwe did lose to South Africa, he was top scorer with 80:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/8039/scorecard/656403/south-africa-vs-zimbabwe-3rd-match-pool-b-icc-cricket-world-cup-2014-15

He also played precisely one T20I at Hamilton in 2012. Here Zimbabwe lost to New Zealand, though he did score a fifty:

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/12620/scorecard/520596/new-zealand-vs-zimbabwe-2nd-t20i-zimbabwe-tour-of-new-zealand-2011-12

We now turn to his brothers who also played for Zimbabwe.

Shingirai Winston Masakadza played in 5 Tests, 16 ODIs and 7 T20Is. While he did not have a city in his name, he did play one T20I at Hamilton.

Then came Wellington Pedzisai Masakadza . He played one Test, 17 ODIs and 9 T20Is. Let us see if he got to play at Wellington.

However, none of his matches were in New Zealand.

 

Important events on September 17

To begin with, Mallika Sherawat will sing:

Which was inspired by this:

 

Meanwhile, here are some other things which happened on September 17:

1908: The first ever fatal plane crash, though Orville Wright survived

1939: The USSR invades Poland, after Germany had occupied most of it

1940: Hitler decides to postpone the invasion of Britain

1948: The Nizam of Hyderabad decides to join the Indian Union

1954: “Lord of the Flies” is published

1978: The Camp David accords are signed

1983: Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America

2011: The “Occupy Wall Street” movement starts

Some people born on September 17:

1859: Billy the Kid

1879: Periyar EV Ramaswamy

1915: MF Hussain

1930: Lalgudi Jayaraman

1950: Narendra Modi

1986: R Ashwin (cricketer)

 

 

 

Quick quiz – Birthplaces

A trivia quiz on non-obvious birthplaces:

The real challenge is getting the answer without referring to the net.

Answer in Facebook’s comments page. I will post the correct answers after about 24 hours-say 2200 IST on 1 Sep.

• In which city was Shashi Tharoor born?
• Which recent US Presidential candidate was born in the Panama Canal Zone?
• Which prominent tennis player from the US was born in Germany in 1959?
• Which town in Austria was Adolf Hitler born in?
• Which country was the Australian cricketer and coach Dav Whatmore born in?
• Which state of the US was Barack Obama born in?
• Which prominent politician from Tamil Nadu was born in Kandy in Sri Lanka?
• In which city was Rajiv Gandhi born?
• Which Nobel-prize winning physicist was nominally a Tamilian but was born in Lahore?
• On which Greek island was Prince Philip, (the present Duke of Edinburgh) born?
• In which city was General Pervez Musharraf born?
• In which city was Field-Marshal Manekshaw born?

Answers:

• London, UK
• John Mc Cain (Obama’s opponent in 2008)
• John McEnroe
• Brunau (or Brenner)
• Sri Lanka
• Hawaii
• MG Ramachandran, CM for several years.
• Mumbai
• Chandrashekhar (Nobel Physics winner in 1983)
• Corfu
• Delhi
• Amritsar

References: these birthplaces can be checked from Wikipedia or other standard references in the articles on the concerned persons.

When Dunga meets Bunga Bunga

You have heard of Dunga (if you follow soccer). Even if you don’t, you would have heard of Berlusconi and his Bunga Bunga parties. And they come together in a small town in Pakistan.

The soccer player Dunga: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunga

It is mentioned that the nickname comes from the Portuguese for Dopey, one of the seven dwarfs.

As for Bunga Bunga, read a quick summary here. It is important to note that this phrase was not invented by the Italian leader but has a long history going back to Britain in the early 20th century:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-12325796

A more detailed description of the old hoax is in here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunga_bunga and here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreadnought_hoax

And they come together in a small town in Pakistan’s Punjab province:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunga_Bunga

It even has a train station, but this has not seen service for a few decades:

Note: It was pointed out that the Urdu characters would be better interpreted as Donga Bonga.

The two Stalins

Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin became Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu in 2021.

His father thought it was a good idea to name him after the Soviet leader when he was born on March 1, 1953.

On that day the original Stalin suffered a cerebral haemorrage and subsequently died on March 5.

This coincidence is duly mentioned in the Wikipedia article on MKS: “M. K. Stalin was born in Madras, now Chennai, on 1 March 1953. He was named after Joseph Stalin, who died four days later.”

Incidentally, Stalin was a nickname he adopted in the course of his political career. He was born in 1878 with the name of Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, which was Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili in Russian.

He was one of the relatively few non-Russians who were important figures in the Soviet Union. His name in Georgian was: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი

Georgian looks unlike any other European language.

Also see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Stalin#Death,_funeral_and_aftermath:_1953