Sunday 17 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–406

This one may not be all that easy to crack.

what

Here’s an infographic of the world’s top-selling books, according to their numbers. The biggest ‘seller’, obviously, is The Bible. Give me the name of the second-biggest seller.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

PS: Image courtesy Jared Fanning, whose website you can visit from here. He has kindly consented to the use of the image here.

***

A total of 17 replies! However, only nine are correct. The second-most-read book in the world, according to the source is Quotations from Chairman Mao, or Mao’s little red book.

Thursday 14 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–405

This one might be a little difficult to answer, especially without Googling.

who

Identify the gentleman whose name has been blocked out of the opening screen card of this famous cartoon film. Give me his name, and his biggest claim to fame.

HINT: Many actually credit someone else – his partner, actually – with this claim to fame. But note that his name actually appears in bigger font than another, more famous person here. There’s a reason for that.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Four answers, and three have given the correct name, but no one was given me the claim to fame. This is indeed Ub Iwerks, one of the earliest collaborators of Walt Disney, and is widely credited as the creator of Mortimer Mouse, aka Mickey Mouse. In fact, for at least the first five cartoons, his name appears in bigger and bolder fonts than Walt Disney, which was a recognition of his achievement. However, as Disney himself often pointed out, Iwerks wasn’t hungry for fame, and wasn’t much of an extrovert either. So, he didn’t end up making much of a name for himself.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–404

It is probably fitting that the number of the post portends that something was missing or had not been found for close to a century, but is depicted in the image below.

who where

Simply tell me who wrote this, where it can be found and what exactly is being said here. Although several of the vital clues have been hidden, one special clue lurks in the corner for you to find and crack this question.

So happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Four answers, and all correct! This is indeed British Prime Minister David Cameron’s ‘statement’, hand-written in the visitors’ book at the Jalianwala Bagh memorial, making an apology for the behaviour of his ancestors.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–403

This one is super-easy, so please try not to Google it.

who

Which gentleman is being mourned here by an official release from Warner Brothers? Suffice to say that he was one of the most important people behind the scenes when it came to the cartoon characters that are shown here.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Just two answers, and both arnab (Bong with…) and Ayush are correct. This is indeed Mel Blanc, who voiced most, if not all, of the famous Looney Tunes/Merry Melodies characters. In fact, there are anecdotes of Blanc slipping into a coma, and only responding when he was referred to as one of the characters he voiced! And even the response would be in character!

Monday 11 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–402

This ought not be too difficult a crack. Might require some nifty guesswork, though.

identify

As is evident, this is a US currency note that was valid tender for sometime after its first issuing in 1857. Now, this happens to be one of the few of its kind to feature a very specific individual, whose existence has been a question of such hot debate that even the Forbes magazine has once had to give in to the demands of a very specific demographic and withdraw the individual’s name permanently from one of the many lists it publishes.

Simply identify the gentleman who, along with his mode of transport, has been blocked out of this photograph.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Biswapriya Chandra and ali are correct. The blocked-out gentleman is indeed Santa Claus!

Sunday 10 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–401

May be slightly difficult.

identify

This is obviously a partial reconstruction of an extremely old photograph – this one happens to be a ferrotype – which is often credited to be the seventh-costliest photograph to be be sold in an auction. It fetched around $2.3 million when it was auctioned, and is the only photograph of this person which experts agree on as being authentic.

Simply identify the subject of this photograph. Even better, give me the name he was most popularly known as.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Whoa! Eight replies, and a few of them are anonymous. Ali, Kevin, Rohit S and Trivia Monk are correct. As for vijeeth, Billy the Kid was much more than a mere thief! He is known more for the killings, but later accounts and analyses suggest the stories of those killings may have been highly exaggerated… And Suneel, the Sundance Kid was someone entirely different!

Friday 8 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–400

Should not be too difficult.

where

That sea of ‘humanity’ seen in the stadium is actually attending the 1936 Olympic Games. The question is, from what vantage point is this photograph taken? I want a very specific answer, and just for that, I have highlighted a word as a hint.

Happy quizzing, and have a nice life, folks!

***

Suneel, ali and another anonymous answerer are all correct! This is indeed from the Hindenburg zeppelin, and hence ‘humanity’ is highlighted.

Monday 4 March 2013

QR–Cure–Quizzing Realms–399

Straight, but may not be all that easy.

who

The story goes that, when the gentleman in the cylindrical headgear was visiting Sarajevo in present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, someone lobbed a grenade at him, which exploded a few sends late, injuring the next vehicle in this gentleman’s motorcade instead. Our gentleman here decided to go to the hospital to ask after the injured, but his driver did not know the way, confusing roads till they came near a cafe where a Slavic freedom movement group member, who had really wanted to kill our gentleman, was having a sandwich, as fate would have it. The student immediately shot him, setting the ball rolling for numerous other deaths.

Simply identify this gentleman.

***

Ali, Niladri, Sunmeet and Siva are all correct. This is indeed Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination led to the start of World War I, which led to sanctions on certain European nations, which in turn led to World War II, which gave way to the Cold War and reshaped human history forever!