Trivia Bits 27 October

 

• The first Mickey Mouse watches were manufactured in 1933 by the Ingersoll Watch Company on which the seconds were indicated by a turning disk below Mickey. The first Mickey watch was sold at the Century of Progress in Chicago, 1933 for $US3.75.
• Losing My Virginity was the title of the autobiography of British business tycoon Sir Richard Branson.
• Ra or Re is the Egyptian Sun-god.
• The second person the set foot on the moon was Buzz Aldrin.
• Britain's present royal family was originally named Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The name was changed in 1917, during WW1 because of German connotations. The name Windsor was suggested by one of the staff. At the same time the Battenberg family name of the cousins to the Windsor’s was changed into Mountbatten.
• The magnetic compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty between the 2nd century BC and 1st century AD.
• English naturalist Charles Darwin is buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
• Colonia del Sacramento, a city in south-western Uruguay by the Río de la Plata facing Buenos Aires, Argentina is a World Heritage Site.
• Often listed as William Shakespeare’s “four great tragedies are – Hamlet, MacBeth, King Lear and Othello.
• Famous painter Claude Monet was born in France on 14 November 1840 on the 5th floor of 45 rue Laffitte in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.
• The two founders of Google are Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
• Pygmalion, the play on which the musical My Fair Lady was based, was written by George Bernard Shaw.
• Miss Piggy’s surname is Lee.
• India is one of the world's most diverse countries, with over 40 languages and approximately 1600 dialects. Every state has its own traditions, culture, lifestyle and style of cooking. Even individual households differ in their preparation of the same dish.
• The character played by Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 movie Casablanca was Rick Blaine.
• The expression spend a penny is a colloquial term that means to go to the toilet.
• Male Western fence lizards, a common lizard of California and the surrounding area, have blue bellies.
• The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo–Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom and was a major British defeat in the Zulu war.
• France was the first country to adopt the 35-hour workweek in February 2000, under Prime Minister Lionel Jospin with any worked over this time was to be considered overtime.
• There’s a Kind of Hush was recorded in 1967 by Herman’s Hermits.