A molecular biologist from Madurai, our quizmaster enjoys trivia and music, and is working on a rock ballad called ‘Coffee is a Drink, Kaapi is an Emotion’. @bertyashley
Quiz | Easy like Sunday morning: What has November 9 ever given us?

Lou Ferrigno won two Mr. Universe titles, but is most famous as the first actor to play an ‘angry’ version of David Banner.
START THE QUIZ
1 / 10 |
On November 9, 1842, the very first U.S. design patent was issued to George Bruce of New York City. This established a new form of intellectual property rights for something based on how it looks. What did he design, which one would now say is a ‘serif’?
2 / 10 |
Born this date in 1914, Hedy Lamarr was an actress who Louis Mayer of MGM promoted as the “world’s most beautiful woman”. Although self-taught, she conceived a frequency-hopping system to jam torpedoes. What two essential technologies in your mobile phone wouldn’t exist but for her work?
3 / 10 |
On November 9, 1914, the German submarine SMS Emden was sunk by HMAS Sydney in the Battle of Cocos. This was celebrated in a city in India, as it was responsible for the only World War I attack on the country. Which city was bombed by the SMS Emden on September 22, 1914?
4 / 10 |
Born on this date in 1934, Carl Sagan was an American astrophysicist who was one of the most influential science communicators of all time. On February 14, 1990, thanks to him, Voyager 1 took a photo known as the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ from six billion kilometres away. What tiny thing does it show?
5 / 10 |
On November 9, 1936, American fashion designer Ruth Harkness encountered a nine-week-old animal in Sichuan and took it back home. It became the first live specimen of its kind to enter the United States, causing a huge sensation. What animal is this, where every single specimen belongs to China?
6 / 10 |
Born on this date in 1944, Chitresh Das was a dancer credited with popularising his dance form globally. He even innovated a yoga form of the dance. What dance form gets its name from the fact that it was a form of storytelling?
7 / 10 |
Born on this date in 1951, Lou Ferrigno is an American bodybuilder who won two Mr. Universe titles. He is most famous as the first actor to play a certain character onscreen in 1977. Which character did he play that was the ‘angry’ version of scientist David Banner?
8 / 10 |
On November 9, 1960, American bass baritone Paul Robeson sang ‘Ol’ man River’ to a group of workers. He was standing on the scaffolding during the construction of an iconic building on Sydney Harbour. He thus became the first performer at which iconic venue?
9 / 10 |
On November 9, 2000, this officially became the 27th State of India. It was formed from 13 districts of northwestern Uttar Pradesh. Which State is also known as ‘Devabhumi’ due to the number of pilgrimage centres found there?
10 / 10 |
On November 9, 2004, the very first version of this free and open-source web browser was released. Developed by the Mozilla Foundation, it was named after the nickname of the red panda, which also became its mascot. What very popular browser is this?