Famous #1s and Lesser Known Facts Quiz

Answer: Tenzing Norgay

Tenzing Norgay was born about May 1914 and died May 9, 1986. His actual birth name was Namgyal Wangdi, but he was commonly referred to as Sherpa Tenzing. He was a Nepalese Indian Sherpa mountaineer and was born in Khumbu, Nepal. He was one of many porters and local support crew for the 1953 expedition led by Brigadier Henry Cecil John Hunt (Baron Hunt), a British army officer. Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (July 20, 1919-11 January 2008) was a New Zealand mountaineer, adventurer, explorer and philanthropist. Both Hillary and Hunt were knighted by Queen Elizabeth II on June 6, 1953, in recognition of their famous ascent.

Answer: Felt tip pen

The LEM (lunar excursion module) was also referred to as the "Eagle". For the purpose of fuel efficiency, it was very lightweight and comparatively flimsy in construction. During the period that the craft was on the moon's surface, Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker which was to be used later to arm the main engine, which was required to enable lift off from the surface, in order to dock with the command module for the voyage home.

The problem was solved, when, Aldrin discovered that his felt tip pen could be used in lieu of the broken circuit breaker component, since it could be used to reach the required switching mechanism and reset the toggle.

In effect, this mimicked the circuit breaker's functionality. It was a successful improvisation, since they made it back. For those that shudder at the thought of all this, there was a backup procedure, but it involved a lengthy process, with all the risks associated with such untried methods.

Answer: Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher

There were six contestants in the race, including Chris Chataway and Chris Brasher. The attempt on the record was planned well in advance and it was decided that Brasher and Chataway would provide the pacing during the first three and a half laps, then leave Bannister with the chance to run through and break the 4 minute mark.

The plan worked to perfection, with Brasher leading the way in a sub 2 minute mark at the half way mark, with Bannister close behind. It was at this point that the record was secured, because Chataway then took over the front running and maintained the lead dragging Bannister along with him till about 220 yards from the finish. Bannister passed Chataway at the end of the back straight, and went on to win the race in 3 min 59.4 seconds! Chataway and Brasher finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway were both world class athletes who helped create the record with their selfless performances during the race. Brasher was to win an Olympic gold medal later and Chataway, a Commonwealth gold medal. Roger Bannister went on to become an eminent doctor specialising in neurology.

He was knighted in 1975 for his services to sports. He always maintained that he was prouder of his work in medicine than his achievements in athletics.

Answer: Howard Florey and Ernst Boris Chain

Alexander Fleming (Aug 6, 1881-Mar 11, 1955) was a Scottish biologist, botanist, pharmacologist and bacteriologist. In 1928, during the course of research on staphylococci, he accidentally discovered the effect of mould on bacteria culture in his laboratory.

He pursued attempts to isolate the agent during the course of the next 10 years, but finally abandoned his quest for penicillin in 1940. Immediately after this, Ernst Boris Chain and Howard Florey and Edward Abraham, all being chemists at The Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, took up the project from where Fleming had left off and succeeded in isolating penicillin.

They also established the methodology for the mass production of the antibiotic. Howard Florey (Sep 24,1898-Feb 21, 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist. Ernst Boris Chain (June 19, 1906-Aug 12, 1979) was British but born in Germany.

He was a biochemist. All three men were knighted later and Florey was raised to the peerage as Lord Florey of Adelaide and Marston.

Answer: Ruggero Leoncavallo

Ruggero Leoncavallo (Apr 23, 1857-Aug 9, 1919) was an Italian opera composer. "Il Pagliacci", an opera in 2 acts, is still widely staged. The opera plot is about a travelling troupe of performers and the consuming jealousy of a cuckolded husband towards his young wife and her lover.

This results in murder and mayhem, which is not untypical in opera plots. The actual aria "Vesti la Giubba" is a haunting, melancholic song, sung by the extremely disturbed and sad, jilted husband. It became Caruso's most famous recording. it sold in excess of 1 million copies by 1904. Enrico Caruso (Feb 25, 1873-Aug 2, 1921) was an Italian operatic tenor.

He was born in Naples, Italy. He is still regarded widely in operatic circles as setting the standard that other operatic tenors should aspire towards.

A voice of rare beauty and power, with an instinctive interpretive and musical quality, assured him of a career that attracted a huge personal following.

Answer: The equestrian events were held in Stockholm, Sweden.

The equestrian events were all held in Stockholm due to Australia's extremely strict quarantine laws on horses entering the country. It became impractical for the equestrian events to be conducted in Australia, and so they were held in Stockholm some 6 months before the rest of the Olympic games commenced in Melbourne.

The 1956 Olympics were known as "the friendly games", and this was ironic because of the political tension between the USSR and Hungary due to the brutal 1956 repression of the Hungarian Uprising.

Answer: Louis Washkansky

The operation was considered a success even though Louis Washkansky died of pneumonia 18 days later. The death was attributed to an induced weakened immune system to prevent rejection, which was then unable to fight the respiratory infection, which as a consequence led to death.

The transplanted heart was functioning well up to this point with no external stimulation required to keep it beating. Louis Washkansky was born in 1913 and died Dec 21, 1967. He was fit and actively engaged in sport but his health declined in his later years and he suffered from diabetes and congestive heart disease.

He had experienced a number of heart attacks before his transplant, and his prognosis was terminal, and the only option presented to him was the heart transplant. Dr Christiaan Neethling Barnard (Nov 8, 1922-Sept 2, 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon.

Answer: Magellan started the voyage, but perished along the way

Ferdinand Magellan (1480- Apr 27, 1521) was a Portuguese mariner and explorer. In 1519, under the patronage of Spain, he commanded a fleet of five ships and set sail from Seville to find a route to the Spice Islands. Along the way, the fleet arrived in the Philippines and it was here that Magellan met his death.

It was the result of an attack by the local tribesmen, and his body was never recovered. During the course of the attack, many of Magellan's party were also dispatched and those still left alive could only manage to crew two ships. Eventually the fleet was reduced to one ship only, since a confrontation with Portugal along the way caused the loss of one of the two remaining ships.

The survivors arrived back in Spain after circumnavigating the globe. From start to finish, the expedition took about three years and only one ship of the original fleet of five, "The Victoria", survived. Approximately 230 sailors died along the way, and about 55 made it back alive.

Whilst this voyage was the first to circumnavigate the globe, Magellan himself never completed it.

Answer: Col Joseph William Kittinger II (USAF)

Colonel Joseph William Kittinger II was born in Tampa, Florida Jul 27, 1928. He was a career officer in the USAF and served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He was assigned to various special projects from 1954 to do with aerospace and medical research which led to high altitude experimentation and data collection. Gas balloons were used to facilitate the various projects and from 1957 through to 1960, Kittinger set records for highest, longest, and farthest freefall by a skydiver.

The projects were named "Manhigh" and "Excelsior".

He contributed to Felix Baumgartner's successful supersonic skydive as special advisor to the team.

Answer: First solo Atlantic Ocean crossing in a gas balloon

After retiring from the USAF, Joseph Kittering II maintained his interest in ballooning, and he set a distance record of 3221 km for the AA-06 size in 1983. He then completed the first solo crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a gas balloon in Sep, 1984.

The balloon was named "Balloon of Peace" and the Atlantic Crossing still remains a distance record as at Feb 20, 2013, for the AA-10 size balloon at 5703 km. Kittinger was part of the Baumgartner supersonic skydive team, and recruited experts in aeronautics, medicine and engineering to ensure the success of the project.

He was also the capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for Baumgartner's jump.