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On this day in 1906, the Wright Brothers were granted US patent number 821,393 for their ‘Flying-Machine’. This week’s quiz is about patents and inventions

Scrolling through Facebook, I notice a friend’s post about the toxicity of small, lighted screens. But I’m scrolling, not strolling, so I don’t ...

On May 15, 1941, New York Yankees baseball star Joe DiMaggio started a 56-game streak of at least one hit in every game — a record that still stands and is regarded as almost impossible to break. This week, we look at sporting streaks by individuals and teams

There’s a new profession in town: Coffin Confessor. I heard about it for the first time two days ago, in a video. The self-proclaimed Confessor, most ...

On this day in 1886, pharmacist John Pemberton first sold a carbonated beverage that he called Coca-Cola. This week’s quiz is about Coke.Pop Culture1.

My sister in Connecticut has two grands. For the purpose of this column, I shall call them D1 and D2. I’m not sure why I persist in this ...

Not just another brick in the wallOn this day in 1931, President Herbert Hoover dedicated the Empire State Building, then the tallest building in the ...

It’s been ten months since I left my private little bunker in Elsewhere — but today, I’m in my sister’s beautiful home in Connecticut. Listening to ...

It’s Sachin Tendulkar’s 49th birthday — a perfect occasion for a quiz on India’s cricket sensation

It starts with the lack of new email messages: A sudden silence from my personal world. It’s a mellow Saturday afternoon. I’ve met my week’s deadlines ...

It’s the birthday of Muttiah Muralitharan — the man who took a staggering 800 test wickets. What better way to celebrate the occasion than with a quiz on all things that spin?

My Chennai sister sent me a photograph of a young man whose hair looked as if it had exploded out of the top of his head. “What d’you think?” she ...

On April 10, 1970, Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving The Beatles for ‘personal and professional reasons’. This week’s quiz is about split-ups

It’s been over a year since the epidemic began reshaping all our lives. Amidst the chaos and despair, some of us have used this time of widespread ...

On this day in 1932, Bruno Hauptmann was executed for the kidnapping and death of Charles Lindbergh Jr, the infant son of legendary American pilot ...

There are very many seagulls in Elsewhere. Not very surprising, as this is a seaside resort! So when I step out of my apartment to take pictures of ...

It was the birthday of Reginald Kenneth Dwight, better known in the world of entertainment as Elton John, on March 25. This week’s quiz is all about people who changed their names

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is about a young woman called Nora on the brink of suicide. Actually, she HAS committed suicide. Instead of being ...

In 2012, the United Nations General Assembly declared March 20 as the International Day of Happiness. This week’s quiz is all about joy

Three weeks before my art exhibition was due to go up, I had chosen the pieces I wanted to show. Then I ordered prints and sat back to wait.Let me ...

It’s the birth anniversary of Colombian footballer Andrés Escobar who was shot dead at the behest of a gangster who had lost money because of an own ...

Muriel has put our names down on a list to get the Covid-19 vaccination because — hurrah! — the age limit has been lowered to 65. Just after two ...

It’s the birth anniversary of Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, one of the great artists and sculptors of the Renaissance era. This quiz is ...

Just as I’m whipping two eggs in a bowl, there’s a scratching at my kitchen window. “Aha!” says Rockette, my wild raccoon friend. “Making cookies ...