Quiz: Easy like Sunday morning

Easy like Sunday morning quiz by Berty Ashley

1. On March 23, 1857, American inventor Elisha Otis installed his latest invention at E.V.Haughwout & Co., a store at 488 Broadway New York City. He had come up with the idea while working out a way to hoist heavy equipment to the upper floor at a bedstead factory. What invention was this that is now found everywhere?

2. Born this day in 1881, Hermann Staudinger was a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in 1953. He was the first to propose that rubber and starch were actually long chains of repeating molecules. What did he call these, which meant ‘many parts’ in Greek?

3. Born this day in 1893, Cedric Gibbons was an art director who was nominated a record 39 times for the Academy Award for Best Production Design, of which he won 11. In 1928, he was responsible for designing something that is now immediately recognisable the world over. What did he design, which made his wins fitting?

4. Born this day in 1893, Gopalswamy Doraiswamy Naidu was an engineer and businessman who is credited with manufacturing the first electric motor in India and his own version of the internal combustion engine. Starting out as a server in a hotel he went on to be responsible for the growth of the city he called home. Which city is this, now the second largest in Tamil Nadu?

5. Born this day in 1910, Akira Kurosawa became one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. In his movie, Rashomon, he had a shot, which was the first of its kind in history. It had never been done before for fear of the celluloid film catching fire. What did he point the camera at?

6. Born this day in 1924, Bette Nesmith Graham was a typist whose son became the guitarist of the band The Monkeys. Drawing inspiration from watching painters covering up imperfections with a fresh layer of paint, she came up with a white, water-based tempera paint. What had she invented, which soon became a huge hit?

7. Born this day in 1929, Roger Bannister was an athlete, later neurologist, who was the first to achieve a certain record. What did he achieve by running at an average speed of 15 miles per hour at Oxford University?