June 2
Quick Hits
Questions
Recalling a theme from last time - the major airport of Réunion is located at Sainte-Marie and it serves that island’s capital of Saint-Denis. File its existence away, as the regular flights between it and Paris Charles de Gaulle International Airport are considered to be the longest domestic flights in the world, as the island is an overseas department of France. More to the original point, the airport is named for someone who died in a plane crash, though auspiciously that airport, as well as Réunion itself, had nothing to do with the events surrounding this man’s death. This man was born in Saint-Denis, but he would die in the Ardennes, and Réunion’s international airport is almost certainly not the most notable thing named for this man. Which person?
Shown is the chemical structure for what organic compound? Discovered in 1827 by German scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin when they isolated it from the bile salts of a particular animal, it is better described as an amino-sulfonic acid, as it is not one of the amino acids used by the body to construct proteins. However, the body does make considerable use of it, especially as an antioxidant in high metabolism tissues like the heart and the brain. Because of that, there is an ongoing speculation, not quite confirmed, that this compound could act as an anti-aging agent, or that it boosts cognitive and athletic performance, with one notable commercial product containing 1000 mg of this substance per 8.4 fluid ounces.
It is that wonderful time of the year, when both the NBA Finals and the NHL Stanley Cup Finals occur contemporaneously. Leapfrogging from that, what are the only two cities to have played each other in the finals of the four major American professional sporting championships: the NBA Finals, the Stanley Cup Finals, the MLB World Series, and the NFL’s Super Bowl? As things currently are situated, it would not be possible for these two cities to repeat that feat in the near future.
SpaceX is making the news as, it is anticipated, its initial public offering (IPO) will bring into the company some $75 billion in new investment. That amount is nearly three times the record held by the previous holder, when that company brought in $25.6 billion from its 2019 IPO. What company was that? This company was founded in 1933, with its breakthrough occurring in 1938, thanks at that time to Dammam No. 7.
Last month in the journal Antiquity it was reported that the remains of some 37 humans were found in a container located in what country? The container in question, more than six feet wide and four feet tall, is one of the larger - yet still representative - examples of a group of markers, with other examples shown below. Investigations into these artifacts began in the 1930s under the work of archaeologist Madeleine Colani, but decades of war, isolation, and leftover landmines pushed back that research to more recent years. The discovery of these bones would suggest that the purposes of these markers - previously unestablished - is funerary in nature, with the thought being that they were intended to act as multigenerational grave markers.
Consider the following. What do they most directly (and really that is to say, “most recently”) have in common?
An Arabic word meaning “my beloved.”
The nickname of the player who won the NBA regular season scoring title in 1977-78, as he averaged 27.2 points per game. That accomplishment came during his second season in the NBA - but during his fifth season with the particular basketball team for which he played.
The type of tart shown below, singularized. A puff pastry filled with cheese curds, its origination story dates back to the time of King Henry VIII, who is said to have found the attendants to Catherine of Aragon consuming such tarts. When he tried one for himself, he was so delighted that (it is said) he had their maker imprisoned - so that unfortunate person could continue to supply such tarts to him.
Below is a map showing the location of what speculated supercontinent, whose name, appropriately, comes from the Greek for “all south”? It is thought that this landmass formed around 600 million years ago, lasting just forty million years. While that is a relatively narrow window of time according to geologists, this landmass still existed long enough to where it would have been a part of both Precambrian and Cambrian times of our geologic history.
The discovery of methane is credited to what man, who isolated it when, out of curiosity, he decided to investigate the gas that he found bubbling from a marsh while he was on a fishing trip at Lake Maggiore in 1776? That discovery is very likely not the most famous thing associated with this person. Shown below is an excerpt of an article that is not really related to this person, but it still led me to spot an amusing coincidence that made me chuckle - make of it what you will.
Shown is a screenshot taken from the trailer of an upcoming film scheduled to be released on July 25 in China. The film is named for what 1683 battle? This naval battle was a tremendous victory for Shi Lang, an admiral of the Qing Dynasty, over the forces of the Kingdom of Tungning, situated in the southwestern part of Taiwan. The victory placed Taiwan under the direct control of the Qing Dynasty, with Ming Dynasty loyalists living on the island sent back to mainland China to be imprisoned. I am sure that the timing of the film in question is a complete coincidence, and there will be nothing ominous about it becoming a smashing popular success in the weeks to come.
This is the (redacted) emblem for what world city?
