Category: Today’s Birthday

Born in Switzerland, Chevrolet was an auto mechanic who emigrated to the US in 1900 to race cars. In 1905, he drove a mile in a record 52.8 seconds. In 1911, he founded the Chevrolet Motor Company with support from General Motors founder William C. Durant and designed its first car. He sold his interest in 1915 but continued making racecars. His cars won the Indy 500 in 1920 and 1921. He later formed an aircraft company with his brother, but the venture failed. Who drove his winning car in 1920? Discuss

Stone worked on several newspapers in his native Philadelphia and in New York before starting his own investigative newsletter, I. F. Stone’s Weekly. It was believed to have an influence far greater than the size of its readership, which included some of the nation’s most prominent politicians, academicians, and journalists. The sole author, Stone created a unique blend of wit and pointed political commentary. After his death, Stone was alleged to have been a secret agent for what nation? Discuss

Ramanujan was an Indian mathematician. Extremely poor, he was largely self-taught from age 15. In 1913, he began a correspondence with English mathematician Godfrey H. Hardy that took him to England, where he made advances, especially in the theory of numbers, the partition of numbers, and the theory of continued fractions. He died of tuberculosis at age 32, generally unknown but recognized by mathematicians as a phenomenal genius. What anecdote exists about Ramanujan and the number 1,729? Discuss

Jackson is an American actor who has appeared in more than 100 movies since making his feature film debut in the 1970s, and he claims to have seen every one of his films in theaters alongside paying customers. He is best known for his role as a philosophical hit man in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction. In 2006, he decided to star in the film Snakes on a Plane based solely on its title. What other film did Jackson agree to appear in without reading the script? Discuss

Rickey was an American baseball executive. In 1919, he devised baseball’s farm system of using minor-league teams to train major-league players. In 1945, after he took over the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied convention and broke a long-standing race barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson, the first black player in the major leagues. A deeply religious man, the “Mahatma”—as Rickey was popularly known—never played, attended, or managed games on Sundays. What protective gear did he introduce to baseball? Discuss

Brezhnev joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1931 and steadily rose through the ranks, eventually becoming general secretary of the CPSU (1964-1982) and president of the USSR (1977-1982). A protégé of Nikita Khrushchev, he took power after helping engineer Khrushchev’s ouster. Brezhnev’s regime was later criticized for its corruption and failed economic policies, but the global influence of the USSR increased dramatically during his tenure, thanks in part to what doctrine? Discuss

Cobb was one of the greatest offensive players and perhaps the fiercest competitor in baseball history. During his 24-year career as an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics, he set records that would stand for decades, including 892 stolen bases—a feat partly attributed to the brutality with which he used his cleats. Cobb provoked controversy on and off the field but was the first player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1936. Which of his records remain unbroken? Discuss

Davy was an English chemist and one of the greatest exponents of the scientific method. His discovery of the anesthetic effect of nitrous oxide was a major contribution to surgery. He did early research on voltaic cells and batteries, tanning, electrolysis, and mineral analysis, and was the first to systematically apply chemical principles to farming. His research on mine explosions and his invention of the safety lamp brought him great prestige. Davy also proved that diamond is a form of what? Discuss

One of the greatest composers of Western classical music, Beethoven was born to a musical family and was a precociously gifted pianist and violist. After nine years as a court musician, he moved to Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn. There, he quickly won fame and renown as both a virtuoso and a composer. He went on to become the first major composer to be able to earn a living independently, without support from the church or court. Beethoven’s deafness resulted in what unique historical record? Discuss

The son of an oil millionaire, Getty was an American industrialist who increased his fortune and became the richest man in the world by acquiring oil companies and obtaining rights to a tract of land in Saudi Arabia that yielded great quantities of oil. Married and divorced five times, he was known for such bizarre behavior as installing a payphone in his mansion for guests to use and refusing to pay a ransom for his grandson even after being sent the boy’s ear. What happened to the grandson? Discuss