Saturday, February 27, 2010

Biography of Edward The Black Prince

Edward was born on 15 June 1330 at Woodstock in Oxfordshire, the eldest son of Edward III. He was created prince of Wales in 1343. He showed military brilliance at an early age, playing a key role in the defeat of the French army at the Battle of Crecy when he was only 16. In 1355, he was appointed his father's lieutenant in Gascony and the following year led another significant victory against the French at Poitiers, taking the French king prisoner.

In 1362, Edward married Joan of Kent and was created prince of Aquitaine and Gascony by his father. Edward and his wife went to live in his new French domains. In 1367, Edward led an expedition to Spain, to restore the deposed King Pedro of Castile, and proved himself again with victory at the Battle of Najera in northern Castile. Edward returned to Aquitaine, where he made himself unpopular with the nobility by levying taxes to pay for his Spanish expedition. They rose in revolt against him and in 1370 Edward besieged the city of Limoges. When it fell, 3,000 of its inhabitants were massacred. A year later, Edward returned to England.

Edward died aged 45 on 8 June 1376, probably from an illness contracted in Spain, and was buried in great splendour in Canterbury Cathedral. His young son, Richard, succeeded Edward III a year later.

During his lifetime he was known as Edward of Woodstock. The title of Black Prince developed after his death and may refer to black armour that he wore.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Biography of Captain James Cook

James Cook was born on 27 October 1728 in a small village near Middlesbrough in Yorkshire. His father was a farm worker. At the age of 17, Cook moved to the coast, settling in Whitby and finding work with a coal merchant. In 1755, Cook enlisted in the Royal Navy, serving in North America where he learnt to survey and chart coastal waters.

In 1769, the planet Venus was due to pass in front of the Sun, a rare event visible only in the southern hemisphere. The British government decided to send an expedition to observe the phenomenon. A more secret motive was to search for the fabled southern continent. Cook was chosen as commander of the Whitby-built HMS Endeavour. Those on board included astronomer Charles Green and botanist Joseph Banks.

Endeavour arrived in Tahiti in April 1769 where Green was able to observe the transit of Venus. Endeavour continued on to New Zealand, and then sailed along the length of Australia's eastern coast, which had never before been seen by Europeans. Cook claimed it for Britain and named it New South Wales. Cook and his crew then returned home, arriving in July 1771.

In 1772, not satisfied by his previous exploits, Cook set out on a second voyage to look for the southern continent. His two ships sailed close to the Antarctic coast but were forced to turn back by the cold. They then visited New Zealand and Tahiti, returning to England in 1775.

Cook's third voyage was to find the North-West Passage that was believed to link the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Unable to find the fabled route, Cook took his two ships south and explored the island of Hawaii. Relations with the islanders were soured after the theft of a ship's boat. On 14 February Cook tried to take the local leader hostage. There was a scuffle and Cook was stabbed and killed.

We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Biography of Arthur Conan Doyle

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22 May 1859 in Edinburgh into a prosperous Irish family. He trained as a doctor, gaining his degree from Edinburgh University in 1881. He worked as a surgeon on a whaling boat and also as a medical officer on a steamer travelling between Liverpool and West Africa. He then settled in Portsmouth on the English south coast and divided his time between medicine and writing.

Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in 'A Study of Scarlet', published in 'Beeton's Christmas Annual' in 1887. Its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving Holmes but, in 1893, Conan Doyle killed off Holmes, hoping to concentrate on more serious writing. A public outcry later made him resurrect Holmes. In addition, Conan Doyle wrote a number of other novels, including 'The Lost World' and various non-fictional works. These included a pamphlet justifying Britain's involvement in the Boer War, for which he was knighted and histories of the Boer War and World War One, in which his son, brother and two of his nephews were killed. Conan Doyle also twice ran unsuccessfully for parliament. In later life he became very interested in spiritualism

Conan Doyle died of a heart attack on 7 July 1930.

We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Biography of Augustus

Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on 23 September 63 BC in Rome. In 43 BC his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated and in his will, Octavius, known as Octavian, was named as his heir. He fought to avenge Caesar and in 31 BC defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. He was now undisputed ruler of Rome.

Instead of following Caesar's example and making himself dictator, Octavian in 27 BC founded the principate, a system of monarchy headed by an emperor holding power for life. His powers were hidden behind constitutional forms, and he took the name Augustus meaning 'lofty' or 'serene'. Nevertheless, he retained ultimate control of all aspects of the Roman state, with the army under his direct command.

At home, he embarked on a large programme of reconstruction and social reform. Rome was transformed with impressive new buildings and Augustus was a patron to Virgil, Horace and Propertius, the leading poets of the day. Augustus also ensured that his image was promoted throughout his empire by means of statues and coins.

Abroad, he created a standing army for the first time, and embarked upon a vigorous campaign of expansion designed to make Rome safe from the 'barbarians' beyond the frontiers, and to secure the Augustan peace. His stepsons Tiberius and Drusus undertook the task (Augustus had married their mother Livia in 38 AD). Between 16 BC and 6 AD the frontier was advanced from the Rhine to the Elbe in Germany, and up to the Danube along its entire length. But Drusus died in the process and in 9 AD the annihilation of three Roman legions in Germany (out of 28 overall), in the Varian disaster, led to the abandonment of Germany east of the Rhine.

Augustus was determined to be succeeded by someone of his own blood, but he had no sons, only a daughter, Julia, the child of his first wife. His nephew Marcellus and his beloved grandsons Gaius and Lucius pre-deceased him, so he reluctantly made Tiberius his heir.

Military disaster, the loss of his grandsons and a troubled economy clouded his last years. He became more dictatorial, exiling the poet Ovid (8 AD), who had mocked his moral reforms. He died on 19 August 14 AD.


We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Biography of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was born on 3 March 1847 in Edinburgh and educated there and in London. His father and grandfather were both authorities on elocution and at the age of 16 Bell himself began researching the mechanics of speech. In 1870, Bell emigrated with his family to Canada, and the following year he moved to the United States to teach. There he pioneered a system called visible speech, developed by his father, to teach deaf-mute children. In 1872 Bell founded a school in Boston to train teachers of the deaf. The school subsequently became part of Boston University, where Bell was appointed professor of vocal physiology in 1873. He became a naturalised U.S. citizen in 1882.

Bell had long been fascinated by the idea of transmitting speech, and by 1875 had come up with a simple receiver that could turn electricity into sound. Others were working along the same lines, including an Italian-American Antonio Meucci, and debate continues as to who should be credited with inventing the telephone. However, Bell was granted a patent for the telephone on 7 March 1876 and it developed quickly. Within a year the first telephone exchange was built in Connecticut and the Bell Telephone Company was created in 1877, with Bell the owner of a third of the shares, quickly making him a wealthy man.

In 1880, Bell was awarded the French Volta Prize for his invention and with the money, founded the Volta Laboratory in Washington, where he continued experiments in communication, in medical research, and in techniques for teaching speech to the deaf, working with Helen Keller among others. In 1885 he acquired land in Nova Scotia and established a summer home there where he continued experiments, particularly in the field of aviation.

In 1888, Bell was one of the founding members of the National Geographic Society, and served as its president from 1896 to 1904, also helping to establish its journal.

Bell died on 2 August 1922 at his home in Nova Scotia.

We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Friday, February 12, 2010

Biography of Annie Besant

Annie Woods was born in London on 1 October 1847. She had an unhappy childhood, undoubtedly partly due to her father's death when she was five. Annie's mother persuaded her friend Ellen Marryat, sister of the writer Frederick Marryat, to take responsibility for her daughter and Ellen ensured that Annie received a good education.

In 1867, Annie married Frank Besant, a clergyman, and they had two children. But Annie's increasingly anti-religious views led to a legal separation in 1873. Besant became a member of the National Secular Society, which preached 'free thought', and also of the Fabian Society, the noted socialist organisation.

In the 1870s, Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh edited the weekly National Reformer, which advocated advanced ideas for the time on topics such as trade unions, national education, womens' right to vote, and birth control. For their pamphlet on birth control the pair were brought to trial for obscenity, but were subsequently acquitted.

Besant supported a number of workers' demonstrations for better working conditions. In 1888 she helped organise a strike of the female workers at the Bryant and May match factory in east London. The women complained of starvation wages and the terrible effects on their health of phosphorus fumes in the factory. The strike eventually led to their bosses significantly improving their working situation.

Social and political reform seems not to have satisfied Besant's hunger for some all-embracing truth to replace the religion of her youth. She became interested in Theosophy, a religious movement founded in 1875 and based on Hindu ideas of karma and reincarnation. As a member and later leader of the Theosophical Society, Besant helped to spread Theosophical beliefs around the world, notably in India.

Besant first visited India in 1893 and later settled there, becoming involved in the Indian nationalist movement. In 1916 she established the Indian Home Rule League, of which she became president. She was also a leading member of the Indian National Congress.

In the late 1920s, Besant travelled to the United States with her protégé and adopted son Jiddu Krishnamurti, whom she claimed was the new Messiah and incarnation of Buddha. Krishnamurti rejected these claims in 1929.

Besant died in India on 20 September 1933.


We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Biography of John Logie Baird


John Logie Baird was born on 14 August 1888 in Helensburgh on the west coast of Scotland, the son of a clergyman. Dogged by ill health for most of his life, he nonetheless showed early signs of ingenuity, rigging up a telephone exchange to connect his bedroom to those of his friends across the street. His studies at Glasgow University were interrupted by the outbreak of World War One. Rejected as unfit for the forces, he served as superintendent engineer of the Clyde Valley Electrical Power Company. When the war ended he set himself up in business, with mixed results.

Baird then moved to the south coast of England and applied himself to creating a television, a dream of many scientists for decades. His first crude apparatus was made of odds and ends, but by 1924 he managed to transmit a flickering image across a few feet. On 26 January 1926 he gave the world's first demonstration of true television before 50 scientists in an attic room in central London. In 1927, his television was demonstrated over 438 miles of telephone line between London and Glasgow, and he formed the Baird Television Development Company. (BTDC). In 1928, the BTDC achieved the first transatlantic television transmission between London and New York and the first transmission to a ship in mid-Atlantic. He also gave the first demonstration of both colour and stereoscopic television.

In 1929, the German post office gave him the facilities to develop an experimental television service based on his mechanical system, the only one operable at the time. Sound and vision were initially sent alternately, and only began to be transmitted simultaneously from 1930. However, Baird's mechanical system was rapidly becoming obsolete as electronic systems were developed, chiefly by Marconi in America. Although he had invested in the mechanical system in order to achieve early results, Baird had also been exploring electronic systems from an early stage. Nevertheless, a BBC committee of inquiry in 1935 prompted a side-by-side trial between Marconi's all-electronic television system, which worked on 405 lines to Baird's 240. Marconi won, and in 1937 Baird's system was dropped.

Baird died on 14 June 1946 in Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex.

We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Monday, February 8, 2010

Biography of Edmund Cartwright


Edmund Cartwright was born on 24 April 1743 in Nottinghamshire, the son of a landowner. He was educated at Oxford University and began a career in the church, eventually becoming prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral from 1786 until his death.

In 1784, Cartwright visited Richard Arkwright's cotton-spinning mills at Cromford in Derbyshire and was inspired to construct a similar machine for weaving. His idea was scorned by many who thought that such a complicated procedure would be impossible to automate. Undeterred by these comments, and his complete inexperience in the field, he began work. The first power loom, patented in 1785, was extremely crude but improvements were made in subsequent versions. Cartwright now established a factory in Doncaster for his looms, but his ignorance of industry and commerce meant that the factory never became much more than a testing site for new inventions. In 1793, he went bankrupt and closed the factory. A Manchester company purchased 400 of his looms, but the factory was burnt down, probably in an arson attack - many handloom weavers rightly feared the impact power looms would have on their livelihoods.

Deeply in debt, Cartwright moved to London in 1796. Here he worked on other invention ideas, including interlocking bricks and incombustible floorboards, but none proved workable. In 1809, however, the House of Commons voted Cartwright £10,000 in recognition of national benefits of his power loom. Cartwright died on 30 October 1823.

We are a group of Avid Quizzers who have recently passed out of the school and started this blog that deals with the School Level Quiz in association with Neo Quiz Spot to make knowledge available to one and all . This blog is provides online quizzes which deal with School Quiz, GK Quiz, Sports Quiz, Indian GK Quiz, Current Affairs Quiz which are India Specific but have an Universal Academic Use . Our GK Questions will be made available on Sundays during which you can take the GK Test on our quiz blog. For the High School Quizzes, please contact us.
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Saturday, February 6, 2010

General Knowledge GK

1. Sony: Play station :: Microsoft :______?
Ans. Xbox

2. What is India’s internet country domain code?
Ans. .in

3.At which popular religious destination in India can you find Ram Jhula and Lakshman Jhula?
Ans. Rishikesh

4. Which Indian state literally means ‘The abode of clouds’?
Ans. Meghalaya

5.Americans call it a faucet. What do we call it in India?
Ans. Tap