Titanic is more a ship than anything else. RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in the early hours of this day (15th April) in 1912, after colliding with an iceberg during its maiden voyage from Southampton to NYC.
On 106th anniversary of her sinking, we bring you Titanic facts you’ve probably never heard of. Welcome to the world of ‘Nutty’s Infotainment. YAYS!’
Built in Belfast, the RMS Titanic’s interiors were loosely inspired by those at the Ritz in London. Facilities on board included a gym, pool, Turkish bath, a kennel, and a squash court. It even had its own on board newspaper — the Atlantic Daily Bulletin.
There were an estimated 2,224 passengers and crew aboard, and more than 1,500 died, making it the most famous shipwreck. 
Although Titanic had advanced safety features, she carried enough lifeboats for 1,178 people — about half the number on board. The ship received six warnings about icebergs during the voyage. 
On April 14, 1912, four days into the crossing and about 375 miles south of Newfoundland, an iceberg was spotted at 11.40pm, by lookout Frederick Fleet. (Pranksters placed a pair of binoculars on his grave in 2012 with a note saying: “Sorry they’re 100 years too late”)
Just 37 seconds elapsed between the sighting of the iceberg and the collision. The ship broke in two at around 2.20am, and sunk, sending all passengers into the ocean. The temperature would have been -2°C — few would have survived longer than 15 minutes. 
Just under two hours after Titanic sank, the RMS Carpathia arrived and brought aboard an estimated 705 survivors. Only 306 bodies were found and were taken to Halifax. Titanic’s wreck was discovered in 1985 and lies 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, around 12,500 feet below the surface.
The final survivor of the sinking, Millvina Dean, aged two months at the time, died in 2009 at the age of 97.
During production of Titanic, James Cameron used a decoy title and the movie was called Planet Ice.
Titanic is the second movie about the RMS Titanic to win a Best Picture Oscar. In 1933, Frank Lloyd’s Cavalcade took home the same. Titanic was nominated for 14 Oscars and won a whopping 11.
Titanic was the first film to have two cast members — Kate Winslet and Gloria Stuart — nominated for playing the same role. 
Gloria, the only Titanic cast member alive during Titanic’s maiden voyage in 1912, became the oldest academy award nominee at 87 when she was up for Best Supporting Actress.
Cameron was the skilled artist behind Jack Dawson’s drawing of Rose wearing nothing but the ‘Heart of the Ocean’. In 2011, the drawing sold for “atleast $16,000” at an auction.
The ocean liner carried some of the wealthiest people in the world with 10 millionaires. The elderly couple seen hugging on the bed while water floods their room are Ida and Isidor Straus, co-owner of Macy’s Department store in NYC.


What does the relay baton at Commonwealth Games traditionally contain?
Message from the Queen. The Kuala Lumpur 1998 Queen’s Baton was carried into the stadium on an elephant. The Gold Coast 2018 baton had GPS technology on board to allow it to be tracked as it travelled around Australia and the world. The Queen’s message was written on paper made from Australian spinifex


Michael Schumacher’s 91st and last Formula 1 win came at which 2006 race?
The Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit. The 2018 Chinese Grand Prix take place today.


What is Nomophobia?
Fear of being without mobile phone coverage.
In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs what did the seven dwarfs do for a job?
Miners


Which brand has the world’s oldest unaltered commercial logo in continuous use?
Twinings Tea. The capitalised font beneath a lion crest has been in use continuously for 230 years now, making it the world’s oldest unaltered logo in continuous use, according to the company website.


How long did the Hundred Years’ War last?
116 years (1337-1453) 


Nelson Mandela, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 was on US terror watch list till few years before his death.  When was he taken off the list?
2008
After the birth of her daughter, the mother called the baby “Patti Poo”. In return, the husband started calling the mother ‘Mommie Poo Pants’. Identify the celebrity couple.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan


What is common to rivers Amber, Avon, Axe, Esk, Exe, Ouse, Humber, Irwell, Thames and Tyne?
They all mean “river” or “water” in various languages


Identify the author behind the bars





(Answer next week. Last week’s answer to photo quiz: Greece Drachma.)


What’s the Good Word?

1. Attic-salt: (a) refined incisive wit (b) storage area (c) preserved (d) proud
2. Boffola: (a) like an animal (b) rustic (c) African folklore (d) funny joke
3. Claggy: (a) horsefly (b) shady (c) waiter (d) sticky
4. Comminatory: (a) experience sharing (b) threatening (c) expression of opinions (d) ephemeral
5. Habile: (a) syzygy (b) askew (c) skillful (d) good sense of smell
6. Luculent: (a) large knife (b) crispy hair (c) clearly expressed (d) trembling
7. Meacock: (a) coward (b) highly energetic (c) aquiver (d) punish
8. Noyade: (a) balcony (b) execution carried out by drowning (c) human body (d) cattle shed
9. Rug rat: (a) wise (b) violent (c) child (d) fat
10. Troglodyte: (a) old-fashioned (b) geek (c) chef (d) unemployed


Answers: 1 (a); 2 (d); 3 (d); 4 (b); 5 (c); 6 (c); 7 (a); 8 (b); 9 (c); 10 (a)

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