February 2016 - Page 17 of 32

10th February 2016

Who is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes?

Linus Pauling was a chemist who contributed immensely to the knowledge of chemistry and biological molecules. For his research on the chemical bonds and their application to ﬁnd out the structure of complex molecules, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. Since 1946, Pauling had ceaselessly championed against the nuclear tests and all forms of war, which was used as a means to solve national and international conﬂicts, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962.

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10th February 2016

Ostriches’ contagious yawning!

It is known that all vertebrate animals yawn. The cause of yawning is not fully understood, but it is surely contagious. Ostriches are known to yawn as soon as they are hatched. Yawning happens mostly before sleep. At night, when ostriches are ready to settle down, they yawn in groups. First, the leader yawns, followed by the rest of the group. This is the way the leader communicates to the ﬂock to all settle down.

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10th February 2016

Tea as currency

Tea bricks are made by compressing tea leaves of the black tea, ground tea or fermented variety. Because of its high value, tea bricks were used as currency in the late 19th and the 20th century in China and Tibet. Special tea bricks were made with ground tea leaves that were bound with ﬂour or even blood and used as money. In Siberia, tea bricks were used as money as recently as around 1945.

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10th February 2016

Top-notch tennis stars born on power-packed dates

Stefan Edberg, the former world no. 1 tennis player, was born on the same day as Indira Gandhi became India’s Prime Minister, i.e. January 19, 1966. On January 19, 1966, the congress voted for its Prime Minister and Indira Gandhi received 355 votes, making her victorious. She held the ofﬁce of prime minister with effect from January 24, 1966. John McEnroe, another World Champion in tennis, was born on the same day when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, i.e. February 16, 1959.

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