Hello & welcome to this fortnight’s GK nugget.
December
has seen the birthdays of some iconic figures- the original showman of Hindi cinema – Raj
Kapoor – was born on 14th December 1924. The Lord of tamil cinema – Rajnikanth – was
born on 12th December 1950. Dilip Kumar
was born on 11th December 1922 while 11th December 1969 was when India’s first
chess grandmaster Viswanathan Anand made his first appearance on planet earth.
Of course there are many more names to add to that list, but while going
through all these dates I realized that this will be the last GK nugget of
2016.
So instead of sharing trivia on a single topic, this weekend’s GK Nugget
will do a quick recap of the momentous events that unfolded across the globe on
its this year’s journey around the Sun.
January 2016:
Jan 16 – Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman
and nominee Tsai Ing-wen garnered 56.1% of the presidential vote thus becoming
the First Female President of Taiwan. She took office on May 20th.
Jan 28 – The World Health Organization announces an
outbreak of the Zika virus
Jan 30 - German Angelique Kerber upset defending champion
Serena Williams, to win her first Australian Open Women's Singles Championship.
Importantly, Kerber becomes the first German of any gender to win a Grand Slam
since Steffi Graf's last championship at the French Open in 1999.
February 2016:
Feb 7 – North Korea launches a long-range rocket into
space, violating multiple UN treaties and prompting condemnation from around
the world
March 2016:
Mar 15 – In a major step forward for Artificial
Intelligence, Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo computer program beat the leading GO
player Lee Sedol of South Korea 4-1.
Mar 22 – Three coordinated bombings in Brussels, Belgium
kill at least 32 and injure at least 250. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) and
the Levant claims responsibility for the attacks.
April 2016:
Apr 3 - "Panama Papers," referring to millions
of confidential documents, were leaked from a Panama-based law firm, Mossack
Fonseca. The Panama Papers reveal details of how some of the globe's richest
people funnel their assets into secretive shell companies set up in lightly
regulated jurisdictions.
May 2016:
May 19 – Egypt Air Flight 804 crashes with 66 people on
board over the Mediterranean Sea en route from Paris to Cairo.
June 2016:
Jun 1 – The Gotthard Base Tunnel (in Switzerland), the
world's longest and deepest railway tunnel (57.09 kms), is opened following two
decades of construction work. Full service began on 11th December
2016.
Jun 5 - Serbian Novak Djokovic wins the French Open
tennis tournament and becomes the first man to hold all four major grand slam
tennis titles at the same time since 1969.
Jun 23 – The United Kingdom votes in a referendum to leave
the European Union - BrExit
Jun 28 – ISIL claims responsibility for attacking Atatürk
Airport in Istanbul, killing 45 and injuring around 230.
July 2016:
Jul 6 – Augmented Reality game Pokémon GO released by Nintendo
which goes on to take the world’s
fancy. (My post about it - http://bit.ly/2a4kRLN)
Jul 10 – Portugal win the Euro 2016 football
championship.
Jul 15 - Turkey experiences an attempted coup by a group
of soldiers within the country's military which was not successful.
August 2016:
Aug 5 – The 31st Olympic games begin in Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil. (My post on some Olympic trivia - http://bit.ly/2b5A0PD)
Aug 31 – The Brazilian Senate voted to impeach the
President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff.
September 2016:
Sep 4 - Pope Francis canonizes Mother Teresa in Saint
Peter's Square, Vatican City, officially making her Saint Teresa.
Sep 9 –North Korea conducts its fifth and reportedly
biggest nuclear test. World leaders condemn the act.
October 2016:
Oct 1 – 15 - The 2016 winners of the Nobel Prize are announced
in Oslo, Norway and in Stockholm, Sweden. (My post on trivia about the Nobel
Prizes - http://bit.ly/2dC9rGL)
Oct 13 - Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej dies at the
age of 88 in Bangkok's Siriraj Hospital. He was the modern world's
longest-reigning living monarch.
Oct 24 - Tata Group fires its Chairman, Cyrus Mistry.
November 2016:
Nov 8 – USA votes in their 58th presidential
election with Republican Donald Trump emerging as President elect.
Nov 9 – Indian government bans ₨ 500 & ₨ 1,000
currency notes with immediate effect.
December 2016:
Dec 2 – Formula 1 race driver Nico Rosberg announces his
retirement from the sport, 5 days after winning his maiden Formula 1 World
championship.
Dec 4 – Italian PM Matteo Renzi resigns after Italian
voters reject his proposal to reform the Italian constitution.
Dec 4 – New Zealand PM John Keys resigns citing personal
reasons
Dec 9 - South Korean lawmakers to impeach President Park
Geun-hye, the country’s first female leader.
Any particular events that you thought were impactful and
which aren’t in my list?
While it’s been a very eventful 2016, here’s hoping that
2017 is a positive and lovely year for all.
Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas & a
Happy & Prosperous New Year.
