23 Feb, 2016: Day 70

Question 1:
What was Robert Brown looking at through a microscope when he found evidence of the 1827 scientific concept named in his honor? Answer: grains.

Google was being fairly difficult on this question, knowing that observing pollen through a microscope could mean looking at grains or spores. The concept that he witnessed is known as Brownian motion. When looking for the answer it's better to head to Wikipedia to see the biography of Robert Brown. Pay close attention to the Brownian motion portion.

Question 2:
Who, along with his wife, gave Harper Lee the gift of a year's wages so that she could quit her job "to write whatever you please"? Answer: Michael Brown.

Please see Day 51 for the explanation..

Question 3:
Who presented Tonga's royal family with the animal that, when he died, was believed to be one of the longest-living animals on record? Answer: Captain James Cook.

Please see Day 7 for the explanation.

4 Feb, 2016: Day 51

Question 1:
Who, along with his wife, gave Harper Lee the gift of a year's wages so that she could quit her job "to write whatever you please"? Answer: Michael Brown.

Take the quote "to write whatever you please" and use it as your search query. If we all had friends as nice as they.

Question 2:
In what Broadway musical did the wife of the star of "Ferris Bueller" have the lead role for one year, beginning in 1979? Answer: Annie.

Assuming you are a fan of Sex in the City or of Ferris Bueller then you would know that the star, Matthew Broderick, is married to Sarah Jessica Parker. From there it's just sarah jessica parker broadway 1979 to find out that she played the spunky ginger girl in the musical.

Question 3:
What is the binomial name of the tiny mammal of the family Craseonycteridae, genus Craseonycteris and species C. thonglongyai that is "hog-nosed"? Answer: Craseonycteris thonglongyai.

A quick cheat: it will work most of the time with taxonomic nomenclature. If you have the genus you usually have the first part of the binomial name. But let's look it up if you didn't know that: family Craseonycteridae genus Craseonycteris species C. thonglongyai and you will come across the Kitti's hog-nosed bat, a.k.a. the bumblebee bat.