Current Affairs MCQs – Page 79 (Q781-790)

British Overseas Airways Corporation, commonly known as BOAC, operated the first scheduled commercial passenger jet service, using the de Havilland Comet aircraft beginning in 1952, flying between London and destinations including Johannesburg, South Africa. This pioneering jet service dramatically reduced flight times compared to earlier propeller-driven aircraft. Lufthansa, Pan American Airways and Air France are tempting distractors, as each was another major international airline that later developed its own significant jet passenger services, but generally after BOAC's pioneering Comet flights. BOAC's early jet service was later disrupted by the Comet's tragic structural failures, though the airline eventually recovered and continued to be a major carrier before later merging into British Airways.

Prontosil, introduced in the 1930s by German researchers at Bayer, is considered the first synthetic antibacterial drug to be widely used in medicine, discovered by scientist Gerhard Domagk, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1939 for this breakthrough. It proved effective against a range of dangerous bacterial infections, including deadly streptococcal infections, before the era of true antibiotics fully began. Penicillin, Streptomycin and Aspirin are tempting distractors, with Penicillin actually being an antibiotic derived from a natural mold rather than a synthetic compound, discovered slightly earlier but not widely used medically until the 1940s. Prontosil's success helped launch the broader field of sulfa drugs, an important early class of antibacterial medications.

The Great Pyramid of Giza, built in ancient Egypt around 2560 BC as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu, remained the tallest man-made structure in the world for thousands of years, a record unmatched until the completion of England's Lincoln Cathedral spire in the 14th century AD. It stands as the only surviving wonder among the traditional Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Colossus of Rhodes, The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and The Lighthouse of Alexandria are tempting distractors, as each was another celebrated ancient wonder, though none matched the Great Pyramid's extraordinary height and remarkable structural longevity. The precise engineering methods ancient Egyptians used to construct the pyramid without modern machinery remain a subject of ongoing archaeological study and debate.

A French expedition completed the first successful ascent of Annapurna in 1950, led by climbers Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, achieving the historic distinction of being the first team ever to summit any peak higher than 8,000 metres. The grueling climb came at an enormous physical cost, as both lead climbers suffered severe frostbite requiring the amputation of multiple fingers and toes. Swiss, British and Italian expeditions are tempting distractors, with a Swiss expedition later achieving the first successful ascent of Mount Everest's neighboring peak, and a British expedition famously achieving the first confirmed Everest summit itself in 1953. Annapurna remains widely regarded as one of the most dangerous of the world's eight-thousand-metre peaks to climb, with an unusually high fatality rate among climbers.

Chuck Yeager is officially credited as the first pilot to fly faster than the speed of sound, achieving the milestone in controlled flight aboard the Bell X-1 rocket-powered aircraft on October 14, 1947, a flight profile that included a brief dive before leveling off to record the historic supersonic speed. His achievement remains the widely recognized official record, even as some historians point to earlier unconfirmed and unofficial claims made by other test pilots. Scott Crossfield, George Welch and Neil Armstrong are tempting distractors, with Welch specifically alleged by some accounts to have exceeded the sound barrier in a steep dive just weeks before Yeager's officially documented flight, though this claim was never formally verified or recognized. Yeager's historic flight opened the door to the subsequent development of supersonic military and experimental aircraft.

Sputnik 5, launched by the Soviet Union in August 1960, became the first artificial satellite to carry living passengers, including the dogs Belka and Strelka, safely back to Earth after completing a full day in orbit, a crucial test paving the way for eventual human spaceflight. The successful mission demonstrated that living creatures could survive both the launch and safe reentry process. Discoverer 13, Sputnik 2 and Vostok 1 are tempting distractors, with Sputnik 2 having earlier carried the dog Laika into orbit in 1957, though Laika tragically died during that mission rather than surviving to return safely. Strelka, one of the successful canine passengers, later gave birth to puppies, one of which was famously gifted to US President John F. Kennedy's family.

The Penny Black, issued in Britain in May 1840, was the first adhesive postage stamp ever produced, featuring a profile portrait of the young Queen Victoria and priced at one penny, allowing senders to prepay for mail delivery for the first time in a simple, standardized way. Its introduction revolutionized postal systems worldwide, inspiring numerous other countries to adopt similar prepaid adhesive stamps. Penny Red, Three Penny Beaver and Two Penny Blue are tempting distractors, as each was another early British or Canadian postage stamp issued shortly after the pioneering Penny Black. The Penny Black remains one of the most historically significant and sought-after items among stamp collectors worldwide.

Britain issued the world's first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, in May 1840, pioneering the modern concept of prepaid postal service that has since been adopted by postal systems around the globe. The reform was championed by Rowland Hill, a British social and postal reformer, who argued that a simple, low, standardized postage rate would dramatically increase mail usage. Switzerland, France and United States are tempting distractors, as each later issued its own postage stamps, but generally following Britain's pioneering example by a few years. Britain remains the only country in the world that does not print its own name on its postage stamps, instead using the reigning monarch's silhouette as identification.

QWERTY, named after the first six letters appearing on its top row, is the first practical typewriter keyboard layout, developed in the 1870s by Christopher Latham Sholes and his collaborators, and remains the standard keyboard arrangement used on the vast majority of computers and devices worldwide today. The layout was reportedly designed partly to reduce mechanical jamming in early typewriters by separating commonly paired letter combinations. QWERTZ, AZERTY and DVORAK are tempting distractors, with QWERTZ and AZERTY being regional keyboard variations used in parts of Central Europe and France respectively, and DVORAK being a later, alternative layout designed for improved typing efficiency that never achieved widespread adoption. QWERTY's continued dominance today is largely attributed to established habit and market inertia rather than any inherent typing efficiency advantage.

Germany built the first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft used in combat during the Second World War, the Messerschmitt Me 262, which entered limited service in 1944, offering a significant speed advantage over Allied propeller-driven fighter planes. Despite this technological edge, the aircraft was introduced too late in the war and in too few numbers to meaningfully alter its eventual outcome. Britain, Italy and United States are tempting distractors, with Britain also developing its own early jet fighter, the Gloster Meteor, around the same period, though it saw more limited combat use. The Me 262's advanced design significantly influenced postwar jet fighter development across multiple nations after World War II ended.