THE BIG QUESTIONS
In terms of the Oscars, who is the most successful Supporting Actor awards? – F
That is Walter Brennan, a character actor best known for his work in Westerns alongside stars such as John Wayne and Henry Ford in the 1940s and ’50s before moving into television.
He won three Best Supporting Actor Oscars, for Come And Get It (1936), Kentucky (1938) and The Westerner (1940). He was also nominated for Sgt York.
Is it true that there are parts of Mars named after Scottish towns and villages? – G
There certainly are, and it’s because Nasa has divided the surface into quadrants for its Curiosity Rover to explore.
One, Loch Torridon, is named after the area of the Western Highlands where some of the oldest rocks on
Earth – more than two billion years old – are found.
Features in the area have all been given names connected to Scotland, such as Oban, Stonehaven and Arran. Siccar Point is named after the spot
south of Dunbar where geologist James Hutton (1726-97) devised his
theory of deep geological time.
A discussion about the world’s largest employer came up with the answer the Chinese Army. Is that correct? – E
No, it’s the US Department Of Defense, which includes the armed forces, with three million employees.
The People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese armed forces, comes second, with around 2.3 million.
McDonald’s employ 1.9 million people, but the largest private company is Walmart, with a workforce of 2.2 million.