September 12 — This Day in History

 Question 1 — ₹1,000

In 2011, Novak Djokovic defeated which legendary tennis player to clinch his maiden U.S. Open men's singles title?

A) Roger Federer

B) Andy Murray

C) Rafael Nadal

D) Stan Wawrinka

Correct Answer: C) Rafael Nadal

Explanation: On September 12, 2011, Novak Djokovic defeated Rafael Nadal in four sets to win his first-ever U.S. Open championship.

Question 2 — ₹5,000

Which iconic, Academy Award-winning film score composer behind Gladiator, The Lion King, and Inception was born on September 12, 1957?

A) John Williams

B) Hans Zimmer

C) Ennio Morricone

D) Howard Shore

Correct Answer: B) Hans Zimmer

Explanation: German film score composer Hans Zimmer celebrates his birthday on September 12.

Question 3 — ₹10,000

Launched in 1977, which NASA spacecraft made history on September 12, 2013, by officially becoming the first man-made object to cross into interstellar space?

A) Pioneer 10

B) New Horizons

C) Voyager 1

D) Cassini

Correct Answer: C) Voyager 1

Explanation: Data confirmed that Voyager 1 had crossed the heliopause and entered interstellar space outside our solar system.

Question 4 — ₹20,000

The famous prehistoric cave paintings estimated to be 17,000 years old, discovered by teenagers on September 12, 1940, are known as the Caves of:

A) Altamira

B) Lascaux

C) Chauvet

D) Bhimbetka

Correct Answer: B) Lascaux

Explanation: The Lascaux cave complex, showcasing world-famous Upper Paleolithic cave art, was discovered in southwestern France.

Question 5 — ₹80,000

In a famous 1962 speech at Rice University, which U.S. President declared the goal to go to the Moon "not because they are easy, but because they are hard"?

A) Dwight D. Eisenhower

B) John F. Kennedy

C) Lyndon B. Johnson

D) Richard Nixon

Correct Answer: B) John F. Kennedy

Explanation: President John F. Kennedy delivered his landmark space speech at Rice University in Houston on September 12, 1962.

Question 6 — ₹1,60,000

Launched by the Soviet Union on September 12, 1959, which spacecraft became the first human-made probe to reach the surface of the Moon?

A) Sputnik 1

B) Vostok 1

C) Luna 2

D) Zond 5

Correct Answer: C) Luna 2

Explanation: Luna 2 successfully reached the lunar surface on September 14, 1959, after its launch on September 12, conducting the first impact on an extraterrestrial body.

Question 7 — ₹3,20,000

Steve Biko, who died in police custody on September 12, 1977, sparking worldwide outrage, was a renowned anti-apartheid activist and leader of which movement in South Africa?

A) African National Congress

B) Black Consciousness Movement

C) Pan Africanist Congress

D) Inkatha Freedom Party

Correct Answer: B) Black Consciousness Movement

Explanation: Steve Biko was a leading anti-apartheid activist and the spearhead of the grassroots Black Consciousness Movement in South Africa.

Question 8 — ₹6,40,000

In the 1958 landmark ruling Cooper v. Aaron, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected resistance by which state's officials against court-ordered school desegregation?

A) Alabama

B) Mississippi

C) Arkansas

D) Georgia

Correct Answer: C) Arkansas

Explanation: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arkansas state officials and legislature were bound by federal court desegregation orders following the Little Rock school integration crisis.

Question 9 — ₹25,00,000 (₹25 Lakh)

In September 1994, an intruder died after crashing a stolen single-engine Cessna airplane onto the South Lawn of which official residence?

A) Buckingham Palace

B) The White House

C) Élysée Palace

D) Rashtrapati Bhavan

Correct Answer: B) The White House

Explanation: On September 12, 1994, Frank Eugene Corder breached restricted airspace over Washington, D.C., crashing a light aircraft into the South Lawn of the White House.

Question 10 — ₹1 Crore

The American steamship S.S. Central America, which sank in an 1857 hurricane carrying 425 lives and tons of California Gold Rush treasure, was popularly known by what moniker?

A) The Gilded Leviathan

B) The Ocean Monarch

C) Ship of Gold

D) The Pacific Fortune

Correct Answer: C) Ship of Gold

Explanation: The sinking of the S.S. Central America, dubbed the "Ship of Gold," led to the Panic of 1857 due to the immense loss of commercial gold bullion destined for New York banks.