The Best Way to Observe a Fish is to Become a Fish

Here are the answers to today’s questions.

Today’s first question is the only one connected to the date 11 June. The others continue a theme created in the first.

One

Born in 1910, this French author, explorer, inventor, diver, and biologist was awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, for espionage work while a member of the French resistance during World War II. Who is this?

Answer: Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques Cousteau (1910–1997) was a French naval officer, ocean explorer, filmmaker and co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung, which revolutionised scuba diving. A World War II resistance member and decorated naval officer, he pioneered underwater research, photography, and filmmaking. Using his research vessel Calypso (pictured), he led expeditions worldwide and helped popularise ocean exploration through books, documentaries and television. Cousteau also directed Monaco’s Oceanographic Museum, developed underwater habitats, and founded organisations dedicated to marine conservation and environmental protection.

Two

This actor, who links Hamlet and Ealing comedies with adaptations of John Le Carré’s novels and Star Wars, commanded a World War II landing craft during the invasions of Sicily and Elba. Who is he?

Answer: Alec Guinness.

Sir Alec Guinness, born Alec Guinness de Cuffe, was a renowned English actor, noted for his roles in nine of the BFI’s 100 most important British films. He won numerous awards, including an Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Tony, and Volpi Cup. Knighted in 1959, he starred in films like Great Expectations, Lawrence of Arabia, and was Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars trilogy. Guinness also excelled in theatre and television, notably as George Smiley in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Smiley’s People.

Three

This actress, who played Delilah in 1949’s Samson and Delilah, was the co-inventor of a 1941 torpedo radio guidance system which utilised pioneering spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to prevent jamming. Who was she?

Answer: Hedy Lamarr.

Hedy Lamarr, an Austrian-American actress and inventor, co-invented a radio guidance system during World War II with composer George Antheil. Their invention utilised spread spectrum and frequency hopping technology to protect Allied torpedoes from Axis jamming. Lamarr received numerous awards for her contributions to spread-spectrum technology, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Award, the BULBIE Gnass Spirit of Achievement Award, and the Viktor Kaplan Medal. Its principles are utilised for secure wireless networking, such as Bluetooth and early versions of Wi-Fi, which use variants of spread spectrum to protect data from interception and interference. She was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Four

This actor, who worked in Royal Air Force Intelligence during World War II, links all of these: Count Dracula; a 1970s Bond villain; baddies in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit; a High Councillor in The Golden Compass and the voice of Death in animated versions from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. Who is he?

Answer: Christopher Lee.

He was renowned for his portrayal of Count Dracula in Hammer Horror films, starting with Dracula (1958). He also starred as Bond villain Francisco Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Count Dooku in the Star Warsprequel trilogy (2002–2005), and Saruman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies (2001–2003 and 2012–2014, respectively). Lee voiced the character Death in two animated fantasy-comedy television series adaptations of the Discworld novels Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters (both 1997).

Five

An actor who flew US Liberator bombers over Europe during World War II had a starring role in 1939 in which he ‘went to Washington’. The following year, a ‘tale about Philadelphia’ won him a Best Actor Oscar. Who was this actor and pilot whose time in the Air Force and Air Force Reserve spanned 1941 to 1968?

Answer: James Stewart.

The two films referenced in the question are Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and The Philadelphia Story (1940). James Stewart, initially rejected for being underweight, enlisted in 1941 after gaining weight. An experienced pilot, he served in the Air Corps, becoming a second lieutenant in 1942. His celebrity aided recruitment, leading to 150,000 new troops. Volunteering for combat, he flew a B-24 Liberator in Europe, earning promotions to Major in 1944 and Colonel in 1945. Stewart received the Distinguished Flying Cross, French Croix de Guerre, and Air Medal. He served in the Air Force Reserve until 1968, retiring as a brigadier general.