Question - 631

Today's question is courtesy Divya. Stamp in honor of whom and what particular achievement of this person does the stamp honor?

Answer: Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss aka GOD. At the ripe age of 19, Gauss showed that the 17-agon aka heptadecagon is constuctible with a compass and straight edge. This proved fortuitous for mathematics as a whole since it convinced Gauss to become a mathematician at a time when he was wavering between philology and math. He liked this result so much that he asked that a heptadecagon be inscribed in his tombstone. The mason declined since it would essentially look like a circle. Raghu, Siddarth Pai, giantamoeba, Saket, Iam, Kapinjal Chowdhury, Matti, Krithi, RJD and Rajeev got it. Well done.

Question - 232

The biplane shown in the picture was the type of plane chosen to carry the very first air mails in the U.S. Something designed to commemorate this selection is now extremely precious and famous. What?

Answer: This is the Curtis Jenny biplane that was the plane of choice for the first air mails. To commemorate the event, the airmail stamps were supposed to carry the picture of the plane. However, the plane was printed upside down in the stamps as a mistake. The mistake was rectified very soon and there are very few "Inverted Jenny"s in existence making them among the rarest and most priced stamps. and are now valued at nearly a million dollars. Srivats, Iam, Shweta, Avi and Swapnaa got it. Well done.