A Conversation for The Quite Interesting Society

QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 1

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

What quite interesting fact links these people and object:


1) Antoine Laumet, born 1658. Son of a lawyer; educated by Jesuits; enlisted as a cadet in 1675 age 17 but fled France 8 years later.


2) Chief Obwandiyag of the Ottowa Indians, born 1712.


3) Son of a Swiss watchmaker, born in 1878. Worked as a mechanic in Paris in 1898 and as a Chauffeur in Montreal in 1900.


4) A U.S Army Technical Manual [TM-9803]


Google and Wikipedia are forbidden.

Klaxons, as usual so be bold, preferably interesting, never obvious.



QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 2

Malabarista - now with added pony

Let's see, are they all missing an eye, or in the case of the manual, an i? smiley - silly

Only son of a Swiss watchmaker (or rather, a dial painter for Swiss watches) I know is the architect Le Corbusier, but he was born in 1887, not 78. I think. smiley - silly


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 3

HonestIago

Anything to do with levees?


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 4

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Good guesses both but it's nothing to do with Levees or a missing eye.

Le Corbusier is a good guess but it's not him.


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 5

KB

Let's take the train to Klaxonville.

Is it anything to do with a Chevrolet? They make the machinery the manual is for, the Swiss watchmaker's son founded or drove one...Antoine and Chief Obwandiyag fought someone of that name?

Nah, clutching at straws.


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 6

Taff Agent of kaos


they are all ancestors of buddy holly

smiley - bat


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 7

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Buddy Holly smiley - bluelight

Nothing to do with the question - but it's an apocryphal story about American Pie that Don Mclean has refuted many times (that the plane that crashed killing Buddy Holly was called American Pie)

So it gets klaxoned for that reason. Sorry Taff.


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 8

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

an on the end of the straw - a beverage of your choice. smiley - pggb

Louis Chevrolet was indeed the son of the Swiss watchmaker.

Correct +3


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 9

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

No nibbles tonight?


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 10

HonestIago

Was Chief Obwandiyag an Apache?

Is the connection weapons of war?

Chevrolet jeeps, Apache helicopters, Laumet changed his name once he fled to Submarine, TM-9803 is the code for a tank or a plane?


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 11

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

In order:


1) No he was an Ottawa on of a group of tribes who formed the Anishinaabe.

2) No.

3) Laumet changed his name DGI +1

smiley - ok


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 12

McKay The Disorganised

No he was an Ottawa on of a group of tribes who formed the Anishinaabe.

Given the Cadillac mention - I'm guessing this is real name of the Pontiac Indians.

smiley - cider


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 13

HonestIago

Did Laumet change his name to Vauxhall?

Just wondering if there's a car connection


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 14

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

You mean Chevrolet. smiley - winkeye

Yes, he was known locally as Chief Pontiac.


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 15

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Laumet did change his name but he did a lot more than that.

DGI +1


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 16

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Mckay DGI +1


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 17

HonestIago

You've already given me a DGI for the name change - not that I'll refuse the extra point smiley - tongueout


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 18

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Far too honest. smiley - tongueout


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 19

Clive the flying ostrich: Amateur Polymath | Chief Heretic.

Any advances on the relevance of the technical manual?


QI - Bye-bye, Miss American Pie

Post 20

gandalfstwin OGGMSTKMBGSUIKWIATA

Anything to do with (Thoughts...Chevrolet...Pontiac)

US Army Tech Manual........


Was this the Tank that the US Army were supposed to land at Normandy to assist with the Invasion. I believe that none of the 'Floating Tanks' made it to shore, so the Tech Manual was useless.


smiley - wizard
GT


Key: Complain about this post

Write an Entry

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."

Write an entry
Read more