254. Born into the house of Born....

Her mother, Irene, was the eldest child of Max Born, the German physicist and Nobel Prize winner. Her father, Brinley was an MI5 officer and took Rudolph Hess into custody during World War II. She hit the limelight with the film adaptation of a Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey broadway musical about the way rock and roll changed American sexuality and culture.

Identify.

253. Rules of the Game?

Pedro Damiano was a Portuguese chess player who lived from 1480 to 1544. A native of Odemira, he was a pharmacist by profession. He wrote Questo libro e da imparare giocare a scachi et de li partiti, one of the well know treatises on chess. Damiano describes the rules of the game, offers advice on strategy, presents a selection of chess problems, and analyzes a few openings. It is the oldest book that definitely states that the square on the right of the row closest to each player must be white. He also offers advice regarding blindfold chess principally focused on the need to master notation based on numbering the squares 1-64.

In this book Damiano suggested chess was invented by ______ which explains the Portuguese and Spanish words for chess.

As per Damiano who invented chess?

252. Follow my white plume!

This English word carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage.

The literal meaning of the word is a plume, such as is worn on a hat or a helmet, but the reference is to King Henri IV of France. Pleasure-loving and cynical, but a brave military leader, who is the best-loved of the kings of France, he was famed for wearing a striking white plume in his helmet, and for his war-cry "Follow my white plume!" (Fr. "Ralliez-vous à mon _____ blanc").

Edmond Rostand's depiction of Cyrano de Bergerac, in his play of the same name is responsible for its establishment as a virtue. (Prior to Rostand, the word was not necessarily a good thing, and was seen by some as a suspect quality).

Which word?

251. Incognito?

Her father was a political activist, a founding member of a group called EROS and had to spend most of his time underground. Her debut album is named after a pseudonym her father adopted and her second is named after her mother.

Simple. Identify.

250. Celebrating with Fruit Pies

March 14 is the birthday of Albert Einstein and Waclaw Sierpinski. Every year the day is celebrated widely across the world as tribute to something else.

It was first celebrated at the San Francisco Exploratorium in 1988, with staff and public marching around one of its circular spaces, and then consuming fruit pies.

What is the celebration for?