June 27, 2010, marks the 71st birth anniversary of the legendary RD Burman. He composed his first song at the age of nine. Which was it?

A popular Burmese dish that particularly appeals to Westerners, this is a mild curry with lots of gravy. It is ladled over a bowl of egg noodles and served with a number of accompaniments with contrasting flavours.

Tannin is the bitter sensation associated with red wines only. If the wine leaves a sensation of lack of saliva in the mouth, it’s called dry wine. Whites are generally drier than reds. Wines are described as full-bodied if they have a lot of complexity of aromas and flavours and a robust structure, which help them to age gracefully.

Disney is actually a changed version of the family's original name, which was D’Isigny. It is of French origin. D'Isigny means from Isigny, which is a small village near Bayeaux, in Normandy.

Jackson Pollock’s Number 5, 1948, is the most expensive painting ever sold. It went for $140 million in 2002, again at a Sotheby’s auction.

Rahul Dev Burman composed his first song, 'Aye meri topi palat ke aa', at the age of nine. His father, the legendary SD Burman, used the song in the film Funtoosh released in 1956. 'Sar jo tera chakraaye' in Guru Dutt's classic Pyaasa was also composed by Pancham as a child. RD Burman played the mouth organ as a child in another famous song, ‘Hai apna dil toh awara’ in the film Solva Saal.

Rudra, a Singaporean band which was formed in 1992, played a style of black metal-influenced death metal with interpolations and extended passages of traditional Carnatic music. They also incorporated Hindu shlokas and Vedic literature in their songs.

Paulo Coelho was born in Brazil. He attended a Jesuit school and as a teenager expressed his desire to become a writer. But on his parents’ insistence he enrolled in law school. A year later, he dropped out and lived life as a hippie, travelling through South America, North Africa, Mexico, and Europe and becoming immersed in the drug culture of the 1960s. He later returned to Brazil and fulfilled his dream of becoming a writer.

Lakme Fashion Week was organised for the first time in New Delhi to showcase men and women’s wear designer collections from August 17-23, 2000. Thirty-three leading Indian designers from eight cities across the country presented their prêt-a-porter lines through 24 fashion shows over seven days to over 15,000 visitors.

In December 2009, Shakira appeared as herself in the Ugly Betty episode titled ‘The Bahamas Triangle’.

Apple's first tablet computer was the Newton MessagePad 100, introduced in 1993. Apple also developed a prototype PowerBook Duo-based tablet, the PenLite, but in order to avoid hurting MessagePad, its sales team did not sell it.