What number when divided in half becomes zero?

John was driving a bus and got stuck when passing through an underpass. Then came Jacob with a needle and got the bus out of the underpass.

What did the boy do?

If an earthquake is 1 point higher on the Richter Scale than another earthquake which is actually 10 times stronger, how much stronger would an earthquake be if it was just half a point higher on the Richter scale?

John was born on March 5, 1970, in Delhi, India. Jacob was born 25 days before John. The year when they took birth, Republic Day fell on Monday.

Can you find out on what day was Jacob born?

Mr Black, Mr Gray, and Mr White are fighting in a truel. They each get a gun and take turns shooting at each other until only one person is left. Mr Black, who hits his shot 1/3 of the time, gets to shoot first. Mr Gray, who hits his shot 2/3 of the time, gets to shoot next, assuming he is still alive. Mr White, who hits his shot all the time, shoots next, assuming he is also alive. The cycle repeats. If you are Mr Black, where should you shoot first for the highest chance of survival?

I am thinking of a five-digit number such that:
The first and last digits are the same, their submission is an even number and multiplication is an odd number and is equal to the fourth number. Subtract five from it and we obtain the second number. Then divide into exact halves and we get the 3rd number.

What number I am thinking of?

John is found dead in a bare field. Nobody killed John,
John did not commit suicide.

Inspector Jacob found a bag just a few meters away from John which could save his life. What was in the bag?

At the local model boat club, four friends were talking about their boats.

There were a total of eight boats, two in each colour, red, green, blue and yellow. Each friend owned two boats. No friend had two boats of the same colour.

Alan didn't have a yellow boat. Brian didn't have a red boat but did have a green one. One of the friends had a yellow boat and a blue boat and another friend had a green boat and a blue boat. Charles had a yellow boat. Darren had a blue boat, but didn't have a green one.

Can you work out which friend had which coloured boats?

In the addition below, all digits have been replaced by letters. Equal letters represent equal digits and different letters represent different digits.
ABCABA
BBDCAA
ABEABB
ABDBAA
------- +
AAFGBDH
What does the complete addition look like in digits?

What can go up a chimney down, but can’t go down a chimney up?