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Issue #384 - 24 June 2016
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^ WORD OF THE WEEK
mumchance |
Friday 24 June - Hannibal defeated the Romans at the Battle of Lake Trasimene, 217 BCE. Nobleman Robert de Vere, 6th Earl of Oxford, born, 1257. An outbreak of St John's Dance occurred in Aachen, Germany, 1374. Femme fatale Lucrezia Borgia died, 1519. English-American settler William Arnold born, 1587. Actor Tony Hancock died, 1968. All four engines on British Airways Flight 9 failed when it flew into a volcanic ash cloud; it managed to glide out of the cloud and permanently restart three of the engines, 1982. Cricketer Stuart Broad born, 1986. Archaeologist Mick Aston died, 2013. Bannockburn Day in Scotland. Saturday 25 June - Mary Tudor, Queen of France, died, 1533. Surgeon Wilhelm Fabry born, 1560. Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first woman to be awarded a doctorate of philosophy, from the University of Padua, 1678. Elizabeth Brontë, second child of Patrick Brontë, died aged (probably) 9, 1825. The Battle of the Little Big Horn in the Great Sioux War of 1876. Writer George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair) born, 1903. Musician Prince released his Purple Rain album, 1984. Racing driver Pietro Fittipaldi born, 1996. Actress Farrah Fawcett died, 2009. Sunday 26 June - Richard III became King of England, 1483. Explorer Francisco Pizarro died, 1541. Mineralogist Georg Brandt born, 1694. Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, co-inventor of the hot air balloon, died, 1810. The first Investiture of the Victoria Cross took place in London's Hyde Park, 1857. Actor Peter Lorre born, 1904. Elvis Presley performed his final concert, in Indianapolis, 1977. Singer-songwriter Ariana Grande born, 1993. Filmmaker and screenwriter Nora Ephron died, 2012. International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Monday 27 June - Historian John Hayward died, 1627. Scientist Louis-Guillaume Le Monnier born, 1717. George II became the last British monarch to participate in battle at the Battle of Dettingen, 1743. Mathematician Sophie Germain died, 1831. Caricaturist Kate Carew born, 1869. The Battleship Potemkin uprising, 1905. Actor Tobey Maguire born, 1975. U.S. Route 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System, 1985. Musician John Entwhistle died, 2002. Siebenschläfertag (Seven Sleepers Day) in Germany. Tuesday 28 June - Matilda of England, Duchess of Saxony, died, 1189. Coronation of Edward IV as King of England, 1461. Artist Peter Paul Rubens born, 1577. Adolphe Sax was granted a patent for the saxophone, 1846. Showman Charles Cruft, founder of Crufts Dog Show, born, 1852. Astronomer Maria Mitchell died, 1889. The Stonewall riots began in New York City, 1969. Engineer and businessman Elon Musk born, 1971. Actress Joan Sims died, 2001. Tau Day. Wednesday 29 June - Botanist and physician Rembert Dodoens born, 1517. Aztec ruler Moctezuma II died, 1520. Jacques Cartier became the first European to reach Prince Edward Island, 1534. Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning died, 1861. Australian gangster Joseph 'Squizzy' Taylor born, 1888. George Edward Gouraud recorded part of a perfomance of Handel's Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cyclinder, formerly held to be the oldest known musical recording, 1888. Singer Little Eva born, 1943. Steve Wozniak tested the first prototype of the Apple I computer, 1975. Actress Katharine Hepburn died, 2003. Veterans' Day in The Netherlands. Thursday 30 June - Roman ruler Nepotianus died, 350. Conquistadors under Hernán Cortés fought their way out of Tenochtitlan in la Noche Triste (The Night of Sorrows), 1520. Poet John Gay born, 1685. Pirate John Quelch hanged, 1704. The 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place, 1860. Archaeologist and psychical researcher Frederick Bligh Bond born, 1864. The Tunguska event occurred in a remote part of Siberia, 1908. Composer Tony Hatch born, 1939. Author Nancy Mitford died, 1973. Asteroid Day.
This week, Orson Welles:My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.
The Tunguska event, on 30 June 1908, was a massive explosion near the Stony Tunguska River in Siberia. Although it flattened 2,000 km2 (770 square miles) of forest, the area was so sparsely populated that there were no known human casualties. The event is considered to have been a mid-air explosion of a space object, though as there was no crater it has not been determined whether it was a meteor, comet or asteroid. Because the height of the explosion is unknown, its force can only be estimated, but early calculations put it at 10-15 megatons of TNT, around 1000 times that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb. More recent research, using a supercomputer to model the blast, reduce the force to 3-5 megatons of TNT, but take momentum into consideration, yielding more of the explosive force downwards. The shock wave, which knocked down an estimated 80 million trees, is thought equivalent to an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale, easily enough to destroy a large city had it not taken place in such a remote area.
A mixed bag of quotations. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were:
- - How do you feel?
- Taller.- Back, and to the left... back, and to the left... back, and to the left.
- People treat me like I'm the anti-Christ of television journalism.
- - Your country needs you.
- I'm Canadian.- I was in love once. He was a hunter, I was a gatherer. It was quite the scandal. We fed each other berries, we danced. Then father bashed him on the head and traded me to your grandfather.
- Now, I'm about to do to you what Limp Bizkit did to music in the late 90s.
-- Deadpool [2016]- - That girl will rain destruction down on you and your ship. She is an albatross, Captain.
- Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck, 'til some idiot killed it. Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint.
-- Serenity [2005]- It's not nice to throw people!
-- Frozen [2013]- - You don't believe me, do you?
- I believe even the most rational mind can play tricks in the dark.
-- The Woman in Black [2012]- It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends.
-- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [2001]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
SILENT BUT DEADLY... Guokr.com, a Chinese science website, has awarded a Pineapple Prize - named for the fruit considered by the Chinese to be so ugly that only the curious or brave would investigate its taste - to a fart detector. Li Jigong on Tianjin Uniersity created a system using particle filters and a mobile robot that "not only solves the mystery of who farted, but provides a way to locate the source of any odour through the complex dynamics of air." On a more serious level, it is hoped that the device could also locate gas leaks and, possibly, illegal drug caches.
LOOSE THE KRAKEN! Or at least, something that looks like it. Since the 18th century Nordic folklore has told of the Kraken, a massive sea monster similar in shape to an octopus, but with spikes on its suckers. John Wyndham took the name from a Tennyson sonnet to refer to aliens invading by taking over the seas in his 1950s novel The Kraken Wakes. In the Nordic folk tales the Kraken lived in the seas off Scandinavia, but if Youtuber wowforreel is to be believed it might have taken a southern vacation. He was using Google Earth and saw something rather strange in the seas near Deception Island, off Antarctica. It looks like a giant squid - and some measurements would put its visible portion at around 100 feet (30.48m), but it could conceivably be a squid, a section of calved ice, or possibly the source of the mysterious 'bloop' noise picked up on hydrophones several years ago. If you have Google Earth on your computer you can take a look for yourself.
LOOSE THE... DUCKIES! A rubber duck race was being held in the Gloucershire village or Bourton-on-the-water to raise money for a charity which delivers blood and equipment for free to the NHS last weekend until police arrived and shut it down citing an ancient by-law that prohibits the river Windrush being used for fundraising on a Sunday. Police had initially received a complaint about motorbikes parked on the village green, contrary to another by-law, but then warned the events organisers that they faced arrest if it was not stopped. One spectator commented that "It was like something out of the film Hot Fuzz. Surely the cops have got better things to do than stop a rubber duck race in the Cotswolds."
TOODLE-PIP, Y'ALL. Texan Lisa Alamia recently underwent surgery to correct an overbite, and woke up to find that her Texas drawl had been replaced by a crisp British accent, making her sound like Mary Poppins, played by Julie Andrews. 33-year-old Alamia is one of fewer than 100 people recorded in the last 100 years worldwide to suffer from foreign accent syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. Her friends and family are helping her adjust to her new accent, though she says that "My daughter laughs at the way I say 'tamales'. I used to be able to say like a real Hispanic girl. Now, I cannot."
AWWWW. Imgur user SomeoneTookMyUsernameToo wanted to declare their (probably his, but it's unspecified) love, but how do you show how eternal your love will be. Flowers wilt, summer days turn to winter, but one thing lasts forever. They created a note attached to an object. The note read "A rose is not a good symbol for love. Roses wilt. I will not give you a rose or even flowers. Our love is forever. So here is a Nokia Phone." The attached phone, a Nokia 3310, was one of the best-selling models of all time, including a then-revolutionary calculator, long SMS text messaging and chat, and four games, including Snake. It was also - at least according to Internet folklore - pretty much indestructible, indeed a Nokia 3310 is used as one of Finland's 'National Emojis', called The Unbreakable.
IN BRIEF: Grandmother sends message to Glasto-destined granddaughter of "I dint know you where going. make sure you've got your wellie enjoy Nan xx" but accidentally posts it to public Glastonbury Festival forum; met with universal love and good humour. Australian woman wakes up to find 5.2m (17') python stretched across her bedroom. Aberdeen, Scotland, convenience store owner so fed up with shoplifters he filmed them and posted the footage online; only problem - they're seagulls stealing packets of BBQ sauce-flavoured snacks. Teen who tried to prank her friends by jumping out at them during a slumber party while wearing a Barney the Dinosaur head realises too late that she cannot get it off; fire brigade called. Mother whose video of herself laughing while wearing a Chewbacca mask went viral presented with Chewbacca action figure by Hasbro - with her face on it. Man swept away and drowns while trying to take a selfie in the Ganga river, India; six others drown one after the other trying to rescue him. Washington State woman orders Italian salad in restaurant, finds rare near-perfectly-spherical purple pearl worth $592 (£400) in it. Avon and Somerset police respond to nighttime reports of woman's wailing at noted suicide spot on the Avon Gorge, use thermal imaging to discover that it's a feral goat.
Sarah Crossan wins 2016 Carnegie Medal children's book award for free-verse One about conjoined twins. Babou Ceesay, Wumni Mosaku to star in BBC drama Our Loved Boy about Damilola Taylor's death. Status Quo's Rick Parfitt being treated after heart attack. Grammy members to be allowed to nominate/vote for streaming-only music as well as CD or download formats. Songwriter Max Martin awarded Polar Music Prize. Rick Astley tops UK album chart again, after 29-year gap. Finding Nemo sequel Finding Dory gets most successful animated film launch in US box office history, taking $136.2m (£93.3m) on opening weekend. Lawyers for Jimmy Page, Robert Plant ask copyright trial judge to throw out case after claiming prosecution have failed to provide evidence of copying riff from Spirit song Taurus for Stairway to Heaven. No Man's Sky game creator settles legal challenge over name from broadcaster Sky. Music Week report finds that only 14% of UK public pay for music streaming services, and 42% of them still buy downloads or CDs. The Exeter Book, 11th Century anthology of poems and occasionally risqué riddles kept in Exeter Cathedral library granted Unesco status for its "outstanding significance" to British history, putting it on a par with the Magna Carta and Book of Kells. Unicode Consortium drops rifle emoji. Roger Daltry to be presented with 25th Music Industry Trusts Award to honour over-50-year career and charity work. Radiohead condemn attack on Istanbul music store. Meat Loaf collapses on stage, treated for severe dehydration. Liverpool's grass-roofed Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Stanbrook Abbey, Gloucester Motorway Services among buildings shortlisted for 2016 Royal Institute of British Architects National Awards. Larry Lamb to star in film version of Hatton Garden jewellery heist. Darth Vader to appear in Star Wars prequel film Rogue One. J.R.R. Tolkien-annotated map of Middle Earth goes on display at Bodleian Library - for a day. HBO cancels music business drama Vinyl after one season. Uma Thurman suffers broken bones after falling from horse on vacation. Robbie Williams rumoured to be rejoining Take That for comeback tour. Glastonbury Festival gets underway with 12-hour traffic queues and lots of mud. Absolutely Fabulous movie to reveal Joanaa Lumley's character Patsy as transsexual. Crown Prosecution Service drops sex-abuse case against Cliff Richard for lack of evidence.
Actor Anton Yelchin (Star Trek, 27), Member of Parliament Jo Cox (41), music manager Bill Ham (ZZ Top, 79), Notting Hill Carnival founder Sam King (90), Composer/conductor Harry Rabinowitz (Reilly, Ace of Spies, 100).
If you want to see the aftermath of the Tunguska event, this is the Astronomy Picture of the Day from 14 November 2007 showing fallen trees.- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap071114.html
^ DUMBLEDORE BEAR'S LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:4, 8, 20, 37, 39, 59[UK National Lottery, number range 1-59]
You can get your very own prediction at http://www.simonlamont.co.uk/tfir/dumbledore.htm.
Little Jennifer had been taken, somewhat unwillingly, to the Doctor's for a check-up. The doctor had examined her mouth and ears, checked her pulse, given her an injection, which had prompted a major pout, and was testing her coordination. "OK, Little Jennifer," he said, "raise your left hand above your head. Good. Now raise your right hand above your head. Very good. Now, can you stand on one foot?"
Little Jennifer smiled sweetly for the first time since arriving, walked over to the doctor and stood on his foot.
^ ...end of line