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Issue #404 - 25 November 2016
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^ WORD OF THE WEEK
clattersome |
Friday 25 November - Vikings sailed up the Seine to lay seige to Paris, 885. Italian admiral Andrea Doria died, 1560. Catherine of Braganza, wife of King Charles II of England, born, 1638. The last British troops left New York three months after the signing of the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, 1783. Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie born, 1835. Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap opened in London (and is still running), 1952. Writer Upton Sinclair died, 1968. Actress Christina Applegate born, 1971. Soccer player George Best died, 2005. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Saturday 26 November - Scientist Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan born, 1678. Librarian & classicist John Hudson died, 1719. Captain James Cook became the first European to set foot on Maui, 1778. Bill W., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, born, 1895. The National Hockey League was founded, 1917. Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz born, 1922. Weapons designer John Browning died, 1926. Concorde made its final flight, landing at Filton, Bristol, 2003. Nobel Prize laureate surgeon Joseph Murray died, 2012. Sunday 27 November - Poet Horace died, 8 BCE. Physicist Anders Celsius born, 1701. The first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703. Computer scientist & mathematician Ada Lovelace died, 1852. Artist Frank Dicksee born, 1853. Richard Strauss' Also sprach Zarathustra premiered, 1896. An explosion at the RAF Fauld ammunition dump killed 70 people, 1944. Comedian Arthur Smith born, 1954. Writer P.D. James died, 2014. Native American Heritage Day in the USA. Monday 28 November - William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway paid a £40 bond for their marriage license, 1582. Composer Jean-Baptiste Lully born, 1632. Sculptor Gian Bernini died, 1680. New Zealand became the first country to extend full suffrage to women in a national election, 1893. Abolitionist Moses Dickson died, 1901. Writer Nancy Mitford born, 1904. Jocelyn Bell Burnell & Antony Hewish discovered the first pulsar, 1967. Actress Karen Gillan born, 1987. Actor Leslie Nielsen died, 2010. Tuesday 29 November - Thomas Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom, died, 1530. 133 Africans were thrown overboard by the crew of the slave ship Zong to claim on insurance, 1781. Composer Gaetano Donizetti born, 1797. Thomas Edison gave the first demonstration of his phonograph, 1877. Writer C.S. Lewis born, 1898. Dixieland musician Dink Johnson died, 1954. Atari released Pong, 1972. Soccer player Ryan Giggs born, 1972. Actress Natalie Wood died, 1981. Wednesday 30 November - King of England Edmund Ironside died, possibly murdered, 1016. Architect Andrea Palladio born, 1508. The Grand Duchy of Tuscany became the first modern nation state to abolish the death penalty, 1786. Writer Mark Twain born, 1835. England and Scotland played the first ever international soccer match in Glasgow; it was a no-score draw, 1872. Writer Oscar Wilde died, 1900. Michael Jackson's album Thriller was released, 1982. Actress Kaley Cuoco born, 1985. Motorcycle stunt rider Evel Knievel died, 2007. Thursday 1 December - King Henry V of England entered Paris, 1420. Sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti died, 1455. Marie Tussaud, founder of the eponymous wax museum, born, 1761. Russian military leader and politician Georgy Zhukov born, 1896. Nancy Astor became the first female Member of Parliament (having been elected on November 28) to take her seat in the House of Commons, 1919. Filmmaker Woody Allen born, 1935. Occultist Aleister Crowley died, 1947. Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man and was arrested, 1955. Writer Rocky Wood died, 2014. World AIDS Day.
This week, Oscar Wilde:A true gentleman is one who is never unintentionally rude.
The Taser, a personal defence weapon used by police to subdue violent criminals with an electric charge, was invented by NASA researcher Jack Cover, who named the device after the hero of a favourite 1911 book he read as a child, who had created a lightning bolt-shooting gun. The word 'taser' stands for Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle.
A fishy bag of quotations. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were:
- Knock it off, Hugo. She's a girl, not a mackerel.
- You know, an aquarium is a submarine for fish.
- Steamed whole cod, bite-size meatballs, a little starchy but keep the sauce light, shark fin soup, mixed vegetables and some warm wine.
- - It's a member of the herring family.
- A herring? Isn't it amazing how they get those big fish into those little glass jars?- Flounder, don't be such a guppy.
- On behalf the people of Earth, happy Fourth of July.
-- Independence Day: Resurgence [2016]- - I bet you like to be in control...
- Yes, like when I was 17, my sister wanted to loan my Def Leppard. I said "No way!"
-- Wayne's World 2 [1993]- When there is kindness, there is goodness. When there is goodness, there is magic.
-- Cinderella [2015]- I'm a werewolf, not a Golden Retriever.
-- The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones [2013]- Naughty little fly, Why does it cry, Caught in a web, Soon to be... eaten!
-- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [2003]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
HOT DOG! A 2-year-old dachshund from Belfast called Harley ('Harlso') is becoming an Internet star after his owners Jennifer Scott and Paul Lavery started posting pictures of him balancing various things on his head. "He just has the flattest head. He can't do normal tricks, sit or anything. Balancing things on his head is the only thing he can do. [..] some people message saying that he looks sad, but that's just his face! It's how they look! He loves it," Lavery told reporters. After Scott created an Instagram account with a picture of Harlso's balancing trick his fame started to take off - he had 100 followers after a couple of days and it snowballed from there. When he is not balancing things - which so far have included a full shot glass, a TV remote, a toy spider, a decorative pumpkin and a ball - he is - so Scott and Lavery say - naughty most of the time...
OCH AYE! At the last general election the Scottish National Party (SNP) gained a record 56 seats - up from 6 before the election - in the UK Parliamentary House of Commons to become the third biggest party there. There were many predictions of what would happen next - would they side with the opposition to try to block the government, and so on, but one effect of their presence has only just come to light. Sales of the fizzy soft drink Irn Bru ("made in Scotland from girders", so the ad jingle goes) in Parliament have risen 60% in the last year, to 8,708 cans or bottles, with sales of another 8,500 forecast before the end of the financial year next April. SNP MP Patrick Grady commented that "famously Scotland is the only country where Coca-Cola is not the biggest selling soft drink" and that the Irn Bru gave his fellow politicians "sustenance" to get through the long days in the Commons, which often extend into the evening.
GREAT BALL OF FIRE! Kepler 11145123 is a star in the constellation Cygnus, and according to research published in the journal Science Advances it is the roundest object ever measured in nature. Most stars and planets - including the Sun and Earth - are obloid (flattened spheres) because of their rotation speed, but the difference between the radius to the equator and to the poles of Kepler 11145123 is just 3km (19 miles). The star is more than twice the size of the Sun, with a mean radius of 1.5m km (0.9m miles), and rotates faster at its surface than at its core, which is one of the factors in its shape, although the researchers suggest that its slow overall rotation and a weak magnetic field also play a part.
BACK DOWN TO EARTH... Scientists at the Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark have been studying a 300+-year-old lump of faeces, discovered in a broken bottle retrieved from a latrine excavated in 1937 to make way for a town square in Aalborg. Based on the recorded location where it was found, and the fact that it contains various seeds, nuts and berries, they believe that it was probably produced by Bishop Jens Bircherod, who lived in the diocesal palace that was situated on the site between 1694 and 1708. The standard diet for most people in the area at the time was gruel, pork, beef and cabbage, but the faeces contained buckwheat, which would have been brought in from an island 200km (125 miles) away, suggesting an upper class diet. Other items retrieved in the dig included Delft tableware imported from Holland. The purpose of the study was reported as being to "investigate the movement of people into Danish cities from the 15th to 17th centuries" - and one particular movement of the Bishop, it seems...
BOOM! Scientists who took core samples from the Chicxulub Crater, situated on the nothern edge of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, have now been able to describe its creation by the asteroid that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. As the 15km (9.3 mile)-wide stony asteroid struck the Earth it punched a hole some 30km (18.6 miles) deep and between 80 and 100km (50-62 miles) wide. The rock, essentially acting as a liquid, started to collapse inwards, but the middle of the crater rebounded, momentarily lifting higher than the Himalayas before falling back to leave an inner ring - all in the space of a few minutes. The finer particles from debris thrown into the air would have been swept around the globe, as with the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, cooling temperatures for months, if not years, causing many species - including the dinosaurs - to become extinct.
IN BRIEF: Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia, celebrating the first successful birth of baby echidnas in almost 30 years. Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza, Mexico, found to contain at least two smaller nested pyramids. Architects propose building mile-high (1.62km) - and hopefully earthquake-proof - skyscraper in Tokyo. Street beside Mineta San Jose International Airport in California left resembling giant bubble bath after fire alarm malfunction caused massive discharge of fire-retardent foam several feet thick. Amherst, MA, student tried to get into a bar by showing a slice of pizza instead of ID. NASA study says the mysterious bright spot on dwarf planet Ceres is salt; an asteroid impact exposed subsurface water which evaporated immediately leaving behind the salt deposit. Budget hotel chain Travelodge reveal some of the more unusual requests they have received, including a man who wanted to be woken by bagpipes and another who wanted a unicorn to present his girlfriend with an engagement ring. Dodo skeleton up for auction next week - estimated in excess of £500,000 ($623,400). World's largest Christmas maze opening in Vancouver, Canada. World's shortest couple, combined height of 71.4" (1.8m) marry. NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, already the first woman to command the International Space Station (ISS) and the record holder for the longest time spent in space by a woman is now also the oldest woman to be in space, having arrived on the ISS for her third mission there this week. iPhone recovered after spending a year at the bottom of a lake still works. Meteor fireball filmed over Florida.
Adele sparks pregnancy rumours during final show of 'Live' tour. Arthur Darville hints at final series of Broadchurch returning to its roots after lukewarm reception to second series. BBC renew Call the Midwife for three more series including Christmas specials. Overwatch, Pokémon Go, Dark Souls win Golden Joystick awards; Lara Croft inducted into Golden Joystick Awards Hall of Fame on 20th anniversary of Tomb Raider. Hepworth Prize for Sculpture winner Helen Marter to split award money with fellow nominees. Olly Murs tops UK album chart ahead of Emeli Sande; Clean Bandit ft Anne Marie and Sean Paul top UK singles chart ahead of James Arthur. First Children in Need telethon since 35-year host Sir Terry Wogan died raises record £46.6m ($58.1m) on the night. Letter written by John Lennon to Paul McCartney after Beatles split auctions for just under $30,000 (£24,200). Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them gets biggest UK box office opening record for 2016 so far, taking £15.3m ($19.1m); also tops North American box office chart ahead of Doctor Strange, but has smaller US box office opening than any of the main Harry Potter films. 2017 Independent Spirit award nominations led by American Honey and Moonlight with six each. Kanye West ends gig after three songs and 25-minute rant, cancels rest of tour, hospitalised with exhaustion. Making a Murderer subject Brendan Dassey's release blocked by court over technicality following Department of Justice appeal. Royal Shakespeare Company preparing mixed reality production of The Tempest with live motion-captured Ariel. Spice Girls GEM (Geri, Emma, Mel B) track leaks ahead of reunion; fans mostly unimpressed. C.S. Lewis Square opens in Belfast. Original Tintin plate from 1954 Explorers on the Moon story auctions for €1.55m (£1.33m; $1.64m). Dress worn by Marilyn Monroe to sing Happy Birthday to John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden auctions for $4.8m (£3.9m). T in the Park festival to take year off in 2017. Stage adaptation of Emma Donoghue's novel Room to open in London next year. Elton John "categorically denies" that he will play at US Presidential inauguration following tweet from Trump's transition team member. Kathleen Turner performing one-woman show based on bestselling book The Year of Magical Thinking. The Grand Tour debuts to mixed reviews as a number of Clarkson jokes fall flat with foreign audience. OK Go release probably the best music video of the year for The One Moment.
Drummer Craig Gill (Inspiral Carpets, 44), stuntman Steve Truglia (The Wolfman, 54), visual effects technician Ron Thornton (Babylon 5, Spaceballs, 59), retro-soul singer Sharon Jones (The Dap-Kings, 60), production designer Paul Sylbert (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, 88), writer William Trevor (Love and Summer, 88), former child actor Jerry Tucker (Our Gang, 91), Willie Rogers (oldest remaining original Tuskegee Airman, 101).
There are lots of incredible places in the world, some of which we have mentioned in previous WotWs, and many have also been collated by Atlas Obscura. Now they have produced an interactive world map of them. You might be here a while...- http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/for-the-first-time-we-put-all-10000-places-in-the-atlas-on-one-map
^ DUMBLEDORE BEAR'S LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:9, 13, 23, 27, 28, 57[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's class were learning about wildlife. "So, class, who can tell me what this is," their teacher asked, holding up a picture. All the children raised their hands. "Yes, Little Emily?"
"It's a snake, Miss."
"Very good. Did you know that some snakes, called anacondas, can grow up to seventeen feet?" Little Jennifer's hand shot up.
"Snakes don't have feet, Miss!"
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