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Issue #434 - 14th July 2017
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| Contents | — – o o O o o – — |
^ WORD OF THE WEEK
legerdemain |
Friday 14th July - Murakami, emperor of Japan, born, 926. Philosopher Charles Batteux died, 1780. Parisians stormed the Bastille during the French Revolution, 1789. Artist Gustav Klimt born, 1862. Edward Whymper made the first successful ascent of the Matterhorn, 1865. Criminal Billy the Kid shot dead by Pat Garrett, 1881. Writer Leon Garfield born, 1921. Jane Goodall arrived at the Gombe Stream Reserve to begin studying wild chimpanzees, 1960. Hospice founder Cicely Saunders died, 2005. Bastille Day in France. Saturday 15th July - The Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome was dedicated, 484 BCE. Mathematician Abū al-Wafā' Būzjāmī died, 998. Artist Rembrandt van Rijn born, 1606. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt, 1799. Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst born, 1858. Playwright Anton Chekhov died, 1904. Pacific Aero Products, now named Boeing, was incorporated, 1916. Actress Celia Imrie born, 1952. Neuroscientist Edward Perl died, 2014. Social Media Giving Day (online). Sunday 16th July - Explorer Joao de Nova died, 1509. The Swedish bank Stockholms Banco issued the first banknotes in Europe. 1661. Artist Joshua Reynolds born, 1723. David Farragut became the first United States Navy officer to hold an admiral rank, 1862. Baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson born, 1887. Writer Hillaire Belloc died, 1953. The Mont Blanc Tunnel between France and Italy opened, 1965. Nobel laureate writer Heinrich Böll died, 1985. Soccer player Gareth Bale born, 1989. Holocaust Memorial Day in France. Monday 17th July - Adventurer Robert Guiscard died, 1085. The Battle of Castillon, the last battle of the Hundred Years' War, 1453. Mathematician Pierre Maupertuis born, 1698. Handel's Water Music premiered before King George I of England on a barge in the Thames, 1717. Charlotte Corday, assassin of Jean-Paul Marat, guillotined, 1793. Artist Paul Delaroche born, 1797. Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, 1955. Cartoonist Scott Johnson born, 1969. Journalist Walter Cronkite died, 2009. World Emoji Day 📆 (Unofficial). Tuesday 18th July - Gauls defeated the Romans at the Battle of the Allia, 390 BCE. Chinese emperor Zhu Wen died, 912. Isabella of Austria born, 1501. The College of Arms was reincorporated by Royal charter, 1555. Artist Caravaggio died, 1610. Writer William Makepeace Thackeray born, 1811. Gangster Machine Gun Kelly died, 1954. Nadia Comăneci scored the first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, 1976. Actress Kristen Bell born, 1980. Nelson Mandela International Day. Wednesday 19th July - Jacopo Tiepolo, Doge of Venice, died, 1249. The Mary Rose sank off Portsmouth, 1545. Weapons manufacturer Samuel Colt born, 1814. Matthew Flinders, first circumnavigator of Australia, died, 1814. The SS Great Britain, then the largest ship afloat in the world, was launched, 1843. Socialite & "singer" Florence Foster Jenkins born, 1868. NASA test pilot Joe Walker flew a North American X-15 to 106,010m (347,800'), above the Kármán line demarcating the boundary of space, so becoming America's seventh astronaut, 1963. Actor Jared Padalecki born, 1982. Writer Frank McCourt died, 2009. Thursday 20th July - Poet Petrarch born, 1304. King Edward I of England deployed the War Wolf to capture Stirling Castle in the Wars of Scottish Independence, 1304. Peregrine White, the first known English boy born to the Pilgrims in America, died, 1704. Composer Jakob Haibel born, 1762. Nicéphore Niépce was granted a patent for the world's first internal combustion engine, 1807. Mexican Revolutionary general Pancho Villa died, 1923. Actress Heather Chasen born, 1927. The Eagle landed, 1969. Artist Lucian Freud died, 2011. International Chess Day.
This week, Frank McCourt:Stock your mind. It is your house of treasures and no one in the world can interfere with it.
A mixed bag of quotations from films with a common actor or actress. Answers next issue or from the regular address.Last issue's quotations were from films starring Brian Cox:
- I could come back a thousand times... and see her die a thousand ways.
- Those were some pretty slick moves back there. I'm good, but I'm not that good.
- You barbaric piece of pulp fiction!
- Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy drugs. Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!
- I suffer without my stone. Do not prolong my suffering.
- Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black.
-- Manhunter [1986]- You know all those dangerous mutants you hear about in the news? I'm the worst one.
-- X-Men 2 [2003]- [Singing] Here we go, the world is spinning. When it stops, it's just beginning. Sun comes up, we all laugh. Sun goes down, we all die...
-- The Ring [2002]- - You used an untested drug on your father. I could end your career with one phone call.
- Let me save you the trouble. I quit.
-- Rise of the Planet of the Apes [2011]- You can't kill Q-Bert! You gotta talk to it, get to know it better. Then kill it!
-- Pixels [2015]
Strange stories from around the world, some of which might be true...
SHARED! London has the "Boris bikes" and now Manchester has Mobikes, paid for and provided by a Chinese company as their first rental cycle venture outside of Asia. The publicly-available bicycles are for hire through a phone app for an initial registration fee then 50p for 30 minutes' use. Unlike the scheme in London users do not need to return the bikes to designated racks as collection teams will pick them up from anywhere around the city and return them to locations around the urban area. Being Manchester though, things did not get off to an ideal start with some bikes being left in the ship canal, and the lack of widespread cycle lanes compared to London meaning that uptake might be slower. One thing Manchester is notorious for is rain, although another Chinese firm in the rent-by-app business may not be considering setting up there. Sharing E Umbrella left 300,000 umbrellas across 11 cities in China, with customers using a similar approach to the Mobikes to unlock and use them. Thousands have gone missing, but Sharing E Umbrella is undeterred, planning on adding another 30 million umbrellas.
POLITE POLICE NOTICE! Thames Valley Police recently received a tip off that there was a cannabis plantation hidden in woodland near Oxford. When they went to investigate they found the plants, but no sign of the person - or people - behind their cultivation, so the police dug up the cannabis and left a note - on constabulary headed paper - pinned through a broken branch. It read "Oops! Sorry we missed each other, but feel free to call me on 101 so we can discuss a deal. Lots of love, TVP xx." A picture of the note was also posted on their Twitter feed with the comment "Tip off led police to a forest in Oxford; officers dug up the cannabis plantation and kindly left a note to the owner #WeveGotManners". Nobody has come forward.
BATTERY! Australia is a world leader in renewable energy use, but last September the problems of such a policy (wind turbines cannot create power without wind, and solar cells are useless at night) became apparent as a series of blackouts hit South Australia. Now Tesla boss Elon Musk plans to built the largest lithium ion battery in the world to store electricity from a wind farm, that can be released as needed. The 100 megawatt (over three times the capacity of the current record holder) battery, a scaled-up version of the batteries that power Tesla cars, should be installed later this year, and Musk has promised the Australian government that if it is not ready within 100 days he will not, er, charge them for it.
ICE! An iceberg around 5,800 square km (2,239 square miles) in size - that's four times the size of London - and weighing more than a trillion tonnes has calved off the Larsen C ice shelf in Antarctica, reducing the size of the shelf by 12%. Although scientists are not linking the calving to human-influenced climate change, it is still the largest such event ever recorded, and could put the entire ice shelf at risk of collapse, as happened with the Larsen A shelf in 1995 and Larsen B 15 years ago. The new iceberg will probably break up as it slowly drifts northwards, and parts of it could be around for decades.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Belgians Paul and Pierre Langerock are twins, and celebrated their 104th birthday last weekend, making them the world's oldest living male twins (though they have another year to go to equal the record for the world's oldest male twins, held by Americans Glen and Dale Moyer, who celebrated their 105th birthday before Glen died. The Belgian twins attribute their long life to the policy of "don't waste your time fooling around, don't eat too much and don't run after women". They never married as they did not approve of each other's choice of partner, and have no descendents, but enjoy each other's company in the nursing home where they now live, and a glass of a "good quality Bordeaux" wine every day.
IN BRIEF: Cryptography professor finds rare WW2 three-rotor Enigma I code machine for sale in Romanian flea market, described as an "old typewriter", buys it for €100 (£88; $114), auctions it for €45,000 (£39,693; $51,338). China builds 248-acre solar power plant using black and white cells, designed to look like a giant panda. Mansfield 103.2 local radio station has their signal repeatedly hijacked by someone playing 1978 novelty 'naughty' track The Winker's Song (Misprint) by Ivor Biggun. UK Royal Mint passes the billionth new £1 coin pressing ahead of withdrawal of original coins on October 15. Chinese scientists teleport entangled photon 500km (311 miles) to orbiting satellite. Archaeologists using tomography scans identify mysterious tunnel 30' (9m) below the Pyramid of the Moon in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan. Sussex cricketer David Weise hits a six during T20 game, ball smashes into fan's pint of beer. US military research agency DARPA announces $65m (£50m) research program to directly connect human brain to computer. Former NASA engineer builds 7' (2.1m)-long Super Soaker water gun using pressurised nitrogen to bring water jet to 2400 PSI, eight times more powerful than a fire hose. UK rail operator Southern Rail, fined £13.4m ($17.3m) over ongoing problems, puts Twitter PR account in hands of 15-year-old work placement boy to considerable amusement and fewer complaints. 2kg hairball removed from teenager's stomach. Railway station CCTV captures people trying to get full-size fridge, sofa on trains. Scientists advise coffee drinkers who want a good night's sleep to avoid drinking coffee past lunchtime. 'Daredevil' filmed hanging from wing mirror of moving bus is arrested, along with person who filmed him.
After Blind Date and The Crystal Maze reboots, Chris Packham hints that The Really Wild Show could be returning. Ariana Grande made an honorary citizen of Manchester. BBC to air adaptation of Little Women written by Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife), cast includes Angela Lansbury, Michael Gambon and Emily Watson (as Marmee). Daniel Craig signs to star in his fifth James Bond film, rumours circulating that Adele is being sought for second Bond theme song. Eight Ed Sheeran songs in top 100 UK chart excluded under new rules. Channel 4 ditching previous Carry On style humour from Great British Bake Off in favour of more surreal humour, extends programme by 15 minutes to allow for ad breaks, denies rumours of problems between presenting team. J.K. Rowling admits to having written 'secret' childrens' political fairytale on Halloween party dress (theme: come as your own private nightmare), doubts it will ever be published. Phil Redmond launches bid for Channel 4 to be moved to Liverpool if it is forced to move out of London. Rory Cowan quits Mrs Brown's Boys. Danish studio aiming to develop Nordic Noir games after success of genre in TV and film. Activision Blizzard announce international Overwatch team first-person shooter e-sports league, believe it could be bigger that the UK soccer Premier League, in time. Warner Bros making Willy Wonka prequel, Ryan Gosling tipped for lead. Album of drawings by Thomas Gainsborough discovered in Royal Collection at Windsor Castle having previously been misattributed to Sir Edwin Landseer. Lily James cast as younger version of Meryl Streep's character in Mamma Mia sequel. Quentin Tarantino seeking to cast Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt in upcoming film.
Child of Courage award-winner and mascot for several football teams including his beloved Sunderland Bradley Lowery (6), actor Nelsan Ellis (True Blood, Elementary, 39), animator Dave Osmand (Various Aardman productions, 53), jazz guitarist Ray Phiri (Paul Simon's Graceland, 70), Actress & model Joan Lee (wife and muse of Marvel's Stan Lee, 95).
As noted above, July 20th 1969 marked a momentous day in space exploration. Here is NASA's guide to the Moon landing.- https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html
^ DUMBLEDORE BEAR'S LOTTERY PREDICTOR!
Dumbledore Bear, our in-house psychic predicts that the following numbers will be lucky:3, 11, 17, 18, 26, 32[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 mother was studying her daughter's end of term school report. "Oh, Little Jennifer," she sighed, "you got three D's and one C. What happened?"
Little Jennifer looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "Well, Mummy, I think I must have concentrated too much on one subject!"
^ ...end of line