ON THIS DAY
August 1, 2016
IT’S DAY 214 OF 2016
in 2013, France finally revoked a 214-year-old ban on Parisian women wearing trousers. The law dated from the revolution, when rebels in the capital identified themselves by wearing trousers instead of the knee-length ‘culottes’ of the bourgeoisie. Women rebels demanded the right to wear trousers as well, but were forbidden from doing so — hence the ban. COSTinG £214 ($600), the world’s first personal computer, called Simon, went on sale in 1950 with a memory of just 2-bits. a group of 8-bits is commonly called a byte — and today’s iPhones, which can boast a memory of 128 billion bytes, somewhat eclipse Simon. ParenTS in the uK fork out an average of £214 for a children’s birthday party. but the perfect party, as wished for by children themselves, might cost a little more as it would include a visit to a theme park, a birthday tea at nando’s and a guest appearance by David beckham.
THERE ARE 152 DAYS LEFT
THe world’s smallest dog (by length) is Heaven Sent brandy (right), a female chihuahua who measures 15.2cm (6in) from nose to tip of the tail. She is the height of a soft drink can, weighs 2lb (0.9kg) and lives with her owner, Paulette Keller, in Florida. FrenCH artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born 152 years ago. an inherited illness and two falls in his early teens permanently stunted the bones in his legs, leaving him just 4ft 8in tall. He used a walking stick which opened to reveal a flask of brandy and a glass. THe narrowest house in the world is the Keret House in Warsaw, Poland, and measures 152cm (4.99ft) at its widest point. it features a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom over two storeys — connected by a ladder — but is technically an art installation, as it doesn’t meet building regulations.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SaM MenDeS, 51, the director of James bond movie Skyfall, who was married to Kate Winslet for eight years. While making 2008’s revolutionary road — during their marriage — he found it emotionally impossible to direct the sex scenes between Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, so he moved his viewing screens to another room and shouted his instructions from there. JaCK O’COnneLL, 26. The former star of Channel 4’s Skins got his big break when angelina Jolie picked him as the lead in her 2014 film unbroken. Prophetically, on the set of 2009’s Harry brown, Michael Caine shouted ‘star of the future’ at him. O’Connell told his local paper: ‘My ambition is to put my mum under the sun, where she lives life with no worries and eats fine food all the time.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
LiOneL barT (1930-99). The writer of the book, music and lyrics for musical Oliver!, as well as pop songs, including Living Doll for Cliff richard. He couldn’t read or write music, and instead would sing into a tape recorder for someone else to transcribe. eMPerOr CLauDiuS (10 bC-54 aD), who added britain to the roman empire. He is said to have been murdered by his wife agrippina (also his niece) with poison contained either in mushrooms or on a feather.
ON AUGUST 1 . . .
IN 1790, the first u.S. census was completed, revealing a population of almost four million. IN 1976, F1 driver niki Lauda suffered horrific burns after being trapped inside his Ferrari following an accident at the German Grand Prix. remarkably, Lauda was back in his car six weeks later — but would be pipped to the world driver’s title by britain’s James Hunt.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
iF YOU lived in sheffield and were called sebastian, you had to learn to run fast at a very early stage. Lord (Sebastian) Coe, Olympic gold medal winner and President of the IAAF
JOKE OF THE DAY
a bOOK just fell on my head. i’ve only got my shelf to blame.