THE BIG QUESTIONS
I download music now, so I’ve been wondering – which album sold most copies on CD? – T
CDS have been around since the 1980s, first coming to our attention on an episode of BBC’S Tomorrow’s World, where presenter Kieran Prendiville wasn’t sure “whether there’s a market for this kind of disc”. He was very wrong as hundreds of billions have been sold. The most popular was Michael Jackson’s Thriller, with sales of 66 million copies.
My gran has a cactus she thinks may have been in the same pot for about 45 years or so. Could this be the oldest potted plan in the world? – M
It’s not even close to the oldest, I’m sorry to say.
Kew Gardens in London lays claim to that with its Eastern Cape giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii). It was collected and potted by botanist Francis Masson in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa in 1775, making it 246 years old.
It now weighs more than a tonne and more than four metres high. Masson (1741-1805) was born in Aberdeen and discovered more than 1,700 species of plants, including the arum lily and the red hot poker.
Everyone knows about the Munros, the mountains in Scotland that are more than 3,000ft high. Is there an English equivalent? – P
There is, and they are called The Nuttalls, first suggested by Anne and John Nuttall in their 1990 book, The Mountains Of England And Wales. The list comprises the 446 mountains of more than 2,000ft in height in the two countries.
In 2017, James Forrest completed the list in six months.