THE BIG QUESTIONS
Have any of the sports at the first Olympic Games survived to the modern era? – P
One has, sort of! Stadion was a running race which was the only event in the very first Games in 776 BC.
It was run over a distance of 600 Greek feet, but this wasn’t a standard unit at the time, so varied. It was called Stadion after the arena it was run in.
It was eventually standardised to 200m, as it is still run today.
This may sound a bit macabre because I’ve been watching a lot of old horror movies, but I’d like to know who the last person to be hanged for witchcraft was. – N
In 1727, Janet Horne was the last person to be legally executed for witchcraft, but she wasn’t hanged, she was burned at the stake.
Horne, of Dornoch in Sutherland – who probably suffered from dementia – was accused by neighbours of trying to turn her daughter into a pony and had “ridden her until she was lame”.
At the time, that was enough evidence to convict her and she was smeared with tar, paraded through the town in a barrel, and burned alive.
Luckily, her daughter escaped.
I’ve just had haddock for dinner, and it was very nice, However, it didn’t half smell before I cooked it – why do fish smell so bad? – T
Fish fill their cells with amino acids and amines, particularly trimethylamine oxide (TMAO) to counter the saltiness of seawater they swim in.
When the fish is killed, by removing it from the water, bacteria convert TMAO into trimethylamine, which causes the pongy odour.