ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 116 OF 2016
IN December 1972, the last time a manned mission landed on the Moon, 116 kilogrammes of rock samples were brought back by the crew of Apollo 17. A new study of these rocks suggests that a supernova (exploding star) blasted Earth a few million years ago. GUANTANAMO BAy on Cuba, the U.S. naval base nicknamed ‘Gitmo’ which houses the detention camp of the same name, was established during the Spanish-American War and leased in perpetuity from Cuba in 1903. It covers an area of 116 square kilometres — the same size as the city of Manchester.
THERE ARE 250 DAYS LEFT
WITHIN two days of its release last December, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, had already made more than $250 million at the box office in the U.S. alone and a similar amount across the rest of the world. IT IS 250 years since London watchmaker David Marie introduced the word’s first fire- escape, comprising a wicker basket connected to a pulley and chain. THE number of contactless payments in the UK increased by 250 per cent over the past year alone. One in seven transactions using Visa cards were contactless.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
AL PACINO, 76. Actor best known for films The Godfather, Serpicoo and Scarface, he turned down the starring roles in Pretty Woman and Die Hard, and rejected playing Han Solo in Star Wars — reportedly because he didn’t understand the plot. LEN GOODMAN, 72. London-born ballroom dancer and judge on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. When he married his second wife, Sue Barrett, in 2012, there was no dancing at their wedding reception — not even a first dance for the bride and groom. RENEE ZELLWEGER, 47. In preparation for her starring role in Bridget Jones’s Diary, the Texan actress worked incognito for a fortnight at Picador publishers in London as a ‘work experience girl’ from the Home Counties and passed as a native, rather plummy Brit.
BORN ON THIS DAY
OLIVER Cromwell (1599-1658). Leader of the Roundheads who became Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland after the English Civil War. Two years after his death, with the restoration of the monarchy under Charles II, his body was taken from its grave and hanged, and his severed head displayed on a 20 ft spike above Westminster Hall. ELLA FITZGERALD (1917-1996). American jazz singer, nicknamed ‘the First Lady Of Song’, who recorded more than 200 albums during her career. Born in Newport News in Virginia, she made money as a teenager in New york, where she moved with her mother, by running errands for a mob gambling syndicate.
ON APRIL 25th . . .
IN 1792, the guillotine was used for the first time in Paris, when highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier was executed. The crowd was unhappy with his speedy death, though, and felt the new method of execution was too swift to provide proper entertainment.
IN 1960, the U.S. nuclear submarine Triton surfaced after the first fully submerged circumnavigation of the world. The 30,000 mile journey had taken 60 days.
IN 1989, a white dove released to celebrate the departure of Soviet forces from Hungary landed on a railway transporter loading track in the village of Kishunhalas and was run over by the first tank to set off.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
My breasts have had a brilliant career — I’ve just tagged along for the ride Baywatch star Pamela Anderson
JOKE OF THE DAY
BUyER: you said in the ad that this car was in ‘mint’ condition — but it’s got a hole in it. Seller: That’s normal. It’s a Polo.