ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 206 OF 2015 NEIL Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the Moon, spent 206 hours in space. THE first Bramley cooking apples came from a chance seedling planted by a young girl called Mary Ann Brailsford 206 years ago in her garden in Nottinghamshire. The house was bought by a local butcher called Matthew Bramley, who gave his name to the apples. The tree is still growing today. THERE are 206 bones in the adult human body — 64 fewer than when we are babies. THE youngest footballer to make his England debut was Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, who was 206 months old (17 years and 75 days) when he played against Hungary in May 2006.
THERE ARE 159 DAYS LEFT UNDER Emperor Claudius, ancient Romans citizens enjoyed 159 public holidays a year. The day-long breaks didn’t apply to slaves. Police officer Mark Milton was cleared of speeding after he drove at 159 mph while ‘familiarising himself’ with a patrol car on the M54 in Shropshire in 2003. SWEDISH band Abba won the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest by just six points with the song Waterloo — 159 years after the Battle of Waterloo. In 1492, Henry VII was paid £159,000 to give up England’s rights to all French territory except Calais under the Treaty of Etaples. Calais was lost to the French 66 years later.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FRIENDS star Matt Leblanc, 48 (right). Famous for playing Joey in the TV comedy, he turned up to his audition with a gash on his f ace because he’d slipped and cut his nose on a lavatory. LOUISE BROWN, 37. Born in Oldham in 1978, she was the world’s first test-tube baby. More than six million babies have since been conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF). louise is now married and has two naturally conceived children. MODEL Iman, 60. Born Iman Abdulmajid in Mogadishu, Somalia, the wife of David Bowie for 23 years was the last of a long line of ladies to kiss William Shatner in his role as Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. SNOOKER player Ali Carter, 36. Born in Essex, the two-time World Championship runner-up beat testicular cancer, then lung cancer, before returning to play top-level snooker.
BORN ON THIS DAY ENGLISH actress lynne Frederick (1954-1994, right). The last of Peter Sellers’ four wives and 30 years his junior, she went on to marry David Frost and a California surgeon before dying aged just 39 after alcohol problems. ARTHUR Balfour (18481930). Prime Minister between 1902 and 1905, he is best remembered for his actions in 1917 when as Foreign Secretary he signed the Balfour Declaration supporting the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
ON JULY 25th . . . IN 1909, Frenchman louis Bleriot was awarded £1,000 in a Daily Mail competition after becoming the first person to fly across the English Channel. The journey took 37 minutes. In 1984, Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space — for three hours and 35 minutes. In 1914, 66-year-old W. G. Grace batted for the last time in a competitive cricket match, scoring 69 not out.
QUOTE FOR TODAY I will tell you how to become rich . . . Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett
JOKE OF THE DAY I DECIDED to sell my vacuum cleaner. It was just gathering dust.