ON THIS DAY
October 24, 2015
IT’S DAY 297 OF 2015
London lawyer James Puckle patented the first machine gun 297 years ago. It could fire nine shots a minute — three times faster than the quickest infantryman at the time. In comparison, the modern M134 minigun has a firing rate of 6,000 rounds per minute or 100 rounds per second.
UK homes are estimated to be collectively hoarding at least £ 297 million worth of outof-date foods in their kitchens.
THERE ARE 68 DAYS LEFT
PARENTS spend an average of 68 minutes putting together their children’s new toys over Christmas — including getting them out of the packaging.
THE deaths of 68,000 people were officially recorded in London during the Great Plague of 1665 — although the actual toll was probably closer to 100,000, or one-quarter of the city’s population.
During the reign of Queen Elizabeth II the Royal Mint has produced 68 billion coins bearing her profile (8 billion pre-decimal coins and 60 billion decimal coins). That’s almost 10 coins for every person on earth.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
WAYNE ROONEY, 30. The England football captain once revealed that the only way he can fall asleep is to the roaring sound of a vacuum cleaner — failing that he turns on wife Coleen’s hairdryer: ‘I’ve ruined so many hairdryers by letting them burn out.’
BILL WYMAN, 79. The Rolling Stones bassist exited the band in 1993 to work on solo projects. When he was in his 50s he married 18-year-old Mandy Smith — the marriage was a failure but in a bizarre twist their divorce was finalised the same year that his son Stephen married Mandy’s mum, Patsy.
DERVLA KIRWAN, 44. The Ballykissangel actress ( ri ght) l eft Dublin f or London at 17 to escape her family’s strong ‘ political heritage’. Her great-uncle was Michael Collins, the Irish revolutionary leader who is both revered and despised as he signed the 1921 peace treaty which gave most but not all of Ireland independence.
ROMAN ABRAMOVICH, 49. The Russian oligarch, now the owner of Chelsea Football Club, first set foot on the road to riches with a business making and selling plastic dolls.
BORN ON THIS DAY
TWINS Ronnie (1933-1995) and Reggie Kray (2000). The notorious gangsters were among the last people ever to be held prisoner in the Tower of London — for refusing to do National Service in 1952.
BOB KANE (1915-1998). The cartoonist was the creator, with assistant Bill Finger, of the DC Comics superhero Batman. Batman’s civilian alter ego, billionaire Bruce Wayne, was named after two historical figures — Robert the Bruce and U.S. War of Independence General ‘Mad Anthony’ Wayne.
ON OCTOBER 24...
In 1976, after coming third in the Japanese Grand Prix, British motor racing star James Hunt, nicknamed Hunt The Shunt, clinched his only Formula one World Championship. The hard-partying sportsman (right) had the words ‘ Sex, breakfast of champions’ embroidered on his racing overalls.
In 1942, the Second Battle of El Alamein was fought between the British Empire forces under Montgomery and Germans and Italians under Rommel. The victory was a turning point in World War II. Later Winston Churchill said: ‘Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein we never had a defeat.’
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Happiness sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.
John Barrymore, Hollywood actor
JOKE OF THE DAY
DID you hear about the woman who got fired from the fruit juice factory?
She just couldn’t concentrate.