ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 161 OF 2016
IN 1911, the first pilots recruited by the British military, the Air Battalion Royal Engineers (which evolved into the RAF), had to weigh a maximum of 161 lb (11st 7lb), be under 30, a good sailor and map reader — and already have earned a Royal Aero Club certificate from a private flying school. THE biggest-ever lottery win in the UK was £161 million by Colin Weir and wife Christine, of Largs, Ayrshire, who won the Euromillions lottery in 2011. Last month, Partick Thistle fan Mr Weir had a stand named after him by the football club after he donated £750,000 for a youth academy and paid off a chunk of the club’s debt. BRAzILIAN Formula One driver Ayrton Senna competed in a total of 161 Grands Prix — and won 41 of them — before his death at the San Marino Grand Prix in 1994, aged 34.
THERE ARE 205 DAYS LEFT
WHEN an explosion ruptured an oxygen tank on Apollo 13 in April 1970, the mission capsule was 205,000 miles away from Earth. The third lunar landing attempt had to be aborted but with the experience gained in rescuing the three-man crew the mission was classified as a ‘successful failure’. AN estimated 205 billion emails were sent every day in 2015.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
NATALIE PORTMAN, 35. The actress (right), born Neta-Lee Hershlag in Jerusalem to an Israeli father and American mother, is best known as Padme Amidala in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and as a ballet dancer in Black Swan, for which she won an Oscar. She took a break from films, saying she would ‘rather be smart than a movie star’, and in 2003 got a degree in psychology from Harvard University. JOHNNY DEPP, 53. The star of the Pirates Of The Caribbean films has an extinct sea creature, Kootenichela deppi, named after him. Its long claws reminded the scientist who discovered it of Depp’s screen role as Edward Scissorhands. MICHAEL J. FOX, 55. The Canadian-born actor (right), who’s best known for playing Marty McFly in the Back To The Future films, first showed symptoms of Parkinson’s disease while playing the role of a medic in 1991 film Doc Hollywood. He was just 29.
BORN ON THIS DAY
LES PAUL (1915-2009). The American guitarist, born Lester William Polsfuss, pioneered the modern electric guitar. In 1948, his car went over a 20ft ravine in bad weather and he badly injured his right arm. Doctors agreed not to amputate, but set the arm to an angle so he might still be able to play his guitar. After more than a year of recuperation, he succeeded. GEORGE STEPHENSON (1781-1848). The Northumberland-born engineer is known as the ‘father of the railways’. The width of much of the world’s railway track is the ‘standard gauge’ of 4ft 8½in (1,435mm), which was chosen by Stephenson when he built the world’s first inter-city railway between Liverpool and Manchester in 1830.
ON JUNE 9th . . .
IN 1549, on Whitsunday, the Church of England adopted the Book of Common Prayer as the standard prayer book. IN 1975, proceedings from the House of Commons were broadcast live on radio for the first time. IN 1996, Euro 96 organisers put bagpipes on a list of offensive weapons that had to be left at stadium entrances, along with fireworks and gas cannisters.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LIFE shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
Anais Nin, writer (1903-77)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a crocodile who likes football? A soccerdile!