ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 292 . . .
THE longest paper aeroplane flight was 29.2 seconds, achieved by Japanese engineer Takuo Toda in 2010. It was launched from the ground by Toda, who has published a dozen books on the making of paper planes. THE first photos of the far side of the Moon in 1959 were transmitted to Earth from a distance of 292,000 miles (470,000km) by the Soviet Luna III .
THE world’s longest fingernails belong to U.S. singer Christine Walton (pictured), from Las Vegas, whose nails on her left hand measure 292cm (9ft 7in) and 309cm (10ft 2in) on her right. She hasn’t cut them since 1990.
THERE ARE 74 DAYS LEFT
DESERT Island Discs was first heard 74 years ago, in the middle of World War II. It was broadcast on the Forces Programme and presented by creator Roy Plomley. The first castaway was Viennese comedian, actor and musician Vic Oliver, and one of the songs he chose was Happy Days Are Here Again.
LADYBIRDS can fly 74 miles non-stop. A 2014 Hertfordshire-based study also found they can reach speeds of 37mph — the same as a racehorse — and heights of 3,600ft. IN 1963, Stephen Hawking contracted motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and was given two years to live. The physicist is now 74.
THE language with the longest alphabet is Cambodian, or Khmer, with 74 letters.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MIKE TINDALL, 38. The World Cup-winning rugby union player, and former England captain, is married to Zara Phillips, the Queen’s eldest granddaughter. He has broken his nose eight times, which he says makes him more recognisable to the public than his royal wife. He is so careful with money that he has never had a credit card.
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA, 60. The Czech-born tennis player (pictured) won a record nine Wimbledon singles titles and was world No1 for seven years. She says her most embarrassing moment was: ‘My skirt falling down during one Wimbledon final.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
LOTTE LENYA (1898-1981). The Austrian singer and actress, who also played James Bond villain Rosa Klebb in From Russia WITH Love. Lenya and Louis Armstrong duetted on Mack The Knife in 1956.
PIERRE TRUDEAU (1919-2000). The twotime PM of Canada, whose son, Justin now holds that office, once dated Barbra Streisand and was also romantically linked to Margot Kidder, aka Lois Lane in the original Superman films.
ON OCTOBER 18 . . .
IN 1851, Moby-Dick, by U.S. novelist Herman Melville, was first published, in London, under the title The Whale.
IN 1922, The British Broadcasting Company was founded by a group of leading wireless manufacturers including Marconi. Daily broadcasting began a month later.
IN 1962, Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins of the UK and James D. Watson of the U.S. were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of the doublehelix structure of DNA. Rosalind Franklin, who also played a key part, was not included because she had died in 1958.
IN 1963, Scottish Earl, Lord Home, became Britain’s new Prime Minister. He quickly renounced his hereditary title, becoming Sir Alec Douglas-Home, and would be in No 10 for less than a year.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
THE work you do is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on Earth Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900-2002)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY did the orange stop at the top of the hill? It ran out of juice.