Mickey
15-12-2006, 19:26
1. The UK's first mobile phone call was made 20 years ago this year, when Ernie Wise rang the Vodafone head office, which was then above a curry shop in Newbury.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4138449.stm)
2. Mohammed is now one of the 20 most popular names for boys born in England and Wales.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4148335.stm)
3. While it's an offence to drop litter on the pavement, it's not an offence to throw it over someone's garden wall.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4160153.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165692_toes.203.jpg
10 toes by Stuart Evans
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Every week, users send pictures 10 things they have seen. These are some of the best - submit yours by clicking here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2956357.stm)
4. An average record shop needs to sell at least two copies of a CD per year to make it worth stocking, according to Wired magazine.
5. Nicole Kidman is scared of butterflies. "I jump out of planes, I could be covered in cockroaches, I do all sorts of things, but I just don't like the feel of butterflies' bodies," she says.
6. WD-40 dissolves cocaine - it has been used by a pub landlord to prevent drug-taking in his pub's toilets.
7. Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4190000/newsid_4197700/4197799.stm)
8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.
9. The energy used to build an average Victorian terrace house would be enough to send a car round the Earth five times, says English Heritage.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165802_egg.jpg 10 butterfly eggs by Peter Rettenberger
10. Humans can be born suffering from a rare condition known as "sirenomelia" or "mermaid syndrome", in which the legs are fused together to resemble the tail of a fish.
Full story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4235033.stm)
11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4254181.stm)
12. Until the 1940s rhubarb was considered a vegetable. It became a fruit when US customs officials, baffled by the foreign food, decided it should be classified according to the way it was eaten.
13. Prince Charles broke with an 80-year tradition by giving Camilla Parker Bowles a wedding ring fashioned from Cornish gold, instead of the nugget of Welsh gold that has provided rings for all royal brides and grooms since 1923.
14. It's possible for a human to blow up balloons via the ear. A 55-year-old factory worker from China reportedly discovered 20 years ago that air leaked from his ears, and he can now inflate balloons and blow out candles.
15. Lionesses like their males to be deep brunettes.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4255289.stm)
16. The London borough of Westminster has an average of 20 pieces of chewing gum for every square metre of pavement.
17. Bosses at Madame Tussauds spent £10,000 separating the models of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston when they separated. It was the first time the museum had two people's waxworks joined together.
18. If all the Smarties eaten in one year were laid end to end it would equal almost 63,380 miles, more than two-and-a-half times around the Earth's equator.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4276553.stm)
19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165716_car.203.jpg 10 on Ford GT40 by Tony Crowther
20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3428673.stm)
21. One person in four has had their identity stolen or knows someone who has.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4311693.stm)
22. The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4314209.stm)
23. In America it's possible to subpoena a dog.
Full story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4334377.stm)
24. The 71m packets of biscuits sold annually by United Biscuits, owner of McVitie's, generate 127.8 tonnes of crumbs.
25. Nelson probably had a broad Norfolk accent.
26. One in four people does not know 192, the old number for directory inquiries in the UK, has been abolished.
27. Only in France and California are under 18s banned from using sunbeds.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4357689.stm)
28. The British buy the most compact discs in the world - an average of 3.2 per year, compared to 2.8 in the US and 2.1 in France.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4371673.stm)
29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40544000/jpg/_40544575_10hangers203.jpg 10 hangers by Patrick McGarry
30. There are an estimated 1,000 people in the UK in a persistent vegetative state.
31. Train passengers in the UK waited a total of 11.5m minutes in 2004 for delayed services.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4397437.stm)
32. "Restaurant" is the most mis-spelled word in search engines.
33. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has only been in an English pub once, to buy his wife cigarettes.
34. The Little Britain wheelchair sketch with Lou and Andy was inspired by Lou Reed and Andy Warhol.
35. The name Lego came from two Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well". It also means "I put together" in Latin.
36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.
37. Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's.
38. Nasa boss Michael Griffin has seven university degrees: a bachelor's degree, a PhD, and five masters degrees.
39. Australians host barbecues at polling stations on general election days.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4489931.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39927000/jpg/_39927728_grandchildren.jpg 10 grandchildren - five kids and their portraits - by Jimmy Martin
40. An average Briton will spend £1,537,380 during his or her lifetime, a survey from insurer Prudential suggests.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4482441.stm)
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4138449.stm)
2. Mohammed is now one of the 20 most popular names for boys born in England and Wales.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4148335.stm)
3. While it's an offence to drop litter on the pavement, it's not an offence to throw it over someone's garden wall.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4160153.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gif http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165692_toes.203.jpg
10 toes by Stuart Evans
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/inline_dashed_line.gif
Every week, users send pictures 10 things they have seen. These are some of the best - submit yours by clicking here (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2956357.stm)
4. An average record shop needs to sell at least two copies of a CD per year to make it worth stocking, according to Wired magazine.
5. Nicole Kidman is scared of butterflies. "I jump out of planes, I could be covered in cockroaches, I do all sorts of things, but I just don't like the feel of butterflies' bodies," she says.
6. WD-40 dissolves cocaine - it has been used by a pub landlord to prevent drug-taking in his pub's toilets.
7. Baboons can tell the difference between English and French. Zoo keepers at Port Lympne wild animal park in Kent are having to learn French to communicate with the baboons which had been transferred from Paris zoo.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4190000/newsid_4197700/4197799.stm)
8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it's possibly because religious people have less fear of death.
9. The energy used to build an average Victorian terrace house would be enough to send a car round the Earth five times, says English Heritage.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165802_egg.jpg 10 butterfly eggs by Peter Rettenberger
10. Humans can be born suffering from a rare condition known as "sirenomelia" or "mermaid syndrome", in which the legs are fused together to resemble the tail of a fish.
Full story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4235033.stm)
11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4254181.stm)
12. Until the 1940s rhubarb was considered a vegetable. It became a fruit when US customs officials, baffled by the foreign food, decided it should be classified according to the way it was eaten.
13. Prince Charles broke with an 80-year tradition by giving Camilla Parker Bowles a wedding ring fashioned from Cornish gold, instead of the nugget of Welsh gold that has provided rings for all royal brides and grooms since 1923.
14. It's possible for a human to blow up balloons via the ear. A 55-year-old factory worker from China reportedly discovered 20 years ago that air leaked from his ears, and he can now inflate balloons and blow out candles.
15. Lionesses like their males to be deep brunettes.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4255289.stm)
16. The London borough of Westminster has an average of 20 pieces of chewing gum for every square metre of pavement.
17. Bosses at Madame Tussauds spent £10,000 separating the models of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston when they separated. It was the first time the museum had two people's waxworks joined together.
18. If all the Smarties eaten in one year were laid end to end it would equal almost 63,380 miles, more than two-and-a-half times around the Earth's equator.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4276553.stm)
19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41165000/jpg/_41165716_car.203.jpg 10 on Ford GT40 by Tony Crowther
20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3428673.stm)
21. One person in four has had their identity stolen or knows someone who has.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4311693.stm)
22. The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4314209.stm)
23. In America it's possible to subpoena a dog.
Full story (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4334377.stm)
24. The 71m packets of biscuits sold annually by United Biscuits, owner of McVitie's, generate 127.8 tonnes of crumbs.
25. Nelson probably had a broad Norfolk accent.
26. One in four people does not know 192, the old number for directory inquiries in the UK, has been abolished.
27. Only in France and California are under 18s banned from using sunbeds.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4357689.stm)
28. The British buy the most compact discs in the world - an average of 3.2 per year, compared to 2.8 in the US and 2.1 in France.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4371673.stm)
29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40544000/jpg/_40544575_10hangers203.jpg 10 hangers by Patrick McGarry
30. There are an estimated 1,000 people in the UK in a persistent vegetative state.
31. Train passengers in the UK waited a total of 11.5m minutes in 2004 for delayed services.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4397437.stm)
32. "Restaurant" is the most mis-spelled word in search engines.
33. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has only been in an English pub once, to buy his wife cigarettes.
34. The Little Britain wheelchair sketch with Lou and Andy was inspired by Lou Reed and Andy Warhol.
35. The name Lego came from two Danish words "leg godt", meaning "play well". It also means "I put together" in Latin.
36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.
37. Cyclist Lance Armstrong's heart is almost a third larger than the average man's.
38. Nasa boss Michael Griffin has seven university degrees: a bachelor's degree, a PhD, and five masters degrees.
39. Australians host barbecues at polling stations on general election days.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/frontpage/4489931.stm)
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39927000/jpg/_39927728_grandchildren.jpg 10 grandchildren - five kids and their portraits - by Jimmy Martin
40. An average Briton will spend £1,537,380 during his or her lifetime, a survey from insurer Prudential suggests.
More details (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4482441.stm)