Interesting Facts

Dr Rhys Morgan, a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering, has come up with a formula to help you choose the perfect stick for the popular British game of poohsticks. (The formula is - PP = A x ? x Cd PP = the perfect poohstick A =  the cross section area (the thicker the better) ? = the sticks density (the denser the better)  Cd = the drag coefficient describing the shape and roughness (the rougher the better)  So, it seems that Dr  Rhys Morgan claims the perfect way to win the game is to find something thick, dense and as rough as possible.  I would think any member of TOWIE would be a cert.)

According to laboratory tests carried out by scientists at the London Metropolitan University, out of date beauty products can contain deadly bacteria. (Tests on 5 makeup products; mascara, blusher, foundation, lip gloss and lipstick, revealed that makeup is a breeding ground for some really nasty stuff: 6 different types of bacteria were found, including the deadly meningitis bacteria Enterococcus Faecalis/Faecium, and bacteria that can cause acne and even septicaemia, a severe blood infection that can lead to organ failure and death. The research was funded by online beauty retailer www.escentual.com.  I think I'll just go and check my makeup bag now.)

Football star, Jermain Defoe is advertising for an executive personal assistant. (For £60,000 a year, he is looking for someone who is flexible, hands on, capable of multi-tasking, and who demonstrates a high level of discretion and confidentiality. Do you think you fit the bill? Well, you will be on call 24/7, and able to travel worldwide at a moment's notice. You will also be expected to organise his and his family's (including his pets) private, social and business calendars. You will be maintaining his itinerary, arranging all public appearances and travel arrangements, working on business projects including creating a global brand for the Jermin Defoe name, including his clothing line and fragrance, spotting sponsorship opportunities, and growing the online database for his website, Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking platforms, oh and producing his iPhone app. On top of that the lucky applicant will be tasked with organising his wardrobe wi...

Residents in Kensington and Chelsea, London are too posh for toilet paper and so they are using wet wipes instead. (Unfortunately this is putting a strain on London's aging drains, and leading to a £12 million annual bill to unblock the sewers. Eew! Sorry about that one.)

According to the website Sporting Intelligence, Manchester United is the most valuable football club in England. (It's worth a staggering £1.8bn. The figures were produced, using a formula involving total revenue, assets, stadium capacity and wage ratio. They are basically a money making machine, with the biggest stadium in the country, and other assets, including the most lucrative shirt sponsorship deal, worth £47m from Chevrolet, a 10-year kit deal with German sporting outifitters Adidas which is worth £750m over 10 years. Would anyone like to sponsor an LEN kit or shirt? Instead of buying overpriced football players, we will employ some lovely English teachers.) 

We know walking is good for us, but it seems where you walk makes a difference. (Various studies have found that urban dwellers with little access to green spaces are at a higher risk of developing psychological problems, but a recent study carried out at Stanford university found that volunteers who walked for 90 minutes through a lush, green portion of the Stanford campus were more attentive and happier afterward than volunteers who strolled for the same amount of time near heavy traffic. The volunteers were allowed to walk at their own pace, but they were not allowed to have companions or listen to music. The results suggest that getting out into natural environments could be an easy and almost immediate way to improve your mood. So, let's build more parks.) Source

Visitors have been banned from eating picnics, or packed lunches at Southwold Pier. (One elderly couple were told they had to pack their Victoria sponge cake back into their Tupperware, and that seating was reserved for people purchasing food from on-site shops and restaurants. In 2012 Southwold was labelled 'the snobbiest place in Britain' after residents objected to a Costa Coffee shop opening up in the high street. It sounds as if they are living up to that reputation.)

According to research carried out by the High Pay Centre, among FTSE 100 companies, the average pay of a chief executive is almost £5 million. (They found that average executive pay in the UK jumped to £4.964 million in 2014, compared with £4.129 million in 2010.  The figure was 183 times the earnings of average full-time workers, up from 160 times in 2010. The top 10 highest-paid chief executives (CEOs) were paid over £156 million between them in 2014, prompting fresh calls for action to curb executive pay. We have a minimum wage, maybe it's time to have a maximum wage too.)

15th August 1843 – Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, opened in Copenhagen, Denmark. 1914 – The Panama Canal opened to traffic. 1945 - Allied nations celebrated VJ Day marking the end of World War II. 1947 – India gained Independence from British rule after almost 190 years. 1952 – A flash flood in the town of Lynmouth, England, killed 34 people. 1963 – The last man was hanged in Scotland. 1971 – Bahrain gained independence from the United Kingdom. 1971 - horse rider Harvey Smith was stripped of £2,000 winnings and a major show jumping title for allegedly making a rude gesture, although he swore it was a V for victory sign. 1998 – 27 people were killed following a massive car bomb in the town of Omagh in Northern Ireland.

Paul Donovan called BT at 7.57pm on Saturday, August 1, to cancel his broadband package. He was put on hold with a pre-recorded message saying the 'lines were busy', a female voice then asked him to hold until one of their operators was free, he waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, he went to bed, but he didn't disconnect and left his phone on charge. (When he got up on Sunday morning, he was still on hold - 14 hours and 31 minutes later, which is believed to be a UK record, but it's not a world record. That honour goes to Australian Andrew Kahn, who called Qantas Airways to confirm his flight from Adelaide, Australia, to New York City. He phoned the airline at 7:22 on a Wednesday evening and finally hung up at 11:01 Thursday morning. During his wait, he surfed the Internet, slept briefly and caught up on some reading, for 15 hours, 40 minutes and one second. How long would it take you to finally hang up? ) Source

9th August Book lovers day.

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According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization over a billion tourists travelled abroad in 2014. (That's 51 million more than in 2013. The biggest growth destinations were the Americas, with 7% more tourists, followed by Asia and the Pacific at 5%, and Europe with 4% growth. The world is on the move!)

In 1969 Buzz Aldrin claimed $33.31 in travel expenses. What for? His trip to the moon! #TBT My mission director @Buzzs_xtina 's favorite piece of my memorabilia. My travel voucher to the moon. #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/c89UyOfvgY — Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 30, 2015

Just to prove that your tone of voice really matters, supermarket chain Tesco is replacing the “irritating and bossy” female voice on self-service tills. Instead shoppers will hear a “friendlier, more helpful and less talkative” man. (How about getting rid of the things altogether?) The Sun came up with a translation of what this machine talk really means:- Unexpected item in bagging area. Translates as "Are you trying to nick something." Approval needed. Translates as "A surly teenager will be over to check you're old enough." Please wait for assistance. Translates as "We will come over when we can be bothered."

Police forces across the UK will no longer be applying a margin of error for people driving over the speed limit. (For many years British motorists have relied on police allowing a ‘small margin for error’ when the speed dial creeps over the limit. Traditionally, this has been set at 10% plus 2mph of the posted speed limit, so in a 50mph zone, that would be 5mph plus an extra 2mph before the police would have issued a ticket or fine. However, new technology is so accurate that police chiefs are giving the order to crack down on anyone driving over the speed limit, in order to stem the rising number of deaths and serious injuries on British roads. In Scotland, the police force has announced it is abandoning the previous discretionary allowance and will issue any driver exceeding the speed limit by even 1mph with a warning.)

Doenertier82  at the  German language Wikipedia Hammocks make hamsters happy. (Yes, forget the hamster wheel, according to studies carried out at Liverpool John Moores University hamsters love nothing more than to chillax in a hammock, and an enriched environment made them more optimistic. How can you tell if a hamster is happy?)

According to the European Commission, British tourists visiting Disneyland in Paris are charged hundreds of pounds more than the French. (French authorities have been ordered to look into Disneyland's pricing policy for visitors from abroad, on the findings that British customers could be paying up to 15% more for one-day tickets, €1,870 (£1,327) compared with €1,346 (£955) for French ticketholders and Germans are even harder hit, paying €2,447 (£1,736). I wonder if you could simply get someone French to buy the tickets for you.) Thanks to Bubbli for sharing this one.