Interesting Facts

23rd April 1564 - The Bard, William Shakespeare, is said to have been born on the 23rd of April. So, if he were still alive, he would be well over 400 years old today. Of course no one really knows the exact date of his birth because these things weren't so well regulated back then, but this date has been chosen for him, and it's the thought that counts.  Happy Birthday Will! We do know that he was baptised on April 26th, and that he died on April 23rd 1616. 

6th February 1945 - Bob Marley was born. 1952 - King George VI died in his sleep aged just 56 and Princess Elizabeth became sovereign of Great Britain. (She wasn't declared Queen until February 8, and wasn't crowned Queen Elizabeth II until June 2, 1953.) 1958 - British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the Busby Babes, along with a number of supporters and journalists. Twenty-three of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in what was to be called The Munich Air Disaster.

Don't let your kids read this... The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten announced the death of Santa in their obituary section. (Seemingly, Santa died  at the age of 227, on 3rd December in Nordkapp, Norways’s northernmost point. The funeral will be held at North Pole Chapel on 28th December. They have apologised for "an internal error", but I guess we will find out on Christmas morning.)

According to laboratory tests carried out by scientists at the London Metropolitan University, out of date beauty products can contain deadly bacteria.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.)

Warning all grannies! A student's grandmother is far more likely to die suddenly just before the student takes an exam, than at any other time of year. (According to a study carried out by Mike Adams, a Professor of Biology at Eastern Connecticut State University, grandmothers are 10 times more likely to die before a midterm, and 19 times more likely to die before a final exam. Additionally, grandmothers of those students who are not doing well in class are at higher risk: students who are failing are 50 times more likely to lose a grandmother compared with non-failing students. Ban exams and save a granny!)

Around 5000 people need treatment in hospital for severe allergic reactions each year in the UK. (Sadly some cases are fatal, causing an average of 10 deaths annually. According to the European Academy of Allergy, food allergies affect more than 17 million people across Europe. It reminds me of the story in the UK , about the supermarket that had to remove packets of nuts from their shelves, because they didn't warn people that the packet contained nuts.)

According to data from life insurance companies you are less likely to die in your 50s and 60s than at any other time in your life. (Good news for anyone facing middle age.)

The UK government has announced plans to spend £85m building a secure college in Leicestershire that will hold up to 320 young people in custody.. (This should go under "sad facts", because it's in reaction to the number of deaths in custody over the last 10 years.  During that time, 163 young people under the age of 24 have killed themselves in prison in the UK The secure college is planned to be the first step towards several other so called "fortified schools" that will eventually cater for the vast majority of young offenders.)

New government guidance in the UK will tell pensioners how long left they have to live. (Everyone approaching retirement in Britain will be told when they are expected to die. The UK's Pensions Minister, Steve Webb, is asking pension providers to give people an "estimate" of their shelf life. Seemingly we usually underestimate how long we are likely to live, Mr Webb said, "Many people underestimate how long they will live. If you are thinking about this, what do you do? For best guidance you probably think about how long your grandparents lived, but that is two generations out of date...  Retirees need to gain a sense of how long they might live to help make financial decisions." Thanks for the concern Mr Webb, but frankly, I would rather not know.)

Statistically speaking more British people die during the first full week than any other time of a year. (According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, deaths by day during December and January in England and Wales peak during the first full week of the year, and the risk is even higher if you are unlucky enough to be admitted to hospital during that time. The nice thing is, if you're reading this, you survived! Well done.)

According to Professor Hugh Pennington, professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, 'bags-for-life' should never be used to carry raw meat or vegetables with soil on them. (He says bacteria can be transferred from the meat to the bag and then onto other products which are eaten raw - such as fruit - causing food poisoning, and raw meat should be carried in plastic bags which are then binned. In a study by University of Pennsylvania it was found that since San Francisco banned the use of plastic bags in 2007, hospitalisations and deaths from food-borne illnesses have nearly doubled. Penn Law professor, Jonathan Klick, found that eight per cent of reusable shopping bags contain E.coli and that 97 per cent of people admit to never washing their reusable bags. Even more scary is that they claim that washing the bags or cleaning them with antibacterial sprays is not sufficient.  This makes me feel a bit sad, because I hate plastic bags, I regularly wash my canvas b

According to research from the Australian School of Business, the age you decide to retire at has no impact on life expectancy. (Did you notice the "you decide to retire" bit? Seemingly if you are forced into retirement because of redundancy or ill health, it can have a detrimental effect on your life expectancy. There are still reasons to keep working though, research carried out at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherché Médicale (INSERM) in France has shown that people who work for longer are less likely to develop dementia. They concluded that a person who retires at 65 is 15 per cent less likely to develop the condition than someone who retires at 60. It is believed that this is because intellectual stimulation and mental engagement are protective against dementia. I wonder if going to Bingo would have the same effect?)

According to China News Agency attacks by hornets in northern China have killed 41 people since July. (A combination of rapid urbanisation and climate change seem to contributing to the problem. More than 1,600 people have also been injured by stings in Shaanxi province, but the hornets behind the deadly attacks this summer appear to be the Asian giant hornet, or Vespa mandarinia.  Scarily, they can grow up to 5cm long and have a 6mm sting.)

According to a series of studies, published in the Lancet, more boys in the United States, age 15 to 19, are  likely to die a violent death than any other Western nation. (T he Western nations with the highest rates of violent death per 100,000 teens are:- 1. United States -- 17 2. Israel -- 4 3. Switzerland -- 4 4. Canada -- 3 5. Ireland -- 3 6. New Zealand -- 3 7. Estonia -- 2 8. Sweden -- 2 * United Kingdom -- 1)

Today is the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. It will be the most expensive funeral ever held in the UK. (It will cost an estimated £10 million. but half of that, £5 million, will be on security.  Why do we need so much security? Lots of overtime there probably.)

Researchers compiled a World Death Table from the 2010 Global Burden of Disease study, and  found that rising levels of drink and drug abuse are turning Britain into one of the sickest countries in the Western world. (According to research, which compares premature death rates in 19 wealthy nations, only Finland, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark and the US have worse premature death rates. The really worrying thing for me is that there is a "World Death Table". )

Some cheeses are saltier than a bag of crisps (According to a report by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), Alarming levels of salt in cheese are contributing to an epidemic of high blood pressure responsible for strokes, heart attacks and thousands of early deaths a year. Death by cheese? I can think of worse ways to go.)

According to research led by the University of Zurich's Dr Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross, you are 14% more likely to die on your birthday than on any other day of the year. (The research analysed data from 2.5 million deaths in Switzerland between 1969 and 2008, and it doesn't seem to matter what age you are, or what sex. The researchers put it nicely, "birthdays… appear to end up in a lethal way more frequently than expected ." Chillingly Professor David Spiegelhalter, a statistician from Cambridge University, says " It's purely a birthday effect." So, if it's your birthday today... Be careful out there.)

According to a study study, published in the British Medical Journal , fried food is not bad for the heart if it's cooked in olive, or sunflower oil. (For over 11 years, scientists surveyed the cooking methods of 40,757 healthy adults, ages 29 to 69, in Spain and concluded that heart disease events and deaths were not statistically tied to fried food consumption. I'm just wondering what fish and chips fried in olive oil would taste like.)

Honduras has the world's highest murder rate. (The National Commission for Human Rights has calculated that there is a violent death every 74 minutes in this small nation of about eight million people, and in 2011 they recorded the highest murder rate in the world, with 86 people killed for every 100,000 inhabitants. In  Mexico the rate is 18, in the UK it is just over 1. What fuels the violence in Honduras, and in Mexico? Illegal drugs. So, if you take / deal / transport or make money from this stuff, you are part of the problem.)