Interesting Facts

4th November 1783 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Symphony No. 36 was performed for the first time in Linz, Austria. 1839 – The Newport Rising took place, which is the last large-scale armed rebellion against authority on mainland Britain. 1847 – Sir James Young Simpson, a British physician, discovered the anaesthetic properties of chloroform. 1918 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and poet died, 6 days before the end of the war. 1922 – British archaeologist Howard Carter and his men found the entrance to Pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. 1952 – The United States government established the National Security Agency, or NSA. 1999 - Wallace and Gromit's animated adventure A Grand Day Out was first shown. 2008 – Barack Obama became the first man of African-American descent to be elected President of the United States.

2nd July 862 – St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester died. 1698 – Thomas Savery patented the first steam engine. 1776 – The Continental Congress adopted a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not approved until July 4. 1777 – Vermont became the first American territory to abolish slavery. 1839 - 53 African slaves being transported to Cuba on the Spanish merchant ship La Amistad revolted against their captors led by Joseph Cinque. 1850 – The self-contained gas mask was patented by Benjamin J. Lane. 1853 – The Russian Army invaded Turkey, beginning the Crimean War. 1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shot and fatally wounded U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually died on September 19. 1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtained a patent for radio in London. 1900 - The world's first rigid airship was demonstrated by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany...

DNA analysis has shown that the Egyptian jackal, previously believed to be a subspecies of the golden jackal, is actually a relative of the grey wolf. (Genetic information shows that the species, Canis aureus lupaster, is more closely related to Indian and Himalayan wolves than golden jackals. It has now been renamed "African wolf", and it's the only grey wolf species found in Africa.) Source: Plos One

Egyptian law says the age gap between spouses should not exceed 25 years. (In the UK we have a saying "A May to December marriage". Significantly older is usually considered 11 years or more age difference. "May" refers to the younger spouse in the spring of life, while "December" refers to the older spouse who is in the winter of life. These kinds of relationships are also known as:- * Age-discrepant unions * Age gap relationships * Gold digging * Grave robbing * Robbing the cradle And my personal favourite:- * Tadpoling )

You can be imprisoned for not voting in Fiji, Chile and Egypt. (At least in theory.)