Interesting Facts

31st May 1578 – King Henry III* laid the first stone of the Pont Neuf (New Bridge), in Paris. It is now the oldest bridge there. 1669 – Citing poor eyesight, Samuel Pepys recorded the last event in his diary. 1946 - Heathrow International airport opened for civilian use. 1985 - The Football Association, supported by Margaret Thatcher, banned English football clubs from playing in Europe following the Heysel stadium tragedy. *Henry III of France of course. 

How many Heathrow workers does it take to change a light-bulb? (The answer is - none, because since opening in 2008, not a single bulb has been replaced in terminal 5's departure lounge at Heathrow. In some areas up to 60 per cent of the lights have blown, but they haven't been replaced because there is no safe way to reach them. The people who designed the terminal, which cost £4.5billion, appear to have overlooked basic maintenance, light-bulbs need to be changed, and some of them are positioned 120ft above the ground. I would have thought pulleys and lifts would have been on the specs, but seemingly not. They have tried cherry-pickers and hydraulic boom lifts to replace the downlighters, but none were deemed to be practical or safe enough, and now, a team of specialist wire walkers has been given the job of stopping the lights from going out completely. It will take four months and cost millions of pounds. I wonder if they will play circus music whilst they ...

6.9 million passengers flew in or out of Heathrow in July 2011, up 2.5% from July 2010. (Its all-time busiest day was Sunday July 31. I wonder if they were arriving or leaving.)

In 2007 London Heathrow handled 67.8 million passengers. (Do you like the way they use the word "handled"? It reminds me of signs in my local greengrocers; "Please don't handle the produce".)

In 1946 London Heathrow International Airport's number one terminal was an army surplus tent situated a short walk from the aircraft. (I bet they didn't lose your luggage!)

Heathrow is the world's busiest airport for passenger traffic, and handles more international passenger traffic than any other airport in the world. (I wonder if they lose more luggage than any other airport in the world too.)