Interesting Facts

25th June 1678 – Elena Cornaro Piscopia became the first woman to be awarded a doctorate of philosophy. 1876 – Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. 1947 – The Diary of Anne Frank was published. 1951 - The first colour TV broadcast took place on America's CBS Network. 1991 – Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence from Yugoslavia. 1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia killed 19 U.S. servicemen. 2006 – Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped in a cross-border raid from the Gaza Strip in Palestine. 2007 – Severe flooding hit England. Parts of Lincolnshire and Yorkshire flooded including Louth, Horncastle and worst affected, Hull. 2009 - Michael Jackson died.

David Bowie's album Blackstar has reached number 1 in the American album charts. It is his first number 1 album in the US, and the first posthumous number one album in the US since Michael Jackson's This Is It soundtrack, which topped the chart in November 2009. (He had managed to reach number 2 spot with his 2013 album, The Next Day. Meanwhile, in the UK, 19 of his albums entered the UK album charts last week, after fans sought out his classic hits.

The Los Angeles mansion where Michael Jackson died is on sale for $23.9 million. (The seven-bedroom, 13-bathroom property, includes its own movie-theater, a gym and a pool, a magnificent wine cellar and tasting room, an elevator, a spacious spa with gym, and a guesthouse, as well as an "expansive pool and gardens," it said. The house, built in 2002 in the Holmby Hills district west of Los Angeles, includes more than 17,000 square feet (1,580 square meters) of living space with 12 working fireplaces, and is set in 1.26 acres. I'll just check my bank balance.)

According to Billboard magazine, Michael Jackson has earned nearly a billion dollars - £675million - since his death a year ago. (In the last year, 24 million of his albums have been sold around the world, along with a million more records by the Jackson Five and the Jacksons. 12.9 million track downloads in the U.S over the past year, along with 26.5 million in international downloads. Then the executors raked in a further £1.3 million from digital performance royalties from music subscription services and £3 million from global digital performances. About £3.3million has come in from ringtone sales. His publishing company, Mijac, had an estimated value of £35 million in 2005 - has a current value of around £102 million, generating around £17 million a year in revenue, with that number possibly doubling to £34 million in the past year. All in all the money keeps rolling in.)

Do you remember that rhinestone-encrusted glove worn by pop icon Michael Jackson for his first "moonwalk" dance in 1983? Well it sold for $350,000 at an auction in New York. (The pre-sale estimate was a mere 40,000 to 60,000 dollars, but obviously someone wanted it - a lot. I just wonder what they're going to put on their other hand.)