- There's a mountain range the size of the Alps hidden underneath the ice of Antarctica - and nobody knows how it got there. The Gamburtsev Mountain Range stretches for 1,200km, and is up to 3,400m high - but because the ice is 4km deep, nobody's ever seen them. Current theories of how massive mountain ranges form (either by continental plates colliding, or through volcanic activity) don't seem to explain how these mountains might have been created. A scientific expedition is currently being planned to study them in more detail, in an effort to work out what they're doing there.
- The four suits now commonly used in a deck of cards originated from France around 1480. The kings on the cards are the faces of some of the great kings in history. The King of Spades is King David, who was regarded as the founder of the Judean royal dynasty by the 9th century BC. The King of Clubs is Alexander the Great, the ancient Greek King that conquered most of the world known to his countrymen. Hearts is King Charlemagne- leader of The Franks, who in the Middle Ages conquered most of Western Europe. And King of Diamonds is Julius Caesar, the Roman king who played a significant role in the transformation of the Roman Empire.
- On February 10, 1355 rioting broke out in Oxford between the scholars of the University and the townspeople - started by an argument over the quality of wine in a local tavern, during which 'saucy' words were spoken. Almost 100 people died in the ensuing fighting.
- The Niagara Falls ran dry on March 29, 1848, after an ice dam further up the Niagara River blocked the flow of water from Lake Erie. People were able to walk along the river bed for a day before the ice broke.
- A beer flood hit London in 1814 after a giant vat burst. More than 1million litres of booze spilled from a brewery in Tottenham Court Road, killing nine people – including one from alcohol poisoning.
- 14 ships and their crews were trapped when the Suez Canal was closed due to the 1967 Six-Day War. They remained stuck there for eight years – during which time they set up their own postal system (complete with stamps), held a mock Olympic games, and formed a yachting club. They were known as the 'Yellow Fleet', because of the amount of sand that collected on their decks.
- The unofficial anthem of Cornwall, The Song Of The Western Men (otherwsie known as 'Trelawny'), was composed by Robert Stephen Hawker, an eccentric, opium-smoking priest in 1824 – but he passed it off as a long-lost traditional poem, fooling Sir Walter Scott and Charles Dickens in the process.
- In 1997, scientists recorded a mysterious, powerful, low-frequency noise under the sea. The 'Bloop', as it is known, appeared to come from a gigantic animal, far larger than any known creature. What made it remains unknown.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment