When Andy Green (UK) set the land speed record in 1997 in the Black Rock Desert, it was the first time that anyone on land had gone faster than the speed of sound (usually around 1,236 km/h, or 768 mph) in dry air at 20°C (68°F). The resultant sonic boom shook a school and caused sprinkler covers to fall off in the nearby town of Gerlach. Pilot Green achieved the record 50 years and a day after the sound barrier was broken in the air by pilot
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While semi-submersible “narco subs”, which float at or marginally below the surface of the sea, have been used by drug smugglers for about 17 years, the first, long range, fully submersible, technologically advanced “narco” submarine was seized on 2 July 2010 in a mangrove swamp near San Lorenzo, just south of the Columbian border, by Ecuadorian police authorities before its maiden voyage. Capable of carrying between 7-10 tonnes of drugs (with an estimated value of US $100 million for pure cocaine), the diesel electric submarine
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The world’s first passenger-carrying automobile was a steam-powered road vehicle carrying eight passengers and built by Richard Trevithick (1771-1833). It first ran at Camborne, Cornwall on 24 Dec 1801.
The term “cargo cults” was coined in 1945 to describe remote tribes – found mostly in Melanesia – that pray for the return of the various goods that appeared, seemingly miraculously, during occupation of their islands by colonialists. The two key phases of this occupation were the turn of the 20th century and World War II, during the Allied forces’ Pacific campaign. The earliest known cargo cult – Fiji’s Tuka Movement – is thought to date back to 1885.
Pat Sullivan’s (USA) Felix the Cat who appeared in 1919 as the animal that `kept on walking’, was not only the first cartoon character to attain the celebrity of a human star but also was the first to be as an image on packaging in 1924. Felix was also merchandised as a phenomenally successful cuddly toy two years later.
The world’s first cash dispenser was installed at Barclays Bank, Enfield, Middlesex, UK, on 27 June 1967.
The earliest known castle is in the old city of Sana’a, Yemen. Known as Gomdan or Gumdan Castle, it dates from before AD200 and originally had 20 storeys. Castle from the Latin castellum ‘small fortified palace’
The world’s first circular cinema is located in the European Park of the Moving Image at Futuroscope near Poitiers, France. It consists of nine projectors and nine screens covering a total surface area of 272 m² (2,928 ft²). The process enables the projection of nine electronically synchronised films offering a 360° field of vision.
Released on the GameCube in Japan in June 2003, Viewtiful Joe was the first beat-em-up to feature cel-shading, a technique used to make videogame graphics appear hand drawn. Coming at the height of cel-shading mania (kicked off by Jet Set Radio in 2000), Viewtiful Joe combined traditional hand-to-hand combat with “VFX Powers”, which allowed the player to slow down and speed up time. Featured in Guinness World Records Gamer”s Edition 2010
The concept of a portable telephone first appeared in 1947 at Lucent Technologies’ Bell Labs, New Jersey, USA. The first actual portable telephone handset was invented by Martin Cooper (USA), of Motorola, who made the first call on 3 April 1973 to his rival, Joel Engel, head of research at Bell Labs. The first commercial mobile phone network was launched in Japan in 1979.