The earliest date in the calendar year on which the English Channel has been swum is 30 May by Kevin Murphy (UK) in 1990, who achieved a time of 13 hr 16 min with the water at a temperature of 12ºC (54ºF).
The International Dark Sky Association has named Utah’s Natural Bridges National Monument as the first Dark Sky Park – that is, an area in which the night sky can be viewed clearly, without any “light pollution”. Up to two-thirds of humanity lives under light pollution according to the Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute. Simple steps such as covering the tops of street lights can help remedy the problem.
In October 2005 Gwen Stefani’s (USA) ‘Hollaback Girl’ became the first track to be have one million paid downloads in the USA.
The first ever ‘smiley’ was written by Scott Fahlman (USA) of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA, on 19 September 1982. In a message on a bulletin board system, he proposed the use of 🙂 and 🙁 in emails, to signify the emotional context of the message and prevent misunderstandings in email communication.
In November 2001, astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to detect light passing through the atmosphere at the edge of the planet HD 209458b as it passed in front of its star. Spectral analysis of this light revealed the presence of sodium in the atmosphere of this scorched gas giant, which orbits its star in just 3.5 days. Subsequent observations of this planet have suggested the presence of water vapour in its atmosphere.
Designed to allow operators to neutralise targets such as roadside bombs and other unexploded ordnance at a safe distance (300 metres, 984 ft), the first battlefield ray gun, or direct energy weapon, has now been deployed to an active theatre of operations, probably Iraq. It is called Zeus, after the Greek god of sky and thunder. It is not designed to kill. Currently, explosives, such as that contained in rocket-propelled grenades, are often used but these can miss and are expensive. Up to about 12
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The Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) was the first celestial object ever to be identified as being a spiral. The discovery was made by William Parsons, Third Earl of Rosse (Ireland) in 1845. Parsons used his own telescope, The Leviathan, then the world’s largest, at Birr Castle, County Offaly, Ireland. This discovery paved the way for the realisation that these ‘spiral nebulae’ were actually distinct from our own galaxy and were whole seperate galaxies.
In 2009, Stephen Daldry (UK) became the first director to receive Academy Award nominations for Best Director from his first three films. The Reader (USA, 2009), The Hours (USA, 2002) and Billy Elliot (UK, 2000) were all shortlisted for an Oscar but all failed to win the award.
First direct lunar hit The first direct hit on the Moon was achieved 2min 24sec after midnight (Moscow time) on 14 Sep 1959, by the Soviet space probe Luna II near Mare Serenitatis.
The first sniffer dog to be trained and used soley for the purpose of identifying illegal mobile (cell) phones is Murphy, a springer spaniel, who was trained by the Eastern Area Drug Dog team, UK, to identify a certain scent emitted by mobile phones. Murphy works with his handler, Mel Barker (UK), to detect such contraband items amongst prisoners at Norwich Prison (HMP Norwich), East Anglia, UK – items that can be used to plot escapes, arrange drugs deliveries or to intimidate witnesses from their
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