On 3 April 1933, two aircraft, a Houston-Westland and a Westland-Wallace – both open cockpit bi-planes fitted with Bristol Pegasus SIII engines – made the first manned flights over Mount Everest (29,035feet), the highest mountain in the world. The aircraft took off from Lalbalu aerodrome, near Purnea, India crewed by Colonel LVS Blacker and Squadron Leader the Lord Clydesdale in one and Flight Lieutenant DF MacIntyre and Mr SR Bonnet in the other. The flight took three hours, covered a return distance of 320 miles
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Due to make its first flight in February 2009, the ultimate off-roader, the Terrafugia Transition, the first integrated, fixed roadable aircraft -or flying car – is a two-seater aircraft that, at the touch of a button, converts in just 15 seconds to a car that has the potential to be legally used on certain roads. The wings fold automatically and all the parts are in the vehicle. It will cruise at 100 knots, carry a useful payload of 430lbs burn 5 gallons an hour in
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A flying return trapeze act was first performed by Jules Léotard (France) at Cirque Napoleon, Paris, France on 12 November 1859.
The 12-part An American Family (USA, PBS, filmed 1971; aired 1973) is considered to be the first TV show to feature a prolonged fly-on-the-wall look at real people. Over 10 million viewers would tune in each week to watch as the “stars” – the Louds, a typical nuvlear family from Santa Barbara, alifornia, USA – went about their everyday lives. Viewing figures peaked when mother Ann asked father Bill for a divorce.
Dating back to the Sumerian Empire of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the epic poem known as The Epic of Gilgamesh contains what is believed to be the first formal declaration of war. Among the earliest works of literature, this poem describes the exploits of Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk in Mesopotamia in approximately 2500 BC. Scholars believe the poem was originally composed in 1800–1700 BC (nearly 1,000 years before Homer is thought to have written The Iliad and The Odyssey) and later recorded on clay tablets
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Wo hu zang long (Taiwan/Hong Kong/USA/China 2000), aka Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, grossed $128,067,808 (£65,645,165) at the US box office, the first foreign-language movie (it was filmed in Mandarin Chinese) to break the $100 million (£51 million) mark.
The first ever FIFA World Cup goal was scored by Lucien Laurent (France), playing for France against Mexico at the 1930 World Cup, in Estadio Pocitos, Montevideo, Uruguay, on 13 July 1930. The goal, a 19th-minute volley, was the opener in France’s 4-?1 victory over the Mexico team. France lost their two remaining group games and was eliminated from the tournament after the opening stages. Laurent, an inside forward, played 10 times for his country in all, scoring two goals.
The earliest full-scale automobile was the first of two military steam tractors, completed at the Paris Arsenal in October 1769 by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804). It reached a maximum speed of 4km/h (2.5mph). Cugnot’s second, larger tractor, completed in May 1771, today survives in the Conservatoire Nationale des Arts et Métiers in Paris. The first of Cugnot’s vehicles, the voiture et petit (‘carriage in miniature’) was authorized by the Minister of War for the carrying of cannons. It was tested early in 1770 and could carry
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The earliest full-length feature cartoon was El Apóstol (Argentina, 1917), directed by Quirino Cristiani and produced by Federico Valle (Argentina), with a running time of 70 mins. Compiled from 58,000 drawings, it took 12 months to finish. A political satire about the then president of Argentina, Hipólito Yrigoyen, it was drawn by Quirino Cristiani and Diógenes Taborda and designed by the architect Andrés Ducaud.
The oldest reptile fossil, nicknamed `Lizzie the Lizard’, a stem-amniote or reptiliomorph, was found on a site in Scotland by palaeontologist Stan Wood in March 1988. The 20.3-cm (8-in) long reptile is estimated to be about 340 million years old, 40 million years older than previously discovered reptiles. `Lizzie’ was officially named Westlothiana lizziae in 1991.