Mark Hamill (USA) was the first actor to star in both a No.1-selling video game and a box office-topping Hollywood movie. In 1977, Hamill played the role of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope. He also played the role in the two sequels Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, both of which were also No. 1 box office hits. In 1994, Hamill played the role of Colonel Christopher Blair in the No.1-selling PC game Wing Commander
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The first karaoke videogame to exclusively feature hip-hop tracks was Get On Da Mic (Eidos, 2004), which was released in October 2004) Featured in Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2011 Artists including Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Public Enemy and Kanye West were featured.
The first hijack of a commercial airliner, occurred on 17 July 1948, when terrorists attempted to gain control of a Cathay Pacific Airways seaplane en route from Macau to Hong Kong, ultimately causing it to crash into the sea off Macau. Only one, out of 26 passengers and crew, survived.
Horsemanship was an important part of the Hittite culture of Anatolia, Turkey dating from 1400 BC. The 33rd ancient Olympic Games of 648 BC in Greece featured horse racing. The earliest horse race recorded in England was one held in about AD 210 at Netherby, Cumbria, among Arabians brought to Britain by Lucius Septimius Severus (AD 146—211), Emperor of Rome. Information from Archives (e.g. 1983). Submitted for use in Scholastic’s Modern Marvels.
The Gömböc is a mathematical shape first theorised in 1996 and proven in 2006 by Hungarian scientists Péter Várkonyi and Gábor Domokos. It is a three-dimensional shape which is mono-monostatic, convex, and homogeneous i.e., with equal density throughout. It is characterized by its properties of balance in that it has two equilibria, one stable and one unstable.
Dick Smith and John Wallington achieved flying over Australia in The Australian Geographic Flyer, leaving Carnarvon, WA on 17 Jun 1993 and landing at Tabulam, NSW the following day after a flight of 3867km 2088nauticalmiles lasting 40hr 23min.
The first human arrow was Tony Zedoras, billed as `Alar’, at the Barnum & Bailey Circus in the USA in 1896.
The earliest patent relating to air-cushioned craft was applied for in 1877 by Sir John I. Thornycroft (1843–1928) of London, and the idea was developed by Toivo Kaario of Finland in 1935.
The first public flight by a full-sized hovercraft was made by the 4-tonne (8,800 lb) Saunders-Roe SR.N1 at Cowes, Isle of Wight on 11 June 1959. With a 680 kg (1500 lb) thrust Viper turbojet engine, this craft reached 68 knots (126 km/h or 78 mph) in June 1961. The hovercraft was the brainchild of Sir Christopher Cockerell (UK).
The Snowbird is a very light aircraft, weighing only 43 kg (94 pounds). It is built from kevlar, foam and balsa wood and is powered by the human body. Such an aircraft is called an Ornithopter. On 2 August 2010, Todd Reichert, a Canadian student, powered and flew the Snowbird for 19.3 seconds, maintaining an altitude of three metres, and flying at an average speed of 25.6 km/h (16.5 mph). It flew 145 m (476 ft) at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario.
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