The Architeuthis dux is commonly known as the giant squid. Specimens have measured up to 18 m (59 ft) in length and 900 kg (1,980 lb) in weight. At 9:15am local time on 30 September 2004, Japanese researchers managed to photograph an 8-m (26-ft) giant squid that had become entangled on a bait that they had laid for it, in waters nearly 1 km (0.6 mile) deep, off the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Prior to this occasion, an adult giant squid had never been observed in
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The first ever side-scrolling beat-emup was Kung-Fu Master, released in Japanese arcades in 1984. Laying down the template for the genre, Kung-Fu Master featured multiple enemies, five side-scrolling floors and a clichéd storyline that revolved around saving a girlfriend. The game was ported to numerous home computers and consoles, and has been cited as the inspiration for a number of other series in the beatem- up genre, including Final Fight and Streets of Rage. Featured in Guinness World Records Gamer”s Edition 2010
The world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, erected in 1884-1885. The so-called “Father of the Skyscraper” towered all of 10 stories with its peak at 138 feet, miniature by today’s standards but gargantuan at that time. The architect, Major William LeBaron Jenney, incorporated a steel frame that supported not only the walls but the great weight of the entire building. The exterior, however, was made of brick. This technique spawned a new type of construction referred to as the “Chicago Skeleton.”
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The first species of mammal shown to breathe through its skin, at least for part of its life, is the Julia Creek dunnart (Sminthopsis douglasi), a tiny species of Australian marsupial mouse. McGill University (Australia) physiologist Dr Jacopo Mortola (Canada) has discovered that although as an adult this shrew-like marsupial breathes through its lungs like other mammals, when first born it is so small – only 4 mm (0.15 in) long – that its muscles are too weak to inflate its lungs. Consequently, it absorbs
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Game: StarBlade Publisher: Namco The first-person arcade shooter StarBlade (1991) featured quadraphonic sound and a vibrating cockpit seat. It was also the first sit-down arcade cabinet to use a fresnel lens to reflect the image from a standard 26-in monitor onto the interior of the “pod”, giving a unique 3D wraparound “space” effect. A fresnel lens (named after its inventor, Augustin-Jean Fresnel) is a thin, lightweight lens composed of concentric rings, such as that used in lighthouses.
Col. Joe Kittinger, USAF became the first man to complete a solo transatlantic crossing by balloon. In the 2850m3 101,000ft3 helium-filled balloon Rosie O’Grady, Kittinger lifted off from Caribou, Maine, USA on 14 Sep 1984 and completed a distance of 5701km 3543miles before landing at Montenotte, near Savona, Italy 86hours later on 18 Sep 1984.
Soap operas began life on American radio in the 1930’s and the name alluded to the soap manufacturers that most often sponsored these continuing dramas that captivated many of the at-home female audience. The mother of the soap opera was Irna Phillips (USA) who created the first radio soap Painted Dreams and would later go on to create three giants in the field The Guiding Light (USA, NBC Radio from 1937-1956, CBS TV from 1952-present) As the World Turns (USA, CBS TV 1956-present) and Another
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Naomi Uemura (1941–84), the Japanese explorer and mountaineer, became the first person to reach the North Pole in a solo trek across the Arctic sea-ice at 4:45 a.m. GMT on 1 May 1978. He had travelled 725 km (450 miles), setting out on 7 March from Cape Edward, Ellesmere Island in northern Canada.
The journey, which was the first solo Pacific crossing, started from the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea and ended at Mendham, Saskatchewan, Canada (? below). The crossing took from 17 – 21 February 1995.
On 15 September 2007, Garth Brooks’ (USA) track ‘More Than A Memory’ became the first record to ever enter the US Country chart at No.1 in its first week.