The world’s oceans are constantly changing in size as tectonics makes the great plates of the Earth’s crust slowly move around. The Pacific is the oldest of the current ocean basins, with the oldest rocks on its floor being around 200 million years old. The Pacific is gradually shrinking in size by a few cm per year as the Atlantic Ocean expands due to plate tectonics.

Chariton’s Chaireas & Callirhoe, subtitled Love Story in Syracuse, is the oldest extant novel. The novel, which was written in the first century AD,narrates the adventures of a beautiful bride named Callirhoe.  Also in existence from the same time is Apuleius’s The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses (as it is also known), which is the only Latin novel which still survives in whole. This book is reported to have been written in AD123. 

At 44 years 66 days, Jacques Plante (b. 17 January 1929, d. 27 February 1986, Canada) became the oldest National Hockey League (NHL) goalie to record a shutout when he stopped 29 shots as the Boston Bruins (USA) blanked the New York Rangers (USA) 3-0 on 24 March 1973.

Mummification dates from 2600BC or the 4th dynasty of the Egyptian pharaohs. The oldest complete mummy is of Wati, a court musician of c. 2400BC from the tomb of Nefer in Saqqâra, Egypt, found in 1944.

The fastest time to complete a marathon on each continent and the North Pole (female) is 225 days 18 hours and was achieved by Fiona Oakes (UK) from 8 April to 20 November 2013. Marathon 1 (North Pole) – North Pole Marathon, 08/04/13 – 04:53:10 (1st place) Marathon 2 (Europe) – Isle of Man Marathon, 11/08/13 – 3:12:55 (1st place) Marathon 3 (Australasia) – Adelaide Marathon, 25/08/13 – 3:08:43 (3rd place) Marathon 4 (Asia) – Siberian International Marathon, 22/09/13 – 3:11:47 (13th place) Marathon 5 Continue reading →

The oldest player to captain a Champions League team is Paolo Maldini (Italy, b. 26 June 1968) when he led AC Milan out against Arsenal in London, UK, on 20 February 2008 aged 39 years 239 days.

The most body piercings in one session is 3,900 in 7 hours and 46 minutes achieved by Tyson Turk and Chris Elliot (both USA) at the Tyson Turk Body Mod Studio, Irving, Texas, USA, on 09 July 2011.

The oldest female row any ocean solo is Diana Hoff (UK, b. 1 May 1944), who rowed the Atlantic East to West solo, in Star Atlantic II between 13 September 1999 – 5 January 2000, aged 55 years 152 days at the start.

The oldest player in NHL history is Gordie Howe (Canada, b. 31 March 1928) who was 52 years old when he retired in 1980. The second-oldest player to appear in an NHL game is the currently active Detroit Red Wings (USA) defenseman Chris Chelios (USA, b. 24 January 1962, USA) who turned 46 years old during the 2007-08 season.

Simon Murray (UK, b. 25 March 1940) completed an unsupported overland trek to the South Pole at the age of 63 years 309 days. He departed from a point on the Antarctic coastline near Hercules Inlet on 2 December 2003 and arrived at the Pole with his trekking partner, Pen Hadow (UK) on 28 January 2004. The trek covered a distance of approximately 1,100 km (683 miles). Unsupported means that the pair pulled all their own equipment and supplies for the entire journey – there Continue reading →