Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand ‘Christian’ Mortensen (Denmark/USA, b. 16 August 1882, d. 25 April 1998) died aged 115 years 252 days. He is the only Nordic person to live beyond the age of 113. New evidence has come to light that casts doubt on the long-standing longevity record held by Shigechiyo Izumi (Japan). The birth certificate submitted as evidence might actually belong to his older brother, who died at a young age; if the family used Izumi as a ‘necronym’ that is, gave him
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The oldest satellite still orbiting in April 2000 was the tiny – 1.4 kg 3 lb 1 oz – Vanguard 1 (USA), which was launched on 17 Mar 1958. Although no longer operating, it continues to orbit. Vanguard I is also the oldest piece of orbital space debris. [Source: National Geographic, “Clearing Space”, Michael D. Lemonick, pp.30-33, July 2010] Note by consultant Mark Aston (October 2011): This is still valid. 17th March 2008 was Vanguard One’s 50th anniversary in orbit.
The National Hockey League (NHL) goaltending record for most consecutive seasons winning at least 30 games is 12 by Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils following the 2007-08 season.
34.03 Jeremy Wotherspoon (Canada) in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, on 9 November 2007
The largest living cat is Hercules, an adult male liger (lion x tigress hybrid) currently housed at Myrtle Beach Safari, a wildlife reserve in South Carolina, USA. In total length, he measures 3.33 m (131 in), stands 1.25 m (49 in) at the shoulder, and weighs 418.2 kg (922 lb). Ligers are generally larger than their two parental species. In contrast, tigons, hybrids resulting from the reciprocal cross (tiger x lioness), are often smaller. He is pictured here with Moksha Bybee, an animal trainer from
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4:21.04 Julia Smit (USA) 18 December 2009 Manchester, UK
182 kg Le Maosheng (China) Busan, South Korea 2 October 2002
In Greek mythology, those who looked directly at Medusa would turn to stone. In Kansas City, Missouri, USA, those who look directly at Medusa may not do that – but they certainly come to a stone cold stop. That’s because the Medusa you find at the city’s Full Moon Productions isn’t some mythological figure of yore. It’s the longest snake ever in captivity. Medusa, a reticulated python, clocked in at 7.67 meters (25 feet, 2 inches) long in its official world record measurement, on October
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Sri Lanka scored 952 for 6 against India at Colombo on 4-6 Aug 1997. England scored 903 runs for seven wickets declared in 15hr 17min, v. Australia at The Oval, London on 20, 22 and 23 Aug 1938.
The use of zero, or ‘0’, was first used by the Babylonians around 300 BC, as a placeholder, like the ‘0’ in ’10’ or ‘100’. The oldest known reference to zero as a numerical value to signify ‘nothing’ was by the Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta, in his great work of 628 AD, the Brahmasphutasiddhanta.