In May 2006, Shayne Ward (UK), the winner of X-Factor 2005 became the first artist to perform live at 11 Downing Street – the home of the British Prime Minister. NB Tony Blair choses to live at No. 11.

The first sniffer dog to be trained and used soley for the purpose of identifying illegal mobile (cell) phones is Murphy, a springer spaniel, who was trained by the Eastern Area Drug Dog team, UK, to identify a certain scent emitted by mobile phones. Murphy works with his handler, Mel Barker (UK), to detect such contraband items amongst prisoners at Norwich Prison (HMP Norwich), East Anglia, UK – items that can be used to plot escapes, arrange drugs deliveries or to intimidate witnesses from their Continue reading →

The earliest major international fair was the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London, which in 141 days attracted 6,039,195 admissions.

First Female Detective (ie paid investigator not amateur sleuth) to front her own show was Stacey Smith (played by Hattie Jaques) in the UK series Miss Adventure (UK ABC 1964).

Britain’s first female-led cop show was The Gentle Touch (ITV, 1980–84), starring Jill Gascoigne as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes.

The UK defence company, BAE, in cooperation with Cranfield University and nine other UK universities, has produced an unmanned aerial vehicle with no conventional control surfaces. The UAV, the DEMON, uses outputs from air jets to control airflow over the wing – based on a concept called fluidic flight control – manipulating lift and drag to control its flight path rather than employing traditional, mechanical elevators and ailerons. The maiden flight took place on 17 September 2010 from an airfield at Walney Island in Cumbria, Continue reading →

The first geological map was drawn by William Smith. He compiled it in 1799 of the area around the city of Bath, UK. It is now kept in the archives of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford. Smith also drew the oldest geological map of England and Wales, in 1801.

Holidaymakers in Weymouth beach in Dorset, UK, can spend the night in a hotel made entirely of sand. A total of 600 hours were needed to build the open-air 15 m? (50 ft?) hotel. A family room with a double and single bed, and a sea view, can be rented for ?10 (US$21) a night. The hotel was the brainchild of sculptor Mark Anderson (UK), who was commissioned by the website LateRooms.com.

The first triple transplant patient was Davina Thompson (b. 28 February 1951 – d. 13 August 1998) of Rawmarsh, South Yorkshire, UK. On 17 December 1986 at Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, she underwent surgery for seven hours by a team of 15 headed by chest surgeon Mr John Wallwork and Prof. Sir Roy Calne (both UK) . She died at the age of 47 on 13 August 1998.

Although sat nav devices are associated with the digital age, they had a remarkable precedent in the Plus Fours Routefinder, created in 1920. This device took the form of a UK road map on a small scroll, mounted on a wristband; by rotating rollers, the map on the scroll could be turned, enabling a driver to navigate the route. A number of different route scrolls were included, each of which included helpful directions, mileage and a ‘Stop’ instruction, informing the driver when the journey had Continue reading →