?? Floating Dogs, Female Bees, and the BBC

SINCE 2014 ?

1 million ?- ?Number of lives that Volvo are credited with saving in the first 40 years after they invented the 3-point seat belt. Instead of keeping the design protected, they allowed everyone to use it in the interest of public safety.?

3 ?- ?Number of dogs who survived the Titanic sinking. All were in first class.

1924 ?- ?Year that the BBC broadcast a cellist playing a duet with a nightingale. In 2022 they admitted it was fake and they had used a bird-impressionist called Madame Saberon.

1 billion ?- ?Estimated number of people worldwide who have sleep apnoea.?

80:20 ?- ?Ratio of female bees to male bees in social bee colonies. Males are just needed to mate, whereas females feed, clean, and protect the nests so more are required.?

10 x ?- ?Increase in the power of seeing real-life artworks compared to seeing their reproductions. Real ones activate a part of the brain associated with self-reflection.

1 ?- ?Number of months of the year that Shakespeare never mentioned in all of his plays and sonnets. It was November.? ?

This Week in History . .

1492 - Christopher Columbus first sighted Cuba and claimed it for Spain under the name "Juana".?

1863 - The FA was formed in England, officially splitting football and rugby. Their first meeting was in the Freemasons' Tavern on Great Queen Street. Most of it has now been demolished giving way to the Grand Connaught Rooms.??

1918 - Spanish flu kills 21,000 in the US in a single week. Estimated global deaths sit between 20 and 100 million people.?

1982 - China announces its population has reached 1 billion. Since then it has added 400 million people.?

1984 - The Terminator was released. The studio originally wanted O.J. Simpson to play the lead role before Arnold Schwarzenegger was given the chance.? ?

Have a great week!