Did You Know

THAT we won the Rugby World Cup (just in case you missed it)
THAT the RAF’s first monoplane fighter, the Hawker Hurricane, first flew on November 6th 1935
THAT Maritime New Zealand, which is charged with ensuring that all ships in New Zealand waters are up to standard and safe, does not have a Maritime Engineer on its Board.
THAT in the USA the there is only a 1% chance that the road you are on is unpaved. In Canada there is a 76% chance.
THAT last year 151 Rich List New Zealanders had income INCREASES of $7 million or more.
THAT on 8th November 1932 Franklin D Roosevelt defeated sitting USA President Herbert Hoover in a landslide, winning 42 of the 48 States.
THAT a boomerang which doesn’t work is called a stick,
THAT Tellurium-128 is the radioactive element with the longest half life: 2.2 trillion trillion years. (Not sure how the scientists worked this out. )
THAT the Willys-Overland Company launched it’s new military vehicle on November 10th 1940. The army’s official designation ‘General Purpose’ was soon shortened to ‘Jeep’ in common usage.
THAT England’s first annual holiday as of right was instituted with the passing of the Holidays Act in 1936 which guaranteed all workers one weeks holiday on full pay every year.
THAT the letter ‘e’ is the most used letter in the English language.
THAT every dog has his day but one with a broken tail has a weak end.
THAT a demonstration in Paris on November 12th 1990 by 200,000 school children demanding better education turned into a riot.
THAT Elvis Presley’s first film, ‘Love me Tender’ premiered in New York on November 15th 1956
THAT Rome (Italy) was the first city in the world to reach one million population – in 133 BC. There is a town called Rome on every continent.
THAT If you took your laptop for a run you could jog your memory
THAT Casimir Funk the Polish born American chemist who invented the word ‘vitamin’ for the newly discovered substances died at the age of 83 on November 20th 1967
THAT at the age of 20 Mike Tyson became the World’s youngest Heavyweight boxing champion by defeating Trevor Berbick in two rounds.
THAT in Britain optician’s held a monopoly on the sale of spectacles until November 28th 1983 when the government rescinded the act of parliament guaranteeing this.
THAT Spain literally means ‘the land of rabbits’.
THAT French women gained the right to vote on November 30th 1918.
THAT just to reiterate – the ‘new’ Star has now been going for four years. To mark the occasion Jasmin has completely revamped the Martinborough Star website. Check it out at: WWW.martinboroughstar.co.nz (or simply Google Martinborough Star).
THAT also – the website now has a Twitter section.