THE MINI MASK MAN AND COOL STUFF!!!

Fact 237: How invented the Turing test? Unsurprisingly the Turing test was created by Alan Turing, the Oxford dictionary definition for the Turing test is, "a test for intelligence in a computer, requiring that a human being should be unable to distinguish the machine from another human being by using the replies to questions put to both". Alan Turing published a paper called Computing Machinery and Intelligence, in 1950 in it Alan Turing writtes about the topic of artificial intelligence. the paper was the first paper to introduce his concept of what is now known as the Turing test.

Fact 236: Where does the word computer come from? The word computer is comes from the Latin word 'computare', which basically means to calculate, to think, to count, and it also means to sum up.

Fact 235: Who Invented computer science? Computer science was invented by Alan Turing and in simple words it is the study of computers and computational systems. Alan Turing published a paper on the 28th May 1936 called On Computable Numbers (the full title is On Computable Numbers, with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem) Alan Turing was Just 24 years old at the time of publication the paper is basically the complete foundation of computer science.

Fact 234: Who invented the first portable and handheld radio walkie talkie? The first portable and handheld radio walkie talkie was invented by a Canadian investor Donald Lewes Hings CM MBE (6th of November, 1907 – 25th February, 2004 aged 96). Donald Hings was born in Leicester and died in Canada. Donald Hings invented a portable radio handheld system in 1937 Hings originally at called the his portable radio (walkie talkie) a packset. It wasn't until much Later that he came up with the name “walkie talkie”. He made the walkie talkie for the military company C&MS. In 2001, Hings received the Order of Canada for the device's significance to the war effort.

Fact 233: why was the phonetic alphabet created? The Phonetic Alphabet was created to clarify and avoid misunderstandings in the pronunciation of specific words or letters. The phonetic alphabet was originally created by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)  In the 1920s. The Phonetic alphabet is the alphabet used Internationally with a radio (walkie talkie), the phonetic alphabet uses appetitular word that begin with the letter for example A is Alpha. Here is the complete list of the Phonetic Alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel, India, Juliett, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

Fact 232: Who invented Morse code? Morse code is a messaging system that uses dots and dashes to convey a message  as electrical pulses through radio waves or as flashing lights. Morse code was invented by an American investor Samuel Finley Breese Morse, (1791-1872) and Alfred Vail (1807-1859). The idea for Morse code and Telegraph key (the Morse code tapper) was originally Morse's idea Alfred Vail improved the code and improved the tapper, by adding weights to it because Morse's tapper was going to work as a pendulum, both Morse and Vail worked together on the code and the Morse code tapper during the 1832 to 1844. Originally Morse code was just going to be the alphabet A- Z however it was Vail's idea to add numbers and even Punctuation for example . _ . _ . _ is a pull stop in Morse code! In Morse code when using a Telegraph key a shot tap is a dot and that makes the sound dit and the slightly longer tap is a dashes and the sound they make is dah! I have actually liste...

Fact 231: What is The Enigma Machine and The Bombe Machine? The Enigma (machine) was the code encryption device used by the Nazis that looks similar to a typewriter with a letter row behind the the keyboard, the letter row is lights up a letter when you type on the key on the row in front and and it also has dylals on it. it was used to encrypt Nazi messages into encrypted and decrypt messages if you know the right Enigma settings for that day. The Nazi code was broken by Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman and other people at Bletchley (Park) by creating a machine that helped decoded the messages. The Bombe was basically an Enigma decryption or decoding machine that was created to decrypt the Nazi Enigma encrypted messages, the machine was created by Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman who were code-breakers working at Bletchley Park during WW2 the machine was named The Turing-Welchman Bombe machine or the Bombe (Machine) for short.

Fact 230: Why did Alan Turing publish a crossword in the Daily Telegraph during the WWII? Alan Turing published a crossword during WW2 to recruit people to help break the Nazi code known as Enigma.  Alan Turing's crossword was published on the 13th of January 1942 in the London Daily Telegraph to recruit more code-breakers to help break Enigma.

Fact 229: Who was the first person to create and published the crossword? The first crossword was invented and published in America in 1913 by a British journalist from Liverpool named Arthur Wynne after he emigrated to the America in the 1890's. The first crossword was published on a page in The New York World on a page called the Fun page of The New York World on 21 December 1913.  the crossword he created was the first ever crossword and he called it a word cross (and a FUN's Word-Cross Puzzle) due to the cross like shape in the middle of the first crossword Arthur Wynne created. The name Crossword comes from a typing or printing error that printed the puzzle's name in reverse so the title became Cross-Word (puzzle) and the name just stuck (unsurprisingly because the is what we call them today). The New York World was a newspaper that began in 1860 and stopped in 1931.

Fact: 228 When did Ukraine first take part in the Eurovision Song Contest? Ukraine first took part in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2003, Ukraine's 2003 Eurovision song was Hasta La Vista by Oleksandr Ponomariov. Ukraine has won Eurovision three times Ukraine first won Eurovision in 2004, Ukrain's 2004 Eurovision Song was Wild Dances by Ruslana and Ukraine also won it in 2016, Ukrain's 2016 Song Eurovision was 1944 by Jamala and most recently in 2021, Ukrain's 2021 Eurovision Song was Stefania by Kalush Orchestra.  Ukraine has come 2nd in the Eurovision Song Contest twice first in 2007, with the song Dancing Lasha Tumbai by Verka Serduchka, the second time Ukraine came second was in 2008, with the song Shady Lady by Ani Lorak.  

Fact 227: How many times has Denmark won the Eurovision Song Contest? Denmark first competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 (and they came third), Demark have preformed 51 times in the Eurovision Song Contest Denmark have won the Eurovision Song Contest three times first in 1963 (Denmark's Song was Dansevise by Grethe & Jørgen Ingmann) the second win was in 2000 (Denmark's Song was Fly on the Wings of Love by the Olsen Brothers) and they own it again in 2013 (Denmark's Song was Only Teardrops performed by Emmelie de Forest).

Fact 226: When did Switzerland first enter Eurovision? Switzerland first competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956, Switzerland won the 1956 Eurovision Song Contest with the song Refrain performed by Lys Assia, Lys Assia represented Switzerland in 1956, 1957and 1958. In 1956 Switzerland came first and in 1957 Switzerland ranked 8th and in 1958 Switzerland ranked 2nd. 1956 Eurovision Song Contest was held on the 24th of May 1956 in Switzerland in the village of Lugano in the Teatro Kursaal, (Teatro means theatre in Portuguese),  The Teatro Kursaal was demolished in 2001, Eurovision 1956 was the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest. Switzerland has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 63 times and and won Eurovision twice once in 1956 and then again in 1988 which was held in Dublin (at the Simmonscourt Pavilion of the Royal Dublin Society).  Switzerland have only missed four Eurovision Song contests, they missed the one in 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2003.  ...

Fact 225: When did Australia first enter Eurovision? Australia first Competed in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2015. Australia has participated in the Eurovision Song Contest eight times since they first entered Eurovision to mark the 60th anniversary of Eurovision, interestingly other countries also not in Europe had already been allowed to compete in theEurovision Song Contest and Australia is the second country in the Eurasia region to compete in the Eurovision song contest because Morocco Competed in the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest.   Australia's best score to date was in 2016 when they came second in the Grand Final, Australia's song was Sound of Silence by Dami Im (Ukraine came first in the Grand Final in 2016 with the Song 1944 by Jamala).

Fact 224: How many times has France won the Eurovision song contest? France were one of the seven countries who took part in the very first ever Eurovision Song Contest held in Switzerland in 1956. France have won Eurovision 5 times (1958, 1960, 1962, 1969, 1977) and France have also come second five times and 3rd seven times. France have only missing two Eurovision Song Contest, the first one they missed was in 1974 because the President of France Georges Pompidou died in the Same week as the Eurovision song contest and in 1982 the reason given (and there were quite a lot,) were money and talent and the downsizing of the France's national broadcasting company.

Fact 223: How many times has the UK won the Eurovision Song Contest? Since Eurovision 2023 the UK has won the Eurovision Song Contest 5 times the Uk have consecutively entered into the Eurovision Song Contest since 1959 and first entered into the Eurovision Song Contest in 1957 which was second Eurovision Song contest ever. The UK has come second in the Eurovision Song Contest a record braking 16 times.

Fact 222: Which country has Eurovision won the most? The answer is interestingly two country's, not one which both have won the most times at the Eurovision Song Contest and they are Sweden and Ireland, Ireland made it's first ever appearance at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1965 and have won Eurovision 7 times, Sweden have only recently become the joint country to have won the most amount of times at Eurovision because of the song Tattoo (Sweden's 2023 enter and 2023 winning song) this means Sweden have also won the Eurovision Song Contest 7 times, Sweden have been apart of Eurovision since 1958 (two years after Eurovision started).

Fact 221: Who was the second longest British reigning Monarch? The second longest reigning british monarch was also a Queen, Queen Victoria She reigned for almost 64 years or to be more accurate, Queen Victoria was Queen for exactly 63 years, 6 months and 25 days (which is equal to 557,232 hours), Queen Victoria was Queen from the 28th June 1838 to the 22nd January 1901.

Fact 220: Who was the longest reigning british monarch? The monarch who reigned over Britain for the longest time is Queen Elizabeth II who reigned for exactly 70 years 3 months and 6 days and 3 hours, 55 minutes (yes I did spend ages working this out). Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on the 2nd June 1953 at 11:15am and died on the 8 September 2022 at 3:10pm.

Fact 219: Who is the Hyloscirtus Princecherlesi named after? The Hyloscirtus Princecherlesi is named after king charles III the frog is very rare and can be found in forests in Ecuador the frog is commonly called Prince Charles stream tree frog. The frog is so rare it is classified as an endangered species due to climate change and loss of habit (because of deformation) and pythons. The frog was discovered in 2008 by Dr. Luis A. Coloma, Dr. Luis A. Coloma disided to name it after the the Prince Charles named in June 2012.

Fact 218: Who biult The Ironbridge? Ironbridge was designed by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard an architect in 1773, Thomas Pritchard designed and built the world's first iron bridge with the architect Abraham Darby III, Abraham Darby III pioneered the use of cast-iron during the Industrial revolution with Thomas Pritchard, Ironbridge goes over the River Severn in Shropshire it was finshed 1779.  Ironbridge is 30.6 metres long and 16.75 metres high and weights 378 tons (378000 kg). I have actually seen it and stood on the bridge (recently) it is interesting if you are interested in Britain industrial revolution history otherwise it is just an old (red) bridge made of a lot of cast-iron (likely I am interested in history of Britain's industrial revolution so I thought it was impressive.

Fact 217: How tall is Tower Bridge? Tower Bridge is located next to the Tower of London across the River Thames, Tower Bridge is 213 feet tall and 800 feet long. Tower Bridge construction began on 22nd April 1894, although the foundation stone was laid on 21st June 1886, and the Tower Bridge was completed in 1894 and opened on the 30th June 1894.

Fact 216: When did William the Conqueror build the Tower London? The Tower of London was built from 1066 and finished in 1087 the Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror originally built the massive stone castle\ fortress in London to defend against the possibility of a rebellion and as a demonstration of the Normans and William's power because after winning the battle of Hastings in 1066 William thought people might start a revolution in London.

Fact 215: How much does the St Edward's crown weigh? the st Edward's crown weighs 2.23 kg and is 30 centimetres tall, the st Edwards crown is 22-karat gold, 22-karat gold is 91.67% pure gold and is the next best thing from 24 which is pure gold. The St Edward's Crown the crown king Charles III was crowned with was the St Edward's Crown that made in 1661 for Charles II' coronation because the original St Edward's crown was melted down in 1649 after Charles I's execution when Oliver Cromwell took power after the civil war.

Fact 214: Who's crown was Queen Camilla crowned with? Queen Camilla was crowned with the same crown that Queen Mary was crowned with, Queen Mary was crowned on 22nd June 1911, Queen Camilla was crowned on the 6th May 2023. Queen Mary was married to King George V (5th). The crown is now unsurprisingly known as the Crown of Queen Mary and Queen Camilla and weighs 590 grams. The Crown of Queen Mary and Queen Camilla was made in 1911.

Fact 213: How much does the Imperial State Crown weigh? The imperial state Crown weighs about 1kg or to be more precise 1.06 kg the Crown is 31.5 cm tall and it has an impressive 2868 diamonds and 269 pearls doted around it. The Imperial State Crown that was worn by King Charles III at his coronation is the same crown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation and that crown was actually originally made for King George VI's coronation in 1937 by Garrard and Company the design for the crown is almost identically based on the Imperial State Crown designed for Queen Victoria in 1838 by Made by Rundell and Bridge.  The Imperial State Crown is now worn after the Monarch has been crowned with St Edward's and the Imperial State Crown and is worn again at the opening of Parliament unlike the St Edward's Crown which is only worn at the Monarch's coronation.

Fact 212: Who was the first Monarch to be anointed with the Coronation spoon? The Coronation spoon was first used to anoint king James I at his coronation in 1603, however the spoon has been apart of the Royal coriation Regalia since 1349 when the coronation spoon was first recorded as preserved among St Edward's Regalia in Westminster Abbey the coronation spoon is thought to have been made for either Henry II or Richard I and is thought to have been used to originally mix water and wine in a chalice. The soon dates back to the 12th century and is 26.7 cm in length. The spoon was used at Charles I's coronation and later was sold by Oliver Cromwell after the civil War basically Oliver Cromwell sold and malted crowns and royal items from the tower of London the coronation spoon was one of the items sold in one piece and it was brought by a Mr Kynnersley for 16 shillings and Mr Kynnersley returned the spoon (personally) to Charles II and Charles II was able to use the coronation s...

Fact 211: What is the name of the massive white statue in front of Buckingham Palace? The name of the massive white statue in front of Buckingham Palace is called The Victoria Memorial it was built by and designed by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock Designed in 1901, it was built from 1906 and finshed in 1924, the Victoria statue was unveiled on 16 May 1911. It was Commissioned and planned by King Edward VII as a tribute and to honour Queen Victoria his mother after Queen Victoria's death on the 22nd of January 1901. The statue of Queen Victoria just Queen Victoria (not the rest of the memorial) is just over 18 foot high, and made out of Carrara marble, the statue of Queen Victoria is about 13 feet taller than Queen Victoria because Victoria was 5foot tall. The entire memorial\ monument is 82.021 feet (=25 metres) tall and is made out of 2,300 tonnes of white Carrara marble.

Fact 210: Who was the shortest reigning adult English Queen? The answer is definitely not Mary I whos hight was 5 foot 5 inches or Elizabeth I whos hight was 5 foot 3 inches or 5 foot 5 and the next Queen is Queen Mary II whos hight was (5 foot 11 inches I unfortunately couldn't find out Queen Anne Stuart's hight (I look everywhere on the Internet), the next qeen is queen Victoria who's hight was 5 ft (it is thought that she probably shrunk 2 inches in her old age, the next qeen of england is the late Queen Elizabeth II whos hight was 5 foot 4 inches. So the shortest adult reigning Queen of england is probably Queen Victoria! Lady Jane Grey (10th to the 19th July 1553) Hight I couldn't find and wasn't and adult when she waa Queen because she was sixteen.

Fact 209: Who was the shortest reigning English monarch? The answer is Lady Jane Grey, she was actually fifth in line to the throne, however  John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland persuaded the dying king Edward VI to leave his crown to Lady Jane Grey because Edward wanted England to stay Protestant and he knew that Mary would take England back to being Catholic and Lady Jane Grey was a protestant and She just happened to be coincidentally John Dudley's daughter-in- law. after Edward died Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen after the death of her cousin, the protestant King Edward VI, However Queen Mary I didn't like this and had a better claim to the throne so Lady Jane and her husband, were kept in the Tower of London, and were beheaded on the 19th July 1553. Lady Jane Grey was just sixteen and only Queen for nine days from 10th to the 19th July 1553.

Fact 208: Is King Charles III a dependent of the person that Count Dracula was based on? The answer is yes King Charles is in fact desensitised from the person who was the inspiration for Count Dracula, King Charles III is interestingly his great grandson 16 times removed through King George V's (wife) Queen consort Mary. Count Dracula is based on Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia although Vlad III is better known as Vlad the Impaler and Vlad Dracula Vlad's surname is Tepes and he is from Romania was in born 1431 and died in 1476. Vlad the Impaler was Abraham Stoker's (also known as Bram Stoker's) inspiration for Dracula.  

Fact 207: When was the coronation chair first used? The coronation chair (with the Destiny stone) was first used for the coronation of Edward II in 1308. The coronation chair is about 723 years old. it was made of oak and commissioned by Edward I the chair was originally painted by Master Walter and decorated with patterns of birds, foliage and animals on a gilt background however it has faded and been vandalised and has written on it, "P. Abbott slept in this chair 5-6 July 1800". The Stone of Destiny was thought to be the stone that Jacob rested his head on in the Old Testament (Genesis chapter 28, verse 18) although geologists (people who study rocks) say the stone originated from (unsurprisingly) Scotland from the village of Scone. The rock was used for centuries for the inauguration of Scotland's kings. In 1296, King Edward I brought the stone of Destiny (Westminster Abbey says he brought the stone to Westminster Abbey) or seized the stone (Edinburgh Castle say he s...

Fact 206: What is the circumference of the London Eye? The circumference of the London Eye is 424m (1,392ft). The hight of the London Eye is 135m (443ft). The London Eye is the largest cantilevered observation wheel in the world. The London Eye was originally named and called the Millennium Wheel. The London Eye was built to celebrate the 2000 new year which was the end of a millennium although it was opened by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair on 31 December 1999, but the London Eye was not open to the general public until 9 March 2000. The London Eye was originally scheduled to be dismantled after five years however due to how popular it was it was not dismantled. The London Eye was designed by Marks Barfield Architects. I have been on\ round\ up the London Eye and it was amazing (although I enjoyed the view from the shard a little bit more)!   

Fact 205: Who is the Douglas fir named after? The Douglas fir tree is named after David Douglas. David Douglas was born in Scone, Scotland on the 25th of June 1799 and died while climbing Mauna Kea (which is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaiʻi) on the 12th of July 1834 David Douglas fell into a cattle pit trap up Mauna Kea and is thought to have been eaten by a bull that was in the pit trap. David Douglas was a Scottish botanist and explorer who brought the first Douglas fir tree seed from North America back to Britain in 1827. The scientific name Pseudotsuga menziesii pays homage to Archibald Menzies who was born in Weem in Scotland on 15 March 1754 and died in Kensington in London on the 15th of February 1842. Archibald Menzies, was a Scottish surgeon and botanist who discovered the Douglas fir tree in North America 1791.

Fact 204: Is the word twee a real word? The answer is yes twee is a real word British word(which I found by chance in a Collins dictionary). Despite what you might think it is not a funny way to say tree like a baby, instead the word twee comes from an early 20th century baby (English) mispronunciation for the word sweet and means that something is pretty or sentimental in a way that you think is excessive or silly, or nicely sweet or quaint, although now a days it is usually used as a negative way to describe something that is to sweet or sickly sweet (excessively sweet that it is bad).(yeah this word has more than one meaning Although the word is not normally used unless you are a professional wine taster or a fancy film critics in which case it is used negatively (according to an article I read about the word)

Fact 203: Are there any surviving play manuscripts that contain William Shakespeare's handwriting? The answer is surprisingly yes, there is only one (this in it self is surprising because Shakespeare used a scribes to make copies of his completed play manuscripts) this manuscript is in fact the only surviving literary, play manuscript that contains William Shakespeare's handwriting and only on three pages of the manuscript have been identified and professionally conformed to be Shakespeare's handwriting. The play manuscript is called The Book of Sir Thomas More, and it is owned by the British Library. The play was originally first written by Anthony Munday (the amount of times I had to change it back from Monday to Munday, is impressive to say the least). Anthony Munday wrote the play sometime between 1596 and 1601 although it was not allowed to be preformed because the Master of the Revels, (Edmund Tilney), refused to allow the play of Sir Thomas More to be performed.  it ...

Fact 202: Who wrote The Wind in the Willows? The Wind in the Willows was written by Kenneth Grahame the book was published in 1908. Kenneth Grahame was born on the 8th of March 1859 and died on the 6th of July 1932. The Wind in the Willows is thought (acouding to BBC country file) to be set on a stretch of the River Thames, located in Cookham Dean and also set on a bit of the River Thames that runs from Pangbourne to Marlow (the river Thames continues on to Cookham Dean, I check) The Wild Wood is based on Quarry Wood (which is a part of Bisham Woods there is in fact a root called the Wind in the Willows trail run by the National Trust and Woodland Trust in the Cookham Dean and Bisham Woods) There are alot of houses that clam to be the inspiration for Toad Hall, and their is a village in Cornwall called Lerryn that claims to be the setting for the book, the cornish holiday cottages website states "Kenneth Grahame never lived in Cornwall".  Kenneth did in fact grow up near the ...

Fact 201: What is Bear Grylls' real name? Bear Grylls' real name is Edward Michael Grylls, Bear Grylls' sister gave him the nickname Bear when Bear was a week. Bear Grylls was born on the 7th of June 1974.  At the age of 32, On the 16th of May 1998 reached the summit of Mount Everest (Pronounced eeverest) despite having broken three vertebrae in a parachuting accident 18 months previously. Bear is Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Bear Grylls has an OBE), Bear Grylls was given his OBE on Thursday the 10th of October 2019, Bear was presented with the OBE at Buckingham Palace by the late Queen Elizabeth II (Bear was only 45 years old). Bear Grylls was appointed Chief Scout in 2009, Bear Grylls was only 34 at the time (I was a scout and really enjoyed Scouts, in fact I got to see the 2012 Olympic torch when I was in ether clubs or scout).

Fact 200: What is Oscar Wilde's full name? Oscar Wilde's full name is Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde, Wilde was born on the 16th of October 1854 in Dublin and died on the 30th of November 1900 in Paris(the capital city of France). Oscar Wilde is a famous Novelist, poet, Journalist and Playwright. Oscar Wilde was imprisoned for being gay in Reading Prison from 1895 to 1897 because it was sadly illegal to be gay in those days. Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years, hard labour for being gay although the court called it gross indecency with another man. 2 years was the maximum sentence for gross indecency. Wilde was imprisoned in Reading prison .

Fact 199: What is C.S. Lewis' full name? C.S. Lewis' full name is Clive Staples Lewis. C.S. Lewis was born in Belfast (Northern Ireland) on the 29th of November 1898 and died on the 22nd of November 1963 in Oxford (England). C.S. Lewis is an author best known for writing The Chronicles of Narnia which is a series of seven novels the most famous of which is, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, which is a great book and one I have actually read, I have also listened to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew on a C.D (Compact Disc) and I have watched a lot of the Narnia films on a rainy holiday a few years ago. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was originally written as gift for C.S. Lewis' godchild, Lucy Barfield. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was first published In 1950 and was the first one of the Narnia books to be published.

Fact 198 How many plays and poems did Shakespeare write? According to the British Library Between about 1590 and 1613, Shakespeare wrote at least (or possibly more than) 37 plays Shakespeare only wrote 4 poems. Just a "little" context behind this fact, William Shakespeare died on the 23 April 1616 and was also thought to have been born on the 23rd of April in 1564 this is because we know Shakespeare was baptised Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakspere (which is Latin for William son of John Shakespeare) on the Wednesday 26th of April 1564 and in Tutor times three days would have been a normal\ typical gap between being born and being baptised, this is why the 23rd of April has also become the day to celebrate Shakespeare's birth and death.  Also happy St George's Day (even though St George isn't even English, St George was actually born in Cappadocia, Turkey and there is no evidence that he has ever been to England ever but he is still the patron Saint)!

Fact 197: Who was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson best known as? Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote a very famous and popular children's book in 1865, originally the story was going to be called Alice's Adventures Under Ground, in fact Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote a hand written book with the original tittle which he gave to Alice Liddell who was the inspiration for the book. Basically Charles Lutwidge Dodgson wrote the book and entitled the book Alice's Adventures Under Ground but the publishers (Pan Macmillan) charged the title to Alice in wonder land, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was of course best known as Lewis Carroll. Basically Lewis Carroll is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson pseudonym. Alice in wonder land was illustrated by Sir John Tenniel.

Fact 196: When was MI5 formed? MI5 was formed in 1909 by Vernon Kell, Vernon Kell was also the first director General of MI5, and Vernon Kell was director General from 1909 to 1940. There have been 17 Director Generals the current Director General is Ken McCallum, interestingly the first Director General to be (officially) publicly named was Dame Stella Rimington (Director General from 1992 to 1996) basically until 1993, the Prime Minister would appoint the MI5 Director General in secret and MI5 didn't disclose the Director Generals names to the general public.

Fact 195: When did Sherlock the BBC series first air? Sherlock first aired in the UK on the 25th of July 2010 the first episode was called A Study in Pink. The final episode (series 4 episode 3) The Final Problem aired on 15 January 2017.

Fact 194: Which James Bond movie was the song Writing on the Wall the opening song for? The answer is Spectre (2015). The song was sung by Sam Smith, Sam Smith co wrote the song "Writing on the Wall" with Jimmy Napes, and the song was produced by Sam Smith with Steve Fitzmaurice and Disclosure the song was released on the 25 September 2015, Spectre premiered at the Royal Albert Hall on the 26 October 2015. Spectre starred Daniel Craig as James Bond.

Fact 193: What was Daniel Craig's first James Bond movie? Daniel Craig's first James Bond (007) movie was Casino Royale (2006) which was an adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel also called Casino Royale. The opening song for Casino Royale You Know My Name which was performed by the American musician Chris Cornell who co wrote and produced the song with David Arnold.

Fact 192: What Shape was Shakespeare's Globe Theatre? Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was 30 metres in diameter and had 20 sides which gave the illusion it was a circle. A 20 side "2d" shape is called an icosagon (icosagon polygon) which is also commonly called a 20-sided polygon. Shakespeare's Globe was 11 m tall.

Fact 191: How many glass panels were used to build The Shard? The shard is made out of 11000 glass panels and the total area of all of the glass is 56000 metres squared.

Fact 190: How tall is the shard? The shard which started being built in the 16th of March 2009 and finished being built in 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 5 July 2012 and then opened to the public on the 1st February 2013. The shard was originally, formerly called the London Bridge Tower and is 310 m tall (1017.06 feet).

Fact 189: How tall is Big Ben? First of all, I am referring to the Bell, not the Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben (the bell) has a diameter of 2.7m and a height of 2.2m, and Big Ben weighs 13.7 tonnes. Big Ben's hammer weighs 200kg. The Elizabeth Tower has been the correct name for the clock tower since HM Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee in 2017. The Elizabeth Tower is, 320 feet (97.5 metres) tall.  The Elizabeth Tower first foundation stone was laid on 28 September 1843 acouding to the Parliament website it took sixteen years to be built because it fell 5 years behind schedule this means the building was completed in 1859.