Another month of fffffacts....

Another month of fffffacts....

Day 292: 1-May-15 US electric car maker unveils batteries that can power homes & businesses.

Day 293: 2-May-15 A Samsung fridge - large & with a fair amount of technology can be bought for US $6000 / £3850 !!

Day 294: 3-May-15 Westonbirt Arboretum is to get a new treetop walkway built, due to be ready later this year.

Day 295: 4-May-15 Dahlias (plants) are native to Mexico - cultivated and eaten! for hundreds of years.

Day 296: 5-May-15 Devon has an estimated 33,000 miles of hedgerows; more than any other county in England.

Day 297: 6-May-15 In the French town of Orchies they have a museum of chicory!

Day 298: 7-May-15 Apparently there are about 700,000 residential properties lying unoccupied in England.

Day 299: 8-May-15 General Election results today; Conservatives have overall majority; general turmoil in other main parties.

Day 300: 9-May-15 Slovenia's geography & underlying rock type & structure means water doesn't stand, but drains to underground caves. There are no areas of standing water.

Day 301: 10-May-15 Cut Laurel (plant) leaves release cyanide chemical.

Day 302: 11-May-15 In Finland, as well as teaching Finnish as a primary language, it is mandatory to teach Swedish.

Day 303: 12-May-15 Cabbage was introduced to and brought from Holland to the UK (Dorset).

Day 304: 13-May-15 Architecture: OGEE Arch

Day 305: 14-May-15 Hexham has a building reportedly the first recorded purpose built prison; built in 1333, with 500 years use as a prison.

Day 306: 15-May-15 Wales first maritime lifeboat station built at Holyhead 1858. Now a maritime museum.

Day 307: 16-May-15 Explosive factory set up in 1915 at Gretna; Scotland. 30,000 people working creating 800 tons of explosives per week.

Day 308: 17-May-15 BBC Click programme: A company in Holland installs computer servers in homes; the heat they generate heats the home instead of the servers being in large, centralised server rooms requiring cooling. The servers are used as distributed computers; running encrypted network comms & are secured against physical tampering.

Day 309: 18-May-15 News item on BBC West about the development of an artificial human eye that can be used by medical students & surgeons to practice eye surgery techniques.

Day 310: 19-May-15 Made aware of Palmyra (Syria) in the news.

Day 311: 20-May-15 YouTube has been online for 10 years.

Day 312: 21-May-15 Liquid Morphium = an amorphous alloy of zirconium, copper, aluminum, nickel & silver.

Day 313: 22-May-15 The Hubble Space Telescope has been in space for 25 years.

Day 314: 23-May-15 A first: Suffering likely Viral Meningitis - spare you the symptoms/details; but really ill.

Day 315: 24-May-15 On BBC Click 'Be my eyes' APP; allows blind people to get assistance from volunteers, by streaming video from a blind persons's smartphone.

Day 316: 25-May-15 Seaton Tramway - Harbour Road, Seaton, Devon looks like a nice place to visit.

Day 317: 26-May-15 New invention: TrackR - a GPS Tracker Tag (www.thetrackr.com)

Day 318: 27-May-15 Earth removed as part of London's Crossrail project is being used to create one of Europe's largest nature reserves on Wallasea Island (East Coast of England).

Day 319: 28-May-15 Revealed on Springwatch; Microplastics found in various products such as face scrubs are finding its way into wildlife from our waste;
getting into smaller & smaller creatures & will kill them.

Day 320: 29-May-15 It is 25 years since the restoration of the 'Lost gardens of Heligan' began.

Day 321: 30-May-15 According to the BBC news; in Iran it can be permitted for married men to have a second partner, but under Islamic law, married women
can face flogging or stoning if caught with another man.

Day 322: 31-May-15 Pomology = a branch of botany that studies and cultivates fruit mainly focused on development, cultivation & physiological studies of
stone fruit trees.

Continuing facts ...

As the daily challenge continues, more fascinating facts to enjoy.

Day 262: 1-Apr-15 Carl Linnaeus - introduced the bi-nominal system of plant names, gave the epithet 'officinalis' to plants of medicinal importance.

Day 263: 2-Apr-15 Aston Martin cars used to be made in Newport Pagnell until July 2007.

Day 264: 3-Apr-15 Plant African marigold; Calendula officinalis soothes insect stings & sunburn.

Day 265: 4-Apr-15 Twitter started in 2007; today it's a $30 billion public company.

Day 266: 5-Apr-15 LOGGIA = (Italian) is an architectural feature which is a covered exterior gallery or corridor usually on an upper level, or sometimes ground level.

Day 267: 6-Apr-15 Allelopathic - where a plant exudes a chemical that is transmitted through the soil (can suppress other plant growth).

Day 268: 7-Apr-15 Spain introduced cattle into Costa Rica.

Day 269: 8-Apr-15 Plant Solomon's Seal - Polygonatum oderatum, an herbaceous perennial with erect or arching stems bearing glossy, elliptic leaves and pendent, tubular or bell shaped flowers.


Day 270: 9-Apr-15 The Panama Canal construction started in the 1880s and was completed in 1940.

Day 271: 10-Apr-15 Charles Parsons invented the steam turbine in 1880.

Day 272: 11-Apr-15 Plant Corylopsis = winter hazel; flowers in March having primrose yellow flowers with cowslip scent.


Day 273: 12-Apr-15 Semi-mature tree suppliers - Majestic Trees: www.majestictrees.co.uk

Day 274: 13-Apr-15 The new potato variety 'Jersey Royal' was discovered in 1878 by Jersey farmer Hugh de la Haye.

Day 275: 14-Apr-15 Avebury stone circle dates from about 2500-2200 BC.

Day 276: 15-Apr-15 Twitch.tv - a live streaming video platform (owned by Amazon), started in June 2011; primarily focus is to enable viewing of people playing video games.

Day 277: 16-Apr-15 Lloyds insurers in London have a genuine Robert Adams dining room in their building, taken from (purchased) Bowood House.

Day 278: 17-Apr-15 On TV programme 'How it is made', on Quest; amazed at the ingenuity of design & production of things like electric cables & railway wheels to name but 2!

Day 279: 18-Apr-15 Plant Houttuynia cordata; very invasive, rampant ground cover, pungent smell, regenerates from very small pieces of root.

Day 280: 19-Apr-15 Europe's first wrought iron suspension bridge, built over the river Tees (UK) in 1741.

Day 281: 20-Apr-15 The Morris Minor first appeared on the UK's roads in 1952.

Day 282: 21-Apr-15 The Menai bridge over the Menai straights in 1826, was the longest suspension bridge in the world, built by Thomas Telford.

Day 283: 22-Apr-15 Edwin Beard Budding 1796 - 1846, invented the world's first lawnmower in 1830.

Day 284: 23-Apr-15 Horace Jones, City of London architect, designer of Tower Bridge; took 8 years to build, with 500 men.

Day 285: 24-Apr-15 The Channel Tunnel opened in 1994, it has 3 tunnels; 2 for trains & a central service tunnel.

Day 286: 25-Apr-15 Henry VIII 1509-1547

Day 287: 26-Apr-15 Joint monarchs William and Mary 1689-1702

Day 288: 27-Apr-15 Queen Anne 1702-1707

Day 289: 28-Apr-15 1 zettabyte = 1 trillion gigabytes.

Day 290: 29-Apr-15 Blackpool tower was built in 1894; immittating the Eiffel Tower, it is 518 feet high with a 30 mile visible horizon from the top.

Day 291: 30-Apr-15 First cuckoo of the season heard first thing this morning.

Back to the challenge...

After a slight detour the 365 day challenge continues with my next selection of fascinating facts.

Day 229: 27-Feb-15 One of the first steam powered road vehicles was designed and constructed by Richard Trevithick in 1803 (3 wheeler)

Day 230: 28-Feb-15 Plant: Coptis; a small evergreen perennial, a good companion plant for ferns, trilliums and other woodland types. Enjoys cool shade, moist, humus rich soil.

Day 231: 1-Mar-15 The first road roller, steam powered was built by Thomas Aveling in 1867.

Day 232: 2-Mar-15 Derivation of Starboard; the side (righthand) of a boat (looking towards the bows) where the 'steering board' was mounted, became known as Starboard. Port being the lefthand side where a boat would be docked in port (on it's Port Side).

Day 233: 3-Mar-15 The first steam powered paddle steamers were made in the early 1800s.

Day 234: 4-Mar-15 Steam museum at Hall Farm, Strumpshaw.

Day 235: 5-Mar-15 A 'Synchroton' is a large accelerator that produces powerful X-rays for research purposes.

Day 236: 6-Mar-15 The Royal Yacht 'Brittania' was launched in 1953.

Day 237: 7-Mar-15 A Leat, is the name, common in the south & west of England for an artificial watercourse supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond.

Day 238: 8-Mar-15 A year ago today the Malaysian flight MH370 disappeared.

Day 239: 9-Mar-15 Trinity House (in Newcastle-upon-Tyne) formerly began in 1505.

Day 240: 10-Mar-15 Phyllis Pearsall created the first A-Z London map in 1936.

Day 241: 11-Mar-15 The BBC are introducing a free, small, programmable computer - the Micro Bit.

Day 242: 12-Mar-15 A new Samsung phone (Galaxy Note Edge) has curved edges to its display.

Day 243: 13-Mar-15 John Tradescant the Elder & his son, were C16 & C17 plant collectors.

Day 244: 14-Mar-15 'Grotto' comes from the word 'crupta' (in Vulgar Latin).

Day 245: 15-Mar-15 I sponsored someone undertaking the 'Rainbow Fun Run' in support of St Richards Hospice Foundation

Day 246: 16-Mar-15 Discovered that YouTube app on my tablet can 'cast' / control my Humax Freesat box YouTube app service.

Day 247: 17-Mar-15 ~ 6000 people commit suicide each year in the UK.

Day 248: 18-Mar-15 EPICORMIC shoot: a shoot growing from an Epicormic bud which lies underneath the bark of a trunk, stem or branch of a plant. Normally dormant, their growth is suppressed by hormones produced from active shoots higher up the plant.

Day 249: 19-Mar-15 Was made aware of the Shuttleworth collection.

Day 250: 20-Mar-15 An eclipse of the sun today at approx 9.30am, viewable from Cheltenham, not quite total.

Day 251: 21-Mar-15 Plant Sage: Salvia officinalis contains a camphoraceous oil, consisting of about 50% thujone, when taken to excess can be halluncinogenic, addictive and toxic.

Day 252: 22-Mar-15 Aptronyms or Nominative Determinism is a noun for having a name that goes with your job/occupation e.g butcher

Day 253: 23-Mar-15 Dover Castle was built over 800 years ago, ordered by King Henry 2nd, King of England & also parts of France.

Day 254: 24-Mar-15 Plant Magnolia stellata:


Day 255: 25-Mar-15 Vexilology is the study of flags.

Day 256: 26-Mar-15 SCS = Sofa Carpet Specialists.

Day 257: 27-Mar-15 Twitter now has a form of live video streaming capability.

Day 258: 28-Mar-15 The Tower of London was built in the 1080's.

Day 259: 29-Mar-15 Lamingtons - a cake

Day 260: 30-Mar-15 Agapanthus - when grown in pots, restricts root run, needs to be well drained, watered once a week, fed once every three weeks.

Day 261: 31-Mar-15 Outernet - provides free Internet based content via geostationary and low earth orbit satellites.

A slight detour - 16 signs that a certain 55 year old has his act together ...

A short detour away from the 365 day - learn something new challenge.

Having read a recent blog entitled:

16 SIGNS THAT YOU’RE A GIRL WHO’S GOT HER SHIT TOGETHER

I received requests to put together a man list.

The main issue for me was trying to work out who I might be pitching this list for - as different ages would likely to come up with different lists. So the list became:

16 things that might indicate that a 55 year old male, married with grown up children has his act together....

Hope you find it enlightening - I did !

1. Seeks to encourage his wife at all times and ensures she maintains some separate interests and a circle of friends.

2. The children are now adults; they have been taught well - they are able and capable to fly free - no worries (though he still cares of course).

3. Being in the same room with his wife, where nothing is said for an hour isn't a problem - benefits of mutual company is sufficient.

4. Doesn't expect his children to feel obliged to call, phone, write on specific days or times; happy that they call when they want to, and pleased that they do.

5. Realising that to have grandchildren is a pure joy and gift to be treasured.

6. Knows he is an observer of his children, and comfortable to give encouragement when needed, and always ready to offer guidance when asked.

7. Doesn't get stressed or upset if a Father's day gift isn't forthcoming; being appreciated at any time, for the right reason is sufficient.

8. Strives for contentment in everything (happiness is transitory) - striving for money for it's own sake has little attraction.

9. Being bombarded with advertisements to go after the latest tech, model of cars, or borrow for the holiday of a lifetime - doesn't lead to an overwhelming desire to conform to this lifestyle.

10. To feel a sense of pride when advice that is given, is received and acted upon to the advantage of the recipient.

11. Comfortable with the realisation that putting underwear to be washed after just one-day is now considered the 'norm' !!

12. Has no difficulty doing domestic jobs around the house (e.g. cooking, washing-up, vacuuming, cleaning sinks/bath/toilet, loading the dishwasher and yes even ironing) - and not seeking any special thanks or treatment for taking these responsibilities on....

13. A working torch is kept in the house, batteries checked regularly.

14. Owns a multi-tool contraption combining scissors, very sharp knife, flat-head and posi-type screwdriver, and tweezers - and knows where it is.

15. Has a storage cabinet in the garage/shed full of all kinds of screws, washers, nuts, drills, wall-plugs, and miscellaneous bits-n-bobs put aside 'just in case'..

16. Fluids in the car (water, engine oil, screen wash & petrol) and tyre pressures are checked regularly and topped up before they run out or go flat!

Observations and some big words

More postings from my 365 day challenge.

There is so much I don't know it's frightening !

Some new words cropped up during this latest period, some large ones and pretty impressive too...


Day 201: 30-Jan-15 Queen Victoria's Royal Yachts were built in Pembroke Harbour.

Day 202: 31-Jan-15 Blue Grotto - Island of Capri in Italy

Day 203: 1-Feb-15 Timothy Pont (C16) was a Scotland map maker.

Day 204: 2-Feb-15 A new RaspberryPi computer announced (RaspberryPi 2); has a Quad core processor running at 900Mhz & 1Gb memory, cost is ~ £23.

Day 205: 3-Feb-15 The mediterrean island of Sicily is the largest with area of 26000Km square.

Day 206: 4-Feb-15 Bristol Glass attains its blue colour from the addition of Cobolt during the manufacturing processes.

Day 207: 5-Feb-15 Barbed wire was first invented and produced in the USA - 1878.

Day 208: 6-Feb-15 The White Star shipping company owned amongst others; the 3 steam ships: Titanic, Olympic and Oceanic.

Day 209: 7-Feb-15 The Scottish Parliament building cost £400M.

Day 210: 8-Feb-15 Throughout the summer, there are 5 garden parties at Buckingham Palace, hosting ~ 30,000 guests/visitors.

Day 211: 9-Feb-15 Between 1710 & 1712 Thomas Newcomen designed the first steam powered water pump used in the mining industry.

Day 212: 10-Feb-15 Edward Jenner, discoverer of the small pox vaccine was born in Berkeley, Glos in 1749.

Day 213: 11-Feb-15 Beechgrove Gardens is back on TV BBC2 Scotland on 2-April, and 5-April on National BBC2.

Day 214: 12-Feb-15 £44bn is spent annually in the UK on clothes.

Day 215: 13-Feb-15 William Gibbs of Tyntesfield fame amassed his wealth from the trade of bird poo importation (a fertiliser).

Day 216: 14-Feb-15 Between 1804 & 1971 Britain built 110000 steam locomotives!

Day 217: 15-Feb-15 HERPETOLOGIST - someone who specialises in the study of reptiles and amphibians.

Day 218: 16-Feb-15 The Land Rover Defender production comes to an end after 67 years.

Day 219: 17-Feb-15 Listened to interesting talk by the owners of Croombe Park walled garden at Pershore college.

Day 220: 18-Feb-15 Visited Tetbury; town of my childhood. Surprised at number of tea rooms and cafes; seems to have overtaken the plethora of antique shops!

Day 221: 19-Feb-15 ORCADIAN - relates to the Orkney Islands or their inhabitants.

Day 222: 20-Feb-15 Attended outpatients dept in Cheltenham Hospital; many folk with ailments makes me appreciate having a reasonably good state of health.

Day 223: 21-Feb-15 Didn't realise that runner beans are perennial plants and can be grown year on provided they rest/frost free over winter.

Day 224: 22-Feb-15 In 1630, migrants from Boston, Lincs named the North American city of Boston.

Day 225: 23-Feb-15 new word - PEREGRINATION = a journey, a long or meandering one, specially on foot.

Day 226: 24-Feb-15 Aminopyralid - active ingredient in commercial herbicide - residue on digested grasses can be found in animal manure (can cause problems to certain plants such as Potato & Tomato).

Day 227: 25-Feb-15 Visited Saul Junction near Gloucester

Day 228: 26-Feb-15 new word - SPLENETIC = very angry and annoyed, bad-tempered, spiteful, habitually angry.

Day 200 reached !

A milestone reached in my 365 'observe & learn' challenge; 200 days...

Hope you find at least one entry interesting and perhaps learn something you didn't already know !


Day 163: 23-Dec-14 The WMF factory famed for producing German Art Nouveau items, typically silver plated and polished pewter

Day 164: 24-Dec-14 King Henry VIII died in 1547

Day 165: 25-Dec-14 How times change; Christmas Day, some family members live away:- using Skype on Christmas Day afternoon to see and talk with them.

Day 166: 26-Dec-14 In 1832 the Dent family acquired Sudeley Castle, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire.

Day 167: 27-Dec-14 According to the Great Garden Revival programme, we import approx 90% of our fresh fruit into the UK.

Day 168: 28-Dec-14 Sir George Gilbert Scott designed the Victorian Albert memorial in London.

Day 169: 29-Dec-14 Learned that the author of Spot (the dog) books passed away this year.

Day 170: 30-Dec-14 Learned that Ian Fleming (James Bond author) wrote 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'.

Day 171: 31-Dec-14 Figs have been grown in the UK since 1550.

Day 172: 1-Jan-15 The Asian caterpillar newly arrived in the UK attacks ornamental Box (Buxus) plants.

Day 173: 2-Jan-15 Anglo-Saxon refers to settlers from the German regions of Angeln + Saxony, began attacking Roman Britain in AD410.

Day 174: 3-Jan-15 The owner of 'Cragside'; William Armstrong - inventor; built from scratch complete with 4Km(sq) gardens.

Day 175: 4-Jan-15 The Docklands railway in London has driverless trains.

Day 176: 5-Jan-15 60% of our fruit trees have disappeared since the 1930's (according to the National Trust).

Day 177: 6-Jan-15 When the sailing ship Cutty Sark traided with China, it brought 600 tonnes of tea to Britain each trip.

Day 178: 7-Jan-15 The planet Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh.

Day 179: 8-Jan-15 Hamamelis x intermedia 'Orange Peel' - witch hazel:



Day 180: 9-Jan-15 Enjoyed a shared first cup of coffee in the 'Boston Tea Party' cafe in Cheltenham.

Day 181: 10-Jan-15 Christian Fletcher of Mutiny On the Bounty fame was born in Cockermouth.

Day 182: 11-Jan-15 Just a reminder; how greatful I am to enjoy fresh, clean water in my home.

Day 183: 12-Jan-15 In 2014, 70,000 road accidents were caused by collisions with deer.

Day 184: 13-Jan-15 Another opportunity to say how much I appreciate having electricity in my home.

Day 185: 14-Jan-15 Eastnor Castle (Herefordshire) was built in the first part of the C19 - its architect was Robert Smirke.

Day 186: 15-Jan-15 And it is wonderful that I have a constant supply of gas to my home.

Day 187: 16-Jan-15 The Humber Estuary is 5 miles wide at its widest point as it flows in to the North Sea.

Day 188: 17-Jan-15 The combination of water, electricity and gas enables my central heating system - miraculous!

Day 189: 18-Jan-15 It's Winnie The Poo day today!


Day 190: 19-Jan-15 Nine years in creation, Gardens by the Bay in Singapore.

Day 191: 20-Jan-15 The Metropolitan railway was the first underground line in London (and the World!).

Day 192: 21-Jan-15 Made aware of a woman's dress style known as "A Shift Dress" - features straight lines, doesn't hug the body and is typically sleeveless.

Day 193: 22-Jan-15 Learned that a 'Lancet' window is a tall, narrow window with pointed arch at its top - typically seen in Gothic styled churches.

Day 194: 23-Jan-15 On my Raspberry Pi computer learning about external interface programming with interrupts (trying to keep my mental activity stimulated!).

Day 195: 24-Jan-15 During 1854/55 Dr John Snow deduced that water carried cholera, from his studies in Soho, London.

Day 196: 25-Jan-15 Computer USB 3.0 has a top data transfer speed of 5Gbps. USB 3.1 doubles this to 10Gbps.

Day 197: 26-Jan-15 The USB Type-C port is about the size of a Micro-B USB connector; both ends of the cable are the same which enables reversible plug-and-play with no worries about plugging in connectors up-side-down.

Day 198: 27-Jan-15 The Humber Bridge was opened in 1981; at that time it was the longest single span suspension bridge in the world.

Day 199: 28-Jan-15 The word Pugnacious; an adjective meaning, Eager or quick to argue, quarrel or fight.

Day 200: 29-Jan-15 William Armstrong invented the world's first water powered hydraulic crane (He of Cragside hydro-electric fame).