| 1241/
In 1806, morphine was isolated by the German chemist, Friedrich
Serturner. Serturner named his discovery morphine, from Morpheus,
the Roman god of sleep, and tested it on himself. His results
were not encouraging: " I consider it my duty,"
he wrote, "to attract attention to the terrible effects
of this new substance in order that calamity may be averted".
1242/ The hypodermic
syringe was invented by an Edinburgh Doctor, Alexander Wood
in 1850.
1243/ Dr Alexander Wood's
wife was the first recorded person to die of hypodermic induced
overdose.
1244/ By the end of 1995
AIDS had cost the US $15.2 billion and the lives of over 125,000
Americans.
1245/ During the Second
World War, soldiers in all the fighting forces, both Allied
and Axis were liberally supplied with speed by their military
leaders. Almost 72 million tablets were provided to British
forces alone (and an estimated 200 million tablets to US forces),
prompting a London newspaper in 1941 to carry the bizarre
headline "Methedrine wins the Battle of London".
1246/ The use of speed
by the American military increased once more during Korea
and the Vietnam Wars. During the period 1966-1969, at the
height of the Vietnam War, the US Army used more speed than
the combined armed forces of the USA and the UK had done in
the Second World War.
1247/ The average sailor
in the US Navy took the most amount of speed, consuming an
average of 21 pills per person per year. The Air Force averaged
17.5 pills per person, and the Army 13.8 pills per soldier.
1248/ The 1783 Lakagigar
eruption in Iceland generated so much fluorine that it contaminated
the feed on which the islands livestock grazed. As a result,
200,000 sheep, 28,000 horses and 11,000 cattle died, with
the ensuing mass starvation reducing Iceland's population
by a quarter.
1249/ In 1958 a huge
chunk of ice, broken off by a nearby earthquake, fell from
a glacier into Lituya Bay in Alaska. The water displaced by
the ice fall sent across the bay a huge tsunami that surged
up the opposite side to a height of 490m - substantially taller
than the Sears Tower in Chicago. However, although the height
of the wave was impressive, it was too restricted in extent
to have any effect outside the area.
1250/ The Loma Prieta
earthquake that struck San Francisco in 1989 was responsible
for smashing every glass at The Marriot Hotel in the city,
apart from one. The sole survivor is now displayed in a glass
display case.
1251/ On 22nd May 1960
the Earth of the coast of Southern Chile suffered a violent
earthquake. Under enormous strain for many years, the so-called
Nazca Plate beneath the Eastern Pacific thrust itself under
the South American Plate in a series of violent jerks. The
Earthquake registered magnitude 8.6 on the Richter scale and
released as much energy as 500 Hiroshima bombs.
1252/ The Whale Shark
can get up to 50 feet long and weigh over 16 tons. Its mouth
can open as wide as five feet.
1253/ A rhinoceros beetle
can support up to 850 times its own weight on it's back. That
would be the equivalent of a man carrying 76 family-sized
cars around on his back.
1254/ The most colourful
sunsets appear when there is dust in the atmosphere. Some
of the most colourful and memorable sunsets have occurred
after episodes of explosive volcanic eruptions of the type
that send tons of particulate material into the atmosphere.
Other climatic conditions that can cause large amounts of
dust to enter the atmosphere include prolonged droughts.
1255/ It takes 3000 cows
to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply
of American Footballs.
1256/ The dial tone of
a normal telephone is in the key of F.
1257/ Camels have three
eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand.
1258/ Researchers in
Denmark found that beer tastes best when drunk to the accompaniment
of a certain musical tone. The optimal frequency is different
for each beer, they reported. The correct harmonious tone
for Carlsberg Lager, for example, is 510-520 cycles per second.
1259/ Hitler was claustrophobic.
The large elevator leading to his Eagles nest in the Austrian
Alps was mirrored so it would appear larger and more open.
1260/ Chairman Mao loved
to chain-smoke cigarettes. When his doctor asked him to cut
down, he explained that "smoking is also a form of deep-breathing
exercise, don't you think?"
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