The "Did you know" thread.....

[FalunGonged]

The uncle of Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, was the Japanese bodyguard who fought James Bond (Sean Connery) in You Only Live Twice.

This guy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPBY6c5iuDg

[ManofKent]

Originally Posted by Greenman

David was a trained gymnast which is why he used to do a lot of the dangerous stunts in his comedy 'The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs' which he loosely based on Inspector Clouseau whom he admired(Peter Sellers) but was always a little upset at not being asked to join the Pythons' team.

You should try an catch David Jason - My Life on Screen in three parts on UKtv GOLD channel 110 as it has loads of clips of the above and tells his story from his time growing up in North Finchley to the national treasure he is today.

I started watching that last night, and it was quite fascinating!

I loved how he went back to see all the old places he knew ( the street he grew up in, his school etc) and the memories it brought back to him.

I also learnt a few things about him too, such has I never realised he had a twin-brother who died when he was born, and that before he got into acting he trained to become an electrician.

[Greenman]

I knew he had a brother Arthur White who was also an actor. And the incognito theatre is but a stone's throw from where I live. I might add that Nirth Finchley is a bit of a dump theses days and used to be the constituency of Margaret Thatcher, indeed she was once called Mrs Finchley by someone.

[Welderman]

The sun ain't gonna shine anymore.
The moon ain't gonna rise in the sky.
Damn you Walker Brothers...

[Roubignol]

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353.

The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343. From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population. In total, the plague may have reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century. The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.

The bacteria Yersinia pestis was discovered in 1894 by Alexandre Yersin , a Swiss/French physician and bacteriologist from the Pasteur Institute, during an epidemic of the plague in Hong Kong.


VEF members, a lot of us are the descendants of plague survivors.

.

[tygrkhat40]

I am of Polish, Irish and English descent. I once made rough estimate that close to three million people had to survive the Black Death just to produce me.

[FalunGonged]

Amongst the firefighters at 9/11, Steve Buscemi the actor, (who was a NYC Firefighter for a few years) returned to duty with no PR announcing the fact.

[Greenman]

The film Backdraft directed by Ron Howard, about American firefighters starring Robert De Niro and William Baldwin (I think it was one of the Baldwin brothers) is dedicated to fire brigades all over the world and the difficult job that they do, for which we are all appreciative of their courage and determination.

[GailFan]

Originally Posted by xyzde69

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people in Eurasia and peaking in Europe in the years 1346–1353.

And yet, the modern world owes a huge debt of thanks to the bacteria.

The death of so many people caused the price of labour to sky rocket. Also, populations that usually stayed in one place started to move around.

This led to the creation of a wealthy merchant class, who were neither nobility nor peasants - i.e., the middle class.

The end result of this was the Renaissance - a period of profound change in economics, science, art and Western thought. For example, the concept of individuality largely comes from this period.

Without the Black Death, our civilisation would be vastly different.

[tygrkhat40]

Originally Posted by FalunGonged

Amongst the firefighters at 9/11, Steve Buscemi the actor, (who was a NYC Firefighter for a few years) returned to duty with no PR announcing the fact.

As I recall, when Steve heard what was going on, he went to his old station house and just started working.