Stan Bowes, from Diggle, has uncovered some interesting and entertaining facts – you just couldn’t make them up.
WILLIAM MCILROY was probably the ultimate hypochondriac. Over a period of 50 years it is estimated he cost the British National Health Service £2.5 million.
He suffered from Munchausen’s syndrome – a continual desire for medical treatment. He underwent 400 operations, staying in 100 different hospitals, using 22 aliases.
In 1979, he announced he was sick of hospitals and retired to a Birmingham old people’s home, dying there four years later.
Meanwhile Thomas Edison got very upset at the number of visitors ‘borrowing’ his cigars, so he devised a plan to discourage the practice.
He had several boxes of cigars custom-made with cabbage leaves, which would smell offensive when lit.
When they were delivered to his office, his secretary sent them on to his home. His wife promptly packed them in the luggage he was taking on a long business trip, believing them to be for his own use while he was away.
There is no record of Edison’s comment when he first tried one.
Improve your vocabulary
Obligurate: To spend time feasting
Apophthegms
God gave man memory so he could enjoy roses in December
We never really grow up: we only learn how to act in public.
I didn’t say it was your fault: I said I was blaming you.
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