Stan Bowes, from Diggle, has uncovered some interesting and entertaining facts – you just couldn’t make them up
Second Officer David Blair was lucky when, at the last moment, it was decided he would not sail aboard the Titanic.
But not so for the passengers as he forgot to leave the key to the crow’s nest locker behind: the locker that contained the binoculars for the crow’s nest!
It is believed the lack of binoculars was a significant cause of the tragedy as with them it would have been easy to spot the iceberg far enough away to avoid collision.
Elsewhere, in 1899, well ahead of the Wright brothers, Englishman Percy Pilcher was ready to perform the first powered flight.
A minor hitch on the day saw him delay the demonstration in Leicester and instead take to the air to show off his hang-glider.
That flight went wrong, and Percy crashed into the ground, dying two days later.
Later aerodynamic/engine research showed the plane perfectly capable of controlled flight.
Improve your vocabulary
Jussulent: Full of broth or soup.
Coquinate: To behave as a cook.
Apophthegms
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it.
It’s bad luck to be superstitious.
If the British can survive their cooking, they can survive anything.
A man’s health can be judged by which he takes two at a time: pills or stairs.
