Mugshots From The 1930s UK

Excellent set of 31 mugshot photos from the 1930s. They are from the Newcastle upon Tyne area of England.

View all 31 photos on Flickr HERE

1927 Tour Of London In Color [video]

Cat Who Lost Both Left Legs Still Gets Around [video]

One Battery Has Powered A Bell For 170+ Years

TIL that a bell has been ringing almost continuously since 1840. Saying that the bells are being rung, is a bit of a stretch; the clapper vibrates between the two bells. It is located at University of Oxford in England. It is powered by a battery (dry pile) of unknown composition. It is amazing to consider that that this device had already been operating for 20 years by the time Abe Lincoln became President. I could use some batteries like those.

Read more about it at Wikipedia

Short video of the device shown below.

How To Cross The Street – 1948 [video]

Earliest Color Motion Pictures Found In England

BBC reports -

The world’s first colour moving pictures dating from 1902 have been found by the National Media Museum in Bradford after lying forgotten in an old tin for 110 years. The discovery is a breakthrough in cinema history. Michael Harvey from the National Media Museum and Bryony Dixon from the British Film Institute talk about the importance of the discovery. The previous earliest colour film, using the Kinemacolour process, was thought to date from 1909 and was actually an inferior method. The newly-discovered films were made by pioneer Edward Raymond Turner from London who patented his colour process on 22 March 1899.

View video of film HERE

 

 

The City of London Is Not London (?) [video]

UK Firm Accidentally Fires 1,300 Employees

According to Bloomberg -

Aviva Plc (AV/), the U.K.’s second- biggest insurer by market value, said the company’s investment unit mistakenly sent an e-mail dismissing its entire staff before retracting the message. The e-mail, which was sent by the Aviva Investors human resources department to 1,300 employees globally, told recipients to turn over company property as they left the building and reminded them of their obligation to guard the firm’s confidential information, according to Paul Lockstone, spokesman for the unit of the London-based insurer. “It was intended that this e-mail should have gone to one single person,” Lockstone said by phone. “Unfortunately, as a result of a clerical error, it was sent to all of the Investors staff worldwide.”

Continue reading HERE

 

 

Queen Victoria’s Underwear Sold For $15,000

CBSnews reports -

LONDON — A pair of silk bloomers that belonged to Britain’s Queen Victoria has sold at auction for 9,375 pounds ($14,950) — three times the underwear’s pre-sale estimate. A painting of the queen with her Scottish servant John Brown sold for 145,250 pounds ($230,000) at Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull. The close relationship between monarch and servant inspired the film “Mrs. Brown.” Both items were purchased Tuesday by anonymous bidders.

Continue reading HERE.

 

 

Mr.Jelly – UK’s Top Children’s Entertainer

Mr.Jelly’s website says all you need to know – Mr.Jelly  “Keeps Kids Quiet”. He also does an adults only show that “includes some inoffensive racism”. I wish I lived in the UK.

Check out his site HERE.

 

Journalism Warning Labels

Tom Scott, a British blogger presents a smart idea – warning labels for journalism. He also offers a free PDF if you would like to print your own labels.

He states -

It seems a bit strange to me that the media carefully warn about and label any content that involves sex, violence or strong language — but there’s no similar labelling system for, say, sloppy journalism and other questionable content. I figured it was time to fix that, so I made some stickers. I’ve been putting them on copies of the free papers that I find on the London Underground. You might want to as well.

Visit Tom’s site and check out his labels.

Naked Roller Coaster Record Smashed

A new record for riding a roller coaster naked has been set in England. The Telegraph article includes a SFW video.

The 102 enthusiasts bared all to take their seats on the Green Scream rollercoaster at Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They smasked the previous record by 70 people after 32 attempted the same feat in 2004 at Alton Towers, in Staffordshire.

Continue reading HERE.