26 June

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 26 June:

1. On this date in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed in San Francisco by 50 nations. The text of the charter was five languages: Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
2. In 1917, King George V dropped the German titles from the Royal Family and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha became Windsor. The name Battenberg was changed to Mountbatten.
3. In 1909, Edward VII opened the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
4. A complete map of human genome published by J. Craig Venter and Francis S. Collins on this date in 2000.
5. In 1819, the Bicycle was patented by William Clarkson Jr. of New York.
6. Bar codes were first introduced on this date in 1974. A packet of Wrigley’s Chewing gum was the first item to be swiped across a scanner, at a supermarket in Ohio.
7. President Kennedy visited West Berlin on this date in 1963. It was on this visit that he made his famous declaration: "Ich bin ein Berliner." What he meant to say was "I am a Berliner," to encourage the people. However, "Berliner" is local slang for a sweet snack; so they heard "I Am a Doughnut", but guessed what he was trying to say.
8. According to legend it was on this date in 1284 that the Pied Piper reappeared in the German town of Hamelin. The townspeople refused to pay him for getting rid of their infestation of rats, so he piped away 130 children and sealed them in a cave on Koppenburg Mountain.
9. In 1498, the Toothbrush was invented in China.
10. This date in 1865 saw the birth of Shigechiyo Izumi, the world’s oldest authenticated human. He lived to the age of 120 years and 237 days. He was recorded as a six-year-old in Japan's first Census of 1871. He also holds the record for the longest working career, spanning 98 years. He began his career in 1872 goading draft animals at a sugar mill, and retired as a farmer in 1970 when he was 105. He used to drink sho-chu, an alcoholic beverage distilled from barley or rice, and took up smoking when he was 70. He attributed his long life to "the Gods, Buddha and the Sun." He lived through 71 Japanese Prime Ministers.

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