11 August

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 11 August:

1. In 1995, an inmate named Robert Brecheen was rushed to the prison hospital to have his stomach pumped after taking a drug overdose. Then, he was sent back to the prison and executed by lethal injection.
2. In 1994, the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines unveiled a life-size statue of singer Garth Brooks, sculpted from 250 pounds of Butter.
3. In 1909, Arapahoe was the first American ship to use the radio distress call "SOS." The ship, finding itself in trouble off the coast of North Carolina, sent the signal, which was received by a nearby ship. Contrary to popular belief, SOS does not stand for anything. It was adopted as an international distress signal because of its easy transmission and interpretation.
4. On this date in 2016, American swimmer Michael Phelps won the gold medal in the 200-meter individual medley, thus becoming the first swimmer to win gold medals in the same event at four successive Olympic Games.
5. In 1915, construction began on the world's first tank, built by William Foster and Co. of Lincoln. The tank, Number 1 Lincoln Machine, or Little Willie as it was fondly called, was 26 feet 6 inches long and held a crew of six and could move its 16.5 ton body and the crew at an amazing 2 MPH.
6. In 1934, the first federal prisoners arrived at the island prison Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay.
7. In 1984, during a voice test for a radio address, President Reagan made a joke that he had "signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes". The comments were accidentally broadcast, causing an international uproar.
8. In 1995, the Avenue and Victoria bowls club in Leamington Spa banned Henry the parrot for irritating contestants by shrieking “You’re a yard short.”
9. In 1998, Zbigniew Rozanek of Pleszew, Poland built a the world's smallest bike and rode it 5 meters/16 feet. The back wheel was a mere 13 mm. or .51 inches and the front wheel was even smaller at just 11 mm. or .43 inches in diameter.
10. In 2000 A European record was broken when 132 Hot air balloons took off in 55 minutes at Bristol's International Balloon Fiesta.

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