10 October

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 10 October:

1. 1939 Eleanor Rigby died on this date in 1939, aged 44. Her tombstone was the inspiration for the title of The Beatles song.
2. In 1996, a 64 year old man in Japan died of a heart attack while taking part in a tug of war to mark National Fitness Day.
3. Neptune's moon Triton was discovered by William Lassell on this date in 1846.
4. In 1661, the first ever yacht race took place – between King Charles II and his brother James, from Greenwich to Gravesend, for a £100 bet.
5. In 1881, Charles Darwin published The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms, With Observations on Their Habits, the result of 45 years of study. He considered it his major work, even greater than On the Origin of Species.
6. In 1886, Griswold Lorillard wore the first tail-less dinner jacket to the Autumn Ball in Tuxedo Park, New York. Hence the name 'tuxedo.'
7. At one point on this date in 1910 It was 10:10:10 on 10-10-10. The same 100 years later in 2010, and there was also a celebration as a British boy turned 10 at 10:10 on the 10th day of the 10th month of 2010.
8. In 1998 in Belfast, James Conway demanded £100 from a bank, armed with a cucumber. He was arrested nearby while in the act of eating the evidence.
9. It's been a significant date for messages in bottles. In 1996, John Forman, a Scottish fisherman, found an 82 year old message in a bottle, which had been thrown into the sea in 1914 as part of an experiment to chart currents. In 2000, 44 years after it was thrown from a ship in the Indian Ocean, another message in a bottle was found in New Zealand near the home of author, Hans Schwarz – the man who'd thrown it in the first place. He'd done so while sailing to Melbourne, Australia in 1956, to attend the Olympic Games. The bottle contained a note for a “dusky Pacific maiden”. Schwarz had written the message in English and German.
10. In 1995, a transcript was released of an actual radio conversation of a US naval ship with Canadian authorities off the coast of Newfoundland. Released by the Chief of Naval Operations:

Americans: "Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision."

Canadians: "Recommend you divert your course 15 degrees to the South to avoid a collision."

Americans: “This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert your course.”

Canadians: “No, I say again, divert your course.”

Americans: “This is the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln, the second largest ship in the US Atlantic fleet. We are accompanied by three destroyers, three cruisers, and numerous support vessels. I demand that you change your course 15 degrees North, that’s one five degrees North, or counter measures will be undertaken to ensure the safety of this ship.”

Canadians: “This is a Lighthouse. Your call!”

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