29 October

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 29 October:

1. In 1618, Sir Walter Raleigh, once a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (he named Virginia after her), was beheaded at Whitehall. He'd been falsely accused of treason and sentenced to death commuted to imprisonment, but after 13 years had been released to try and find the legendary Gold of El Dorado. He failed, and returned without it, which turned out to be an extremely bad move. As was common at the time, his head was embalmed and presented to his wife. She carried it with her at all times until she died 29 years later.
2. In 1945, the first Ballpoint pen went on sale at Gimbels Department Stores 57 years after it was patented. It sold for $12.95 and made a profit of $500,000 in the first month.
3. The first broadcast of Keeping up appearances starring Patricia Routledge as the obsessively snobbish Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet), always out to impress her neighbours and those she considered important took place on this date in 1990.
4. In 2000, J.J. Tranfield finished putting together the world's longest sausage. It measured 36.75 miles or 59.14 kilometres.
5. In 1986, the final section of the M25 around London was opened.
6. Discovery launched on this date in 1988, carrying John Glenn, 77, back into orbit and making him the oldest man in space.
7. In 1969, computers at UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute were first connected – the beginning of The Internet.
8. In 1964 the Star of India, the world's largest sapphire, and other jewels were stolen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The alarm system and night guards were stopped years earlier for economic reasons, and the jewels weren't insured. The Star and most of the other gems were recovered in 1965; three men were convicted of stealing them.
9. In 1927, Russian archaeologist Peter Kozloff uncovered the tomb of Genghis Khan in the Gobi Desert.
10. In 1986, Staffordshire fire breather Reg Morris blew a 31ft flame from his mouth.

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