515

515) 29/9/2009

Today I learnt that tomorrow's front cover of The Sun indicates that the newspaper has stopped supporting Labour after over 12 years and will be once more championing the Conservative Party from now on, leading up to the next general election.
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514

514) 28/9/2009

Today I learnt that the worst road accident in British history occurred near Grassington, Yorkshire in 1975.
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513

513) 27/9/2009

Today I learnt that the origin of the phrase "Tall Poppy Syndrome". It comes from a story by Aristotle where a man scythed a stick across his garden thus cutting off the heads of the tallest flowers. The expression describes the societal phenomenon in which people of genuine merit are criticised or resented because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their peers.
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512

512) 26/9/2009

Today I learnt that Fountains Abbey is located very near to the town of Ripon.
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511

511) 25/9/2009

Today I learnt that "concentric circles" would constitute circles positioned inside each other, they share the same centre.
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510

510) 24/9/2009

Today I learnt that, recently, the biggest horde of Anglo Saxon gold ever found was discovered under a field in Staffordshire by an unemployed metal detectorist.
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509

509) 23/9/2009

Today I learnt that the Japanese athlete (Kokichi Tsuburaya) who took bronze in the 1964 Tokyo Olympic marathon behind Abebe Bikila committed suicide a few years later.
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508

508) 22/9/2009

Today I learnt that Backspacer is Pearl Jam's new album.
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507

507) 21/9/2009

Today I learnt that Asics is a Japanese firm.
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506

506) 20/9/2009

Today I learnt that Rotherham United F.C. have been playing their home games at the athletics stadium in Sheffield while a new stadium is being built in Rotherham.
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505

505) 19/9/2009

Today I learnt that the statue of Oliver Cromwell in London ironically looks out across the street to a bust of Charles I.
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504

504) 18/9/2009

Today I learnt that a Beetle Drive is a mass-participation game where people each attempt to draw a beetle with each part dictated by the roll of a dice. It is similar to Bingo because the winner must shout out "Beetle!"
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503

503) 17/9/2009

Today I learnt that a slogan I recently invented yields only one result on Google and is therefore extremely original. That expression is this: "The Revolution Starts Yesterday".
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502

502) 16/9/2009

Today I learnt that court case against two teenagers for "plotting" their own version of the Columbine High School Massacre has rightly been labelled "a waste of money" and they were correctly acquitted after only a few minutes of jury deliberation. Thoughts and fantasises and fixations are not and can never constitute crimes. I myself am an expert on the Columbine incident and there are many important lessons to learn from it.
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501

501) 15/9/2009

Today I learnt that the word "arbitrary" can be said of a policy or decision which is based on subjective factors or random choice, not on objective principles. The word comes from the Latin for "uncertain" and thus carries connotations of capriciousness and misuse of power.
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500 Days!

Well I'm still going. Every day I take away one thing I learned in those particular 24 hours. It's been fun so far. Now to learn some more...
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500

500) 14/9/2009

Today I learnt that Uluru is the actual name of what outsiders called Ayers Rock.
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499

499) 13/9/2009

Today I learnt what the loneliness of the long distance runner truly feels like.
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498

498) 12/9/2009

Today I learnt that Lord Reith was the first Director-General of the BBC.
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497

497) 11/9/2009

Today I learnt that the song "News of the World" with the chorus lyrics of "Read all about it" was by The Jam.
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496

496) 10/9/2009

Today I learnt that if you listen very carefully to the Nine Inch Nails song "Hurt" you can discern, from the left channel, some of the lyrics (in the first chorus) sung slightly before they are heard in the primary vocals track. This immersive "musical precursor" device creates an interesting reverse-echo effect.
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495

495) 9/9/2009

Today I learnt that in Ordnance maps, when a town or village has CP after it this stands for Civil Parish.
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494

494) 8/9/2009

Today I learnt that Bristol is famous for its abundance of graffiti art, it is the home city of the iconic and anonymous Banksy.
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493

493) 7/9/2009

Today I learnt that the Rat Islands are a group of volcanic islands which are part of Alaska.
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493

493) 6/9/2009

Today I learnt that there is a singer who achieved moderate popularity in the 1970s called Dean Friedman with an interesting voice capable of singular high pitches.
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492

492) 5/9/2009

Today I learnt that the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show three weeks running. It wasn't a one-off performance.
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491

491) 4/9/2009

Today I learnt that there is a U2 tribute band entitled New2.
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490

490) 3/9/2009

Today I learnt that Alice in Chains have preceded their upcoming new album with two singles one of which features an darkly artistic and abstractly provocative video.
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489

489) 2/9/2009

Today I learnt that there was an amazing and rare spectacle which occurred in 1054 AD whereby a star dramatically increased in brightness as the result of a supernova. It was even visible in broad daylight for weeks and its presence was recorded by the Chinese, Arabs and and native Americans.
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488

488) 1/9/2009

Today I learnt that the two countries who principally dispute the identity of the Kosovo region are Albania and Serbia. The vast majority of Western nations recognise Kosovo as an independent country.
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487

487) 31/8/2009

Today I learnt that Ted Edgar is a man involved with show-jumping.
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486

486) 30/8/2009

Today I learnt that "Barefoot Runner" is book written about the legendary Ethiopian marathon runner and Olympic champion of the 1960s Abebe Bikila.
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485

485) 29/8/2009

Today I learnt that Michael Jackson shares a birthday with my aunt (today).
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