January 31, 2015

Top News Stories –

Whitney Houston’s daughter accident –
Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of late American singer Whitney Houston is found unconscious in a bath in a house in Roswell, Georgia. She was taken to a hospital in Roswell where she was said to be breathing. Her mother was found dead in a bath on February 11th 2012 of accidental drowning due to the effects of cocaine use and heart disease.
Flickr Whitney Houston performing on GMA 2009 5
Bobbi Kristina Brown and Whitney Houston in 2009

Cumberbatch and Fry sign petition to pardon gays –
Benedict Cumberbatch and Stephen Fry sign an open letter requesting the government to pardon 49,000 men who were prosecuted for being gay. Family members of the World War Two codebreaker Alan Turing who was convicted of gross indecency in 1952 (and later committed suicide in 1954) also signed the petition. Cumberbatch played Turing in the film “The Imitation Game”.
Benedict Cumberbatch at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2014
Benedict Cumberbatch

Balloon flight record broken –
Balloon pilots American Troy Bradley and Russian Leonid Tiukhtyaev complete their crossing of the Pacific in a helium filled balloon with a sea landing off Mexico after 6 days flying from Japan. They claim to have beaten the world distance and duration records by flying for more than 137 hours and travelling more than 5,209 miles (8,383km).

Serena Williams wins 19th grand slam title –
Serena Williams beats fellow American Maria Sharapova to win the Australian Open tennis title. Williams’ 6-3, 7-6 (7-5) victory gives here a 19th grand slam crown out of 23 finals – the best percentage performance in either the men’s or women’s game.
Serena Williams Australian Open 2015 (cropped)
Serena Williams

Video of the Day –

The Imitation Game trailer

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April 25, 2015

Top News Stories –

Nepal hit by 7.9 magnitude earthquake –
More than 718 people across a swath of four countries were killed on Saturday – the majority in Nepal – following the worst earthquake in the country’s recent history. The quake, which was measured at 7.9 on the Richter Scale, destroyed historic buildings in the capital Kathmandu, including the capital’s 19th Century Dharahara Tower landmark, where more than 50 people are missing in the rubble. Many of them were scaling the 200 feet structure for the best view of the city when the earthquake struck. The city’s historic Darbar Square and many temples were also damaged. Officials said 688 people were confirmed dead in Nepal. Another 20 were killed in India, six in Tibet and two in Bangladesh. Two Chinese citizens died at the Nepal-China border. Given the scale of the destruction, the death toll is almost certain to rise, said Laxmi Dhakal, Home Ministry official. [Daily Telegraph]
Nepal_ethnic_groupsNepal

3-Olympian Bruce Jenner makes transgender history by identifying as a woman –
Olympic gold medalist and reality TV star Bruce Jenner said on Friday that he identifies as a woman, becoming the most high-profile American to come out as transgender. The 65-year-old Jenner made the declaration in a wide-ranging interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, nearly 40 years after his record-breaking Olympic gold-medal win in the decathlon that gave him the unofficial title of “World’s Greatest Athlete.” At the outset of the taped interview, Sawyer asked “Are you a woman?” and Jenner responded, “Yes, for all intents and purposes I am a woman.” [Reuters]
Bruce-JennerBruce Jenner

Couple plan to be oldest newlyweds –
Two elderly lovebirds from East Sussex, England are set to become the world’s oldest newlyweds when they tie the knot in June.
George Kirby, who is 102, finally proposed to 91-year-old Doreen Luckie after they had lived together for 25 years. [BBC]

Video of the Day –

How to Turn Your Apple Watch Gold

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August 29, 2015

Top News Stories –

World Athletics Championships: Ashton Eaton sets new decathlon world record in Beijing –
Ashton Eaton’s world record in the decathlon has stolen the limelight from Mo Farah and Usain Bolt on the penultimate night of the world athletics championships in Beijing. Farah completed the long distance double for a second consecutive occasion at a world titles with victory in the men’s 5,000 metres final, while Usain Bolt captured his third gold in the Bird’s Nest in the last seven days when he anchored Jamaica to a win in the men’s 4x100m relay. But it was Eaton who deserved top billing, after the American dipped under his world mark to post a two-day total of 9,045 points. Eaton, the defending champion, collected 829 points in running four minutes and 17.52 seconds in the final event, the 1,500m, enough to beat his previous record by six points. [ABC]
Ashto Eaton tweet Ashton Eaton tweet

 

Mo Farah completes the ‘triple-double’ with 5,000m at the athletics world championships in Beijing –
Mo Farah is the first athlete to win the 5,000 and 10,000m races at successive world championships. The ‘triple-double’: it is a coinage usually confined to basketball, but in Beijing it belongs to the extraordinary Mo Farah, who for a record third successive global championships has completed twin triumphs over 5,000 and 10,000 metres. None of the distance icons – not Emil Zatopek, not Lasse Viren, not Kenenisa Bekele – managed it, but Farah streaked into history at the Bird’s Nest stadium with another exquisitely controlled perfor­mance over 12½ laps. [Daily Telegraph]
British Athletics tweet - Mo Farrah

 

Video of the Day –

Wirecutters

Wire Cutters from Jack Anderson on Vimeo.

List of the Day –

Decathlon world record progression [As of August 29, 2015 – Wikipedia]

Points Adjusted
points
Athlete Nation Date Place
7,485.61 6,087 Aleksander Klumberg  EST 1922-09-22 Helsinki[1]
7,710.775 6,476 Harold Osborn  USA 1924-07-12 Paris[1]
7,820.93 6,460 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1926-07-18 Viipuri[1]
7,995.19 6,566 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1927-07-17 Helsinki[1]
8,053.29 6,587 Paavo Yrjölä  FIN 1928-08-04 Amsterdam[1]
8,255.475 6,865 Akilles Järvinen  FIN 1930-07-20 Viipuri[1]
8,462.235 6,736 James Bausch  USA 1932-08-06 Los Angeles[1]
8,790.46 7,147 Hans-Heinrich Sievert  GER 1934-07-08 Hamburg[1]
7,900 7,254 Glenn Morris  USA 1936-08-08 Berlin[1]
8,042 7,287 Bob Mathias  USA 1950-06-30 Tulare[1]
7,887 7,592 Bob Mathias  USA 1952-07-26 Helsinki[1]
7,985 7,608 Rafer Johnson  USA 1955-06-11 Kingsburg[1]
8,014 7,653 Vasili Kuznetsov  URS 1958-05-18 Krasnodar[1]
8,302 7,989 Rafer Johnson  USA 1958-07-28 Moscow[1]
8,357 7,839 Vasili Kuznetsov  URS 1959-05-17 Moscow[1]
8,683 7,981 Rafer Johnson  USA 1960-07-09 Eugene[1]
9,121 8,010 Yang Chuan-kwang  ROC 1963-04-28 Walnut[1]
8,230 8,120 Russ Hodge  USA 1966-07-24 Los Angeles[1]
8,319 8,235 Kurt Bendlin  FRG 1967-05-14 Heidelberg[1]
8,417 8,310 Bill Toomey  USA 1969-12-11 Los Angeles[1]
8,454 8,466 Mykola Avilov  URS 1972-09-08 Munich[1]
8,524 8,420 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1975-08-10 Eugene[1]
8,538 8,454 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1976-06-26 Eugene[1]
8,618 8,634 Bruce Jenner[a]  USA 1976-07-30 Montreal[1]
8,622 8,648 Daley Thompson  GBR 1980-05-15 Götzis[1]
8,649 8,667 Guido Kratschmer  FRG 1980-06-14 Filderstadt-Bernhausen[1]
8,704 8,730 Daley Thompson  GBR 1982-05-23 Götzis[1]
8,723 8,741 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1982-08-15 Ulm[1]
8,743 8,774 Daley Thompson  GBR 1982-09-08 Athens[1]
8,779 8,825 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1983-06-05[3] Filderstadt-Bernhausen[1]
8,798 8,832 Jürgen Hingsen  FRG 1984-05-09 Mannheim[1]
8,798 8,847 Daley Thompson  GBR 1984-08-09 Los Angeles[1]
8,891 8,891 Dan O’Brien  USA 1992-09-05 Talence[1]
8,994 8,994 Tomáš Dvořák  CZE 1999-07-04 Prague[1]
9,026 9,026 Roman Šebrle  CZE 2001-05-27 Götzis[1]
9,039 9,039 Ashton Eaton  USA 2012-06-23 Eugene[4][5]
9,045 9,045 Ashton Eaton  USA 2015-08-29 Beijing

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