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JANUARY 2010
Nuggets

Anecdotes of the Great

Alexandre Dumas was once involved in a duel with a young politician. As both were crack shots, they agreed to draw lots: the loser would simply shoot himself. Dumas lost. Pistol in hand, the author withdrew in silent dignity to an adjacent room, closing the door behind him. The rest of the company waited in gloomy suspense for the sound of the shot which would signal Dumas' demise. When it came at last, they ran to the door, opened it - and were surprised to discover Dumas alive and well, his smoking revolver still in hand. "Gentlemen, a most regrettable thing has happened," he declared with feigned astonishment. "I missed!"
[Alexandre Dumas (July 24, 1802-December 5, 1870), was a French playwright and novelist noted for such works as The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Man in the Iron Mask and The Black Tulip.]

FACTOID
‘Pogonophobia’ is the fear of beards.


How about that?
Orangutan becomes hit snapper
Keepers at Vienna's Schoenbrunn Zoo in Austria gave Nonja a digital camera and set up a Facebook page for her. She uses a Samsung ST 1000 that has a point-and-shoot feature that automatically uploads the photos to Facebook over a WiFi link. The camera has been modified to dispense a raisin whenever she presses the shutter button. The slightly blurry images of Nonja's climbing rope, food and her companion's shaggy red-brown fur have won lots of admiring comments from her 18,000 plus fans. Nonja turned to photography after a spell as a painter where her works often reached up to £2,000 at auction! To see Nonja's photo skills in action, check out www.facebook.com/ pages/Nonja/190010092116.
Compiled by Caroline C. D’Souza
THIS MONTH IN
HISTORY
 Jan. 01, 1877: Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India.

Jan. 03, 1977: Apple Computer, Inc. is founded.

Jan. 04, 1999: The Euro currency makes its debut.

Jan. 06, 1929: Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta.

Jan. 07, 1610: Galileo discovers the 4 major moons of Jupiter - Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto - the Galilean moons.

Jan. 11, 1922: First use of insulin to treat diabetes in a human patient in Toronto, Canada.

Jan. 15, 1559: Elizabeth I is crowned queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London.

Jan. 15, 2001: Wikipedia, a free content encyclopaedia, goes online.

Jan. 18, 2003: Airbus A380, the world's largest commercial jet, is unveiled in Toulouse, France.

Jan. 20, 2009: Barack Obama becomes the USA's first African-American president.

Jan. 26, 1950: The Constitution of India comes into force, forming a republic. Dr Rajendra Prasad is sworn in as the first President of India.

Jan. 28, 1986: Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board.

Jan. 30, 1948: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is assassinated.

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