Trivia Bits 10 October

 

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda written by Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle (pictured) in 1971 describes war as futile and gruesome, while criticising those who seek to glorify it which is exemplified in the song by the account of a young Australian soldier who is maimed at the Battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.

Oil Creek State Park in Pennsylvania is the site of the world's first commercial oil well when on August 27 1859 the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company drilled the first oil producing well.

The Bridal Veil Falls, American Falls and Horseshoe Falls are collectively known as the Niagara Falls that straddles the international border between Canada and the United States; more specifically, between the province of Ontario and the state of New York.

French physician René Laennec invented the stethoscope in 1816, while working at the Hôpital Necker and pioneered its use in diagnosing various chest conditions.

Tropical Cyclone Ita hit far north Queensland in April 2014.

During the bird flu pandemic of 2005, chef Alexis Gauthier removed bird related products from the menu at his Michelin starred restaurant in London, the Gauthier Soho restaurant in Soho, London.

Jean Mary Hardcastle is one of the main characters in the TV series As Time Goes By a British romantic sitcom that aired on BBC One from 1992 to 2002, starring Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer and follows the relationship between two former lovers who meet unexpectedly after not having been in contact for 38 years.

It is in the Burgundy area of France that the chardonnay grape originated and is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine.

The Australian tree Agathis atropurpurea, a species of conifer,is known as the black kauri or the blue kauri because of the colour of its bark is found only in Queensland, Australia and is threatened by habitat loss.

Michelangelo Merisi is better known as the Baroque artist Caravaggio, an Italian artist active in Rome, Naples, Malta, and Sicily between circa 1592 and 1610.