Record-breakers in the news today
All of Boeing's flagship 787 Dreamliner airplanes have been grounded following safety concerns.
The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) today issued
instructions to temporarily take the planes out of service while
safety checks are carried out, with the plane's lithium ion
batteries are the focus of concern.
Launched in April 2004 and, by the time of its roll out on 8 June
2007, the Dreamliner had set a record for the
fastest selling airliner with 677 sold.
By September 2010, 846 aircraft, valued at US$164 billion, had
been ordered by 56 customers making it the most successful launch
of an airliner.
Lance Armstrong is expected to reveal his involvement in doping as
a professional cyclist in an TV interview with Oprah Winfrey set to
be broadcast on Friday.
The former cyclist, 41, recorded the interview with Winfrey in his home city of Austin, Texas after being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and being labelled a "serial cheat" by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) last year.
Winfrey holds the record for the highest annual earnings
for a television personality (female), having earned an
estimated $275 million (£186 million) Between June 2009 and June
2010 thanks to her magazine, her radio contract, her production
company Harpo and the debut of the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Staying with cycling, it was announced today that next year's Tour
de France will feature a stage that visits the London 2012 Olympic
Park and ends on the Mall along with two opening stages in
Yorkshire.
Britain boasts the reigning Tour de France champion, with Team Sky
rider Sir Bradley Wiggins the holder of the record for being the
first cyclist to win the Tour de France and an Olympic gold
medal in the same year.
Finally, an amateur prospector in Australia has left experts
dumbfounded after
unearthing a gold nugget weighing a monstrous 5.5kg (177 ounces)
worth almost £200,000 ($320,000).
Using a handheld metal detector, the unidentified man found the "incredibly rare" nugget lying 60cm underground on Wednesday while examining area of land in the town of Ballarat in Victoria.
The largest gold nugget ever discovered is the Holtermann Nugget, which weighed 235.14 kg. It was found on 19 October 1872 in the Beyers & Holtermann Star of Hope Mine, Hill End, NSW, Australia. The nugget was crushed soon after its discovery and 82.11 kg of gold was extracted from it.
