Record-breakers in the news today
Premier League football club West Ham have been confirmed as the anchor tenants for London’s Olympic Stadium after the UK government approved a deal for converting the venue.
A new roof will be built to replace original temporary design, while retractable seating will slide over the running track to bring West Ham fans closer to the action.
The East London club, nicknamed the Hammers, will move in to the stadium from August 2016 and pay around £2m a year rent.
While the official largest football match attendance in Britain is 149,547 for the Scotland v. England international which took place at Hampden Park, Glasgow on 17 Apr 1937, it is, however, probable that this total was exceeded (estimated 160,000) at the FA Cup final between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United at Wembley Stadium on 28 Apr 1923, when the crowd spilled onto the pitch and the start was delayed 40min until it was cleared. The counted admissions were 126,047.
The last surviving member of the team which first conquered Everest has passed away.
George Lowe, 89, died at a nursing home in Derbyshire, UK after a long-term illness.
He was part of the team that helped Edmund Percival Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay complete the first ascent of Everest (8,848 m 29,029 ft) on 29 May, 1953, with Lowe setting up the final camp 300 metres (1,000ft) below the summit which allowed Hillary and Norgay to reach the 8,850 metre peak and mark their place in history.
A Frenchman has been arrested after impersonating a pilot after sitting in the cockpit of a US Airways plane before a scheduled flight from Philadelphia International Airport.
Philippe Jernnard boarded the plane on Wednesday evening wearing a shirt with an Air France logo and a jacket that resembled one worn by pilots.
Police arrested the 61-year-old man on charges of trespassing, impersonating a public servant and lying to police and is being held by police with bail set at $1 million.
The longest career as a pilot record is held by the late Col. Clarence Cornish (1898-95 - Indiana, USA), who piloted planes from on 6 May 1918 (his first solo flight was 21 days later) until 4 December 1995, a total of 77 years 212 days. He died 18 days after his last flight.
Finally, a man called Bart Simpson has appeared before a judge who just happened to be called MR BURNS.
Company Director Barton Simpson, 56, stood trial in front of Mr Recorder Burns at Warwick Crown Court earlier this week, denying a charge of possessing a prohibited firearm during an incident at Birmingham airport last year.
Bart Simpson is the fictional yellow star in the hit sitcom The Simpsons, while nuclear power plant owner Montgomery Burns is his frequent nemesis.
The show holds the record for the longest running sitcom, with its 500th episode broadcast on 19 February 2012.
