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If the empty space in atoms could be removed, the entire human race could fit into an average sugar cube.

The most common surname in China is Wang.

Originally, the traditional Argentine game of pato, which is a combination of rugby, polo and basketball, was played – as the Spanish name suggests – with a live duck in a basket. Nowadays, a leather ball is used.

There are 117 road accidents in Rome every day.

No country in history has imprisoned more citizens than the United States.

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Moacir Barbosa Nascimento

In the final game of the 1950 World Cup, an honest mistake by a man called Moacir Barbosa condemned him to spend the rest of his life being vilified by millions.

The tournament’s last game saw Brazil and Uruguay engaged for the right to call themselves World Champions. Before the match began the Brazillian national team – known locally as the Seleção – were given solid gold watches stating: ‘For the World Champions’.

“Football is the ballet of the masses.” – Dmitri Shostakovich

Only one player has achieved the dream of all Brazilians – scoring in a World Cup Final for the Seleção on home soil at the famed Maracana stadium. A minute into the second-half Albino Friaça Cardoso realised that fantasy. It was his only goal for Brazil. It was to be the only goal Brazil scored that fateful day. The Uruguayan jet-heeled right winger, Ghiggia from Montevideo, surged down the line crossing the ball for Schiaffino to equalise past Barbosa. Thirteen minutes later, Ghiggia surged down the line again. This time he was to ruin Moacir Barbosa’s life forever.

Footage exists of 4.33pm, 16th July 1950: the worst moment of all Barbosa’s days on earth. What is a second in a lifetime of existence? For Moacir this instant would shape the rest of his 50 years.

“The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.” – Pele

The official attendance was 173,850 – some say 200,000 – making it the largest football crowd ever. Yet they all fell quiet at Barbosa’s error. As Ghiggia said years after his goal that won Uruguay a World Cup: “Only three people have silenced the Maracana: Sinatra, Pope John-Paul II and me”. It was said without any fear of contradiction.

Brazilians – never opting for stoicism when flamboyant exhortations suffice, variously described the defeat as ‘the greatest tragedy in Brazilian history’.

For Moacir Barbosa, 16th July 1950 was not an exercise in extravagant self-flagellation: it started a living nightmare. He was never forgiven. Life treated him harshly. He never played for Brazil again. People spat at him or abused him. He was denied coaching jobs after he retired. Having black skin didn’t help in a racially-divided country.

Once he visited the Seleção to wish them well. He was denied, fearing bad luck. He was even refused a commentator’s job.

After his wife died a friend revealed “he even cried on my shoulder – until the end he used to always say: ‘I’m not guilty. There were 11 of us.’”

An elderly Barbosa lamented, ‘In Brazil, the most you get for any crime is 30 years. For 50 years I’ve been paying for a crime I did not commit. Even a criminal when he has paid his debt is forgiven. But I have never been forgiven.”

In 2000, penniless and close to death, he recalled his memory of 1970 – in the year when the greatest-ever Brazil team won the World Cup, a mother pointed him out to her child in a market saying: ‘Look at him. He was the man who made all of Brazil cry’.

Heart failure caused Moacir Barbosa to die in 2000, aged 79. Some say it was a broken heart that killed him.

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Women didn’t get the vote in Andorra until 1970.

In 1999, Darlington FC acquired 50,000 worms to irrigate their waterlogged pitch. They all drowned.

Only 35% of the average person’s Twitter followers are actual people.

Rent-a-Mourner is a company in Braintree, Essex from which “professional sobbers” can be hired to blub at funerals to make people believe the deceased was quite popular.

Despite the objections of her family, the American Congressman Daniel Sickles married his wife, Teresa Bagioli, when he was 33 and she just 15. He would later become the first man to use the Temporary Insanity Defence in court. (He had murdered his wife’s lover, who was the son of the man who wrote the lyrics to “The Star Spangled Banner”).

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Buenos Aires has more psychiatrists per head than any other city in the world.

In 1813, Camembert cheese was made an honorary citizen of the town of Caen in Normandy.

The first commercially viable lightbulb, patented by Thomas Edison in 1880, used a filament made from bamboo.

The name Imogen is a mistake. Shakespeare wrote ‘Innogen’ in the play Cymbeline and the printer misread it.

Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga, commonly known as Andrés Escobar, was a Colombian footballer who played for the national team as a defender. Escobar scored an own goal in the 1994 FIFA World Cup against the United States. Because of this, he was shot and killed three weeks later in his hometown of Medellín aged 27.

See other: Quite Interesting Facts

The Death Match

The Death Match is a name for a football game on 9 August 1942 in Kiev between FC Start, a local team which consisted of former professional footballers from Dynamo Kyiv and Lokomotyv Kyiv, and Flakelf, a team of German air defence artillery.

The fact that a game of football was played between the occupying Nazi forces and a number of local Ukrainian footballers is in itself not that interesting, nor the fact that the game was won by the natives with a score of 5-3; what is interesting though, is the allegation that all FC Start players were captured and executed after the match by the Gestapo.

We will need to stress the word ‘allegation’ here because the massacre of the Ukrainian players was probably invented by Soviet propaganda. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, historians and Ukrainian eyewitnesses have refuted the fact all the players killed after the match.

Unfortunately, there was no happy ending. Even though there was no immediate post-match mass killing, all but three players of the FC Start team were arrested and killed by the Nazis during the war. And so it turns out, sadly, The Death Match was not a complete hoax.

Interestingly, the Ukrainian team won the match even though the referee was a German SS soldier.

Football War

The Football War was fought by Central American countries El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. In fact, it also went by the name of the 100 Hours’ War, and in reality there were a host of issues at the root of the troubles. Migration, trade and simmering land disputes on the border all conspired to spark social unrest between the two, but it wasn’t until the best-of-three World Cup qualifiers in 1969 that the tipping point was reached.

A map of Honduras

The first game – a 1-0 win for Honduras – in Tegucigalpa witnessed disturbances but things deteriorated significantly come the second in San Salvador: visiting Honduran players endured a sleepless night before the game, with rotten eggs, dead rats and stinking rags all tossed through the broken windows of their hotel; Honduran fans were brutalised at the game, and the country’s flag and national anthem were also mocked. “Under such conditions the players from Tegucigalpa did not, understandably, have their minds on the game,” admitted the Honduras coach Mario Griffin after his team lost 3-0. “They had their minds on getting out alive. We’re awfully lucky that we lost.”

Tension continued to increase before the decisive third match in Mexico, with the press stoking the frenzy. And on June 27 – the day of the play-off – Honduras broke off diplomatic relations with their neighbour. El Salvador eventually triumphed 3-2 after extra-time, booking their place in the 1970 World Cup (where they would lose all three of their group games without scoring). By July 14, El Salvador had invaded Honduras.

When the Organisation of American States negotiated a ceasefire on July 20, approximately 1,000 to 2,000 people had lost their lives and 100,000 more had become refugees. Troops from El Salvador were withdrawn in August, but it wasn’t until 11 years later that a peace treaty between the nations was agreed. A civil war in El Salvador ensued between 1980 until 1992, when the International Court of Justice awarded much of the originally disputed territory to Honduras.

On a happier note, two years previously football stopped a war – albeit temporarily. The opposing sides in the Biafran war declared a two-day truce in September 1967 so that they could watch Pele and his touring Santos team play in two exhibition matches.

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A Salute To Unbreakable Records

All records are a reminder of a unique feat, but they are made to be broken. Be that as it may, some records have become virtually unattainable; a number them are listed below. Not everyone will agree about their invincibility, but these records have stood the test of time up until the time of writing, and most of them are likely to remain the gold-standard.

Of course there are many omissions, and this list is in no way written in stone; some of these records may indeed be broken in future – nothing is certain.

Margaret Court’s grand slam record

Margaret Court won 62 grand slam tennis titles in her career (24 singles, 19 doubles and 19 mixed doubles). Why is it highly probable that this record will never be broken? There have been plenty of players with the capacity to overhaul Court, but the modern game makes doubles play far less important to players. There has been only one player since with both the talent and the desire to break the Australian’s record; Martina Navratilova came close with 59 before she ran out of steam, eventually retiring in 2006.

New York Yacht Club’s winning streak

In 1851, the schooner America won a yacht race around the Isle of Wight for the New York Yacht Club, and the America’s Cup was born. After that, the NYYC did not relinquish the trophy for an astonishing 132 years, until Australia II beat Liberty by four races to three in the water off Newport, Rhode Island.

Australia rejoiced and the then prime minister, Bob Hawke, told his country: “Any boss who sacks anyone for not turning up today is a bum.” The longest winning streak in any sport had come to an end. The longest winning reign since is seven years. The record is safe.

Don Bradman’s Test batting average

Bradman was not popular with his Australia team-mates, so they were probably grateful he spent so much time in the middle. The Don is so far ahead of the rest it is ridiculous to contemplate anyone surpassing his Test average of 99.94. A player is considered accomplished if he averages the far side of 40; 50-plus and you are in the company of the greats. Across a 20-year career, and even without weaker Test nations – Bangladesh, Zimbabwe – from which to plunder, Bradman excelled. The next best average is 60.97, by Graeme Pollock. Says it all, really.

Byron Nelson’s 11 in a row

If golfers like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods could not touch this record, it is unlikely someone else will in the near future – remember, Woods’s best is six in a row.

In 1945, Byron Nelson won 18 events on the PGA Tour, including 11 consecutively. As the Texan landed only five major championships, he is just off the top table when it comes to all-time greats, but in the final year of the Second World War, between the Miami Fourball and the Canadian Open, he was simply untouchable. He later said that having an incentive helped: “I could see the prize money going into the ranch, buying a tractor, or a cow.”

Wayne Gretzky’s career points total

Wayne Gretzky, playing for the New York Rangers.

In ice hockey, just about any individual National Hockey League record worth thinking about is held by ‘The Great One’, but the one that probably no one will ever break is his career points total. In a career that spanned 1978-1999, and included 1,487 regular-season games, the Canadian amassed 2,857 points (894 goals plus 1,963 assists).

His nearest challengers are Mark Messier (1979-2004) – who, in nearly 300 games more, was a little under 1,000 points behind – and Joe Sakic, who retired on 9 July, a mere 1,216 points shy of Gretzky’s record.

Frankie Dettori’s seven winners

To ride three winners at a single meeting is considered some achievement – even at an evening meeting at Wolverhampton in February – ride all seven on the card is remarkable.

The fact that Dettori did it at Ascot, in top-level races, makes this one of the great records in any sport. Bookmakers still cringe at the mention of 28 September 1996, when Dettori’s 25,095-1 accumulator – which started on Wall Street and ended on Fujiyama Crest – bit them. “God was on my side,” the jockey told a rapturous Ascot, having leapt from the saddle after the final race.

Heather McKay’s 16 British Open victories

In her career on a squash court McKay lost only twice. That’s twice. The defeats came in 1960 and 1962, and then the Australian scented nothing but victory until she retired from tournament play in 1981.

In 16 appearances at the British Open (the world’s premier tournament at the time), she never even lost a game. Only twice did an opponent score more than six points (games are won with nine) against her, and her opponent in the 1968 final, Bev Johnson, failed to win one. McKay didn’t let up after retirement, winning world titles in the over-45 and over-50 categories.

Preston North End’s perfect Double

In the Premier League era, the Double is not the rarity it once was. Since Sky financed football’s equivalent of the Big Bang in 1992 – giving rise to the Big Four – it has been achieved five times. Before then – and there was such a time – the double had been managed five times in 103 years. Preston North End were the first club to do it, and the style of their accomplishment will probably never be equalled. In the 1888-89 season, the Lancashire club (staffed mainly by Scottish players) went unbeaten in the League and didn’t concede a goal in the FA Cup.

Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak

It seams highly unlikely that anyone will get near DiMaggio’s hitting streak – in layman’s terms, the number of consecutive games in which he took at least one base hit. It may not sound that tough but, in baseball batting, a 35% hit rate is considered a huge success.

To give you some idea of the size of this streak: prior to DiMaggio’s effort for the New York Yankees in 1941, the best streak was 44 games by “Wee” Willie Keeler in 1897; the best since is also 44, by Pete Rose in 1978.

Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 points in a game

Chocolate isn’t the town of Hershey’s only claim to fame. Only 4,124 were in the Hersheypark Arena to see the NBA game between the Philadelphia Warriors and the New York Knicks on 2 March 1962, and there was not a television camera in sight. Chamberlain spent the night before the game with a lady friend (he had lots) and didn’t get much sleep; he also enjoyed a big lunch with friends before the game, so how he went on to score 100 points is little short of a miracle. The next best single-game score in NBA history is 81, by Kobe Bryant in 2006.

Montreal Canadiens win five straight Stanley Cups

One word can describe the Montreal Canadiens in the late 1950s: dominant.

A member of the ‘Original Six’, the Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups, by far more than any other NHL organization. That is a jaw-dropping accomplishment by itself, but not to be outdone is this: the Habs winning five straight Cups from 1955-56 to 1959-60.

The New York Islanders came close. They won four straight Cups in the early ’80s. Since then, no team has ever won more than two in a row. Today, there are too many teams to be able to string together five straight cups like the Habs did.

Boston Celtics win eight straight NBA Championships

Boston Celtics logo

Today, two or three championships in a row is called a dynasty. Not for the Boston Celtics. From 1959-66, the Boston Celtics simply dominated the NBA.

This record will most probably never be broken. Since the Celtics’ run of eight in a row, there have been three three-peats. The Chicago Bulls did it twice in the 90’s and the Lakers did it once from 2000-02.

Nadia Comaneci becomes the youngest gold medallist

In 1976, Comaneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics in a move that was so unexpected, the score board didn’t have enough places to display the 10. That feat has been repeated, most notably by American Mary Lou Retton in 1984.

However, Nadia won her three gold medals when she was 14 years old, making her the youngest gymnast to win a gold medal. Today, gymnasts have to be a minimum of 16 years old to compete, which cuts out any potential competition in that field to Nadia’s young feat.

Oscar Swahn becomes the oldest medallist to date

It’s a record that hasn’t been broken since 1920 when 72-year-old Oscar Swahn won a silver medal in a shooting competition called “Team 100-meter running deer, double shot,” — the same year he set the record for being the oldest athlete to compete in the Olympics. The Swedish shooter competed in three Olympic games during his life, winning three gold, a silver and two bronze medals during his Olympic career.

Usain Bolt’s 100-meter record

Runners tend to shave off another hundredth or two of the 100 meters at the Olympics, but have we finally seen the lowest limit? Usain Bolt’s 9.69 seconds at the 2008 games in Beijing looked like a record with a chance to stand – until Bolt himself beat it with his 9.63-second run to the gold medal in London. Now, is this the record that will stand the test of time?

Monaco: most Summer Games without a medal

The small principality located on the French Riviera has participated in 18 Summer Games with no medals to show for it. And with a medal-less eight Winter Games, that brings the country’s total to 26 total Olympic Games without winning a gold, silver or bronze.

See other: A Salute To …

Penalty Kick Psychology

New psychological research suggests that soccer goalkeepers and teams are not only affected by the high-stakes pressure of a penalty shootout. Without their awareness, goalkeepers also appear to be biased to dive to the right in some situations.

Football World Cup held in Chile, 1962

The consequences of this bias could potentially affect games ranging from casual pickup matches to world championships.

The bias primarily seems to affect goalkeepers when their teams are down, according to psychologists at the University of Amsterdam. A number of psychologists at that particular university believe the bias likely extends to other sports as well that involve rapid decision-making under pressure.

The researchers said their hypothesis arose from a discussion they had with each other at a bar one Friday evening. They were talking about two recent papers. One showed dogs tend to wag their tails to the right when approaching their masters. The other showed that soccer goalies have a tendency to dive one way or another while facing penalty kicks – they seem to dislike staying still.

Combining the ideas in the papers, and referring to soccer goalkeepers, the psychologists asked themselves, “Could it be that they would also, like the dogs, dive more to the right?”

The psychologists in question started examining the evidence. They looked at penalty kicks in the men’s World Cup football championship from 1982 onward and found 204 penalty shootouts. When teams were tied, they found that goalkeepers dived left and right equally. But when their teams were down, the psychologists found goalkeepers were more than twice as likely to dive right as dive left.

Football goalies’ tendencies

Now, there’s a scientific explanation for this – and it doesn’t have anything to do with being left-handed or right-handed.

Among humans, dogs and some other animals, individuals unconsciously move to the right when they approach something they really want. Lovers tend to lean their heads to the right when they kiss; dogs wag their tails to the right when their masters approach.

The predisposition to go one way rather than another does not mean that individuals always have to go that way. But it does mean they have an unconscious tendency to favour one side rather than another in certain situations.

The Amsterdam University psychologists said the tendency likely arose in different species because there was an evolutionary advantage for many members of a given species to favour one direction rather than another – when they were hunting or avoiding predators, for example.

A theory that arose is football goalkeepers tend to dive right when all hopes are pinned on them. That’s why they dive right, “especially when their team is behind and their likelihood to be heroes is the greatest.”

Note also that the research showed that when the goalie’s team is behind, the goalie never remains standing in the middle of the goal, but instead, chooses to dive either left or right.

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