The Quite Incredible Number List: 1901-2000

1901: On the 24th of October, 1901 and on her 63rd birthday, Annie Edson Taylor became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. (Strawberry)

1902: On July 14 1902 the campanile of St Marks in Venice collapsed. (Big Martin)

1903: On the 15th of February, 1903, Morris and Rose Michton introduced the first teddy bear in the United States. (Strawberry)

1904: On May 9 1904, the GWR locomotive City of Truro became the first to exceed 100 mph. This is, hovever, disputed. Living a few hundred yards from the junction of two ex-GWR mainlines, I'm a bit biased and prepared to accept it as true. (Big Martin)

1905: The Russo-Japanese War ended on the 5th of September, 1905. (Strawberry)

1906: In December 1906, Martha Baer became the first person to undergo sex-change surgery, and later became Karl M. Baer. (vanjeet)

1907: In 1907, The Diamond Sutra, a woodblock printed Buddhist scripture dated 868, was discovered by Aurel Stein in the Mogao Caves in China, it is "the earliest survival of a dated printed book". (Strawberry)

1908: The Tunguska Event occurred in 1908. Around 80 million trees were flattened in an area of 2,150 square kilometres. (Big Martin)

1909: In 1909, Karl Landsteiner, Constantin Levaditi and Erwin Popper discovered the polio virus. (Strawberry)

1910: The 1910 Fruitgum Company were an American "bubblegum pop" band of the 1960s. (Big Martin)

1911: The Remington M1911 was the standard sidearm pistol for the US military until quite recently. It was designed by a chap named Browning, a native of Utah. In 2011, 100 years after it came into service, it was named the 'official handgun' of the State in honour of him. (tetsabb)

1912: Contrary to popular belief, SOS was not used for the first time in 1912 prior to the sinking of the Titanic, it was indeed used by the wireless operator on board but was being broadcast along with the previously used CQD. SOS had been approved for use 4 years earlier but had largely been ignored by British ships up until 1912. (Efros)

1913: 1913 is a rather pretentious poetry/prose journal published "in handsome book-as-art-objet fashion". It was founded in 2003 "by l'editrice". (Spud McLaren)

1914: 1914 is the sum of 10 consecutive primes: 1914 = 167 + 173 + 179 + 181 + 191 + 193 + 197 + 199 + 211 + 223. (Efros)

1915: Inspiration (a silent film) was released in 1915 and was the first non-pornographic American film to feature full female nudity. (vanjeet)

1916: On April 2 1916 108 people were killed in an explosion at a munitions factory at Uplees in Kent. (Big Martin)

1917: Hedd Wyn died on the 31st of July, 1917. (Strawberry)

1918: Rin Tin Tin was born in September 1918. (vanjeet)

1919: On the 8th of May, 1919, Edward George Honey proposed the idea of a moment of silence to commemorate the Armistice of the First World War. (Strawberry)

1920: The first event in Irish history known as Bloody Sunday took place on 21st November 1920 when a group of Royal Irish Constabulary, British Army and civilian informants opened fire in Croke Park while the crowd was beginning to assemble for a Dublin-Tipp Gaelic Football match, allegedly because there was intelligence about an IRA plot. 14 people died, which ultimately turned the favour of the Irish population towards the IRA and away from the crown. (AlmondFacialBar)

1921: 1921 Angel Hill is a restaurant in Bury St Edmunds. (Big Martin)

1922: 1922 is a novella by Stephen King. It was published in his collection Full Dark, No Stars in 2010. (Strawberry)

1923: Vegemite was launched in 1923. (vanjeet)

1924: Studio 1924 is a dance studio in Oakland, California. (Big Martin)

1925: NGC 1925 is a galactic cluster in the constellation Dorado. (AlmondFacialBar)

1926: Winnie-the-Pooh was published on the 14th of October, 1926. (Strawberry)

1927: One Summer:America 1927 is a book buy Bill Bryson. (Big Martin)

1928: 1928.com is an online store specialising in vintage inspired custom jewellery. (AlmondFacialBar)

1929: 1929 was the year of the US stock market crash. Black Thursday brought the "roaring twenties" to a screaming halt, ushering in a world-wide economic depression. ('yorz)

1930: The 1993 model Citroën ZX Estate 1.9 Litre Diesel actually had an engine displacement of 1930 cc. (AlmondFacialBar)

1931: The original film version of Dracula with Bela Lugosi was released in the United States on the 14th of February, 1931. (Strawberry)

1932: Also, in 1932, HM Submarine M2 sank with the loss of all 60 hands. The worlds first submarine aircraft carrier, she sank through ingress of water through the hangar door. (Big Martin)

1933: Annie Besant died on the 30th of September, 1933. (Strawberry)

1934: 1934 is a novel by Alberto Moravia. It details the relationship between an Italian anti-Fascist - Lucio - and a scared, suicide-seeking German girl. It addresses large philosophical questions like the meaning of life, love and death, so no pretension there then. (Efros)

1935: The Hoya 1935 is a 67mm UV camera filter. (Big Martin)

1936: 1936 Guerra Civil (1936 civil war) is a card game in which each player plays one of the sides in the conflict, either the Republic or the Nationalists. (Awitt)

1937: Just Nuisance, the only dog ever officially enlisted in the Royal Navy, was born in 1937, in Cape Town. (vanjeet)

1938: Superman and Lois Lane live at 1938, Sullivan Lane, Metropolis. 1938 was a tribute to the year of Superman's comic book debut. (Strawberry)

1939: Microsoft Visual Studio .NET error 1939 refers to an WITH/ENDWITH mismatch. (AlmondFacialBar)

1940: On the 27th of July, 1940, Bugs Bunny made his debut in the Oscar-nominated cartoon short, A Wild Hare. However, it was not until 1941 that his name was adopted. (Strawberry)

1941: Steven Spielberg's film 1941 was panned by the critics on its original release. It has now gained something of a cult status, apparently. (Big Martin)

1942: Wojtek was a brown bear, born in 1942 in Iran. He was found as an orphaned cub by a local boy and sold to a lieutenant, who gifted him to a refugee. He was later donated to the Polish Army. He was fed on condensed milk, fruit, honey, and later beer. he enjoyed smoking. He was hought to salute when greeted. In order to get him on a British transport when his troop sailed to Egypt he was drafted into the Polish Army as a private. During the Battle of Monte Cassino he helped move ammunition, and became the emblem of the 22nd company. He was given the rank of Corporal. (vanjeet)

1943: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was published in New York in March of 1943. It is the all-time best-selling book originated in French. (Strawberry)

1944: In December 1944 the Home Guard were stood down, the release of National Velvet saw Elizabeth Taylor shoot to stardom and Glenn Miller disappeared on a flight over the English Channel. (Big Martin)

1945: 1945 is a 1995 novel by Newt Gingrich and William Fortschen. (Strawberry)

1946: The EU produce code IE1946EC refers to Drumboory Goat Farm in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, Ireland. (AlmondFacialBar)

1947: In 1947, the first living organism (fruit fly) was sent to space and returned by the US Army. (vanjeet)

1948: Nike 1948 appears to be some kind of design installation by the Wilson Brothers. (tetsabb)

1949: In 1949, Handsome Dan VI, the sixth mascot of Yale University, died under mysterious circumstances either from fear of fireworks or of shame that the Yale team lost to both Princeton and Harvard that season. (vanjeet)

1950: The UN Hazardous Goods code 1950 stands for flammable aerosols. (AlmondFacialBar)

1951: The Goon Show was first broadcast on May 28 1951. (Big Martin)

1952: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning is a song by Richard Thompson. (Big Martin)

1953: Crick and Watson announced the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. (vanjeet)

1954: 1954 lightyears convert into 1.84858725 x 10¹⁹ metres. (AlmondFacialBar)

1955: In March 1955 Jim Henson made the first version of Kermit the Frog. (Big Martin)

1956: 1956 is the postcode of Frederiksberg in Denmark and Aqcha in Afghanistan. (AlmondFacialBar)

1957: The Queen's 1957 Christmas Broadcast was first ever to be televised. (vanjeet)

1958: Saint Clare was declared patron saint of television by Pius XII in 1958. (Big Martin)

1959: There are three different songs called 1959. One is by Patti Smith, another is by John Anderson and the other is by The Sisters of Mercy. (Strawberry)

1960: 1960: The Making of the President is a board game based on the US presidential election of that year. (Big Martin)

1961: The 1961 is a 'coworking and art space' in Siem Reap, Cambodia. (tetsabb)

1962: 1962 is the smallest value of n for which 2n and 9n together use the digits 1-9 exactly once (3924 and 17658). (Ed.)

1963: National Fire Protection Associaton Standard 1963 governs fire hose connection requirements for fire hose connections in the USA. (tetsabb)

1964: NGC 1964 is a spiral galaxy in the Lepus constellation discovered by William Herschel. Though he presumably didn't realise it was a galaxy. (AlmondFacialBar)

1965: 1965 is a 2015 Singaporean thriller/ historical film directed by Randy Ang and co-directed by Daniel Yun. (Strawberry)

1966: 1966 is a discrete semi-prime number whose factors are 1, 2, 983 and 1966. (Alfred E Neuman)

1967: §1967 of the German Civil Code rules the liability of heirs for a deceased person's debt and other financial obligations. (AlmondFacialBar)

1968: The photograph Earthrise was captured by astronaut William Anders in 1968 during the Apollo 8 orbit of the Moon. (vanjeet)

1969: United Nations Security Council Resolution 1969 from February 2011 extended the United Nations Integrated Mission in East Timor for another year. (AlmondFacialBar)

1970: In late August 1970 the Isle of Wight Festival took place. With around 600,000 attendees, it's reckoned to be the biggest ever. (Big Martin)

1971: Surah 19.71 of the Quran confronts the reader with the possibility of Hell. (AlmondFacialBar)

1972: On November 29th, 1972 video games were born with Atari's release of the game PONG. On the same day, the first 'tea house' of Amsterdam opened its doors. (SavMachine)

1973: Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon was released in March 1973. (Big Martin)

1974: The Toyota 2C Diesel engine had a bore of 86.0mm and a stroke of 85.0mm giving a capacity of 1974cc. (Alfred E Neuman)

1975: The 1975 are an indie rock band from Manchester. (Big Martin)

1976: 1976 is a Taiwanese Band formed in 1996. Most of the members were born in 1976, thus the name. (vanjeet)

1977: Australopithecus sediba was a South African species of hominid whose fossil remains are tightly dated to 1.977 million years ago. (AlmondFacialBar)

1978: According to the site jackbauerfacts.com, fact ID #1978: Jack Bauer uses Logan's arm to slice vegetables. (Strawberry)

1979: Jura, the 26th canton of Switzerland, was founded on January 1st 1979. It was formed from the French speaking part of the canton of Berne. (Big Martin)

1980: Editions 19/80 is a French publishing house specialising in skateboarding literature. (AlmondFacialBar)

1981: The first cases of AIDS were recognised in June 1981. (Big Martin)

1982: Number 13 on IMDb's list of "Most Popular People Born In 1982" is Cobie Smulders. No, me neither. (bobwilson)

1983: In 1983 in the UK, it became mandatory for drivers and front seat passengers to wear seatbelts. (bemahan)

1984: The ICD-9-CM code for a secondary malignant neoplasm of other parts of nervous system, 198.4, was converted to the ICD-10-CM codes C79.32 Secondary malignant neoplasm of cerebral meninges or C79.49 Secondary malignant neoplasm of other parts of nervous system in October 2015. (AlmondFacialBar)

1985: There is also a Paul McCartney and Wings song called Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five. (Strawberry)

1986: 1986 is the haz mat code for flammable, toxic alcohols. Which, by the way, doesn't include ethanol. (AlmondFacialBar)

1987: The first contemporary global financial crisis unfolded in the autumn of 1987 on a day known infamously as “Black Monday.” At the time, it marked the sharpest market downturn in the United States since the Great Depression. (bemahan)

1988: 1988 is the sum of the first 33 primes, and is also the sum of the first 51 composite numbers. (Ed.)

1989: Pons and Fleischmann announced that they had successfully produced "anomalous heat" through cold fusion in 1989. (vanjeet)

1990: In March of 2015 an Italian woman made her grandchildren ill by making them hot chocolate with packets with an expiry date of 1990. (Big Martin)

1991: August 1991 is a film based on the Soviet attempt to suppress the independence movement in Estonia. (vanjeet)

1992: 1992Gear are a clothing company that takes its inspiration from downtown Los Angeles hustler style. (AlmondFacialBar)

1993: River Phoenix died on the 31st of October, 1993. (Strawberry)

1994: Camera 1994 is on the M3 in Hampshire, between Winchester Services and Junction 9. Historically it was the first camera after the M25, which means that for most of its length the M3 was invisible to control room operators for Highways England. Once the All Lanes Running section opened from J2 (M25) to Junction 5 in Dec 2016, there were cameras to see that section. (tetsabb)

1995: 1995 is the debut album by experimental jazz/jazz fusion group Screaming Headless Torsos. (Strawberry)

1996: The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was the first ever international tournament won by a Golden Goal. (AlmondFacialBar)

1997: South Park debuted in 1997. (vanjeet)

1998: 1998 is an instrumental by British trance act Binary Finary originally released in the year 1998. (Strawberry)

1999: Space 1999 was the last TV Sci-Fi series made in Britain by Gerry and Louise Anderson - remarkable in that a lot of people seem to have assumed these series (Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Joe 90 and The Secret Service, UFO & Space: 1999) were produced by and for US television. (PDR)

2000: Windows 2000 was undoubtedly the most disappointing (nay, pointless) OS from the Microsoft stable. (PDR)