Know It All

He's got an answer for everything, week 32

What is the biggest upset in sporting history?
There have been an amazing amount of upsets in sporting history and picking the biggest is a difficult task. A snooker fan would claim that Joe Johnson’s victory over Steve Davis in the 1986 World Snooker Championship was the greatest upset ever; a rugby fan might claim Munster’s 1978 victory over the All Blacks is the best upset and a tennis fan could go for Goran Ivanisevic winning Wimbledon in 2001. However, the following 3 upsets are truly remarkable...
The Miracle on Ice: So famous that Disney made a film about it called Miracle, featuring Kurt Russell. Very American, lots of chest-beating and loud hurrahs, but the fact is no genuine sports fan can watch what the Americans did at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in 1980 and not agree that it was an incredible achievement. A team of amateur and student ice hockey players under the coaching eye of Herb Brooks defeated a Soviet team that had won every Olympic gold medal since 1964. The score was 4-3 and the USA later won the gold medal by beating Finland.
The Miracle on Grass: In 1950, England believed themselves to be the best football team in the world. In the last 30 games played they had won 23, lost 4 and drawn 3. They were scheduled to face the USA in the first round of the 1950 World Cup. It should have been a walkover for the England team, the Americans were 500/1 to win the Cup, the English were 3/1. England had many scoring chances in the game, but were somehow denied. A goal from Joe Gaetjens sealed the victory for the USA, 1-0. Uruguay eventually won the Cup. Some English commentators accused the USA of having too many foreign born players, but the US coach Pedro Santiago stated that his forward line of Luis Fernandez, Maximillian Schmidt, Matteo Nicolo and Johann van Appel were as American as sauerkraut, windmills and Ferrari.
The Miracle on Canvas: When Mike Tyson appeared on the international boxing circuit in 1985 he was frankly terrifying. Young, angry, immensely powerful, he was a champion in the making. By 1986 he was WBC champion; in 1987 he also added the WBA and IBF heavyweight belts to his collection. By 1990 he had a 37-0 professional record and was looking unbeatable. In Feb 1990 the undefeated and undisputed heavyweight champion of the world fought James “Buster” Douglas, a journeyman with a good record, but who still looked like he would crumble before Tyson’s shocking punching strength. But a devastating uppercut and flurry of punches had Tyson KOed in the 10th and Douglas became champion of the world, whilst the world watched on with open mouths


What is the iPhone5 likely to do, I’m bored of the iPhone4?
Rumours about the iPhone 5 include a tougher case than the iPhone 4 for gadget lovers with butter fingers, a slightly larger screen, a new or updated operating system and a faster processor inside. This means it could be able to do things such as offer wireless payments at retail outlets with appropriate readers, take better photos (using a speculated 8 mega-pixel camera) with sensors assisting with low light pictures and a browser that strips web pages to make them easier to read.
What it won’t do is make your bed in the morning, put the kettle on, wash your dirty underwear and look after you when you have the sniffles. So even though the iPhone 5 might become the coolest gadget in the world, it’s still not as cool as your mum.


Why do people in the UK drive on the different side of the road from most of Europe?
Historians have several arguments of why we drive on the left in the UK (and Ireland). Some believe it was because the Romans in Britain drove their wagons on the left and others state that travelling medieval horseman would ride on the left to keep their right hand free, so they could wave a salutation or pull out their sword for defence. The Highway Act of 1835 codified the law of driving on the left.
Why people drive on the right in the continent is an even murkier history. Many will say Napoleon decided people would do this for reasons such as he was left-handed (making it easier to drive on the right) or he just wanted to irritate the English. Colonised or conquered countries had to abide to the laws of the victor, so some left sided countries became right sided. The truth is that early drivers drove on whatever side they felt like and it was only in the early 20th century that there was a global shift towards driving on the right. The Japanese also drive on the left, as do drivers in India and Australia. Taxi drivers in Cairo drive on any side where there is space to move 10ft forward, which includes the pavement and over roundabouts.


What is the most watched TV channel in the world? What is the most popular newscast/telly programme ever?
CNN is the most watched TV channel in the world, mostly by bored travellers and business people in hotels in foreign countries looking for something in English that doesn’t involve pay per view and embarrassing credit card bills. CNN International can be found in around 212 countries and territories worldwide; a huge audience of over 1 billion watched CNN’s initial coverage of the 1991 Gulf War.
The most popular TV programme ever was M*A*S*H, the Korean War based comedy drama that ran from 1972 to 1983. Around 100 million people watched the series finale, which makes the 30 million viewers EastEnders once managed in 1986 look positively puny. The most watched single newscast or broadcast is believed to be the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; with anywhere between 1 and 4 billion tuning in (although 984 million was the verified figure). The least popular telly programme ever? Naked Jungle. Not even the sight of Keith Chegwin’s hairy little coconuts jiggling around the plastic palm trees could endear this monstrosity to the British public.

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