What is it with Iceland? Not content with sparking off a Cod War on this day in 1976, they've done nothing but annoy people ever since. They extended their fishing grounds from 3 nautical miles to twelve in 1958 and to 50 in 1972. This was presumably because they'd caught all their fish and wanted somebody else's. They then sank two trawlers and rammed HMS Andromeda. This was only the start, however. More recently they've grounded aircraft all over the world with their volcanic smog, upset international finances with a banking collapse and given us a High Street shop that sells nothing but frozen food.
What have we got in return? Bjork.
I rest my case.
In other news ...
A brilliant new gadget appeared in the skies over Paris 91 years ago today. It was a very light (220 lbs) aircraft with a 25 horsepower engine that drove two large rotating blades. It got off the ground all right and hovered, but landing was a bit of a b***h and no one could predict which direction it was going to go in.
The idea was sound, though - thank God somebody came up with a better name than the one its inventor hoped would take off - the Oehmichencopter.
