On 17 December 1903 the Flyer covered 37 m in 12 seconds. A Boeing 747’s wingspan is about 60–68 m.
Wacky Facts
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1881The Darjeeling toy train is a UNESCO site.
Opened in 1881, its narrow 2-foot gauge line climbs to over 2,200 m with loops and zig-zags.
Planes fly higher than Everest.
Airliners typically cruise at 10–12 km, where thin air reduces drag and saves fuel.
Autorickshaws first came to India in the 1950s.
Early models were based on Italian designs such as the Piaggio Ape.
2002The Delhi Metro is one of the largest metro networks.
Opened in 2002, it has grown to over 390 km of track.
Henry Ford’s Model T came in any colour — as long as it was black.
From 1914 to 1925 black was used because it dried fastest on the assembly line.
1998The Konkan Railway has over 90 tunnels.
Opened in 1998, the line between Maharashtra and Karnataka crosses rivers and hills with around 91 tunnels and many bridges.
Indian Railways runs trains over more than 68,000 km of route.
It has one of the largest railway networks in the world, with over 7,000 stations.
The Chenab bridge is the world’s highest railway arch bridge.
The bridge in Jammu and Kashmir stands about 359 m above the river — higher than the Eiffel Tower.
Airplane windows are round for safety.
Early square windows concentrated stress at the corners; after Comet crashes in the 1950s, airlines switched to rounded windows.
1964Japan’s bullet trains average delays of under a minute.
The Shinkansen opened in 1964 and has an average delay measured in seconds per train.
1868The first traffic light exploded.
A gas-lit signal outside the UK Parliament in 1868 exploded weeks after installation, injuring its operator.
1896The first car speeding ticket was for 8 mph.
In 1896 Walter Arnold was fined for driving at 8 mph in a 2 mph zone in Kent, England.
Mumbai’s dabbawalas deliver lakhs of lunches with rare mistakes.
Using trains, bicycles and a colour-code system, they deliver about 2 lakh lunchboxes daily.
1982The Palace on Wheels was India’s first luxury tourist train.
Launched in 1982, it tours Rajasthan using carriages inspired by royal saloons.
Black boxes are actually orange.
Flight recorders are painted bright orange so they are easier to find after an accident.