Captain Tom Earns a Knighthood
Captain Tom Moore, who surprised himself and the United Kingdom (UK) with his efforts to raise money for the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), has been given a knighthood. Being knighted is one of the highest honors anyone can be given in the UK.
“Captain Tom” has been made a colonel for his efforts, which raised over $39 million for the NHS. His original goal was to raise £1,000 by walking 100 laps in his garden before his 100th birthday. Captain Tom walks with the help of a rolling support frame.
(Source: Emma Sohl, Capture The Light Photography Captain Tom Moore.)
“I’m certainly delighted,” said the captain. It’s not clear when or how a knighthood ceremony with Queen Elizabeth II could be held, because of the coronavirus, but Captain Tom says, “I’m looking forward to that.”
Singapore Man Wins Quiz with Singer’s Help
Singapore radio station Gold 905 has a tricky quiz that it runs to attract listeners. The station plays a recording of 14 famous people, each saying one word of this sentence: “Gold 9-0-5, the station that sounds good, and makes you feel good.”
To win, players must correctly guess all 14 famous people. Muhammad Shalehan had been listening for weeks and was sure he knew the answer. But when he gave his answer, he was told he was wrong. Weeks later, another player gave exactly the same answer, and won the prize.
Mr. Shalehan complained, but was told that he hadn’t said the name “Tony Hadley” correctly. Tony Hadley was the lead singer for the pop group Spandau Ballet.
(Source: Andrew Hurley [CC BY-SA], via Wikimedia Commons.)
So Mr. Shalehan wrote to Mr. Hadley. Mr. Hadley listened to the recording of Mr. Shalehan saying his name, and agreed that Mr. Shalehan had said it correctly. Mr. Hadley even made a video saying that Mr. Shalehan should win the prize.
It took a while, but the radio station changed its mind and gave Mr. Shalehan the prize – about $7,000 and a shopping trip. “Justice has been served,” said Mr. Shalehan.
Virginia Family Finds $1 Million in “Trash”
When David and Emily Schantz took their family for a drive in Virginia last week, they were unable to avoid hitting a trash bag in the middle of the road.
At least it looked like a trash bag. For the safety of other drivers, the Schantz family picked up the bag and threw it in the back of their pickup truck. A little farther along, the family spotted a second bag by the side of the road and picked it up, too.
When the Schantz family got home and went to deal with the “trash”, they realized that the cloth bags were filled with money. Inside were smaller plastic bags with money, and what appeared to be instructions for putting the money in the bank. In all, the bags contained almost $1 million.
(Source: allie™, via Flickr.com.)
The family called the sheriff’s office, which has turned the bags over to the United States Postal Service (USPS). It’s still not clear how the money wound up on the road, but the USPS is working to return the money to its original owner.