Is That A Fact!?

Aubrey Beardsley’s “On This Day” Fun Facts and Trivia

On this day, in 1896, the first car theft anywhere, ever, was solved!

Baron de Zuylen was a great enthusiast of the new motor car and he even co-founded the Automobile Club de France (ACF) in 1895 and was its President for 27 years from 1904 to 1931. The Club was such a success that it inspired a lot of countries around the world to do the same. And he spent a lot of his life developing the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which was founded in 1904, and he was also a founder member of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC). So this man really liked his cars.

So when his went missing, you can imagine the catastrophe, as Baron de Zuylen also had the great honour of being the owner of the first car ever stolen, anywhere in the world. On that fateful day in Paris, in 1896, Baron de Zuylen had left his beloved Peugeot at the manufacturer for repairs. But the car went missing and it turned out that the theft was carried out by none other than Baron de Zuylen’s own mechanic! The mechanic was delighting in his new automotive freedom in nearby Asnières (now Asnières-sur-Seine) when he was apprehended with the car, on this day, in 1896.

And on this day, in 1987, some burglars in Denmark made a right mess of their attempt to open a safe, by using so much explosive that they demolished the whole building. The safe, however, remained intact amongst the rubble around it. And the burglary went down as one of the most flamboyantly unsuccessful heists in history.

But the prize for lack of foresight possibly goes to a 20 year old man in Oklahoma, who in 2003, had an interview for a construction job with a company scheduled for 9 June. His preparation for the interview was, however, slightly fraught. He decided to rob the company the day before, this very day, 2003. He was recognised from the security video and did not get the job.

Inept villains are the order of the day, because today is apparently Snidely Whiplash Imitation Day! Snidely Whiplash is a classic villain character in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show and arch nemesis of Dudley Do Right. The object of today is to do your best imitation of Snidely Whiplash. This probably means a handlebar moustache, a dastardly laugh, and a foiled plan. That could be any number of hipsters in Shoreditch!

Today is also Jerky Day and we have celebrated by having some of our favourite liver jerky. Today is also Upsy Daisy Day. The aim of the day is to take a positive attitude all day (jerky helps), which obviously that construction worker was doing when he went for a job at a company he had just robbed. Maybe he wanted the stapler as well? Here everyone got up early and eager to vote (well, the humans did anyway). I did not quite get the memo … I love my morning lie-in. But my morning lie-in is also about being with my best friends. Because today is Best Friends Day. But every day is best friends day. Make sure you get together, or have a chat, and look after those best friends. Because the best friends are the ones that make you happy! After all, it is the company that makes the feast … especially on Jerky Day.

And that’s a fact!

Happy Upsy Daisy Day! … just give me five more minutes … Zzzzzzzzzzz