Edward Brooke-Hitching | |
---|---|
Born | London, England |
Occupation | Author and screenwriter |
Language | English |
Notable works | Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports, The Phantom Atlas, The Golden Atlas, The Sky Atlas, The Madman's Library |
Website | |
www |
Edward Brooke-Hitching is an English[ citation needed ] author, and a researcher and writer for BBC panel show QI. [1] [2] He is the son of rare book collector and antiquarian dealer Franklin Brooke-Hitching, [2] [3] and a descendant of the printer and bibliographer William Blades, who wrote the history of book preservation The Enemies of Books . [4]
Brooke-Hitching was exposed to his father's work through his rare bookshop, [2] and worked for an auctioneer in London before turning to a writing career. [5]
His Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports described 90 obsolete pastimes such as fox tossing, octopus wrestling and ski ballet. [6] [7] His The Phantom Atlas describes places which appear on maps but do not exist: the Times reviewer says that it "shows how places that aren’t there can endure, sometimes for centuries, once a map-maker has inked them in". [8] The Sky Atlas was shortlisted for the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in the "Illustrated travel book" category [9] and picked as one of the 50 Christmas books of the year by The Herald . [10]
In 2007 he directed a short documentary about the Edinburgh-based Really Terrible Orchestra . [11]
He appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in October 2019. His hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "a land grant for 60 acres of land in Poyais", being a document produced by 1820s fraudster Gregor MacGregor. [12]
A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigational errors, mistaken observations, unverified misinformation, or deliberate fabrication. Some have remained on maps for centuries before being "un-discovered".
Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is the second studio album by American rock band Mudhoney. It was recorded at a time when the band was thinking of signing to a major record label, but decided to release the album on Sub Pop in 1991. The album shipped 50,000 copies on its original release. It was credited with helping to keep Sub Pop in business.
The Strait of Anián was a semi-mythical strait, documented from around 1560, that was believed by early modern cartographers to mark the boundary between North America and Asia and to permit access to a Northwest Passage from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific. The true strait was discovered in 1728 and became known as the Bering Strait. The Strait of Anián had been generally placed nearby, but sometimes appeared as far south as California.
David Michael Bautista Jr. is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. Regarded as one of the most prolific professional wrestlers of his generation, he rose to fame for his multiple stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019.
The Patagones or Patagonian giants were a race of giant humans rumoured to be living in Patagonia and described in early European accounts. They were said to have exceeded at least double normal human height, with some accounts giving heights of 13 to 15 feet or more. Tales of these people would maintain a hold upon European conceptions of the region for nearly 300 years.
Harvey Einbinder was an American physicist, author and amateur historian.
A hopper balloon is a small, one-person hot air balloon. Unlike a conventional hot air balloon where people ride inside a basket, there is no basket on a hopper balloon. Instead, the hopper pilot usually sits on a seat or wears a harness similar to a parachute harness. Hoppers are typically flown for recreation. These aircraft are sometimes called "cloud hoppers" or "cloudhoppers". However, these terms formally refer to the products of a particular manufacturer, specifically Lindstrand Balloons. Nonetheless, "cloudhopper" is used by many people as a genericized trademark, which refers to all craft of this general type. Most hopper balloons have envelopes that range in volume from 14,000 to 35,000 cubic feet and have a maximum flight duration of 1 to 1.5 hours. The two principal commercial balloon manufacturers today offering hopper balloons for sale are Cameron Balloons and Lindstrand Balloons. Most other hopper balloons are experimental aircraft designed and built by amateur constructors.
The Old English Bulldog is an extinct breed of dog.
Vitali Vitaliev is a Ukrainian-born journalist and writer who has worked in Russia, the United Kingdom, Australia and Ireland.
The Battle of Azemmour took place in Morocco, on 28 and 29 August 1513 between the Portuguese Empire and the Moroccan Wattasid dynasty.
A blood sport or bloodsport is a category of sport or entertainment that involves bloodshed. Common examples of the former include combat sports such as cockfighting and dog fighting, and some forms of hunting and fishing. Activities characterized as blood sports, but involving only human participants, include the ancient Roman gladiatorial games.
The English game of dwile flonking is an East Anglian pub game, involving two teams of twelve players, each taking a turn to dance around the other while attempting to avoid a beer-soaked dwile (cloth) thrown by the non-dancing team.
Dannis Peary is an American film critic and sports writer. He has written and edited many books on cinema and sports-related topics. Peary is most famous for his book Cult Movies (1980), which spawned two sequels, Cult Movies 2 (1983) and Cult Movies 3 (1988) and are all credited for providing more public interest in the cult movie phenomenon.
The Mysteries of Nature and Art is a book by John Bate written in 1634. The book acts as a practical guide for amateur scientific experiments, and is divided into four sections: Water Workes; Fyer Workes; Drawing, Colouring, Painting and Engraving; and Divers Experiments. It inspired Isaac Newton during his younger years, in particular the section on fire Drakes, kites with firecrackers tied to their tails. It contains one of the earliest depictions of fireworks and their preparation to be detailed in the English language, in a similar manner to the preceding De la pirotechnia.
Fox tossing was a competitive blood sport popular in parts of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. It involved throwing live foxes and other animals high into the air. It was practiced by members of the aristocracy in an enclosed patch of ground or in a courtyard, using slings with a person on each end to catapult the animal upwards. It was particularly popular for mixed couples, even though it was hazardous for the people launching the animals as the terrified animals would often turn on the participants. The result was often fatal for the tossed animals.
Jerry Martin Graham better known as "Dr. Jerry Graham" was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time spent in the World Wide Wrestling Federation and as the founder of the Graham wrestling family.
Helen Scales is a British marine biologist, broadcaster, and writer.
Fonseca, also spelled Fonzeca, Fonsequa, or Fonte Seca, other names San Bernardo, San Bernaldo, Galissonière's Rock, is a phantom island which was said to lie in the Atlantic Ocean at 12°27'N and 54°48'W, east of Barbados and Tobago.