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 author, and a writer and researcher for the BBC panel show QI, as a member of the team known as the "QI Elves". He is the son of the rare book dealer Franklin Brooke-Hitching [1] and a descendant of the printer and bibliographer William Blades, who wrote the history of book preservation The Enemies of Books . [2]
His Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports described 90 obsolete pastimes and The Spectator's reviewer said "A book like this, the result of enormously diligent library ferreting, doesn't have any pressing reason to exist, but I am glad it does. Its pointlessness is its pleasure." [3] It described sports including fox tossing, octopus wrestling and ski ballet. [4] 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". [5] The Sky Atlas was shortlisted for the 2019 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards in the "Illustrated travel book" category [6] and picked as one of the 50 Christmas books of the year by The Herald . [7]
In 2007 he directed a short documentary about the Edinburgh-based Really Terrible Orchestra . [8]
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. [9]
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."
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 former professional wrestler. As a professional wrestler, he is known for his time in WWE from 2002 to 2010, in 2014, and one final run from 2018 to 2019. Outside of professional wrestling, he is known for his acting career, most notably as the character Drax the Destroyer in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Patagones or Patagonian giants were a race of giant humans rumoured to be living in Patagonia and described in early European accounts.and indigenous myths They were said to have exceeded at least double normal human height, with some accounts giving heights of 12 to 15 feet or more. Tales of these people would maintain a hold upon European conceptions of the region for some 250 years.
Rocky Johnson was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first black Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Television Champion. He won the World Tag Team Championship in 1983, along with his partner Tony Atlas, to become the first black champions in WWE history. He was the father of actor and former WWE wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Arnold Skaaland was an American professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager.
The American Foxhound is a breed of dog that is a cousin of the English Foxhound. They are scent hounds, bred to hunt foxes by scent.
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.
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 sport, 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.
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.
The Hart wrestling family, sometimes known as the Hart dynasty, is a mainly Canadian family with a significant history within professional wrestling. The patriarch of the family was wrestling legend Stu Hart (1915–2003). An amateur and professional wrestling performer, promoter and trainer, Stu owned and operated his own wrestling promotion, Stampede Wrestling. He also trained some of the most well known stars in wrestling history including Superstar Billy Graham, Fritz Von Erich, Edge, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Christian and his sons Bret Hart and Owen Hart.
WWE Books is a subsidiary of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., created in 2002 to publish autobiographies of and fiction based on WWE personalities, behind-the-scenes guides to WWE, illustrated books, calendars, young adult books, and other general nonfiction books. The majority of WWE Books are published by Pocket Books, part of the Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group. Simon & Schuster UK and Simon & Schuster Australia are the publishers of WWE books in the United Kingdom and Australia. Simon & Schuster publish multiple titles yearly, based on the personalities, programming, storylines, and other topics of interest to WWE and its fans.
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 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.
Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he was the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021. With 29 wins and no losses, he retired with an undefeated record.
Automobile polo or auto polo was a motorsport invented in the United States with rules and equipment similar to equestrian polo but using automobiles instead of horses. The sport was popular at fairs, exhibitions and sports venues across the United States and several areas in Europe from 1911 until the late 1920s; it was, however, dangerous and carried the risk of injury and death to the participants and spectators, and expensive damage to vehicles.
Helen Scales is a British marine biologist, broadcaster, and writer.