‘ONLY’ FACTS

Abraham Lincoln is the only US president ever to be granted a patent. He invented a hydraulic device for lifting ships over shoals.

Up until the 1730s, India was the only source of diamonds in the world.

Antarctica is the only continent without reptiles.

Elvis Presley made only one television commercial – an advert for Southern Maid Doughnuts that ran in 1954.

Hawaii has the only royal palace in the United States – ‘Iolani Palace.

Libra – the Scales – is the only inanimate symbol in the zodiac.

Some only children: Hans Christian Andersen, Lance Armstrong, Raymond Chandler, Eric Clapton, Carey Grant, Charlton Heston, James Earl Jones, Ted Koppel, Ivan Lendl, Barry Manilow, Maria Montessori, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Elvis Presley, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Frank Sinatra, Robin Williams, Tiger Woods.

Liberia is the only country with a capital city named after an American president. Monrovia is named after James Monroe.

The hummingbird is the only bird that can fly backwards.

The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.

The only Englishman to become Pope was Nicholas Breakspear – Pope Adrian IV, 1154–9.

The only married couple to fly together in space were Jan Davis and Mark Lee, who flew aboard the Endeavor space shuttle in 1992.

The only sculpture Michelangelo signed was The Pietà, completed in 1500.

The Congo is the only river that flows both north and south of the equator. It crosses the equator twice.

In 1958, Zsa Zsa Gabor became the first and only recipient of a Golden Globe Award for ‘Most Glamorous Actress’. The category was never announced again.

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NATIONAL ANTHEM RECORDS:

Oldest words – Japan, from the ninth century

Oldest music – Netherlands, from the sixteenth century

Shortest – Uganda, with only nine bars of music

Longest lyrics – Greece, 158 verses

Longest tune – Uruguay, 105 bars of music

Shortest lived – Somaliland, five days

Only nation with no anthem – Cyprus

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