Once more the sand in the hourglass has slipped inexorably into the future and we find ourselves saddled with another Monday. Let the Spark! usher you into the new week with a warm glow and the odd, interesting fact nestled between your ear lobes.

On This Day – 21st – The need for speed…..

Today is a big day in the world of land speed records. On this day in 1904, Frenchman Louis Rigolly became the first person to travel faster 100mph (161km/h) in Ostend, Belgium. The car was a French built Gobron-Brillie with a massive 15 litre engine!

A mere 21 years later, on 21st July 1925, Malcom Campbell becomes the first person to exceed the 150mph barrier in a Sunbeam 350HP. This car was powered by one of Sunbeam’s aero engines and had a whopping 18.8 litre capacity. The car, currently homed at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, has this last weekend returned to Pendine Sands in Wales, where the record was set.

How technology has improved. We now have small vehicles that can hit the magic ton with engines of 1 litre or less whilst at the other end of the scale, the Thrust SSC jet powered car has achieved supersonic speeds in the Nevada deserts.

Read more here.

Also on this day:

1925 – High school teacher John T Scopes is found guilty of teaching human evolution in class
1960 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, the first female elected as head of state
1969 – Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the surface of the moon
1979 – Jay Silverheels becomes the first Native American actor to have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame
2012 – Erden Eruc completes the first solo human powered circumnavigation of the world

Arrivals

1899 – Ernest Hemingway, US writer and Nobel Laureate (‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’, ‘The Old Man and the Sea’)
1926 – Norman Jewison, Canadian filmmaker (‘In the Heat of the Night’, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, ‘Moonstruck’)
1948 – Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam), British singer songwriter (‘Father and Son’, ‘Wild World’, ‘Moonshadow’)
1948 – Garry Trudeau, US cartoonist (‘Doonesbury’)
1951 – Robin Williams, US comedian and actor (‘Popeye’, ‘Good Morning Vietnam’, ‘Mrs Doubtfire’)

Departures

1967 – Basil Rathbone, South African actor (‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’, ‘Captain Blood’, ‘Sherlock Holmes’)
1977 – Lee Miller, US model, photographer and war correspondent
1998 – Alan Shephard, US Naval office, pilot and astronaut. First American in space
2015 – E L Doctorov, US writer (‘Ragtime’, ‘Billy Bathgate’, ‘Wakefield’)
2023 – Tony Bennet, US singer (‘I Left my Heart in San Francisco’, ‘The Good Life’)

The Funnies:

Recipe of the day: Plum Jam

The plum tree in our garden has produced over 15kg of fruit this year and although we have eaten many, stewed and frozen more, we still needed to make some jam to use the rest. This recipe from BBC Food is quite simple and if you have fruit to spare or just fancy some jam, it’s good to try.

Ingredients

· 1kg/2lb 4oz plums, halved and stones removed

· 1 large lemon or 1 orange, juice only

· 700g/1lb 9oz granulated sugar

Method

  1. Put the plums, lemon juice and 150ml/5fl oz water in a heavy-based saucepan or preserving pan. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 5 minutes until the plums are beginning to soften a little. Add the sugar, a third at a time, stirring until dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan and leave for a couple of hours or overnight so the mixture can cool – the plums will sink from the surface as they become heavier.

  2. Return the pan to the heat, stirring to remove any sugar clumps on the base of the pan, and carefully bring the mixture to the boil. Increase the heat and bring to a rapid boil for approximately 10 minutes until the setting point is reached (see tips). Remove from the heat and leave to rest for 5 minutes to allow the fruit to settle.

  3. Tip the jam into a wide-necked jug with a good pouring lip, then fill four sterilised jars to the brim. Seal immediately with the lids and store in a cool, dark place. The jam is best eaten within 1 year.

Quote of the Day:

“A good shouting at somebody always makes you feel better and in control, especially if you aren’t.” (Nation)

– Sir Terry Pratchett

Choon of the Day:

Happy Birthday Cat Stevens….

Comic of the Day:

Mouseover: “Maybe encouraging the publication of null results isn’t enough–maybe we need a journal devoted to publishing results the study authors find personally annoying.”

Image Credit: https://xkcd.com/3117

Explain XKCD: explain xkcd

Inspirobot Always Controversial, Occasionally Inspirational Quote of the Day:

That’s just Inspirobot’s opinion, of course, but feel free to hate mine if you wish!

If you missed Friday’s microprocessor powered Spark! from @Lonny6654, you can find it here:

(Spark! Pro series – 18th July 2025)

43 Spice ups

Inspirobot’s been on Twitter, it seems.

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@RedBeardedGriff beat me by a few to first.

@Steve6343

By Jove Holmes!

I agree. Give 'em a good dressing down!

Milk & Cheese agree with you.

The music:

@Panda-Marie @chrisdavis8 @gurugabe1 @HulkSmash @shreddie

14 Spice ups

If you ain’t first, your last.
Good Spark! today. Loved the intro.

You hate everyone else’s opinion. Not your own.
I will survive Monday!

@jameswalker @gurugabe1 @Panda-Marie @chrisdavis8

14 Spice ups

Two of the very best.

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1969 – Neil Armstrong becomes the first man to walk on the surface of the moon

Debatable lol.

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Inspirobot, opinions are like a**holes. Everyone has them, and they usually stink.

2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final book in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, was released.
1983: The world’s lowest recorded temperature, −128.6 °F (−89.2 °C), was measured at Vostok Station, Antarctica.
1861: The First Battle of Bull Run
1865: Wild Bill Hickok fights in first quick-draw western shootout

1987: American heavy metal band Guns N’ Roses released the landmark album Appetite for Destruction, which sold more than 17 million copies.

Is he a Jewish son?

1946: Ken Starr - American lawyer. You remember him, don’t you, Clinton?

May 26, 1837 - July 21, 1926: Washington Augustus Roebling - American engineer. Brooklyn Bridge.

@atruex @georgeSVFC @yellowshirtcc @ich-ni-san @jemjules @hulksmash @panda-marie @chrisdavis8 @jameswalker20 @machomanrandall @DailyLlama @Nerf_Herder

14 Spice ups

Second place is the first loser. So, there’s your first.

11 Spice ups

I miss Robin Williams!

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I loved Good Morning Vietnam and actually loved When Dreams May Come despite the reviews of it. Truly a legend and icon in comedy.

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What Dreams May Come was excellent - loved that movie. And let’s not forget his epic pairing up with Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Ruf - ee - oooooooh!

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Robin Williams gave us all so much…

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Cat Stevens reminds me of my dad. I had a beautiful plum tree until the neighbors started putting their trash can under it. When the trash man lifted the bin up it started ripping into the foliage of the tree, and eventually killed all but two limbs. I cut it down last year. Same jerk neighbor now has a rooster that wakes us up at 4:00…My wife texted them to find him a new home, but I may have to ninja my way over there and harvest. We have another neighbor with a Pear tree that drops quite a few into the yard, maybe I’ll try a pear jam. “Jake-y spoke in, the neighborhoooood todaaayy

Oh, and Ruf - ee - oooooooh! indeed!

8 Spice ups

The first time a neighbor put their can under the tree and caused damage, would have been the last time it happened…as in the can would have vanished, and any future cans likewise would be removed…

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If you are not first, the view never changes.

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Unless you suddenly drop back, then you have another person in front of you!

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nanu-mork
Can’t forget about Mork when talking Robin Williams, yes as a kid I had the same suspenders.

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He also directed Rollerball among other cult films.

I liked Doonesbury for many years but lost all respect for him after the Charlie Hebdo attack, when he embraced censorship to avoid offending Muslims.

I’ve only seen him as Captain Blood, many years ago, I should probably watch him in a Holmes role to see how he compares with Jeremy Brett, who I still think was the best Holmes

8 Spice ups

AND, unfortunately, Robin Williams.

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Miss him and his ability to make you laugh, need that in today’s world, along with his spark that was sadly extinguished due to a pain few saw that he had.

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