KEY POINTS:
The picture on the left, widely printed in newspapers in the 1930s, was represented as being a snapshot of baby Adolf Hitler. In 1937 Mrs Harriet Downs, of Westport, Connecticut, saw the image in a magazine and recognised it as an altered baby photo of her own son,
John May Warren. The original picture is on the right. It is not known how the hoaxer obtained the original.
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Slouchers are better off than straight-sitters: A study has shown that sitting up straight at a 90-degree angle, thought to be essential to a healthy spine, is actually the most damaging way to take a load off. The Aberdeen study involved 22 healthy volunteers with no history of back pain who were observed sitting for long hours in one position. Over time, as they sat they were instructed to assume three different positions:
* Slouched over a video game console.
* A 90-degree angle upright sitting position.
* A 135-degree angle reclined with feet on the floor.
The results showed that slouchers caused tension and pain to their lower spinal discs, but that sitting upright caused the most damage with the vertical pressure slowly forcing the back's muscles and discs out of line. (Source: TimesOnline.com)
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West Midlands Police share their most time-wasting emergency calls of the year: One caller rang the emergency number because a hedgehog on their lawn got its head stuck in a noodle container. Another caller told operators he could not hear the television because a car engine was revving outside. And one even called to complain that her partner was taking too long to buy cigarettes. (Source: Sky News)
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A 21-year-old German woman who did not feel like going to work at a fast-food restaurant sent her parents a text message saying she had been kidnapped. Police in Straubing launched a huge search for the woman, who disappeared on December 23 but turned up unscathed the following morning, saying the kidnapper had set her free. A spokesman said the woman admitted she made up the story because she owed a colleague €25 ($47) and did not have the money to pay her debt. She now faces a fine of up to €1000.
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While on holiday in Kaikoura, a family had a 30-minute wait at the Kaikoura station before their train departed. "It was then our teenage daughter Jes realised she had left her handbag containing her cellphone and iPod. Jes made a 10-minute sprint back to the park to find her bag was no longer there. Tearfully, she walked across the road to Kaikoura Hospital to ask to use the phone. A kind lady let her phone the police station to see if the bag had been handed in. It had. The kind lady then drove Jes to the police station to retrieve her bag and then on to the train station. We would like to thank this lady for all her trouble and the wonderful person who handed in the bag."