UK kids set world record to mark 20 years of Harry Potter
London: An incredible 676 children in the UK set a new Guinness record for the world’s largest gathering of people dressed as Harry Potter, to mark the 20 years since the first book of J K Rowling’s popular fantasy fiction series was published. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – the first book of the epic seven-part series – was published by Bloomsbury on June 26 in 1997.
To celebrate the occasion, children in Bolton, UK gathered wearing a fake scar, glasses, a wand and the iconic school uniform of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – the fictional British school of magic. The attempt was organised in partnership with Bolton Museum and Library Services and 11 primary schools across Bolton and saw 676 kids take part. Official Guinness World Records adjudicator Sofia Greenacre counted and verified the record and commented that the children had a lot of fun in spite of the bad weather on the day. Each participant also received a a copy of the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, according to the Guinness World Records. Previously the largest gathering of people dressed as J K Rowling’s famous wizard was 521, achieved by Tanbridge House School in the UK in 2015. (PTI)
Disneyland map sketched by Walt Disney fetches over $700k
Los Angeles: The original, first-ever map of Disneyland sketched by Walt Disney in 1953 has been sold for a whopping USD 708,000 at an auction in the US. This made the work the most expensive Disneyland map ever sold at an auction. The map – one of the most important drawings in Disney history – was created as part of an effort to secure funding to build Disneyland.
It depicts areas of Disneyland that never materialised – such as the “Lilliputian Land” – and some that took a very different form. For example, the fairy-tale castle was originally positioned in a corner instead of the centre.
The map, a pencil-and-ink drawing on paper, is roughly three by five feet. It was hastily sketched by Disney and his friend Herb Ryman over a weekend in September 1953. Ron Clark, a collector had bought the map 40 years ago from a former Disney employee, Grenade Curran. Curran had noticed the map sitting in a corner of Walt Disney’s office in 1955, and had taken it home as a memento.
“I kept it because it was the first thing to show and display what a theme park would look like,” Curran was quoted as saying by ‘BBC News’. “After some pretty exciting bidding the map sold for USD 708,000, making it the most expensive Disneyland map ever sold. Nearly 1,000 other Disneyland artefact – including original props, wardrobe, ride vehicles, and souvenirs – from 1953 to the present were also auctioned. (PTI)
UK school asks students to draft suicide note for homework
London: An English teacher in the UK asked over 60 teenage students to draft a suicide note for homework as part of a module on Shakespeare’s tragedy Macbeth, sparking outrage and prompting the school to apologise.
Pupils at Thomas Tallis school, Kidbrooke, London, were asked to pen a final note to their loved ones after reading one of the play’s most celebrated scenes, when Lady Macbeth takes her own life.
However, the decision caused outrage among parents, some of whom claimed their children had been personally affected by the issue, The Telegraph reported. Criticising Thomas Tallis for its lack of sensitivity, one mother said her daughter had been told to write the note – despite having lost three friends to suicide.
She was quoted as saying that her daughter had become “very distressed” over the issue, and had told the teacher in question that such material made her feel uncomfortable. (PTI)
