The free paper 'METRO', read by hundreds of thousands of London's commuters, carried, on Wednesday 22 October, a story headed:
I SURVIVED 180ft PLUNGE OVER THE NIAGARA FALLS
The article included the following verbatim extracts:
"They are the second largest falls in the world, with 150,000 gallons of water cascading down the 180ft precipice each second"
"The American vanished for about four minutes before unexpectedly re-appearing 100yds downstream"
"Skydiver Penny Roberts smashed into a concrete runway at 50mph after her parachute failed during a 13,500ft free fall in Florida in 1966"
"Adventurer Steve Fossett fell 29,000ft into the Coral Sea when his hot air balloon ruptured. He escaped unhurt from the 45mph plunge"
"Tail gunner Erwin Koszyczarek was in one of two bombers that collided over Austria in 1945. He fell 28,000ft in the severed tail, emerged unhurt...and was promptly taken prisoner"
"Honeymooner Larissa Sovitskaya was the only survivor when two planes collided in remote eastern Russia in 1981. It took rescuers three days to find her after she fell 18,000ft in the mangled wreckage"
Miles, yards, feet and gallons - and not a metric measurement in sight.
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Cue Richard:
"What has this post got to do with the debate of metrication/imperial?"
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