No.0001 - Marathon

MYTH: Marathon
Marathon is 26 miles and 385 yards (42.195km) long sporting event, commemorated to a Greek messenger Pheidippides, who run the above the distance from the battle of Marathon to Athens to announce the Greek victory over Persia. Upon his arrival, he collapsed and died, because of the exhaustion.

True Story: (1) The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) set the standard distance of marathon at 42.195km (26 miles and 385 yards) in 1921, which was the distance used for 1908 London Olympics*. The distance used in 1908 was for the convenience of the British Royal Family, where the starting line was at Windsor Castle and finishing line was in front of the royal box in Great White City Stadium**, so Royal Family members can watch the start and the end of the event.
(2) According to a Greek historian Herodotus, Pheidippides was sent from Athens to Sparta to ask for help, then run back to Athens. The distance in each way is 246km (153 miles) and there is no mention of Pheidippides dying after his long journey. Since 1983, spartathlon has been organised in Greece, between Athens and Sparta.


* The distances used in 1912 and 1920 Olympics were 40.20 and 42.75km respectively. There was no Olympics in 1916 due to the World War I, which was to be held in Berlin.
** White City Stadium was closed in 1983 and demolished in 1985. Now on its site, BBC White City stands, which houses most of BBC's current affairs and factual programmes, such as Panorama and Top Gear.

NUMBER: 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4 seconds
That's how long it takes for the planet Earth to rotate around its axis of rotation. This period is known as sidereal day, while solar day refers to 24 hours-period, that we are more familiar with (86400 seconds, rather than 86164 seconds for sidereal day).

UPDATE (on 13th March 2010):
The (sidereal, I think) day has been shortened by 1.26 microseconds as a result of Chile's earthquake on 27th February 2010, which shifted the earth's axis by about 8 cm.