Interesting Things with JC #245: “42 Round Boxing Match” - April 17, 1860 — The first “world championship” boxing match took place on this day – not in a grand stadium like New York’s Madison Square Garden that was to host later famous battles, but in an open field…in southern England!

The A-12 was a high-altitude, Mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft built for the US CIA by Lockheed's Skunk Works under project Oxcart. The plane was a one seater with a payload of 2500lbs, 101ft long with a wingspan of 55 feet (31x17 meters). Able to hold 10,590 US gal of fuel, weighing 117,000 lb (53k kg) with dual Pratt & Whitney JT11D-20B turbine engines.

The Santa Ana Zoo opened in 1952 and has remained a beloved local destination for over 70 years. In 1949 Joseph Edward Prentice donated 16 acres of land for Prentice Park to the City of Santa Ana. He stipulated in his agreement that at least 50 monkeys, his favorite animal, be kept in the park at all times!

The four leaf clover is one of the most common good luck symbols of the Western world. An independent study carried out by Swiss researchers looked at 5.7 million clovers and found that the likelihood of finding one four-leaf clover was one in 5,076.

Ireland has a unique, and beautiful national symbol and it’s the harp. It is the only country in the world that uses a musical instrument as its symbol. The traditional instrument is featured on Irish coins, the Presidential Seal, the Irish passport and the Irish coat of arms. Scholars have found that the Irish harp’s popularity with the Irish people dates back to the 1500’s. Ireland’s national emblem is actually based on the Brian Boru Harp. Irish legend says Brian Boru played the harp the night before the Battle of Clontarf.