Today's fact comes courtesy of Claire's work colleague, who shall remain nameless as the overnight fame that would follow a reference on this blog would surely destroy him. He has informed me of the following:
CS gas is not a gas.
It's a powder, sprayed in the faces of the unruly via a nifty aerosol. It was invented in Wiltshire, in the mysterious Porton Down research unit. Other gifts that God's county has bestowed upon the world include crop circles and Billie Piper, whilst celebrities seduced by its rustic charms include Dot Cotton and Pete Doherty. But back to the gas, or lack of it. CS gas was invented by Ben Corson and Roger Staughton, whose surname initials give it its name. Despite its rise to prominence in the last 20 years, it was invented in 1928, originally being used as a tear gas rather than a hand-held weapon. Wikipedia also claims that CS gas is "generally accepted as being non-lethal", which is slightly worrying. A final fact before you're all gassed out - the CS gas used by British coppers is 5 times stronger than that of their American counterparts. To rectify this slight imbalance, however, American police do get to carry guns.
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