Top 10 facts about jaws

Richard Kiel famous for playing villain Jaws in James Bond, died exactly one year ago today

THE actor Richard Kiel, famed for his portrayal of the character called Jaws in two James Bond films, died exactly a year ago on September 10, 2014.

 

This year is also the 40th anniversary of Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws.

1. In February this year, a 2.8-million-year-old jawbone was found in Ethiopia which may be the earliest ancient human fossil ever discovered.

2. Native Americans once used clubs made from elk, bear, buffalo or horse jawbones as weapons.

3. Richard Kiel taught maths at a night school before making his breakthrough into films.

4. The quijada or charrasgais is a traditional percussion instrument made from the jawbone of either a mule, horse, or donkey.

5. Popular in Latin America, it is played by hitting one half, making the teeth rattle against the bone.

6. The ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Maya all experimented with artificial teeth screwed into the jawbone, but modern implants began in 1965.

7. Richard Kiel’s height (7ft 1.5in) and appearance were a result of his suffering from acromegaly.

8. The lower jawbone or mandible is the strongest bone in the human skull.

9. A blue whale’s jawbone may be 24 metres (80 feet) long.

10. “To jaw-jaw always is better than to war-war,” (Winston Churchill).