Ian Fleming's Centenary

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#76. The most recent theme song was Chris Cornell's You Know My Name, from Casino Royale. He is the first male lead vocalist to perform a 007 song since Norwegian group a-ha did The Living Daylights back in 1987. Cornell's track was also the first Bond theme song since Octopussyin 1983 to use a different title than the film.
#77. In 1983, the first Bond video game, James Bond 007, developed and published by Parker Brothers, was released for the Atari 2600, the Atari 5200, the Commodore 64, and the ColecoVision.
#78. James Bond's cars have included the Aston Martin DB5, DB7, V8 Vantage, V12 Vanquish and DBS; the Lotus Esprit; the BMW Z3, BMW 750iL and the BMW Z8. Bond's most famous car is the silver gray Aston Martin DB5...
#79. ... one of which was sold in January 2006 at an auction in Arizona for $2,090,000 to an unnamed European collector. That specific car was originally sold for £5,000 in 1970.
#80. Bond's weapon of choice in the beginning of Dr. No is an Italian-made Beretta 418 .25 calibre, later replaced by the German-made Walther PPK. The PPK was used in every subsequent film until the ending of Tomorrow Never Dies, when Bond upgraded to the Walther P99.
#81. The first words of Fleming's Casino Royale: "The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning".
#82. And the last words: "The bitch is dead now."
#83. The name Moneypenny derives from a character written by Fleming's older brother Peter in his unfinished novel The Sett.
#84. Fleming's wife, Ann, nicknamed him 'Thunderbeatle', as rich and celebrated as The Beatles.
#85. President John F. Kennedy was a known fan of the Bond books and named From Russia with Love in his top ten.
#86. SMERSH (the Soviet Union's counter-intelligence department) is formed by combining 'Smyert' and 'Shpionam' and means (approximately) 'death to spies'.
#87. SPECTRE stands for the Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.
#88. Fleming was a keen gambler and wrote an article for The Sunday Times entitled 'How to Win at Roulette with only £10.'
#89. Fleming would later write 'If I Were Prime Minister' for the Spectator where he suggested turning the Isle of Wight into a huge pleasure island.
#90. Fleming's love of travel was immortalized in book form in 1963 with the publication of Thrilling Cities. Three of the most well known parts are as follows ...
#91. His plane from Tokyo to Hawaii nearly crashing.
#92. Making $100 on slot machines in Las Vegas before stealing three ashtrays as souvenirs
#93. Breaking his no-museums rule in Chicago, in addition to visiting the city's collection of impressionist art, he took in a striptease. The verdict? "Positively exquisite boredom."
#94. Fleming's middle name was Lancaster.
#95. Cary Grant was initially offered the role of Bond but, at 58, declined, reportedly saying he was too old.
#96. Sean Connery, who would get the role, had some interesting career choices on his resume: truck-driver, life-class model, milkman, coffin polisher, sailor, boxer and lifeguard.
#97. There were 14 Bond books written by Fleming, with the first published in 1953 and the last in 1966.
#98. Fleming's ethos when it came to writing: "Chiefly for pleasure, then for money."
#99. Perhaps Fleming's words in Chitty Chitty, Bang Bang were more applicable out of the mouth of Bond: "Never say 'no' to adventures. Always say 'yes', otherwise you'll lead a very dull life."
#100. One hundred years after Fleming's birth, James Bond continues to thrill. The next film is released on October 31 and is called The Quantum of Solace.