Who or what is/was Gordon Bennet??
Beverley.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Bennett

My dad thinks that gordon bennet was a jockey or something

I heard somewhere that he was a test pilot.

The Wikipedia article on him answers all the questions one might have. The link won't work from here though because it ends with a full stop. So, click on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gordon_Bennett%2C_Jr.

Then, when it says the page doesn't exist, put a . at the end of the address and try and go to the page again.

It worked for me.......

Thanks folks.
Beverley.

Ain't 'e one of your old boyfriends May?
Liddy xx

I 'faught 'e was that nice man 'oo 'olds the country's purse strings, and is such good friends wiv that loverly young Mr Flair chap..

Flossie

Wasnt he mates with Heath Robinson ?

Yes, and that very nice Thos. Crapper

What Gordon Bennett was famous for was going into restaurants and yanking away table cloths while people were in the middle of a meal.

he was that guy who swallowed a fly and repeatedly failed to die then lived in a shoe and had lots of children before looking back at the city of sodom and turning into a salt cellar wasn't he?

I believe that the phrase was first used by people in restaurants and similar establishments. When they saw the gentleman in question walking in, they knew that things were about to go seriously pear-shaped, so they would cry "Gordon Bennett" to warn their fellow guests before diving under the tables and waiting until the dust had settled.

Wikipedia doesn't quite make it clear that the reason the Gordon Bennett Cup races (the ones for cars, not yachts or panes) quickly faded away was that only three cars per country were eligible to take part. France had far more manufacturers than anyone else, so they created the Grand Prix, which did not have this restriction. Even so, a Fiat (Italian) driven by Felice Nazzaro (also Italian) nearly won, but he was eventually beaten by Ferenc Szisz (Hungarian) driving a Renault (French - phew, honour restored at last).

I'll get me coat.