Barcelona (Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song) peaking at number two in the UK, the Netherlands and New Zealand. In 2004, BBC Radio 2 listed Barcelona at number 41 in its "Sold On Song Top 100". Mercury had been a long-time fan of opera, especially favouring Montserrat Caballé. In 1986, he mentioned on Spanish television that he would be glad to see her in person. They had a friendly initial meeting in Barcelona in February 1987. Later, when the city had been chosen for the 1992 Summer Olympics, Caballé, a native of the city, was asked to help with producing a song for the games. She summoned
Mercury battery popular power source for portable electronic devices. Due to the content of toxic mercury and environmental concerns about its disposal, the sale of mercury batteries is now banned in many countries. Both ANSI and IEC have withdrawn their standards for mercury batteries. The mercury oxide-zinc battery system was known more than 100 years ago but did not become widely used until 1942, when Samuel Ruben developed a balanced mercury cell which was useful for military applications such as metal detectors, munitions, and walkie-talkies. The battery system had the advantages of long shelf life (to 10 years) and steady voltage output.