31 August: The Docklands Light Railway

The Docklands Light Railway in London opened on this date in 1987. Here are some things you might not know about the DLR.

1. The Docklands Light Railway (or DLR) is the only driverless rail system in the UK. It is 25 miles (40 km) long and reaches north to Stratford, south to Lewisham, west to Tower Gateway and Bank in the City of London financial district, and east to Beckton, London City Airport and Woolwich Arsenal.
2. It opened with 15 stations and 11 vehicles but has been extended several times and now has 45 stations and 149 vehicles.
3. Nearly 117 million people used it in 2015/16, but its peak usage was during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, when the DLR carried twice as many people as usual with up to 500,000 people on the busiest days.
4. The DLR originally cost just £77m to build. The tunnelled extension to Bank cost twice as much as the whole of the original railway.
5. The trains can travel at 62 miles per hour (100 km/h), although they rarely travel above 40mph.
6. Non-folding Bicycles, inflammable substances, and "anything that is more than 2 metres long" may not be carried on the DLR.
7. The shortest journey between stations is the 200m between West India Quay and Canary Wharf. Making the connection on foot is not recommended however, as the alternative route is mostly water.
8. The DLR's official colour on signage and the tube map is Pantone 326 green.
9. The silliest station name is probably Pudding Mill Lane, which ultimately got its name from St. Thomas's Mill, a local water mill which was shaped like a pudding. It could have been worse - until the 1890s the area was called Knob Hill.
10. Most confusing for tourists however is probably Abbey Road, which is nowhere near the famous Zebra Crossing. In fact it's on the opposite side of town. When I lived in London, Abbey Road was my nearest station and yes, I was asked by American tourists where the crossing was. There isn't even a crossing in the vicinity of the station. When I told them they were way off target, they asked was there anything to do in the area while they were here. I expect they went to Westfield Shopping mall! Because of this common error, Abbey Road is the location for probably the coolest poster on the London Transport system. It reads: "Day Tripper looking for The Beatles pedestrian crossing? Unfortunately, you are at the wrong Abbey Road. However, we can work it out and help you get back to the correct location. Take the DLR one stop to West Ham and change to a Jubilee Line train to St John's Wood station. Passengers need a ticket to ride."

30 August: East Timor

Today is Popular Consultation Day, a national holiday in East Timor/Timor Leste. Some things you may not know about this country:

1. According to local legend, the island of Timor was created when an aged crocodile turned into an island to repay a debt to a boy who had helped it when it was ill. Hence the island is shaped like a crocodile. The people who live there are descendants of the boy. "Leaving the Crocodile" is a term used by the Timorese who emigrate.
2. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor.
3. East Timor was colonised by Portugal in the 16th century, and was known as Portuguese Timor. In 1975, the country declared independence, only to be taken over by Indonesia nine days later. East Timor was part of Indonesia until May 2002 when it became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century.
4. Timor derives from the Indonesian word for East. Leste is the Portuguese word for East. So the name of the country translates as "East East".
5. The capital and largest city is Dili.
6. The highest mountain is Tatamailau at 2,986 m (9,797 ft). Until 1975, this mountain was also deemed to be the highest mountain in Portugal since it is higher than the highest peak in mainland Portugal. The name Tatamailau means "Grandfather of all". There is a three metre high statue of the Virgin Mary on the peak.
7. The currency in Timor-Leste is the US dollar, although the dollar here is divided into 100 centavos, not cents, and the coins are minted in Portugal.
8. Timor-Leste’s population was 1,231,116 in 2015. The total land area of Timor-Leste is 5,640 square miles (14,609 square kilometres). That's about the size of the Greek island of Crete with a population twice as big.
9. Timor-Leste grows Coffee, corn, sweet potatoes, Rice, soybeans, Bananas, mangoes, vanilla, Maize and cassava. Its industry consists of printing, handicrafts, soap manufacturing and woven cloth. The main exports include coffee, sandalwood, marble and oil.
10. If sending letters to East Timor, the words “via Darwin, Australia” should be added at the end of the address or the letter may never get there.

29 August: Slovakia

The anniversary of the Slovak national uprising is a public holiday in Slovakia. Here are some facts about Slovakia you may not know:

1. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, which lies on the borders of both Austria and Hungary and is the only capital city in the world to border two other countries.
2. The highest point in Slovakia is the Gerlachovský štít at 2,655 metres (8,711 ft). However, its symbolic mountain is Kriváň. A country-wide vote in 2005 chose Kriváň as one of the images on Slovakia's euro coins.
3. Slovakia has many caves, several of which are UNESCO world heritage sites. These include the Ochtinská Aragonite Cave, one of only three argonite caves in the world (as far as we know, anyway). The cave was opened to the public in 1972 so people could see the white branches and clusters of aragonite, which shine like stars in the Milky Way. Another is Dobšinská Ice Cave which has had numerous famous and royal visitors, including the Prince of Prussia Friedrich Karl and his wife Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt-Dessau who took refuge in the cave in 1870 during a storm. Slovak entrepreneur Samuel Valko was living in the cave. He constructed a raft to convey the Prince and his consort to safety, using his legs to steer. He was later awarded the medal of Halušky for this act. The ice cave is also the first cave to have been lit by Electricity.
4. Famous people who either come from Slovakia or are descended from Slovakians include: Eugen Čerňan, an American astronaut of Slovak origin who was the last man to visit the Moon; Angelina Jolie; Audrey Hepburn; Andy Warhol; Paul Newman; Jon Bon Jovi; Stefan Banic, who patented the first parachute in 1913; and tennis champion, Martina Hingis whose father was Slovakian.
5. Another famous resident was Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who lived in Čachtice Castle. She is allegedly the worst female serial killer ever who lured young girls to the castle, either with well paid serving jobs or, in the case of well-off young women, a school to learn courtly etiquette. She is said to have tortured and killed young girls and bathed in their Blood to give her eternal youth. After she was caught, she was was kept bricked in a set of rooms, with only small slits for ventilation and the passing of food. She remained there for four years, until she died.
6. Slovakia has more castles per person than any other country. It has 180 castles and 425 chateaux, while the population is less than that of the city of New York.
7. A 2009 genetic study found that Slovaks have the highest percentage of Romani (Gypsy) genes in all of Europe’s non-gypsy population.
8. The oldest toy in the world, a four-wheeled pushcart from around 1600 BC was discovered in Slovakia.
9. Slovakia is home to the tallest wooden altar in the world and the tallest statue of a Horse. The altar is 18.6m high and no nails were used in its construction. It is in the Church of St. James in the historical centre of Levoča. The horse is in the Sport and Congress Centre in Samorín-Cilistov and is made entirely of stainless steel. It is almost nine meters high and weighs 20 tons.
10. Slovakia also has the world’s first reservation of folk architecture - the picturesque village of Čičmany in Northern Slovakia. Over 130 traditional houses are preserved here. They are made from timber and are painted with white geometric shapes.

28th August: Liverpool

On this date in 1207 Liverpool, England, was created as a borough by King John. Here are some facts about the City of Liverpool you may not know.

1. At one time Liverpool was the second-most powerful city of the British Empire after London, and had the world’s largest harbour.
2. Liverpool holds the Guinness Book of Records title for being the Capital of Pop. More artists with a Liverpool origin have had a number one hit than from anywhere else. Musicians from Liverpool include Billy J Kramer, Cilla Black, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Searchers, Billy Fury, A Flock of Seagulls, Echo and the Bunnymen, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Frankie Vaughan, Anathema, Ladytron, The Zutons, Atomic Kitten, Heidi Range and Rebecca Ferguson. And The Beatles. The city is also home to the oldest surviving professional symphony orchestra in the UK, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. It's also one of the few UK cities to feature in the title of a number one hit - Long Haired Lover from Liverpool by Little Jimmy Osmond in 1972.
3. Liverpool has the largest collection of Grade II-listed buildings outside London. The city has 2,500 listed buildings and 250 public monuments.
4. Possibly its most famous building is the Liver Building with the 6 metre high "Liver Birds" on top of it. According to legend, one bird looks at the city and its people while the other looks out at the port and the sailors. It's said if the birds ever turn to look at each other, the city will crumble.
5. Another famous building is the Anglican Cathedral. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott in 1904, it's the largest cathedral in Britain and the fifth largest in the world. It also has the heaviest bells in the world. London may have Big Ben but Liverpool has Great George, which weighs in at 15 tonnes, is 2.9m in diameter and has to be rung using a hammer. That's almost as heavy as the rest of the thirteen bells put together (they have a combined weight of 17 tonnes).
6. Liverpool has an impressive list of things it had before any other city in the UK and in some cases, the world. It had the first lending library, school of tropical medicine, American consul, school for the blind, Mechanics' Institute, High School for Girls, council house, lifeboat station, public baths, district nurse, purpose-built ambulance, motorised municipal fire-engine, free school Milk, cancer research centre, integrated sewer system, Underwriters' Association and has the oldest surviving repertory theatre, the Liverpool Playhouse. The world’s first passenger railway line was built in 1830, from Liverpool to Manchester.
7. The population was 478,580 in 2015.
8. Liverpool’s waterfront has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004.
9. People from Liverpool are sometimes nicknamed "Scousers". Scouse was a type of stew eaten by poor people in the city. Ingredients include lamb or beef, Cabbage, Carrots, Potatoes and Onions.
10. Liverpool is the most successful footballing city in England, home to both Liverpool and Everton soccer teams. It has won 27 League championships, four European Cups, three UEFA Cups, one Cup Winners cup, 11 FA Cups, and six League Cups.

27 August: Global Forgiveness Day

Today is Global forgiveness Day, so here are ten quotes about forgiveness.

1. Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast. Marlene Dietrich
2. To understand all is to forgive all. Evelyn Waugh
3. People find it far easier to forgive others for being wrong than being right. JK Rowling
4. Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it. Mark Twain
5. The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Mahatma Gandhi
6. Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names. John F. Kennedy
7. God will forgive me. It's his job. Heinrich Heine
8. Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much. Oscar Wilde
9. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. William Blake
10. The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget. Thomas Szasz

26th August: One Canada Square (Canary Wharf Tower)

One Canada Square (Canary Wharf) opened. His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh officially opened One Canada Square on the morning of 26 August 1991.

1. Until 2010, when The Shard was built, this was the tallest building in the UK. The pyramid pinnacle is at 800 feet (240m) above sea level. It has 50 floors, 32 lifts, 3,960 windows and 4,388 internal steps. There are five Lightning conductor rods on the roof. The lobby is 36 feet (11m) high, clad in 90,000 square feet (8,000 m2) of marble from Italy, Guatemala and Turkey.
2. The designers wanted it to be even taller, with 55 floors, but they had to lose five floors because of height restrictions due to proximity to London City Airport.
3. The building was designed by architect Cesar Pelli, who based the design on World Financial Center and Elizabeth Tower (aka "Big Ben"). While Pelli himself spoke of the "spiritual power of the void" and called it "a portal to the sky ... a door to the infinite," not everyone shared his enthusiasm. Prince Charles said, "I personally would go mad if I had to work in a place like that" and Margaret Thatcher described it as "not quite stunning". Mrs Thatcher softened somewhat by the time of the topping out ceremony, at which she said it could become "national recognised landmark".
4. The pyramid on top of the building is 40 metres high and 30 metres square at the base. It is made from stainless steel and is held together by 100,000 nuts and bolts. It weighs over 100 tons. It was put in place by a crane in November 1990. The pyramid lights up in the evenings using 4000 energy efficient bulbs and can be seen from as far away as 20 miles (32 km). There are automatic window washing machines which can wash a window in under 3 seconds, but when the pyramid needs cleaning it requires special maintenance personnel to abseil from the light beacon opening at the top of the roof.
5. The light beacon on top is to identify the building to passing aircraft. Its intensity is much brighter than the required 2,000 candelas. It needs very little maintenance. At the ladder leading to it there is a sign which warns that unauthorised entry will lead to dismissal.
6. The tower consumes an average of 200,000 imperial gallons (910,000 L) of Water per day. Cleaning the Windows alone uses 426,000 gallons.
7. Talking of abseiling, there are, on occasion, specially organised abseiling events for charity when brave souls can abseil from the pyramid down to the ground. The first of these was on 21 July 2001, when a team of Royal Marines, and members of various companies including a team led by David Levy from HSBC, raised more than £45,000 for children's charities. The event earned a Guinness World Record. It's not for the faint hearted as it can get very windy up there and the building can sway 33.02 centimetres (13 inches) in the strongest winds.
8. The tower has only ever been completely evacuated once, on 30 October 2001, as a drill in response to the 11 September 2001 attacks. However, the tenants all knew it was going to happen so it may not have been a particularly useful exercise.
9. The IRA once made a rather inept attempt to blow up the tower in 1992. They worked out that to do the maximum damage, the bomb needed to be under the Docklands Light Railway Bridge, so they put their bomb in a van and drove it there. However, the van drew immediate police attention because they parked it on a double Yellow line. One of the terrorists pointed a gun at security guards, but the gun failed to go off, as did the bomb itself because the detonator failed.
10. The tower has appeared in a number f films and TV shows including 28 Weeks Later, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, The World Is Not Enough, The Bourne Supremacy, Johnny English, Doctor Who, The Tomorrow People, The Apprentice and EastEnders.

August 25th: Crossing the Channel

On this date in 1875 British swimmer Matthew Webb was the first documented person to swim across the English Channel. The day before, smeared in porpoise oil for insulation, he departed Dover (England) and twenty-one hours and 45 minutes later waded ashore at Cape Gris Nez, near Calais (France).

Here are more historic Channel crossings.

1. In August 1926, Gertrude Ederle, 19, of New York became the first woman to swim the English Channel. Despite pleas from her coach to stop because of treacherous seas, she broke the existing men's record by one hour, 59 minutes. Another famous female Channel swimmer was Florence Chadwick, who set a world record of 6 hours, 7 minutes in August 1857.
2. Most people do it from England to France - the first person to swim the Channel the other way, ie from France to England was Enrico Tiraboschi in August 1923. In September 1951 Florence Chadwick became one of the first to swim the English Channel both ways in one go, taking her 16 hours and 19 minutes. In 1981, Jon Erikson was the first to triple cross the English Channel. It took 38 hours and 27 minutes. The current record holder for triple crossings is New Zealander Philip Rush. His time was 28 hours and 21 minutes.
3. Thomas Gregory, 11, became the youngest person to swim the English Channel in September 1988. The youngest woman was Samantha Druce, at 12 years and 119 days. The oldest Channel swimmer is Joe Smith, 65, Deal, who did it in September 1999.
4. In August 1981 American Charles Chapman became the first black person to swim the English Channel. Henry Sullivan was the first American in 1923; Mercedes Gleitze was the first British woman to do it in 1927; the first Mexican was Damian Pizá Beltran in 1953; Brojen Das from Bangladesh was the first Asian in 1958 and Arati Saha, from Indai, in 1959, was the first Asian woman. Australian John Maclean was the first paraplegic to swim the Channel in 1998 and in September 2010 Frenchman Philippe Croizon became the first limbless man to swim the English Channel.
5. In July 1962 Fred Baldasare of the US became the first person to swim the Channel underwater using scuba gear.
6. In January 1785 French balloonist Jean-Pierre Blanchard made the first air-crossing of the English Channel from the English coast to France. Mr. Blanchard and his American passenger, Dr. John Jeffries, had to shed all their clothes as the wind died and the balloon’s airbag cooled too quickly over the sea. Not a great thing to happen in January! The first engine powered flight across was by Louis Bleriot in July 1909, The first woman to achieve this was writer and photographer Harriet Quimby in April 1912. She flew her monoplane through dense fog without the use of a Compass. The first Helicopter flight across was in September 1928 by Juan de la Cierva. In June 1979 Bryan Allen, 26, became the first person to fly across the English Channel in a human-powered plane. Allen flew the Channel aboard the Gossamer Albatross, designed and built by Paul B. MacCready. In July 1981 the first solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, made it across.
7. Significant crossings by boat: In March 1816 the French paddle steamer Élise was the first steamer to cross the Channel. In June 1821 the paddle steamer Rob Roy became the first passenger ferry to cross the channel. 1959 saw the he first-ever crossing of the English Channel by Hovercraft, with Sir Christopher Cockerell on board, in two hours and three minutes; (86½ minutes slower than Bleriot.).
8. The fastest verified swim of the Channel was by the Australian Trent Grimsey on 8 September 2012, in 6 hours 55 minutes. The fastest crossing by a team of relay swimmers was 15 hours and 30 minutes in 1985. The man who has swum the Channel the most times is Kevin Murphy (34 times). The woman who has completed the most Channel swims is Alison Streeter who has done it 43 times.
9. The first crossing by water ski was in the 1960s. The youngest known waterskier to cross the Channel was John Clements, 10, from the Varne Boat Club in August 1974. He made the crossing from Littlestone to Boulogne and back without falling.
10. Now for the wacky ones. In 2001 Vittorio Orio Enzo Liszka rowed a gondola from Dover to Calais in 7 hours. In 1974, Bernard Thomas rowed a coracle across to demonstrate how the Bull Boats of the Mandan Indians of North Dakota could have been copied from Welsh coracles introduced by Prince Madog in the 12th century. The wackiest of all has to be Bill Neal, who in August 1982, became the first person to paddle a Bathtub across the English Channel in 13½ hours. He used a single oar to paddle his steel bathtub. The French authorities tend to arrest people arriving on their shores in unconventional craft, so Neal registered his tub with Lloyds of London as an ocean-going craft.

24 August: Liberia

Liberia flag day - The holiday was first observed in an 1847 convention, when the founding fathers approved the flag's design along with establishing the new republic.

1. Liberia is a country on the West African coast. Liberia means "Land of the Free" in Latin.
2. Liberia is unique in that it was founded, colonised and controlled by freed African-American slaves. It is the oldest republic in Africa and the only one not to have gained independence by revolt from another nation.
3. The national Flag is based on that of the USA. It has eleven stripes and one white star. The eleven stripes represent the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence. The white star represents the first independent western-styled republic in Africa, on the blue square which represents the African continent. The Liberian flag is the only flag in the world to be modelled after and resemble the American flag.
4. The American theme continues with the capital city, Monrovia. The city is one of only two capital cities to be named after an American President (the other being Washington DC). The president in question is President James Monroe, who was a prominent supporter of the colonisation of Liberia.
5. Liberia holds the record of the longest stable rule by a single political party—from 1877 to 1980, by the True Whig Party. Founded in 1869, the party was dominated by a ruling elite of black settler families who traced their origins to the United States.
6. In 2006, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the 24th President of Liberia, and the first elected female head of state in Africa.
7. Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. It has 3500 vessels registered under its flag accounting for 11% of ships worldwide. This is because it is used as a "flag of convenience", a business practice whereby owners of a ship register it under the flag of another country to reduce operating costs or avoid the regulations of the home country.
8. The highest point wholly within Liberia is Mount Wuteve at 1,440 metres (4,724 ft). Mount Nimba is higher at 1,752 metres (5,748 ft) but is not wholly within Liberia as it is on the border with Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire and is their tallest mountain too.
9. Ornately carved wooden masks and sculptures are one of the crafts Liberia is known for. The carvings are usually very detailed and influenced by history, spirituality and observations of everyday life.
10. Another popular craft is quilting, which early settlers brought from America. A woman called Martha Ann Ricks, a former slave from Tennessee, saved for over fifty years, so she could travel from Liberia to England to personally thank Queen Victoria for the British navy's actions against the slave trade. She got to meet Victoria at Windsor and shake hands with her. Martha presented the Queen with a Coffee Tree quilt. Nobody knows where the quilt is today.

23 August: Albert Bridge

Albert Bridge across the river Thames in London opened on this date in 1873. Here are some facts about the bridge.

1. It was Prince Albert himself who suggested that it would be a good idea to build a new bridge between the unsafe wooden Battersea Bridge and the congested Cheslea Bridge.
2. It was originally intended to be a toll bridge. However, charging a toll to cross was a financial failure and the tolls were lifted after six years. The tollbooths are still there, however and are the only bridge tollbooths remaining in London.
3. Albert Bridge is 710 feet (220m) long, 41 feet (12m) wide and 66 feet (20m) high. The road that goes across it is the A3031.
4. It was designed and built by Rowland Mason Ordish in 1873. It took ten years from the original proposal for the necessary legislation and planning to be completed, so while he was waiting, Ordish went to Prague and built the Franz Joseph Bridge over the Vltava in the same design. The Franz Joseph Bridge no longer exists - it was demolished after being damaged during WWII.
5. Albert Bridge, however, remains one of the only two road bridges in London never to have been replaced (the other being Tower Bridge) despite engineers saying in 1974 that it would only last another 30 years. It's now a Grade II Listed Building.
6. Albert Bridge remains open to traffic despite the damage the traffic load continues to do - although there are restrictions in place, so that it is the second least used of the Thames bridges.
7. In 1973, there was a proposal to turn the bridge in to a pedestrianised park. This was supported by local residents, and also by John Betjeman, Sybil Thorndike and Laurie Lee who raised a petition of 2,000 signatures for the bridge to be permanently closed to traffic. However, The Royal Automobile Club, the British Road Federation and Diana Dors campaigned against the proposal and won.
8. It's not just motor vehicles which pose a threat to the bridge. Its proximity to Battersea Park means that many people walk their Dogs over the bridge to get to the park; so another threat to the structure is dog pee causing the timbers to rot. Nevertheless, after the bridge was closed for 22 months for refurbishment and strengthening in 2010/11, its re-opening was marked by two dogs named Prince and Albert, from nearby Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, being walked across the bridge.
9. The bridge is painted Pink, Blue and Green to make it more visible to passing ships in poor light. At night it is illuminated by 4,000 bulbs.
10. Albert Bridge was nicknamed "The Trembling Lady" because of its tendency to vibrate when large numbers of people walked over it. There are signs requesting that troops break step while marching over it.

22 August: Salmon

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, today was the day of the Salmon. Here are a few things you might not know about these fish:

1. The name salmon comes from the Latin word salmo or salire, meaning “to leap”.
2. Most people know salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the sea to spend most of their adult lives, and then return to the river to spawn. There is a word for fish which do this - anadromous.
3. Salmon have an excellent sense of smell, better than that of a Dog. Scientists believe they use this sense to find their way back to the spawning grounds by following an olfactory trail. Ocean currents, tides and the gravitational pull of the Moon also help them navigate.
4. We don't know how many salmon there are in the world, because their wide range of habitats makes it impossible to count them. Scientists have observed that numbers of salmon making their way up the Colorado river have declined over the years.
5. The female salmon makes a depression in the riverbed with her tail in which to lay her eggs. When the eggs have been fertilised, she covers them up. She may lay up to 7,000 eggs in up to seven depressions. There is a name for these nests of salmon eggs - a redd.
6. Newly hatched salmon are called alevins. They live under rocks and absorb nutrients from their attached yolk sac until they grow into "smoult". After a year or so, they will follow the river to the sea. Before they can enter the ocean they have to adjust to life in salt water, a chemical process called "smoulting". When they return to spawn, they have to spend some time in the same spot to readjust to living in fresh water.
7. Salmon can travel up to 3500 miles to spawn. On the way, they will have to negotiate obstacles like waterfalls which can be as high as four metres. They may have to make several attempts to get over these.
8. Salmon do not eat while travelling upstream, but use reserves of body fat for energy. Many of them die after spawning, although if they do survive they can spawn two or three more times. An exception is the Kokanee salmon which do not make the trip at all - they stay in rivers and lakes their whole lives.
9. The largest salmon on record caught by fishing rod in the UK was caught on the River Tay by Georgina Ballantyne and weighed 64lb.
10. There is an Irish legend called Finn and the Salmon of Knowledge. It concerns a salmon which lived in the water under the tree of knowledge - a hazel tree in this story - and ate the nuts which fell from the tree thus gaining all the wisdom of the universe. It was said that whichever human ate the salmon would gain the knowledge, too. Naturally, many tried and failed to catch it, until a poet named Finnegas having spent seven years fishing the Boyne caught it. Finnegas asked his apprentice to prepare and cook the fish, with strict instructions not to eat a single morsel of it. The lad obeyed, but then he burned his thumb on the cooking fire and did what anyone would do - put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain and thus acquired all the knowledge of the universe. Finnegas could see something different about his apprentice and asked if he'd eaten the fish. The boy swore he hadn't, but had to admit to his accident. The boy was Finn MacCumhaill, who, thanks to the wisdom of the salmon, grew up to become leader of the Fianna, the famed heroes of Irish myth.

21st August: Consualia

Consualia is an Ancient Roman festival which honours Consus, the god of the harvested grain and its storage. It was celebrated on this date. Here are ten facts about the god and the festival:

1. Consus is the Roman god of grain and grain storage and protector of grain silos. His symbol is a grain seed.
2. His name is probably derived from the Latin conserere meaning "to sow or plant".
3. His sacred animal is the Mule.
4. His altar was buried underground at the Circus Maximus in Rome, and was only uncovered on his feast days. His altar being buried underground makes him a hidden god of the lower regions.
5. There are two festivals in the Roman year dedicated to Consus - on August 21st and again on December 15.
6. On the Consualia days, Horses and mules were forbidden to work, and would be brought to the celebrations adorned with garlands of flowers. There would also be a mule race held on the day.
7. Consus has a consort, the fertility goddess, Ops. Her festival is always celebrated four days after his, ie on August 25 and December 19.
8. Consus was a member of the council of the Di Consentes ("Council of the Gods") formed by six gods and six goddesses, which would meet to help Jupiter make difficult decisions, like whether to destroy Atlantis.
9. According to legend, when Rome was first founded, there weren't any women there. Having had no success in trying to persuade women from neighbouring towns to relocate, Romulus discovered the buried altar of Consus, a previously unknown god. Romulus vowed he would keep a festival to Consus if he helped the Romans in their quest to get women. According to tradition, it was during the Consualia and its horse races that the Romans kidnapped the Sabine women which they married in order to found their nation.
10. When squirrelling away grain became less of a common practice, Consus became the god of secret conferences which is how we get words like council, conclave, and consultation.

20th August: Alaska

On this date in 1741 Danish navigator Vitus Bering (for whom the Bering Sea is named) discovered Alaska on a voyage from Siberia. Bering died from scurvy and was buried on what is now Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. Alaska officially became the 49th state on January 3, 1959. Here are 10 things you may not know about Alaska:

1. Alaska is the largest state in the USA by area. It's twice the size of Texas, the next largest state; Rhode Island could fit into it 425 times, and it is larger than all but 18 of the world's sovereign countries. It has a longer coastline than all the other U.S. states combined. In all that space, there are relatively few people. Alaska is the 3rd least populous and the least densely populated of the 50 United States.
2. The US bought Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars at approximately two cents per acre. Then US Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered the deal, and was lampooned for it. Alaska was called "Seward's folly", "Seward's icebox" and "Walrussia" - but had he lived until 1888, he would have had the last laugh when Gold was discovered there. As well as gold, there is oil - 25% of the oil produced in the US. The Red Dog Zinc mine in northwest Alaska is the world’s largest zinc producer, and it is the only US state to have a platinum mine.
3. Nearly one-third of Alaska lies within the Arctic Circle, and it is just 50 or so miles from Russia.
4. The capital city is Juneau, the only state capital on mainland North America not to be connected to the rest of the highway system. The state's largest city is Anchorage; the second largest is Fairbanks. Fairbanks has a suburb called North Pole. It's nowhere near the North Pole but has turned itself into a Christmas themed tourist attraction. The city receives tons of letters meant for Santa Claus, and has streets with names like Snowman Lane and Kris Kringle Drive. Another well known city in Alaska is Nome. It got its name when a cartographer wrote on the map "? Name" for the as yet unnamed settlement. This was misread as "Nome" by the cartographer who reproduced the map.
5. The wild forget-me-not is the official state flower; the willow ptarmigan is the official state bird; the Sitka spruce is the official state tree; the four-spot skimmer dragonfly is the official state insect; dog mushing is the official state sport; gold is the official state mineral and jade is the official state gemstone. The state motto is North to the Future.
6. Alaska's wacky laws are mainly concerned with moose. It is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while they are moose hunting in Alaska; it is an offence to push a live moose out of an aeroplane, or to view live moose from the air. In Fairbanks, it is an offence to give a moose an alcoholic beverage. While it is legal to shoot bears in Alaska, it is illegal to wake a sleeping bear to take a photograph of it.
7. Alaska is the only state name that you can type on one row of a keyboard.
8. Alaska boasts both the highest point (Mount Denali at 20,306 feet [6,189 m]), and the lowest point (the Aleutian Trench at 25,000 feet [7,620 m] below sea level) in North America. 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are located in Alaska. It also has the US's largest national forest, Tongass National Forest covers almost the entire southeastern Alaska panhandle. There are more than 3,000 rivers and 3 million lakes in Alaska. Alaska’s largest lake, Lake Iliamna, is roughly the size of Connecticut. More than half the world’s glaciers can be found in Alaska, over a thousand of them. About 5 percent of Alaska is covered by glaciers. It was also the location of the worst Earthquake the US has ever seen on March 27, 1964. The  Good Friday Great Alaska Earthquake measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale - the second largest recorded by seismograph. It did $113 million in damage. Alaska also saw the only battle during World War II that to be fought on American soil in 1943 when the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands.
9. Because it is so far North, in deepest winter the Sun doesn't rise for weeks and in summer it doesn't set. Aurora borealis (northern lights) can be seen an average of 243 days a year in Fairbanks. Many hotels in Alaska offer Northern Lights wake-up calls upon request. In summer, the long days lead to giant vegetables. For example, Alaska has grown a record Cabbage weighing 94 pounds.
10. Until 2009, the small town of Talkeetna, Alaska hosted an annual Moose Dropping Festival. Varnished pieces of numbered moose droppings were dumped from a crane into a car park. The "owner" of the dropping which landed closest to the centre of a target would win a cash prize. The event eventually grew too dangerously large and was discontinued.

19th August: Coco Chanel

Today, ten facts about Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer, born this date in 1883.

1. Her early life was humble. She was born to an unmarried mother, Jeanne, who was a laundrywoman, in a poorhouse in France. Her father, Albert Chanel, was an itinerant street vendor who peddled work clothes and undergarments.
2. She could have had a career on the stage. She sang in a cabaret frequented by cavalry officers. Two of her signature songs were Ko Ko Ri Ko and Qui qu'a vu Coco - which was possibly the reason Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel was known as "Coco".
3. Her first success in the fashion industry was as a milliner. An actress, Gabrielle Dorziat, wore her hats and her career took off.
4. Her innovations include using jersey, a material usually reserved for men's underwear, for sport and leisure clothes for women, and the "little Black dress" when previously, black had been primarily a colour worn in mourning.
5. Coco Chanel never married, but she had numerous affairs with rich and powerful men, starting with French ex-cavalry officer and the wealthy textile heir Étienne Balsan, who introduced her to a life of luxury. Later, Chanel had an affair with one of Balsan's friends, Captain Arthur Edward 'Boy' Capel. It's thought the bottle design for Chanel No. 5 was based on either his toiletry bottles or his Whiskey decanter. Other affairs included Duke of Westminster, Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, known to his intimates as "Bendor"; Gossip of the time suggested she had a fling with the then Prince of Wales, Edward VIII. He allegedly visited Chanel in her apartment and told her to call him "David", a privilege reserved only for his closest friends and family.
6. She was suspected of being a German spy during the second world war. She had a reference number in a French police list of possible spies, but possibly more damning was the fact she was at that time having it off with Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage, and the SS came up with a plan codenamed Operation Modellhut ("Model Hat") which involved Chanel using her influence with powerful men in Britain, including Winston Churchill himself, to get information. She was interrogated, but claimed "Churchill had me freed". There is speculation that, if Chanel had been forced to testify at a trial, she might have exposed the pro-Nazi sympathies of top-level British officials, members of the society elite, and the royal family.
7. Coco Chanel made having a suntan fashionable. This wasn't intentional. She got sunburned during a cruise holiday and when she returned to Cannes, the public copied her.
8. Five was her favourite number, after being told by a fortune teller it was her lucky number. Not only was her famous perfume named "Chanel No. 5" but it was the fifth variant of the trial perfumes that were prepared, and the perfume was launched to the public on the fifth of May 1921.
9. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century.
10. For the last 37 years of her life, she lived in a hotel, the Ritz Hotel, Paris (which was also the hotel where many occupying Nazi officers stayed). She died there at the age of 87, and her last words were “You see, this is how you die.”

18th August: Plums

The Plum was celebrated on this date in the French Revolutionary calendar, which celebrated a different fruit, vegetable, tool or substance every day of the year. Here are a few things you may not know about plums:

1. A plum is a fruit of the subgenus Prunus of the genus Prunus. Their scientific name is Prunus domestica. They belong to the Rose family and are related to Peaches and Apricots.
2. Japanese samurai ate plums to combat battle fatigue.
3. Plum trees are grown on every continent except Antarctica.
4. The country which produces the most plums is China.
5. A dried plum is known as a prune. Both plums and prunes are known to have a laxative effect. Prunes are often marketed as "dried plums" because prunes have become known as something old people eat to keep them regular!
6. In central England, a cider-like alcoholic beverage known as plum jerkum is made from plums.
7. Plum seeds contain substances which can break down into hydrogen cyanide gas - something which is true of most members of the rose family.
8. There are between 19 and 40 species of plum, including damsons, greengages and Victoria plums.
9. Experts identified over one hundred individual varieties of plum stones on Henry VIII’s flagship Mary Rose, which sank in 1545 and was raised in the 1980's.
10. Mature plum fruit may have a dusty-white coating known as "wax bloom" or "flower". This is a natural wax coating to prevent the fruit from losing Water.

17 August: Indonesia Independence Day

Indonesia became independent on this date in 1945. How much do you know about Indonesia?

1. Indonesia is the largest island country in the world - it has more than thirteen thousand islands. 258 million people live there, making it the world's fourth most populous country as well as the most populous Muslim majority country.
2. One of the islands is Java, where more than half the Indonesian people live. Java is the 13th largest island in the world, and the most populous. The capital city of Jakarta is located on this island. Jakarta is the largest city in the world not to have a metro train system. Other islands which are part of Indonesia include Bali, Sumatra and 73% of Borneo.
3. Java is famous for its coffee. Coffee bushes and the habit of coffee drinking were introduced by the Dutch East India Company to Indonesia in 1696. The most expensive coffee in the world comes from here and is produced in a unique way. The coffee berries are fed to civet-like cats, and are then retrieved from the animals' poo, washed, and ground into coffee, which supposedly is extremely rich and a little bitter.
4. Indonesia is the world’s leading exporter of Frog's legs. 4,600 tons of them a year end up in plates in the Netherlands, Belgium, and, of course, France.
5. There are at least 150 active volcanoes in the country, including Krakatoa, which erupted violently in 1883. The explosion is considered to be the loudest sound ever heard in modern history, with reports of it being heard up to 3,000 miles (4,800 km) away in places such as Perth, Western Australia, and the island of Rodrigues near Mauritius. It was reported that anyone within ten miles (16 km), of it would have gone deaf. Two thirds of the island was destroyed, 36,000 people lost their lives. The shock wave rounded the globe three and a half times; the resulting tsunamis affected sea levels as far away as the English Channel. In 1927, a new volcano appeared in the caldera, which is known as Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa" which has grown at an average rate of five inches (13 cm) per week since the 1950s. This volcano is active and erupts every few days. Scientists monitoring the volcano have warned people to stay out of a 3 km zone around the island. Earthquakes are common too, and Indonesia was the location of the world’s second largest recorded earthquake, a 9.3+ magnitude quake on December 26, 2004, the source of the devastating tsunami of that day. The force of the earthquake is said to have caused Earth to wobble on its axis and shifted surrounding land masses by up to 12 ft. (36m).
6. The English word "Ketchup" comes from the Indonesian word kecap, which is a sweet soy sauce. The Indonesian language also gave us the term "to run amok". “Amok” comes from the Indonesian word mengamuk, which translates to “make a furious and desperate charge”, believed to be caused by an evil tiger spirit which entered a person’s body and caused them to behave very badly.
7. Indonesia is second only to Brazil in terms of biodiversity. Unique animals here include Orangutans, found in the wild only on the Indonesia islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The adult males are said to be eight times stronger than a human; the Javan Rhinoceros, an animal so rare it was declared extinct - there are about 50 left; the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, thought to be the inspiration behind the Chinese dragon; and the tarsier, a small primate with eyes so huge they cannot rotate them in their sockets. Their heads can rotate 360° to compensate.
8. 1.5 million years ago, Indonesia was home to Homo erectus, or "Java Man". There is a mythical creature called the orang pendek (“short man”), a type of Sasquatch. This creature is said to have feet that point backwards, making it impossible to follow its tracks. While there is no evidence this creature exists, there is evidence that "hobbits" once lived here. In September 2003, archaeologists found a skeleton the size of a three-year-old child but with the worn-down teeth and bone structure of an adult. They called it Homo floriensis, but it was later nicknamed “Hobbit.” Experts think “Hobbits” were part of the Homo erectus species that fled from Africa around two million years ago and spread throughout Asia.
9. Indonesia's Flag is a bicolour of red and white, which is identical to Monaco's flag apart from the ratio of the bands. It's very similar to the flag of Singapore (which has a half crescent and 5 stars in the top red band) and Poland's, which has the white band on top. The flag is said to have originated when Indonesian nationalists and independence movement tore apart the Dutch flag. They ripped out the blue stripe because it stood for the "blue blooded" aristocracy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
10. Java is home to the largest Buddhist monument in the world. The Buddhist temple of Borobudur resembles a nine-tiered “mountain,” 113 feet (34.5m) tall. It is said to have taken 75 years to build.