1 October: Port

The first week of October is National Port Week. 10 things you might not know about port:

1. Port is a fortified Wine (that is, wine which has had a distilled spirit added to it) produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal. Only fortified wine produced in this region can be sold as port.
2. In the 17th century, the import of French wine to Britain was restricted, which meant wine-making in Portugal flourished. The town of Porto became an important hub for wine merchants. By the 1850s, winemakers had discovered that fortifying wine by adding brandy resulted in a stronger, sweet flavour and Port wine as we know it was born.
3. The Douro wine region was created in 1756 by Marques de Pombal, a Portuguese politician and diplomat, making it the oldest wine region in the world. The Demarcated region of the Alto Douro is a by UNESCO World Heritage Site.
4. Another significant figure in the history of port production was a woman called D. Antónia Ferreirinha. Not only was she a determined entrepreneur who built an empire around her vineyards and introduced a number of innovations to improve production, she also took good care of her workers, even funding their children's education.
5. There are a number of different varieties of port, including: ruby port, the cheapest and most widely produced; tawny port, which is made from red Grapes and aged in barrels. The oxidation this causes turns the port a golden-brown colour and gives it a nutty flavour; white port, which is made from white grapes and is a popular drink with Tonic water in the region; rose port, a relatively recent variation, first released in 2008. It's fermented in a similar manner to a rosé wine, with a limited exposure to the grape skins, thus creating the rose colour; and Garrafeira, which will have been matured for several years, usually between three and six years, followed by at least a further eight years in glass, before bottling.
6. At one time, the only way to get to the Douro Wine Estates was by taking a boat up the river, and the only way to get the wine out was also by boat. Rabelo boats were created to survive the strong currents of the Douro river.
7. The soil in the region is made up of volcanic shale which has the property that it can store heat and moisture. During the summer shale stores heat by day, and at night, when the weather gets colder, the stone distributes heat through the soil. When it rains, the shale stores water and releases it later, so there is no need for irrigation systems.
8. Port is commonly served after meals as a dessert wine often with Cheese, nuts, and/or Chocolate; white and tawny ports are often served as an apéritif.
9. Port is best stored away from direct sunlight and at a cool, constant temperature. It’s advisable to store it on its side so that the cork is kept moist, and to decant before serving to get rid of the sediment.
10. Port has been viewed as a medicinal drink. In Anthony Trollope novels, ladies of a certain age are often portrayed drinking port for "medicinal purposes". In real life, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger drank a bottle of it a day from the age of 14, as a remedy for gout. Since drinking a lot of alcohol actually exacerbates gout, I suspect it didn't work very well!

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30 September: 273

10 facts about the number 273 on the 273rd day of the year:

1. The freezing temperature of water and the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of Water are both approximately 0 °C or 273 K. By international agreement, absolute zero is −273.15 degrees Celsius.
2. 273 Atropos is a Main belt asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1888. In Greek mythology, Atropos was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny.
3. In the Sharpless catalogue, number 273 is The Fox Fur Nebula, so called because it resembles the head of a stole made from the fur of a red Fox. It is located in the constellation of Monoceros (the Unicorn) not far off the right arm of Orion, and is a small section of a larger complex, generally known as the Christmas Tree cluster.
4. 273 Squadron RAF was a Royal Air Force squadron formed as a reconnaissance unit in World War I, and re-formed in World War II in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
5. Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of English playwright William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar reads: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war."
6. The year 273 was a common year starting on a Wednesday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Tacitus and Placidianus.
7. The Roman numeral for 273 is CCLXXIII and in Binary it is written as 10001000.
8. The A273 is a road in Sussex which runs between Haywards Heath and Pyecombe.
9. The London bus 273 runs between Conington Road and Petts Wood Station.
10. In numerology the energy of 273 is optimistic and dynamic, and resonates with creativity. A person affected by the number will be forward looking, introspective and a good team player.

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29 September: Michaelmas

Today is Michaelmas. Here are 10 Michaelmas traditions from around the world:

1. According to English folklore, it was on this day that the Devil fell from Heaven, landed on a blackberry bush, and cursed the berries. Therefore, it is unlucky to pick Blackberries after Michaelmas.
2. In Scotland they eat Michaelmas cakes, known as bannocks, to ward off evil and misfortune in the coming year. One of these cakes, and a lamb, would be blessed in the church on this day, and afterwards cake and roast lamb would be distributed to the poor. Once that was done, people could get on with the serious business of enjoying themselves with horse racing along a beach, with pieces of seaweed being used instead of whips. The horses were ridden bareback and barefoot.
3. It is celebrated in Ireland with a Michaelmas pie. According to tradition, the person who finds a ring hidden in the Michaelmas pie will be the next person to get married. Eating goose on Michaelmas means you will never want for money for the next year.
4. In Sweden, Michaelmas is celebrated as Mikaeli Day. Traditions there include maintaining total silence while bringing farm animals in for the night: even the jingle of the bell-cow must be silenced. If the animals can be brought in with complete silence, you'll be safe from witchcraft all winter. Witches are said to be around on this night. It was also a day for divining who your future spouse would be. Men would gather at a well for the night and could get a vision of their future wife while they stayed up all night. Women would go to sleep as usual but may dream of their future husbands. If a woman dreamt that she fell into water, though, was unlucky. It was a sign she was pregnant and would have a baby within the next year.
5. If St Michael brings many acorns, Christmas will cover the fields with snow. Traditional English proverb
6. Michaelmas used to be the day for choosing magistrates and bailiffs. This meant that for a time, there weren't any. This was known as the lawless hour and people would observe it by committing the heinous crime of throwing cabbage stalks at each other, until the newly elected bailiffs paraded through the town. The Lord Mayor of London was also elected on this day by the liverymen of the city’s 81 guilds. The Guildhall floors were strewn with aromatic herbs as the voting took place, under strict rules and rituals dating from the 1190s.
7. In Ireland, Michaelmas marked the end of the fishing season, the beginning of the hunting season, the traditional time to pick Apples and the time to make Cider. It used to be the custom for each family to slaughter a sheep in commemoration of a miracle performed by St Patrick with St Michael’s aid. Irish farmers gave geese as gifts to the poor and sold the down as filling for mattresses and pillows. In County Waterford, at the end of the tourist season, a quaint custom was observed by the tourist trade: they held a procession to the beach and cast an effigy of the archangel into the sea, symbolically protesting against loss of earnings.
8. Once every seven years, Michaelmas was known as a ganging day. Young men went through the parish, jokingly bumping into everyone they met. Local publicans were obliged to provide them all with alcohol and Plum cake.
9. In Norwich, vendors sold ritual biscuits in the form of a man riding on a goose.
10. In Germany, it is regarded as Winter’s beginning and is marked with celebrations, markets and bonfires.

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28 September: 271

Today is day 271 of 2021. 10 things you might not know about the number 271:

1. The Roman numeral for 271 is CCLXXI and the Binary number is 100001111.
2. George W. Bush won the 2000 US Presidential Election with 271 electoral votes, even though Al Gore had received a majority of the popular vote.
3. 271 is a sexy prime with 277. Sexy primes are prime numbers which differ from each other by 6.
4. 271 Penthesilea is a large Asteroid, the last to be discovered by Viktor Knorre, in 1887. It was named after Penthesilea, the mythical Greek queen of the Amazons.
5. In London, the 271 Bus route runs from South Grove to Finsbury Square.
6. The A271 road runs East-West from Battle to Horsebridge near Hailsham.
7. The year 271 was a common year starting on a Sunday known at the time as as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelianus and Bassus. During this year, the battles of Placentia, Fano and Pavia took place; Zenobia proclaimed herself to be Empress, breaking all relations with Rome, and a magnetic compass was first used in China.
8. Arp 271 is a pair of similarly sized interacting spiral galaxies, NGC 5426 and NGC 5427, in the constellation of Virgo. They may or may not eventually collide but in the mean time (for a few million years) they will continue to interact with each other, creating new stars as a result of the mutual gravitational attraction between them. There is a bridge of stars already connecting the two. Arp 271 is about 130 million light-years away, and about 130,000 light-years across. It was discovered in 1785 by William Herschel.
9. The HMS Plym (K 271) was a River-class anti-submarine frigate built for the Royal Navy, which was destroyed in Britain's first A-bomb explosion off the Monte Bello Islands, Australia in 1952.
10. The energy of the number 271 is a force to be reckoned with. It represents creativity, will power and concentration and people influenced by it are often high achievers or strong leaders. The down side is that they can be selfish and boastful.

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27 September: Top Cat

The début of TV's cartoon Top Cat was 50 years ago today in 1961. Here are 10 things you might not know about Top Cat:

1. There was only ever one series, although that series did have 30 episodes.
2. The premise of the show is a gang of New York alley Cats, led by Top Cat (TC) who are always trying to earn a quick buck, usually through illegal scams. Their protagonist is the local cop, Officer Charlie Dibble, who tries to get them evicted from the alley and prevent them from using the police phone.
3. The gang consists of Top Cat, a Yellow cat who wears a mauve pork pie hat and a matching waistcoat and is the charismatic gang leader; Benny, a Blue cat who wears a White  sports jacket and is TC's somewhat naive right hand man; Choo-Choo, a Pink cat with a white turtleneck who lives at the fire house; Brain, an Orange cat in a Purple T-shirt with a Black line. The name Brain is ironic, since he's actually the dimmest member of the gang. He stutters and cannot keep a secret; Fancy-Fancy, a Brown cat with a white scarf, laid-back, sweet-talking, handsome, and kind-hearted, and is often seen chatting up female cats before leaving them when the dustbin lid call signals the gang to convene. His look and voice is based on Cary Grant; and Spook has Olive green fur and a torn black tie, a sweet-talking cat who talks like a beatnik, interjecting the word "like" frequently.
4. In the very first episode, Benny wins a trip to Hawaii and the rest of the gang join him by stowing away. Officer Dibble is on board the ship as well, investigating a suitcase of counterfeit money, leading to the gang being thrown in the brig as suspected counterfeiters. Top Cat helps Officer Dibble catch the real counterfeiter and prove the gang's innocence.
5. The show was conceived as a parody of The Phil Silvers Show. The voice actor playing TC, Arnold Stang, imitated the voice of Sgt Bilko. Benny is voiced by Maurice Gosfield who played Private Duane Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show.
6. Top Cat was the second cartoon series to premiere on American prime time television, the first being The Flintstones. There was even some cross over between the two. In one episode of Top Cat, Benny spends the night in a museum. When he returns he has somehow managed to get an antique scarab attached to him. The gang try to return it and get mistaken for jewel thieves. There are two statues of prehistoric men in the museum – Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. In turn, Officer Dibble appears as a policeman from the future in a time travelling episode of The Flintstones.
7. In the UK, the title was changed to Boss Cat, because there was a brand of cat food called Top Cat. However, the theme song and dialogue remained unchanged and contained countless mentions of "Top Cat", making the title change pointless.
8. Officer Dibble's wife was frequently mentioned, but never shown.
9. The DVD version credits Kin Platt with writing all the episodes. In fact, he only wrote a couple of them. The same closing credits were mistakenly used for every episode on the DVD and it happened to be from one of the shows he wrote. Other scriptwriters were Barry Blitzer and Harvey Bullock.
10. The Original TV Soundtrack was written and recorded by Hoyt Curtin.

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26 September: Andrea Name Day

Today's Czech name day: Andrea. Andrea is a given name derived from Andrew. It is a common name for males in Italy, while in the English speaking world it is more often than not a female name. 10 famous Andreas:

1. Andrea Corr: Irish singer, lead singer of the Celtic folk rock and pop rock group The Corrs. As well as singing lead vocals, Corr plays the tin whistle, the Ukulele and the Piano.
2. Andrea Bocelli: Italian Opera tenor who became completely blind at age 12, following a football accident. He rose to fame in 1994, winning the preliminary round of the Sanremo Music Festival performing Miserere, achieving the highest score ever in the newcomers section.
3. Andrea Bowen: American actress who played Julie Mayer on the comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives.
4. Andrea Aguyar: nicknamed Andrea il Moro, was a former slave from Uruguay who became a follower of Garibaldi and who died in defence of the revolutionary Roman Republic of 1849.
5. Andrea Levy: English author best known for the novels Small Island and The Long Song. She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British Jamaicans and how they negotiate racial, cultural and national identities.
6. Andrea Prader: Swiss scientist, physician, and paediatric endocrinologist. He co-discovered Prader–Willi syndrome and created two physiological sex development scales, the Prader scale and the orchidometer.
7. Andrea Dworkin: American radical feminist activist and writer. Her feminist writings span 40 years. She is best known for her analysis of pornography.
8. Andreas Vesalius: 16th-century anatomist, physician, and author of one of the most influential books on human anatomy, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem. Vesalius is often referred to as the founder of modern human anatomy. He was Imperial physician at the court of Emperor Charles V.
9. Andrea Pia Yates: former resident of Houston, Texas, who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub in 2001. She had been suffering from very severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis and schizophrenia. Her case placed the irresistible impulse test, a legal test for sanity, under public scrutiny in the United States. She was convicted of capital murder, but the jury refused the death penalty. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. The verdict was overturned on appeal, in light of false testimony by one of the expert psychiatric witnesses.
10. Andrea Amati: luthier, from Cremona, Italy, credited with making the first instruments of the Violin family in the form we use today. Several of his instruments survive to the present day, and some of them can still be played.

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25 September: Rocky Horror Picture Show

On this date in 1975 Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry and Meat Loaf premièred in the US. 10 things you might not know about it:

1. It was written by Richard O'Brien as something to do on winter evenings when he wasn't working as an actor. It was basically his hobby. Then, one tie when he was working, he showed his creation to director Jim Sharman, who loved it and decided to turn it into a stage show.
2. The cast of the movie could have been quite different. Sharman wanted Marianne Faithfull to play Magenta, but she wasn't available. Mick Jagger wanted to play Frank-N-Furter, but the production team chose Tim Curry. 20th Century Fox wanted Elvis Presley to play Eddie, and Elvis was actually interested in doing it, but eventually declined. Richard O'Brien wanted to play Eddie, too, but Sharman saw him as more of a Riff Raff and O'Brien respected his decision. Steve Martin auditioned to play the role of Brad. Everyone wanted the narrator to be Vincent Price but he wasn't available.
3. There were other tweaks and rejected ideas, such as the first part of the film being shot in black and white and colour only introduced when Frank-N-Furter made his first entrance. The idea being that Brad and Janet led a dull and boring life until they met him. The studio rejected that. Frank-N-Furter was going to have a German accent at first, as it was a German sounding name. However, thanks to a posh lady he overheard on a bus, he changed his mind on that one and decided Frank-N-Furter's voice should sound like a combination of his mother and the Queen.
4. O’Brien’s original script for the stage musical was only 40 minutes long. In order to make a film out of it, it needed to be longer. The song The Time Warp was written purely to fill up space.
5. The filming location was a decaying 19th century mansion called Oakley Court. Its owners actually wanted to tear it down, but is was a historic building so they couldn't. It had been a location for some Hammer Horror movies and when set designer Brian Thomson laid eyes on it, he knew it was perfect. Filming there, however, was no picnic because there was no heating or bathrooms, and the film was shot in winter. One "warm room" was set up for the cast to warm up in between takes, but it caught fire. The cold and damp meant that Susan Sarandon went down with either the flu or pneumonia (depending which source you read) during filming and was actually quite ill with a fever in one scene. Eventually, though, Oakley Court was sold to developers who have tuned it into a swanky hotel. It's possible, then, to spend the night in Frank-N-Furter's mansion.
6. Patricia Quinn's main motivation for accepting the role of Magenta in the stage show was that she got to sing Science Fiction Double Feature, because, she said, it was “the best song I’ve ever heard.” She was so miffed when told that in the film version, O'Brien would sing the song and almost dropped out. Even though she didn't get to sing the song on the soundtrack, they did use her lips in the opening credits. On the publicity poster, however, the lips belonged to Lorelei Shark. The floating red Lips were inspired by Man Ray’s 1936 painting The Lovers.
7. Meatloaf couldn't ride a motorcycle so a body double was used. In close ups, he was rolling around in a wheelchair. Underwear model Peter Hinwood, who played Rocky, couldn't act or sing so all his lines were dubbed. He'd been hired purely for his looks. “Little Nell” Campbell, who plays Columbia really could tap dance, though. She was working serving ice cream and would tap dance while doing so, which intrigued Jim Sharman who showed up at her workplace to watch. Suitably impressed, he offered her the role.
8. Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s make up was done by Pierre La Roche, who did the make-up for David Bowie’s iconic Ziggy Stardust. However, he took so long to do it, all of four hours, that Tim Curry eventually did his own make up. Magenta's iconic red hair wasn't dyed, but sprayed red every day. And talk about attention to detail. The make up department even created a special plug to cover Peter Hinwood's belly button, because as something created in a lab, Rocky wouldn't have had one.
9. There was a follow up film released in 1981 called Shock Treatment. Brad and Janet are in it and some of the actors appear in different roles (minus Tim Curry). It wasn't a success.
10. Neither was Rocky Horror at the start. The original 1974 release was a total flop. When the film first opened, Meat Loaf and Jim Sherman bought tickets for a screening in the Midwest. They were the only ones in the cinema. However, late night showings became popular and the film developed a cult following, especially once audiences started dressing up, throwing food and heckling at the screen. 20th Century Fox have never pulled it from theatrical release and it has been shown in cinemas across the world constantly since 1975, and in 2005 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

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24 September: The St Leger

On this date in 1776, the first St Leger horse-race took place at Doncaster. 10 facts about the St Leger:

1. The St Leger is the oldest of Britain's five Classic Horse races. It is the last of the five to be run each year, and its distance is longer than any of the other four at 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 115 yards (2,921 metres).
2. The race is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies.
3. It is named after one Anthony St Leger, an army officer and politician. He was born in Ireland but attended Eton College and served in the British army. He married a woman from Yorkshire and lived on the Park Hill estate in Firbeck, where he later bred and raced horses. From 1768 to 1774, St Leger was MP for Grimsby. He devised the race that would become the St Leger after he left Parliament.
4. It was almost called the Rockingham Stakes after the host of the dinner party where the discussion took place. The Marquess, however, proposed that it should be named after Anthony St Leger instead.
5. The first race was run over a distance of 2 miles and was called "A Sweepstake of 25 Guineas". According to the rules of the time, colts and geldings were to carry 8 st, and fillies would receive an allowance of 2 lb.
6. The winner of the first St Leger didn't have a name. It was a filly owned by the event's organiser, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. The horse was given a name later: Allabaculia.
7. The St Leger forms the last leg of the Triple Crown. Competing colts will have competed in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and the Epsom Derby and the fillies in the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks at the same venues. The UK’s last Triple Crown winner was Nijinsky, back in 1970. The race is a test of stamina, and it's endurance, rather than speed which is the key to victory.
8. The winningest jockey is Bill Scott, who won the race 9 times in the 19th century. The fastest time over the Doncaster course at time of writing was 3m 00.27s, by Logician in 2019.
9. The largest number of runners was 30, in 1825, and the fewest just three in 1917.
10. As the last of the classics, the race marks the end of the English summer. The popular adage "sell in May and go away, come back on St Leger Day" suggests investors should sell their shares in May and buy them back after the race.

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23 September: 266

Today is the 266th day of the year. 10 facts about the number 266:

1. The year 266 was a common year starting on Monday known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Sabinillus.
2. Pope Francis is the 266th pope.
3. 266 Aline is a fairly large main belt asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1887 and is thought to have been named after the daughter of astronomer Edmund Weiss.
4. The A266 was previously a road between Frant and Hurst Green, now designated B2099.
5. In London the 266 bus runs between Acton High Street and Brent Cross, passing through North Acton, Harlesden, Willesden and Cricklewood
6. +266 is the international dialling code for Lesotho.
7. In binary, 266 is written 100001010.
8. In Roman numerals, it's CCLXVI.
9. The Star 266 is a Polish 6x6 truck designed for transport of cargo and personnel.
10. In numerology this number resonates with curiosity about life, a desire for adventure and fun experiences. It also resonates with companionship and family.

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22 September: Michael Faraday

Michael Faraday was born on this date in 1791. The English scientist has been called the "father of electricity." 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He didn't go to university. In fact, he only had the most basic education as he was born into a poor family in what is now Southwark in south London. He left school at 14 to become an apprentice to a bookbinder.
2. This job, of course, gave him access to books, and he read a lot in his spare time. One book which particularly interested him was Jane Marcet's Conversations in Chemistry, a book written in 1806 bestseller which explained scientific topics for a general audience.
3. Faraday was particularly impressed by the scientist Humphrey Davy, who, in the year 1808 alone, had discovered five elements, including calcium and boron. Davy was also quite charismatic and gave popular lectures at the Royal Institution. One day a customer at the bookbinders gave Faraday a ticket to one of Davy's lectures. Faraday went along and made copious notes, which he later bound in leather and sent to Davy, asking if he could become Davy's assistant. Although it was unheard of for someone without a degree to be given such a post, Davy was impressed by the young man's intelligence and ambition. No doubt the presentation of the notes in a leather bound book helped, too. Davy hired him as a lab assistant. Later in life, when Davy was asked to name the greatest discovery he'd ever made, he replied, "Michael Faraday."
4. Even so, Faraday's lack of education was a handicap. He'd only learned basic maths, not trigonometry or algebra. This meant he couldn't prove his hypotheses mathematically, so they weren't always taken seriously. He teamed up with a young physicist called James Clerk Maxwell, who was good at maths and could provide the numbers work.
5. Faraday discovered benzene, invented an early form of Bunsen burner and coined terminology such as "anode", "cathode", "electrode" and "ion". He also invented the rubber balloon. He invented it for a scientific purpose, to contain hydrogen during his experiments, but toy manufacturers soon picked up on the idea and were selling them a year later.
6. One day in 1823, one of his experiments went spectacularly wrong. He'd sealed a sample of Chlorine hydrate inside a tube, and heated one end and cooled the other at the same time. As he did so he noticed that a peculiar Yellow liquid was starting to form. Curious to know what it was, he opened the tube, which resulted in a violent explosion. He somehow escaped being injured by flying shards of Glass and noticed two things. The air smelled of chlorine, and the temperature of the room had fallen. He surmised that a build up of pressure in the tube had caused the gas to turn to liquid and breaking it open had released the pressure, causing it to explode. It was one of those occasions when an accident ultimately resulted in something extremely useful – refrigerators.
7. Faraday turned down a knighthood. He did so on religious grounds as his family had always been churchgoers and he kept his faith. He said that it was against the word of the Bible to accumulate riches and pursue worldly reward, and he preferred to remain "plain Mr Faraday to the end." He did, however, accept a grace and favour house from Prince Albert which he lived in until he died.
8. He's responsible for those lectures which get shown on TV at Christmas. Making science accessible to the public was an aim dear to his heart, since he'd benefited from it himself. He started an initiative in which prominent scientists would give public lectures. The series started with John Millington speaking on “natural philosophy” in 1825. Faraday himself was the presenter on no less than 19 occasions. Since then, the Christmas lecturers have included David Attenborough, Carl Sagan, and Richard Dawkins.
9. Faraday also had an interest in maritime matters, and Lighthouses. He worked on ways to stop the bottoms of metal boats from corroding as well as on electric lighting for lighthouses.
10. From the age of 48, he suffered from a mysterious illness which affected his memory and also made him suffer from vertigo and depression. He had to take three years off work because of this illness but after that returned to work until his early 70s, although he still had occasional flare ups. One theory as to what caused his illness is exposure to Mercury.

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