1 November: Othello

On this date in 1604, William Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was first presented at Whitehall Palace in London. 10 things you might not know about Othello:

1. Shakespeare's source for the play was a short story called Un Capitano Moro (‘A Moorish Captain’), written by the Italian author Cinthio (real name Giovanni Battista Giraldi) as part of a collection. Shakespeare must have been a fan, since his play Measure for Measure was inspired by this source as well.
2. In Cinthio's story, none of the characters have names apart from Desdemona. They are referred to instead by their ranks. Shakespeare therefore named most of the characters, and it's thought he coined the name Othello, which means wealth.
3. The full name of the play is The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice.
4. The plot, spoiler alert. Othello is a Moorish general in the Venetian army on the eve of war with the Ottoman Turks over the island of Cyprus. He has just married Desdemona, against her father's wishes, and promoted a man named Cassio to the rank of lieutenant. The antagonist of the play is Iago, a scheming ensign. He tries to make Cassio look bad and lose his job by getting him drunk and getting him to start a fight. He claims that Cassio is having it off with Desdemona. This isn't true – Desdemona is completely innocent and devoted to her husband but Othello believes the lie and kills her. Iago's wife Emilia tells him, sadly too late, that Desdemona was innocent. Othello attacks Iago but doesn't kill him, and then kills himself.
5. Iago's motives for being a complete A-hole are never made clear. Is he jealous because he didn't get promoted? Did he want Desdemona for himself? Or something else entirely? In Cinthio's story the unnamed ensign is clearly jealous because he thinks Othello slept with his wife, but Shakespeare adds some other potential motives, and never reveals which of them it was.
6. Othello's race has been a subject of much discussion over the years. A "Moor" could mean he's a Muslim, a black man, and/or an Arab. The word "black" is used several times in the play, eg, "Haply for I am black"; "an old black ram"; Othello denouncing Desdemona's supposed sin as being "black as mine own face"; Brabantio saying it is "unnatural" for Desdemona to desire Othello's "sooty bosom". In Elizabethan times the word black could not only mean what it does today but could simply mean "swarthy" or qualities which have nothing to do with skin colour at all. Roderigo calls Othello "the thicklips", which could also indicate that he was African, but could also have been meant as an insult which had nothing to do with what his lips looked like. Whatever Shakespeare's intention in terms of Othello's race, the idea was that he was an outsider whose difference separated him from the mainstream: "an extravagant and wheeling stranger." There would likely have been no reason, apart from difference, or race, why Brabantio would disapprove of his daughter marrying a distinguished and successful general. Critics are still discussing whether race was meant to be a central theme to the play, or not.
7. In modern times, more often than not, a black actor will play the title role. In Shakespeare's time, there wouldn't have been any black actors and it was 1833 before a black actor took the role on stage. His name was Ira Aldridge, an African American who had come to England in order to become an actor. In the 20th century a white actor would often take the role but would perform in blackface or in a black mask. They included Ralph Richardson, Orson Welles, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier and Anthony Hopkins. African American actor Paul Robeson also played Othello several times. In 1997 there was a production with a twist. Patrick Stewart played Othello as a white man while the rest of the cast were black.
8. The theme of "otherness" could be said to extend to women as well. Iago makes derogatory remarks about women, saying they are noisy and worthless except in bed. Othello curses women, too, while in his jealous rage. In Shakespeare's time, female actors were equally rare with female roles usually played by young men. In fact, the first woman to appear on stage as a professional actress did so in December 1660, in a production of Othello, playing Desdemona.
9. There's not much comic relief in Othello. There is a clown, but he only appears in a couple of scenes. The play is widely regarded as one of Shakespeare's most moving. During some of the earliest productions, members of the audience would get into the spirit of things and shout out warnings to the actor playing Othello and threaten to harm Iago.
10. It is this play which gave us the term "green-eyed monster" meaning jealousy, "the beast with two backs" meaning sexual intercourse, and the idea of "wearing one's heart on one's sleeve".

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31 October: Witch Jokes

 Happy Halloween! Here are 10 jokes about Witches:

1. Why do witches ride on broomsticks? Because vacuum cleaners have to be plugged into the wall.
2. Life's a witch and then you fly.
3. What happens to a fast witch on a slow broom? She flies off the handle.
4. What's the most important subject a witch learns in school? Spelling.
5. What do you call a witch who lives at the beach? A sand-witch.
6. What do you call a witch's garage? A broom cupboard.
7. First witch, sobbing: The doctor said I can't have children. Second witch: Never mind. There are plenty of other things you can eat.
8. What goes cackle, cackle, bonk? A witch laughing her head off.
9. What do you get if you cross a witch with an iceberg? A cold spell.
10. Why couldn't the witch sing? She had a frog in her throat.

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30 October: Sense and Sensibility

On this date in 1811 Sense and Sensibility: A Novel was published. 10 things you might not know about it:

1. It was Jane Austen's first novel and she paid to have it published by Thomas Egerton on a commission basis. The first edition made Jane a profit of £140.
2. The novel is set in South West England, London, and Sussex, between 1792 and 1797.
3. In those days, women of Jane's social class didn't work, and women writing novels was frowned upon, so the author didn't use her own name. The book was simply attributed to "A Lady" and her subsequent books were attributed to "The Author of Sense and Sensibility".
4. The first draft was written at least 15 years before it was published. Jane's sister, Cassandra, told of Jane reading it to her family 15 years before publication. Jane would therefore have been about 19 years old when she wrote it.
5. The book changed a little from that first draft. The first draft was written in a different style and had a different title. It was written in the form of letters and was called Elinor and Marianne.
6. The title it ended up with, Sense and Sensibility, relates to the contrasting personalities of the sisters, Elinor and Marianne. Elinor is "Sense": practicality and common sense, while Marianne is "Sensibility" which means a more romantic, emotional outlook on life.
7. The plot (spoiler alert): Elinor and Marianne Dashwood's father dies and the estate they lived on, Norland Park, passed to their elder half-brother, John. At first, John allows the sisters and their mother to stay at Norland Park but his wife Fanny isn't so keen and they eventually are forced to move out. A relative provides them with a cottage in Devon. Here, Marianne meets Colonel Brandon, who is 20 years older than she is. He likes her but she rebuffs him because she sees him as too old and staid. She falls in love with a younger, more attractive man called John Willoughby, but he turns out to be a cad and a gold digger and jilts Marianne in favour of someone with money. Elinor, meanwhile, is rather fond of Edward Ferrars, Fanny’s brother, but he is secretly engaged to Lucy Steele, and is determined to honour his commitment. However, when his family find out about his secret engagement, they disown him and Lucy marries his brother instead, because he is now the one with the money. Edward, now a clergyman, proposes to Elinor and she accepts while Marianne marries the sensible Colonel Brandon.
8. It seems likely that Jane set out to write what is known as a didactic novel, in which two opposing viewpoints, in this case sense and sensibility, are pitted against each other with one emerging in the end as right while the other is wrong. It was often the case in such stories that the holder of the "wrong" viewpoint had to die. Jane seemed to favour sense over sensibility, but she didn't kill off Marianne, allowing her to recover from the chill she caught from "staying out to mope in the rain" and have her marry the sensible option, a man she had earlier dismissed as staid, and comment to Elinor that she wished she was more like her. Modern critics have questioned whether Jane Austen actually preferred "sense" over "sensibility" or actually believed a balanced person needed an equal dose of both.
9. As well as the comparison of sense and sensibility the novel's themes include the role of women in 18th/19th century society, and the importance of wealth in a woman's choice of partner. It is notable that, although most young women at the time would have decisions made for them by their fathers, there are virtually no father figures in the book as they are all either dead or absent, and it is the mothers who are in charge of the young women's lives.
10. The book has been adapted many times. It was the first of Jane Austen's novels to be re-published after she died, and the first to be published with illustrations. It was translated into French by Madame Isabelle de Montoliue, but since her grasp of English was fairly basic, and followed the original plot only loosely. It was adapted for film and TV with the most notable adaptation being the 1995 movie directed by Ang Lee. The screenplay was written by Emma Thompson who also starred as Elinor. Emma is the only person to win an Oscar for both screenwriting and acting.

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29 October: 302

On the 302nd day of the year, 10 facts about the number 302:

1. The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 302 Found redirect status response code indicates that the resource requested has been temporarily moved to the URL given by the location header.
2. FD-302 is an FBI form commonly referred to as simply "302" that is used to summarise interviews.
3. Area code 302 is the telephone area code for the U.S. state of Delaware.
4. 302 Clarissa is a main belt asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1890.
5. 302 Acid is a band from Washington DC, formed by Doug Kallmeyer and Justin Mader in 2002. Their music has improvisatory elements, and Kallmeyer plays an electric double bass. The group took their name from a hazard placard for hydrochloric acid frequently seen on the Washington Metro system.
6. The A302 road runs from Hyde Park Corner to Elephant & Castle in London.
7. The year 302 was a common year starting on a Thursday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius. In this year, Emperor Diocletian began passing laws against Christians and a policy of religious oppression in Antioch; and Iamblichus of Chalcis wrote a treatise on magic and the occult.
8. Dafaa 302 is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language film directed by K. Shrivastava and starring Rekha and Randhir Kapoor. The character Mohan Lal sets out to solve his brother's murder and clear the name of the person accused of killing him. The title is a reference to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code which refers to the death penalty.
9. Telstar 302 was a geostationary communication satellite launched into space in August 1984. It was located at orbital position of 85 degrees west longitude and was operated by AT&T. It operated until September 1997.
10. In numerology, 302 resonates with doing things on a whim. It is a sensual energy, wanting to savour every experience, both physically and mentally. It is tremendously attracted to new experiences. There is a sense of adventure. The person affected by the number usually likes to experience things with others. The person is also creative, and has a talent for self-expression. Persuading people to participate in fun projects comes easily to them.

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28 October: Wadjet

Pharoah’s Egyptian astrology (one of two known systems) honours the goddess Wadjet around this date. 10 facts about this goddess:

1. Wadjet was a snake goddess and was usually depicted as a woman with the head of a Snake (or sometimes two snake heads), sometimes as a snake with a woman's head or as a snake coiled around a papyrus stem. The snake she was generally depicted as was an Egyptian cobra, a venomous snake common to the region.
2. She was said to be the protector of Lower Egypt. When Lower and Upper Egypt unified, she teamed up with the goddess of Upper Egypt, the Vulture goddess Nekhbet, who was, according to some myths, her sister, and they became known as "The Two Ladies", who together protected the whole land and its kings. Kings would wear a snake symbol on their crowns in honour of Wadjet: the Uraeus.
3. She was also known by the names Uto, Buto, or Edjo, and nicknamed "Lady of Flame", and "Creatrix of the World".
4. As protector of Egypt, it was said she spat poison, or, according to some myths, fire, at grave robbers and enemies of Egypt.
5. While she was more than capable of fighting and killing, Wadjet was also very much associated with the land of the living. Her name derives from a word for papyrus and also greenness and freshness, so she was associated with growth and vegetation and also the marshes, the habitat of snakes. She was also the protector of women in childbirth.
6. She was the daughter of Amun-Ra, created specifically to be his "Eye" and to search for his missing son, Shu. Ra was so happy when she found him that he cried tears of joy which became the human race.
7. She was nurse to the infant god Horus and helped Isis, his mother, protect him when his uncle, Seth, wanted to kill him.
8. She may have been the origin of the caduceus symbol of a snake coiled around a staff. The symbol of her coiled around a papyrus stem may have been adopted by the Greeks. Or perhaps the Greeks came up with the idea independently. We'll never know for sure.
9. At times, Wadjet merged somewhat with the Cat goddess Bastet, and was pictured with the head of a lioness with attributes of both Lions and cobras.
10. The Oracle of Wadjet is believed to be one of the first oracles in ancient Egypt and possibly a precursor to the oracles of ancient Greece. Wadjet's statue was usually kept in a temple which was off limits to ordinary people, but several times a year there would be a festival in which the statue would be brought out and carried around the city in a procession. On those days, people could write a question, on a piece of papyrus, of course, which had a yes-no answer. One of the priests would act as the voice of Wadjet.

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27 October: 300

On the 300th day of the year, 10 facts about the number 300:

1. In Biblical history and mythology, 300 often seems to be the number of an army which defeats another, much bigger army. In Islamic tradition, 300 is the number of Israeli king Thalut's soldiers who defeated Goliath's soldiers; In the Bible, 300 was the size of the Israelite judge Gideon's army against the Midianites; In Islamic history, 300 was the number of Muhammad's followers victorious in the Battle of Badr. According to Herodotus, 300 was the number of ancient Spartans resisting a million Persian invaders in the Battle of Thermopylae.
2. The latter was the inspiration for a comic book and a film, both called 300. The comic book was published in 1998 and was by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. The film came out in 2007 and was was co-written and directed by Zack Snyder.
3. In bowling, 300 is a perfect score, achieved by rolling strikes in all ten frames (a total of twelve strikes).
4. There are 300 seats in the Hellenic parliament in Athens, Greece.
5. The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus.
6. The year 300 was a leap year starting on a Monday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius. In this year, Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia, was built, and the Kama Sutra, the Indian handbook on the art of sexual love, was produced by the sage Vatsyayana.
7. 300 Geraldina is a large Main belt asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1890.
8. The Committee of 300, also known as The Olympians, is a conspiracy theory which claims a powerful group was founded by the British aristocracy in 1727 and rules the world to this day. Politics, commerce, banking, media, and the military are all controlled by this group according to the theory.
9. The A300 is a road in London also known as Upper Thames Street, City of London, and Newington Causeway, near Elephant & Castle.
10. The angel number 300 is often a calling to begin using or developing your spiritual gifts and abilities to help yourself and others. It can also signify beginnings and endings of phases in your life or relationships.

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26 October: Hillary Clinton Quotes

US politician and former First Lady Hillary Clinton was born on this date in 1947. 10 quotes from her:

1. Showing up is not all of life – but it counts for a lot.
2. Fear is always with us, but we just don't have time for it. Not now.
3. Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in. And, when you stumble, keep faith. And, when you're knocked down, get right back up and never listen to anyone who says you can't or shouldn't go on.
4. I think that if you live long enough, you realise that so much of what happens in life is out of your control, but how you respond to it is in your control. That's what I try to remember.
5. Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as you can.
6. There is a sense that things, if you keep positive and optimistic about what can be done, do work out.
7. You have just one life to live. It is yours. Own it, claim it, live it, do the best you can with it.
8. The worst thing that can happen in a democracy — as well as in an individual's life — is to become cynical about the future and lose hope.
9. We should remember that just as a positive outlook on life can promote good health, so can everyday acts of kindness.
10. Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.

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25 October: Iapetus

On this date in 1671 Giovanni Cassini discovered Iapetus, one of Saturn's moons. 10 things you might not know about Iapetus:

1. Iapetus is the third-largest natural satellite of Saturn, and the eleventh-largest in the Solar System.
2. Cassini called it one of the four Sidera Lodoicea (Stars of Louis) after King Louis XIV (the other three being Tethys, Dione and Rhea). Other astronomers called it Saturn V, and it became Saturn VIII after additional moons were discovered. It was John Herschel who suggested that the moons of Saturn be named after the mythical brothers and sisters of Kronus (Kronus being the Greek equivalent of the Roman god Saturn). Iapetus is the father of Atlas and Prometheus. As the father of Prometheus, the ancient Greeks regarded Iapetus as the father of the human race.
3. Iapetus has a mean radius of 457 miles (736 kilometres) - that's 8.7x smaller than Earth, and isn't much more dense than liquid Water. Therefore it is believed to be three quarters ice and one quarter rock.
4. Iapetus orbits at 2,213,000 miles (3,561,000 kilometres) from Saturn, and is tidally locked with the planet, that is, the moon always presents the same face toward Saturn.
5. Thanks to its distant, inclined orbit, Iapetus is the only large moon from which you could get a good view of Saturn's rings.
6. One hemisphere of Iapetus is much darker than the other. The difference was noticed by Cassini back in 1671. He noted that he could only see Iapetus when it was on the west side of Saturn. He correctly concluded from this that Iapetus had one darker side was tidally locked with Saturn. Why this should be isn't known but one current theory is that the moon's slow rotation leads to the dark areas being heated by the sun and volatile substances move to the colder areas. This feature has led to Iapetus being known as the yin and yang of the Saturn moons.
7. Another feature is a giant ridge around about three quarters of the middle which make the moon look a little like a giant Walnut. The ridge consists of mountains which are 6-miles (10-km) high. The jury is out on why this should be, too, but one theory is that the ridge consists of debris from a dead moon.
8. Geological features on Iapetus get their names from the French epic poem The Song of Roland. Two of the craters are called Charlemagne and Baligant, and the northern bright region is called Roncevaux Terra. The one exception is Cassini Regio, the dark region, which is named after Giovanni Cassini.
9. Iapetus is in resonance with Saturn's largest moon, Titan. As the two moons pass each other in orbit, they speed up and slow down as they pass each other in a complex set of variations.
10. In Arthur C. Clarke's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, the monolith is located on Iapetus.

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24 October: Big Bopper

Born on this date in 1930 was Big Bopper, famous for the song Chantilly Lace and for being one of the artists who died in the plane crash with Buddy Holly. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. His real name was Jiles Perry Richardson Jr.
2. His father was an oil-field worker, and he had two brothers, Cecil and James.
3. Big Bopper started his career as a DJ, beginning while he was at college studying pre-law. He became the regular presenter of the 3pm – 6pm show and it was then that he gave himself the name of Big Bopper. The name came from a dance, The Bop, which was popular with students at the time, and his own burly frame.
4. He was a record breaker. As a DJ he performed for a total of five days, two hours, and eight minutes in a theatre lobby in Beaumont, breaking the previous record by 8 minutes. He played 1,821 records in that time, and would sneak off for showers during the news.
5. He was a pioneer of the music video, creating the first one in 1958. It was the Big Bopper who coined the term "rock video" and believed that videos were the future. At the time of his death, he was preparing to start production on music videos for TV and a jukebox that would play videos.
6. Due to his untimely death, he was a one hit wonder, with Chantilly Lace. The song was originally called That's What I Like, and was the B-side. It proved to be more popular than the A side, becoming one of the most played songs of 1958. In the song, Big Bopper pretends to have a phone conversation with his girlfriend and introduces himself after the line, "Hello Baaaaby!" which was hailed as a great marketing ploy as people wouldn't forget who the artist was. Chantilly Lace was the last song performed at the Clear Lake, Iowa concert on the night Holly, Valens and Big Bopper died.
7. Jayne Mansfield recorded a song which was the other side of the phone conversation, called That Makes It. There was also a sequel by Big Bopper called The Big Bopper's Wedding, in which he gets cold feet just before his wedding.
8. Big Bopper also wrote songs for other people, the best known being White Lightning, which was the first number one single for George Jones, and Running Bear by Johnny Preston, a tale of two Native Americans and their forbidden love. If you've heard the song, you may recall there is Indian chanting in the background, which was provided by Big Bopper himself.
9. Richardson married Adrianne Joy Fryou on April 18, 1952. They had two children, Debra, and Jay Perry Richardson, who was born two months after his father's death. Jay followed in his father's musical footsteps as "The Big Bopper Jr."
10. He wasn't meant to be on board the plane the night of the crash, but Waylon Jennings, Buddy Holly's guitarist, gave up his seat because the Big Bopper was suffering from the flu.

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23 October: The Marx Brothers

On this date in 1893 Gummo Marx was born. 10 things you didn't know about the Marx Brothers:

1. There were five of them: Chico (Leonard), Harpo (Arthur, although his actual name was Adolph, he changed it to Arthur in 1911), Groucho (Julius), Gummo (Milton) and Zeppo (Herbert). There was also a sixth brother called Manfred, who was the first born but died in infancy, and an adopted sister called Pauline ("Polly").
2. They got their nicknames during a game of poker with stand-up comedian Art Fisher. He decided to give them all nicknames. Chico was derived from "Chicko" because he was a bit of a ladies man. Harpo was so called because he played the harp. Gummo got his nickname because he liked to wear gumshoes. Groucho was known for being a bit cynical and also for wearing a type of bag called a "grouch bag". The origin of Zeppo is unknown. Early in their careers, they didn't use their nicknames but were billed with their given names. They used the nicknames among themselves, though, and when Alexander Woollcott heard them, he asked why they used their real names when they had such wonderful nicknames, and they replied, "That wouldn't be dignified."
3. In their films, Groucho would always play a wise guy with big bushy Eyebrows, glasses, and a moustache who smoked a cigar. He would paint on the moustache and eyebrows rather than use fake glue-on ones. Chico spoke with an Italian accent and played the piano; Harpo never spoke and played the harp. Zeppo usually played the straight man. Gummo never appeared in the films at all. He'd decided, after serving in WWI, that performing wasn't for him and started a business selling raincoats. He would later act as agent for the rest of the brothers.
4. They started out as a boy band. Julius, Milton, and Arthur Marx formed a group called “The Three Nightingales.” Managed by their mother, Minnie, they performed covers of popular songs on stage. Their act began to evolve into comedy one night when a Mule got loose in Texas. The brothers were performing at the Nacogdoches Opera House when someone ran into the theatre yelling “Mule’s loose!” The audience evidently found the idea of an escaped mule more entertaining than three guys singing and rushed out to watch. Julius was hopping mad at being upstaged by a mule, so when the audience came back, he started ad-libbing insults like “The jackass is the finest flower of Tex-ass!” Far from being offended, the audience found this hilarious and the rest is history.
5. Some of their films were banned in Europe. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini banned Duck Soup because he thought it was a personal attack on himself and Italy, while in Germany, all the films were banned because the brothers were Jewish. Groucho would later make a statement when he visited Germany with his daughter in 1958. He asked to see the site of Hitler's bunker, and when he got there, is said to have climbed onto the rubble and performed a Charleston, essentially dancing on Hitler's grave.
6. Duck Soup is set in the fictional nation of Freedonia. The mayor of the real-life town Fredonia, New York wrote to the brothers: "The name of Fredonia has been without blot since 1817. I feel it is my duty as mayor to question your intentions in using the name of our city in your picture." Groucho replied: "Your Excellency: Our advice is that you change the name of your town. It is hurting our picture."
7. Their first film was never finished and only ever saw the light of day as an early screening of a work-in-progress in the Bronx. It was called Humor Risk. In it, Harpo played a heroic detective and Groucho was the villain. Since the Bronx screening wasn't well received, production ground to a halt.
8. The brothers would sometimes perform scenes from their works in progress live before filming them, so they could time how long the audience laughed at the gags. When they came to film that scene, they'd know how long to pause to allow for the cinema audiences to laugh.
9. Without their costumes and props, the brothers looked almost identical; sufficiently so that they could, on occasion, impersonate each other. Chico once impersonated Harpo as a guest on the game show I've Got A Secret – and no one noticed.
10. Their last film was Love Happy in 1950 but there was almost another in 1960, directed by Billy Wilder, which would have been called A Day At The United Nations, about a group of thieves attempting to pull off a heist during a U.N. demonstration. Sadly, it was never made because Harpo became ill and Chico died.

My Books:

If you like stories about:

• Superheroes
• Psychic detectives
• Romance
• Alternative dimensions
• Time travel 
• Secrets
• Friendship
• Family relationships
• Ghosts
• Adventure
• Crime

If you want to read about superheroes who aren't the usual Marvel/DC staples, who don't all live in the USA.

If you like quirky tales.

If you like to support independent self published authors.

Check out my books page