10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 14 January:
- This date in 1872 saw the death of Greyfriars Bobby, a Skye Terrier known in 19th-century Edinburgh for reportedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner, John Gray. A year later, Lady Burdett-Coutts had a statue and fountain erected at the southern end of the George IV Bridge to commemorate him. A red granite stone was erected on Bobby's grave by The Dog Aid Society of Scotland, which reads: "Greyfriars Bobby — died 14th January 1872 — aged 16 years — Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all."
- In 1998, a 25-year-old Argentine man pushed his wife, 20, out of an 8th floor window in Bodeo Aires after a row. Her legs became entangled in power cables, breaking her fall. In an attempt to finish what he’d started, the man tried to jump on top of her, but missed and fell to his death. The woman managed to swing over to a balcony, and survived. Instant karma in action.
- In 1794, Dr. Jessee Bennet performed the first successful Cesarean section operation on his wife. He used no anaesthesia. No word on how long the marriage lasted after that.
- In 1690, the Clarinet was invented in Nurnberg, Germany.
- The last London Frost Fair took place on this date in 1814. Crowds flocked to the frozen Thames, to enjoy Punch and Judy shows, spit roasts and other entertainments. Piemen and oyster-wenches peddled their wares.
- In 1788, the first convicts arrived at Botany Bay in Australia.
- In 1995, a priest used a bible to knock out an armed robber in Adelaide.
- In 1988, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation faced a legal dispute over the frozen head of one Dora Kent. Medical examiners in Los Angeles wanted to examine the head because they suspected Mrs Kent hadn’t been dead when it was removed. The Foundation, together with Mrs Kent’s son Saul, contended that an autopsy would damage the Skull and Brain, making it impossible to carry out her wish to be revived someday.
- In 2002, a 50-year-old construction worker in Tennessee survived being impaled by a 3-foot-long, 3-inch-thick metal rod that fell off of a bridge and which went through his skull, neck, and trunk, stopping only when completely embedded in his body. He had not been wearing the required hard hat.
- In 1941, the ‘V for Victory’ symbol of World War II was first suggested in a radio broadcast to Belgium. M. Victor de Lavaleye, of the exiled Belgian government in London, proposed that the letter V, standing for Victory in all European languages, be used as a symbol for the war effort. It was taken up widely; every BBC broadcast to Europe beginning with the opening bars of Beethoven's 5th, which has the same rhythm as the Morse Code V (...-).
NEW!!
The Power of Love
Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic ordering and the significance of chance encounters. She believes there's a spiritual explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.
A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.
Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.
When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.
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