1 April

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 1 April:

Clifton Suspension Bridge

1. On this date in 2019, protesters stripped naked in the public galleries of the House of Commons, and mooned MPs.
2. In 1976, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was first shown as the midnight show at the Waverly Theater in New York's Greenwich Village.
3. In 1924, Adolph Hitler, in prison for his involvement with the Beer-Hall Putsch, began dictating Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess. Its original title was less catchy: Four-and-a-Half Years of Struggle Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice; Settling Accounts with the Destroyers of the National Socialist Movement.
4. In 1929, inventor Louie Marx introduced the Yo yo to the world. This earned him the nickname Yo Yo Marx, making people think he was one of the Marx Brothers.
5. In 1909, the first double-decker Buses in Britain began running in Widnes, Cheshire.
6. In 1605, Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, 70, ascended the papal throne and took the name Leo XI, but was taken ill immediately after his coronation and died within the month. He was nicknamed Papa Lampo ("Lightning Pope") for the brevity of his pontificate.
7. The first bungee jump in the UK took place on this date in 1979. David Kirke jumped from the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, and was arrested.
8. The first nudist beach in Brighton opened on this date in 1980. The first person to venture into the sea with no clothes on was Arthur Albrow, aged 61.
9. In 1976, Stephen Wozniak and Steven Jobs founded Apple Computers. Their first product was the Apple I personal computer kit which sold for $666.66.
10. It's April Fools day, of course, so a few practical jokes happened over the years. In 1860 many Londoners had received printed invitations which read: "Tower of London, The White Gate – Admit the Bearer and Friend to view the Annual Ceremony of Washing the White Lions, on Sunday April 1st, 1860." A lot of people were seen driving around in cabs looking for the White Gate, which doesn't exist. John Lennon and Yoko Ono were known to get into the April Fool spirit: they issued a statement in 1970 that they were both having sex change operations, and in 1973 that they'd formed a new country with no laws or boundaries, called Nutopia; its National Anthem is silence. In 1957 BBC news programme Panorama showed a film of Swiss peasants picking strands of Spaghetti from trees. Viewers phoned in wanting to know how to grow their own spaghetti trees. The BBC told them to ‘place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.’ In 1977 The Guardian published a special 7 page supplement in honour of the tenth anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic in the Indian Ocean, consisting of several semi-colon-shaped islands. A series of articles described the geography and culture of the place – its two main islands were called Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. A number of people phoned the paper asking for information about holidays in San Serriffe. In 1980, the BBC were at it again when they reported that Big Ben, in order to keep up with the times, was going to become a digital clock. The BBC Japanese service announced that the clock hands would be sold to the first four listeners to contact them, and a Japanese sailor in the mid-Atlantic immediately radioed in a bid. Whole villages have been known to participate in April Fool Jokes. In 1995, Chillington, population 600, claimed to have 17 National Lottery millionaires. Across the Pond, in 1996, Taco Bell claimed to have purchased the Liberty Bell from the federal government in Philadelphia. In 2000, early morning commuters driving along the M3 near Farnborough, Hampshire, came across a Zebra Crossing on the motorway. Police speculated that the unknown prankster must have done it very early in the morning when there was little or no traffic on the motorway. Maintenance workers removed the crossing, luckily it wasn't too difficult as the prankster had used emulsion paint rather than gloss. The police noted that, surprisingly, they had received no calls from the public about it.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

31 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 31 March:

1. On this date in 2007, a world record for the longest non-stop concert was set by hundreds of musicians in Japan. The performance had begun on the evening of 23 March in the city of Omi, with musicians aged between six and 96 performing over 2,000 tunes over 182 hours. Organisers praised the musicians, one of whom carried on despite a major Earthquake during her piano piece.
2. In 1905, Sherlock Holmes was resurrected by his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Holmes had been killed off in 1891 by falling to his death over the Alpine Reichenbach Falls, Switzerland.
3. This date in 2013 was the coldest Easter Day on record for the United Kingdom. The lowest temperature of -12.5C was recorded in Braemar in the Scottish Highlands.
4. In 1896, the first Zip fastener, marketed as a hookless shoe fastener, was patented in the USA by Whitcomb Judson, a Chicago inventor, but it had too many imperfections, and kept coming undone. The zip as we know it today was patented in 1913.
5. In 1966, the USSR launched Luna 10, the first spacecraft to orbit the Moon.
6. In 1923, the first US dance marathon, was held in New York. Alma Cummings set a world record of 27 hours on her feet.
7. In 1973, racehorse Red Rum set a record of 9 m1.9 sec for the Grand National Steeplechase.
8. In 1959, the Dalai Lama was forced to leave Tibet. He accused the Chinese of making genocide against the Tibetan people, by systematic destruction of Tibetan culture and execution of thousands of prominent citizens.
9. In 1892, the world’s first fingerprinting bureau was formally opened by the Buenos Aires Chief of Police, although it had been operating unofficially since 1891.
10. In 1889, the French flag was placed on top of the Eiffel Tower by French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, officially marking its completion. It had taken two years to erect.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

30 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 30 March:

1. This date in 1853 saw the birth of Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch impressionist painter. His works include The Starry Night and Vase with twelve Sunflowers. He is also known for having cut off part of his left ear.
2. Staying with Vincent van Gogh, his Sunflowers sold for a record £22.5M on this date in 1987, almost four times the previous record paid for a single work of art. During his lifetime, van Gogh sold one painting.
3. Staying with ears, in 1988, a court in Exeter heard that a former paratrooper had bitten off the ear of his sister’s boyfriend after an ‘unprovoked attack’ following a heavy drinking session. The attacker laughed as he bit off half of the left ear, chewed and swallowed it in front of the victim and said ‘Yum, yum’. At the police station, the accused had said, ‘His nose was next’.
4. In 1984, Britain’s heaviest man, Peter Yarnall, 59 stone (826 lb/374.73 kg), who suffered from a glandular disorder, died in his flat in East Ham. 10 firemen took 5 hours to demolish the bedroom and winch his body out with a crane.
5. On this date 1867 Seward’s Folly happened when US Senator William H. Seward bought Alaska from the Russians for $7.2 million – approximately two cents an acre.‘A lot of dollars for an awful lot of ice,’ opined critics. Seward had the last laugh, however, when oil was found there.
6. In 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo crossing of the Atlantic.
7. In 2001, Jim Shekhdar of Northwood in London became the first person to row unaided across the Pacific, from Peru to Stradbroke Island near Brisbane, a distance of 8,100 miles. His boat was called Le Shark.
8. In 1899, Butch Cassidy’s gang went into a bank and claimed that they knew of a bank robbery. When the manager asked how they knew, they replied, “We planned it – hands up!”
9. In 2002 a Bristol pub, The Victoria, put up a new sign after renovation. The picture of Queen Victoria was replaced by one of Victoria Beckham.
10. In 2012, the spire of The Shard at London Bridge was put in place.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

29 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 29 March:

1. The first wedding in the White House took place on this date in 1812 when Mrs. Lucy Payne Washington, sister-in-law of President James Madison married Supreme Court Justice Thomas Dodd.
2. In 1959, Some Like it Hot with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon premièred in the USA.
3. Coca Cola was invented by Dr John Pemberton on this date in 1886. The first batch was brewed over a fire in a backyard in Atlanta. It was launched as an ‘Esteemed Brain Tonic and Intellectual Beverage’, hangover cure and a stomach ache/headache remedy, and it claimed to relieve exhaustion. One of its chief ingredients until 1904 was the dried leaf of the coca plant, a principal source of cocaine.
4. In 1807, H. W. Olbers discovered Vesta, the only asteroid visible to the naked eye.
5. The first London Marathon took place on this date in 1981. It was won by Norwegian Inge Simonsen.
6. In 1940, metal strips were introduced into the Bank of England £1 notes, as an anti-forgery device.
7. In 1988, Ian Botham set off on a fund-raising trek across the Alps in Hannibal’s footsteps, Elephants and all. On the same day, he learned his contract with Queensland Cricket Association had been cancelled because of his behaviour.
8. 1461 England's bloodiest battle took place around the village of Towton in Yorkshire. It lasted ten hours. More than 28,000 died as Henry VI's Lancastrian forces were crushed and the throne was claimed by Edward IV.
9. In 1871, The Royal Albert Hall was opened by Queen Victoria, and, in 1904, her son Edward VII opened Richmond Park to the public.
10. In 1990, the world's largest Yo yo was launched from a 160 foot crane in Indiana. Built by a woodwork class at Shakamak High School, the yo-yo was 6 feet in diameter and weighed 820 pounds. It yo-yoed 12 times.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

28 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 28 March:

1. On this date in 1942, Denis Thatcher married Margaret... no, not that one, but Margaret Kempson, his first wife. He was abroad so much during the war that they never actually lived together, and while he was away, she met someone else. When Denis returned to England after being demobbed in 1946, she asked for a divorce.
2. In 1930, Constantinople had its name changed to Istanbul by Kemal Atatürk, and the town of Angora (where the wool comes from) was changed to Ankara, the new capital of Turkey.
3. In 1976, Genesis began their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel left, in Buffalo, New York. Phil Collins was the new lead singer.
4. In 2011, French urban climber Alain Robert scaled the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
5. In 1912, both the Oxford and Cambridge boats sank in the Thames, so the boat race had to be rerun.
6. In 1995, in Japan, Mitsubishi Bank and the Bank of Tokyo agreed to a merger which would create the world's largest bank.
7. In 2018, human rights activist Malala Yousafzai returned to her native Pakistan for the first time since being shot in October 2012, to meet with Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi.
8. In 1960, 20 firemen trying to put out a fire in a warehouse full of scotch Whiskey in Glasgow were crushed by a collapsing wall after the whiskey exploded.
9. In 1791 Mary Bryant and 8 male convicts escaped from the New South Wales penal colony in Australia in an open boat. They were eventually captured near Timor, thousands of miles away.
10. In 1970, Jane Berins, aged 16, set a world record when she go-go danced for 18 hours.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

27 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 27 March:

1. Born on this date in 1845 was Wilhelm Roentgen, the German physicist who discovered X Rays, for which he won the first Nobel Prize for Physics in 1901.
2. This date in 1868 saw the birth of Patty Smith Hill, the Kindergarten teacher who is credited with co-writing the most frequently sung song in the world: Happy Birthday to you.
3. In 1931, the writer Arnold Bennett died of typhoid after drinking water in a Paris hotel to prove to companions that it was safe.
4. In 1625, Charles I ascended the English throne upon the death of James I.
5. In 1966, Roy Orbison fell off a motorbike while scrambling at Hawkstone Park, Birmingham, fracturing his foot. He had to play the remaining dates of his UK tour sitting on a stool and walking on crutches.
6. In 1998 The Food and Drug Administration approved the drug Viagra, saying it helped about two-thirds of impotent men improve their sexual function.
7. In 1947, Tommy Rogers, a boxer with only one arm, knocked his opponent, Somersby Dowst, down twice to win the title fight in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
8. Today has been a good day for telephones. The first long distance phone call, between Boston and New York, took place on this date in 1884. The first telephone in the White House was installed on this date in 1929.
9. In 1998 The Queen made her first official visit to a pub. The pub in question was the Bridge Inn Topsham, near Exeter, on the occasion of its 101st anniversary. She did not have a drink.
10. In 1814, the Massacre of Tohopeka (Horseshoe Bend) took place. General Andrew Jackson overwhelmed Creek forces. In order to ascertain how many Native Americans they had killed, the white soldiers cut off their noses – 557 of them – and skinned their bodies to tan hides for souvenirs.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

26 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 26 March:

1. Born this date in 1874 was the American poet, Robert Frost. His poems include The Road Not Taken. He wrote, "Home is the place where, when you have to go there, They have to take you in."
2. Born on this date in 1904 was Joseph Campbell, another American writer whose specialist subjects were mythology and comparative religion. His books include The Hero With a Thousand Faces. It was he who introduced the world to "The Hero's journey". He wrote: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek."
3. Drivers in Britain may well curse this date. In 1934, Driving Tests were introduced, and in 1958 the first parking tickets were issued.
4. In 1859 Lescarbault, a French amateur astronomer, saw a black spot on the Sun which looked to him like a planet in transit. Astronomers assumed it was an undiscovered planet and called it Vulcan. However, nobody could ever find the planet Vulcan, and eventually concluded that Lescarbault had probably seen an Asteroid.
5. Talking of asteroids, the first known ringed asteroid, 10199 Chariklo, was discovered on this date in 2014.
6. In 1694, The Bank of England was incorporated.
7. In 1973, the first woman stockbroker, Mrs Susan Shaw, set foot on the floor of the London Stock Exchange; ending 171 years of male domination.
8. The Battle of Buironfosse, the first engagement between France and England in the Hundred Years War was supposed to take place on this date in 1339; but the battle was called off when a frightened Rabbit scampered between the two armies and soldiers on both sides fell about laughing.
9. In 1995, a Gloucester man was charged with criminal damage after he shot his old Ford Sierra seven times with a shotgun. Trying to outdo John Cleese in Fawlty Towers?
10. In 1937, a 6 foot concrete statue of the cartoon character Popeye was unveiled during the Second Annual Spinach Festival in Crystal City, Texas.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

25 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 25 March:

Venice

1. Today was a good day for births of stars of classic TV shows. Born this date in 1897 was John Laurie, Scottish actor best known for his role as Private James Frazer, the pessimistic undertaker and Home Guard soldier in Dad's Army. 1920 saw the birth of Patrick Troughton, actor best known as the second incarnation of Doctor Who, and in 1943 Paul Michael Glaser, the American actor who played Starsky in Starsky and Hutch was born.
2. Some big names in the music world were born on this date, too. In 1942, Aretha Franklin, US soul singer whose hits include Respect and I Say a Little Prayer, who once said, "I'm a big woman. I need big hair," and in 1947 Reginald Kenneth Dwight, better known these days as Sir Elton John, singer, pianist, and songwriter, whose hits include Crocodile Rock, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and I'm Still Standing. He once said, "It's very important to have two tiaras when you're on the road, you never know when you'll be invited to something really formal."
3. In 1993, an obese man who lived on beans and Cabbage, was found dead in a poorly ventilated room with a high concentration of methane in his blood. It was concluded he’d been poisoned by his own flatulence.
4. This date in 421 was the date the City of Venice was founded, according to tradition, as it was the date of the dedication of the first church in the city, San Giacomo.
5. In 2015, Zayn Malik left One Direction.
6. An anomalous weather event on this date in 2018 due to dust from a sandstorm in the Sahara, led to Orange snow in several Eastern European countries, including Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Russia. I know you shouldn't eat Yellow Snow, but I don't know the advice on orange snow!
7. In 1655, Dutch physicist and astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, a moon of Saturn.
8. In 1970, Concorde made its first supersonic flight.
9. In 1997 George Bush became the first US president to make parachute jump, fulfilling a promise he'd made after being shot down in 1944, that one day he would make a jump voluntarily.
10. On this day in 1998, the shit hit the fan, quite literally, in Sri Lanka. Appearing in court for theft, Subhasinghe Premasiri threw a bag of human faeces at police. He missed, and hit, well, the fan, with predictable results.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle