Friday, 18 March 2022

19 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 19 March:

  1. This date in 1813 saw the birth of Dr David Livingstone, Scottish missionary and explorer who was the first European to discover the Victoria Falls on the Zambesi. During his expedition to find the source of the Nile, H. M. Stanley met him and greeted him with the immortal words, "Dr Livingstone, I presume?". Livingstone never found the source of the Nile, however. That was discovered by Sir Richard Francis Burton, who shared a birthday with him; Burton was born on this date in 1821.
  2. In 1996, Julianna Farkas, aged 80, from Eles, Hungary, drowned in a barrel of sauerkraut after falling in while trying to spoon more out of the bottom.
  3. On this date in 1928, the Industrial Fatigue Research Board officially discovered what people in England have known for a long time; that a cup of Tea aids efficiency and reduces industrial discontent.
  4. It's a good day for record breaking food. In 1994, the largest omelet, at 1,383 square feet, was made in Yokohama, Japan using 160,000 Eggs. In 2000, Elah-Dufour United Food Companies made the world’s longest Chocolate bar in Turin. It weighed 5,026lb, was 17.7 inches thick, 59 inches wide and 124 inches long, equivalent to just under 23,000 regular chocolate bars.
  5. Britain's first planetarium opened at Madame Tussaud's in London on this date in 1958.
  6. In 721 BC, Persian astronomers observed the first recorded Solar Eclipse.
  7. In 1932, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, was opened in Australia. It's the world's longest single-span arch bridge, at 503m/1,650 ft. It was officially opened by New South Wales Premier Jack Lang. Before Lang could do the honours, an ex-soldier by the name of Francis Edward de Groot charged ahead on a horse, in full military garb, and slashed the ribbon with his sabre on behalf of the National Front, an opposing political party.
  8. The first death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on public roads took place on this date in 2018. A woman in Tempe, Arizona, died after being hit by a self-driving car operated by Uber. Uber suspended self-driving car tests in all U.S. cities and in Toronto.
  9. The inciting incident of the Falklands war took place on this date in 1982, when an Argentine scrap metal dealer landed on South Georgia and planted an Argentinian flag. The situation escalated and the rest is history.
  10. In 1995, a 34 year old London man was divorcing his wife. The divorce settlement demanded that the couple's furniture should be divided and shared between them. He set about doing so, with a chainsaw. He was sentenced to a year in prison.


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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