16 January: Ice

Frank Zamboni, inventor of the ice surfacing machine, was born on this date in 1901. Here are 10 things you might not know about ice:

1. Because ice is a naturally occurring crystalline inorganic solid with an ordered structure, it is classified as a mineral.

2. The earliest mention of making ice artificially dates back to the 13^th century. Arab historian Ibn Abu Usaybia wrote about it in a book about medicine. He’s actually writing about even older writings about ice making by someone called Ibn Bakhtawayhi, about whom nothing is known.

3. The oldest indoor ice rink is in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s called Matthews Arena and was built between 1909 and 1910. Incidentally, the word “rink” is an old Scottish word meaning “course” which was originally used to describe the area on which the sport of curling was played.

4. If it’s cold enough, ice can be used as a building material. I expect you’re all thinking of igloos right now, but there are also the ice hotels where absolutely everything including the drinking glasses, is made from ice, and also a pier made from ice in Antarctica’s McMurdo Sound to make docking of supply vessels easier.

5. An ice storm is what you get when snow enters a warm layer of the atmosphere and melts into drops of Rain, then passes through a cold layer of air which isn’t thick enough for the rain to re-freeze. When they hit a cold surface on the ground, they do freeze, resulting in a thick coating of ice on surfaces which can be treacherous.

6. Why is ice slippery? You may have been taught that it’s because friction from your foot/tyres raises the temperature of the ice ever so slightly, which causes a micro-film of Water to form and that’s what’s slippy. Scientists now believe it’s to do with the difference in density between ice and water which for all sorts of complicated reasons even physicists don’t even fully understand, the surface molecules can’t bond properly to the ones underneath.

7. There is such a thing as a volcano which spews ice instead of magma. Needless to say, it’s not on Earth, but on Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons. It happens when ice deep below the surface gets heated and turned into a vapour that erupts into the moon’s atmosphere as ice particles.

8. It’s said that indigenous peoples from very cold climates have many words for different types of ice. There are certainly many types of sea ice including brash, frazil, nilas, and pancake ice.

9. Glaciers that cover more than 50,000 square kilometers (19,305 square miles) of land are called ice sheets. The ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica are so big that they affect the force of gravity exerted by the Earth.

10. The world’s oldest ice is at the bottom of the ice sheet on Antarctica. It is thought to be around one million years old.

15 January: Happy Days

On this date in 1974 Happy Days premièred on US TV. 10 things you might not know about Happy Days:

1. When Garry Marshall was first approached by Paramount executives Michael Eisner and Tom Miller in 1971 to create a new sitcom, they requested one set in the 1920s or ’30s. Marshall’s response was that he didn’t know anything about flappers, but he did know about the 1950s, when he himself grew up. The producers went along with that, but not the suggested name: COOL, because test audiences said it reminded them of cigarettes. Producer Carl Kleinschmitt suggested, “How about calling it Happy Days? That’s what we’re going to show.”

2. Fonzie’s real name is Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli. The only two characters who get away with calling him Arthur rather than Fonz are Marion Cunningham and Fonz’s girlfriend Ashley. To begin with, Fonz’s real name was going to be Arthur Masciarelli, nicknamed “The Mash”. That was changed, not only because Fonz sounded cooler, but because it might remind viewers of a show on a rival network: M*A*S*H.

3. Some more about names: Marion Cunningham's maiden name was Kelp. Joanie Cunningham's middle name was Louise. Ralph’s parents were called Mickey and Minnie Malph. Potsie's real first name was Warren. He was called "Potsie" because he loved to work with clay as a kid. Arnold is really called Mitsumo Takahashi, but when he bought the restaurant it was already called Arnold’s, and it was cheaper to change his own name than that of the business.

4. Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie, didn’t like motorcycles much at all. Most of the scenes of Fonzie riding the motorcycle were shot with the bike attached to a platform, and being pulled by a truck. Winkler could waterski, though, and in the famous “jumping the Shark” episode, performed a lot of the stunts himself, although not the actual shark jump as that was considered far too dangerous to risk one of the major actors on.

5. Talking of which, it was after this episode that some critics believed the show started to go downhill and run out of ideas. This resulted in the idiom ‘jumping the shark’ entering the pop culture vernacular, for when a show takes a sharp drop in quality, has strayed from its original premise or has writers insert desperate attempts for ratings. Another idiom Happy Days is responsible for is “Chuck Cunningham Syndrome”. In the first few episodes there was a third Cunningham child, an elder brother called Chuck, played by Gavan O’Herlihy, who disappeared without a trace with no explanation. While it has been said that he left home to pursue a Basketball scholarship, Chuck was never mentioned again, and in the final episode when Howard Cunningham breaks the fourth wall to thank the audience for their support, he says that he is proud of his “two kids.” There’s a spin off idea – what did Chuck do that was so bad that his family disowned him?

6. For the first few episodes, the theme tune wasn’t Happy Days with music by Charles Fox and lyrics by Norman Gimbel, performed by Jim Haas on lead vocals. It was instead a version of Rock Around the Clock specially recorded by Bill Haley for use on the show.

7. Monkees drummer Micky Dolenz auditioned to play Fonz. He and Henry Winkler were both called for a second audition and Winkler thought, “Oh crap, Micky Dolenz is here. I’ll never get it!” However, Winklet proved the better fit in the end, as Dolenz, at 6 feet tall, towered over the rest of the cast.

8. Marion was an archaeology major in college.

9. Tom Hanks appeared in one episode as an old rival of Fonz, who’d taken martial arts lessons and had come back to settle an old score. Happy Days also featured Robin Williams as Mork in three sci-fi themed episodes. Hence, Mork and Mindy was actually a Happy Days spin-off.

10. One time a suicidal teenager called the studio and asked to speak to The Fonz. Henry Winkler took the call and persuaded the kid not to end it all.

14 January: Benedict Arnold

Benedict Arnold was born on this date in 1741. His name has become synonymous with “traitor”, as he’s famous for switching sides during the American war of Independence. 10 facts about him:

1. He was a British subject by birth. He was born in Norwich, Connecticut, and was the fifth in his family to be given the name of Benedict Arnold. His father was Benedict Arnold III. His great-grandfather, Benedict Arnold, was once governor of the colony of Connecticut. Rhode Island's first colonial governor was also one of his ancestors.

2. He had to drop out of school at the age of 14 as his father fell on hard times and became an alcoholic. Young Benedict took a job as an apprentice to an apothecary and after eight years opened his own general store.

3. He also got into trading in Canada and the Caribbean, owning three ships by his mid 20s. When the Sugar and Stamp Acts started eating at his profits, he avoided taxation by smuggling untaxed Rum and molasses, as many businessmen of the time did. When someone tried to report him he had the man publicly whipped.

4. He had a bad temper and was known to challenge people who slighted or disrespected him to a duel. An example took place in Honduras. Arnold forgot to respond to an invitation to a gathering hosted by a British sea captain named Croskie. Fair play to Arnold, when he realised this he went to Croskie’s ship to apologise, only for Croskie to remark, “a damned Yankee, destitute of good manners.” To which Arnold responded by challenging him to a duel. After being hit in the arm and missing his first shot, Croskie apologised for the insult.

5. Before his defection to the British, Arnold was one of the Continental Army’s greatest fighting generals. He led the militia to Boston after the Battles of Lexington and Concord to help with the siege there. He received a commission to attack Fort Ticonderoga and took it in one of the first major victories for the colonies. As a colonel he led an attack on Quebec City. In fact, George Washington valued him so much as a general that when Arnold tried to resign from the army, Washington wouldn’t let him.

6. He was wounded in the leg twice, once in Canada and again at the Battle of Saratoga when he was shot in the thigh. The injuries left him with a permanent limp and one leg that was two inches shorter than the other. There is a monument at Saratoga which commemorates his leg, in the shape of a boot. The marker includes a dedication to the “brilliant soldier” who was “desperately wounded” during the Battle of Saratoga, but doesn’t mention him by name.

7. In May 1779, Arnold secretly contacted British General Henry Clinton to discuss the possibility of switching his allegiance back to the Crown. He demanded £20,000 for doing so, but greed and financial gain were possibly not the only reason he turned traitor. He was offended because five junior officers had been promoted over him and thought some of his colleagues were trying to damage his reputation. In 1780, Arnold became the commander of the fort at West Point. Arnold agreed to surrender the fort to the British for a £20,000 fee. He passed information to the British about the fort, such as troop movements and the locations of supply depots.

8. It’s possible there was a woman involved in all of this, too. Arnold’s first wife, Margaret Mansfield, had died in 1775. In 1779, while living in Philadelphia and being a prominent member of the social scene there, an 18 year old girl with the reputation of being the most beautiful woman in town caught his eye. Her name was Peggy Shippen, the 18-year-old daughter of Judge Edward Shippen, who’d done business with the British while they occupied the city. It’s thought that the methods used by Peggy and her friends to keep in touch with their boyfriends in the army, in spite of communication bans, including codes and invisible ink, were now used by Arnold and his contacts.

9. Arnold led several successful campaigns on the British side before settling in London after the war. However, he wasn’t much more popular in Britain than he was in America. He was regarded as an unprincipled mercenary who’d been directly responsible for the death of his associate Major Andre. Arnold and Peggy were hissed at in public; the press lambasted him and the British army and East India Company refused to employ him. To cap it all, he only got £6,000 for his trouble, not the £20,000 he’d been promised. Arnold eventually resumed his old career as a merchant ship-owner in Canada and the Caribbean.

10. He died on June 14, 1801, at the age of 60. Legend has it that, his last words were: "Let me die in this old uniform in which I fought my battles. May God forgive me for ever having put on another," but this might not be true. He was buried at St Mary's Church, Battersea. Arnold’s tomb is embedded in the wall of a Sunday School classroom, right next to a fish tank. The inscription reads: reads: “The Two Nations Whom he Served In Turn in the Years of their Enmity Have United in Enduring Friendship.”

13 January: Quotes about snow

Some places in the world have snow now. Here are 10 Quotes about snow for you to enjoy whether you live in one of these places or not:

1. Snowing is an attempt of God to make the dirty world look clean. Mehmet Murat ildan

2. There’s just something beautiful about walking on snow that nobody else has walked on. It makes you believe you’re special. Carol Rifka Brunt

3. I love the snow – it's the rain you can throw. Anon

4. A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water. Carl Reiner

5. Getting an inch of snow is like winning ten cents in the lottery. Bill Waterson

6. Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world. Sarah Addison Allen

7. A snowball in the face is surely the perfect beginning to a lasting friendship. Markus Zusak

8. Despite all I have seen and experienced, I still get the same simple thrill out of glimpsing a tiny patch of snow. Edmund Hillary

9. The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event. You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite different. J.B. Priestley

10. When it snows, you have two choices: shovel or make snow angels. Unknown

12 January: Supermarkets

This date in 1948 saw the opening of Britain’s first supermarket, at Manor Park, run by the London Co-op. 10 things you didn’t know about supermarkets:

1. Before supermarkets, grocery shopping would involve going into a shop and handing your shopping list to an assistant, who would get the items for you. This would probably have to be repeated in several shops, ie the greengrocer, butcher, baker etc.

2. The supermarket at Manor Park wasn’t the first in the world. This opened in the USA on September 11, 1916, in Memphis. The store was called Piggly Wiggly.

3. Early supermarkets were called "cheapy markets" at the time; this was soon replaced by the phrase "super market". The compound phrase was then closed up to become the modern term "supermarket".

4. The first UK out of town superstore opened in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in November 1964.

5. The largest supermarket chain in the world is Walmart. In the UK, the largest chain is Tesco. The UK market has long been dominated by “the big four” Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons. However, discount supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl are catching up. In September 2022, Aldi overtook Morrisons for the first time to be the supermarket with the fourth largest market share in the UK.

6. The way your local supermarket is laid out isn’t random. It’s the result of years of study into human behaviour and how it can be manipulated to maximise sales. Necessities like Bread and Milk are always at the back of the shop which means you have to walk past lots of other products to get to what you came in for. The supermarket hopes this will result in a few impulse buys. Even the customer Toilets will be placed in a location which takes you past high-draw, high-impulse items. Fresh produce will be one of the first things you come to because it gives an impression of health.

7. Research as shown that customers spend more if they move around the shop in an anti-clockwise direction, so the entrance is usually on the right hand side of the store.

8. In the 1950s, supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives to customers. These have largely been replaced by loyalty cards.

9. There’s an urban myth that claims that Aldi and Lidl were founded by two brothers. That isn't true. Both grocery store empires were founded by different families. It might have originated because Aldi's massive global empire was split into two, with two brothers each owning half.

10. A Swedish supermarket chain has been airing a series of soap opera inspired commercials on national TV for 12 years. The story is about a group of people who work at a supermarket and the “show” consists of over 360 episodes.

11 January: Purple Haze

On this date in 1967 Jimi Hendrix recorded Purple Haze. at De Lane Lea Studios in London. 10 things you might not know about the song:

1. The song was inspired by a dream Hendrix had after reading a science fiction novel, Night of Light, a 1966 novel by Philip José Farmer. In the story set on a distant planet, sunspots produce a "purplish haze" which has a disorienting effect on the inhabitants. In Hendrix’s dream he was walking under the sea and a Purple haze surrounded him, engulfed him and got him lost.. He reported that in the dream, his faith in Jesus saved him.

2. Hence in an early draft of the lyrics, Hendrix wrote the chorus as "purple haze, Jesus saves."

3. Hendrix was playing around with the Guitar riff and was overheard by producer Chas Chandler, who said 'That's the next single!'

4. Hendrix wrote the rest of the song in the dressing room of a London club during the afternoon of December 26, 1966, before a gig.

5. On the recording, the drummer was Mitch Mitchell and the bassist was Noel Redding. They only learned the song when they arrived at the studio and Hendrix hummed the riff to them and showed them the chords. It took three takes to get it right,.

6. To create the background track that sounds distant, they put a pair of headphones around a microphone and recorded it that way to get an echo effect.

7. When the recording was sent to Hendrix's American label, a note said, "deliberate distortion, do not correct."

8. This song has one of the most famous misheard lyrics of all time. "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky" is often heard as "'scuse me while I kiss this guy". Though it has to be said that Hendrix sometimes sang it that way for a laugh.

9. Purple Haze was featured in the film Forrest Gump.

10. The track was the penultimate song Hendrix played in concert, on September 6, 1970, days before his death.

10 January: Gorse

The Plant of the day according to old almanacs, is Gorse, Ulex europaeas. 10 things you might not know about this plant:

1. Gorse is a member of the Pea family.

2. It grows in a variety of habitats, including woodland, under-grazed grassland, heaths and coastal habitats.

3. It generally flowers between January and June, but especially in April and May.

4. Pliny used the plants to collect Gold in streams. They were laid down in the water and would catch gold dust flowing past.

5. A sprig of gorse is often added to the bride’s wedding bouquet as a symbol of fertility.

6. These prickly plants are often used as a barrier to keep livestock in their fields, and predators out. Wildlife, including Birds and caterpillars find it a safe haven as well.

7. You can eat the flowers in salads and make tea from it. The slight almond taste makes them a nice thing to add to Gin. The buds can be eaten whole, rather like capers, but the seeds are toxic. Too many gorse flowers can be bad for you too.

8. According to folklore, you shouldn't kiss your loved ones when gorse is out of bloom. However, between the various species it’s possible to find it in bloom pretty much year round.

9. Gorse is the Bach Flower Remedy for people with feelings of hopelessness.

10. In 2005 a man got stuck in a gorse bush for two days because he’d somehow managed to get 10ft deep into the hedging (the fact he was on his way home from the pub may be a significant factor here!) and had to be rescued by a Helicopter.