29 October: Don Giovanni

On this date in 1787 Mozart's opera Don Giovanni was first performed in Prague. 10 facts about it.

1. The full title is Don Giovanni, or the Rake Punished.

2. Mozart wrote the music. Lorenzo da Ponte wrote the libretto.

3. The opera was commissioned after Mozart's trip to Prague in January and February 1787 proved to be a success.

4. Don Giovanni is set in and around Seville (now Sevilla), Spain, in the 17th century. It features Don Giovanni, and arrogant young nobleman who is sexually promiscuous and generally badly behaved. People try to put a stop to his villainy, and Giovanni kills one of those people, the father of one of the women he has seduced. The man’s ghost appears as a stone statue at the end and drags Don Giovanni to hell.

5. The story of Don Giovanni was an old one, known since the middle ages as a morality tale. In the original Spanish story, the title character s known as Don Juan. The first play about Don Juan was written in Spanish in 1581, and many versions followed. Mozart and da Ponte were probably familiar with the plays and based their opera on them.

6. They weren’t the first to turn the story into an Opera. The first was a French one written in 1713. In 1761 a composer called Gluck turned it into a Ballet.

7. There has been a film version as well, made in 1979 starring Ruggero Raimondi, Kiri Te Kanawa, Edda Moser and Teresa Berganza. Although the story is set in Spain, it was filmed in Venice.

8. The premiere was supposed to be on 14 October 1787 to coincide with Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria's visit but it wasn’t ready in time. Le nozze di Figaro was performed that night instead. Mozart finally completed the opera on 28 October and the premiere took place the following day.

9. The Vienna premiere was on May 7, 1788. Perhaps Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria got to see it then. Mozart added two new arias and a duet for Leporello and Zerlina for that performance.

10. For the ballroom scene at the end of the first act, two onstage ensembles play separate dance music alongside the pit orchestra. Don Giovanni is also the first opera to use a trombone.

28 October: Theodore Roosevelt Quotes

Theodore Roosevelt was born on this date in 1858. Here are 10 things he said.

1. Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president.

2. Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.

3. Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

4. Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.

5. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

6. Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care.

7. If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn't sit for a month.

8. Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

9. Believe you can and you're halfway there.

10. The only man who makes no mistakes is the man who never does anything. Do not be afraid to make mistakes providing you do not make the same one twice.

27 October: Heliotrope

In the French Revolutionary Calendar, today was the Day of Heliotrope. 10 things you might not know about heliotrope.

1. The word heliotrope means to turn toward the Sun, as this is what the plant appears to do. An old word for heliotrope is “Turnsole,” which means the same thing.

2. Other nicknames include the “flower of love” and “cherry pie” because of its sweet fragrance, which is said to fight fatigue.

3. The plant is native to Peru. It found its way to Europe thanks to Joseph de Juissieu, a French doctor and botanist who discovered it in the Peruvian Andes during a scientific expedition in 1735.

4. There are 325 species in the genus Heliotropium.

5. The origin of heliotrope according to Greek myth is told in the story of Clytie, a nymph who was so hopelessly in love with the God Helios (Apollo) that she spent her entire time gazing at him and pining away because he didn’t love her back. Helios finally turned her into a flower.

6. All parts of the plant are toxic to cats, dogs and humans.

7. In the language of flowers, heliotrope represents devotion, to lovers or to a God or a cause.

8. Place heliotrope under your pillow at night and you might have a dream relating to finding lost things or people. To dream of heliotrope means unrequited love.

9. The flower’s name has lent itself to a shade of pink/purple. The coloured pencils on Tyrone Slothrop’s desk in Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow include the “hard-to-get heliotrope.” The word has also been used for the mineral bloodstone.

10. One of the most famous ragtime piano melodies is Heliotrope Bouquet, composed in 1907 by Louis Chauvin and Scott Joplin.

26 October: Woolwich Foot Tunnel

On this date in 1912, the Woolwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames was opened by Lord Cheylesmore, Chairman of the LCC. 10 facts about the Woolwich foot tunnel.

1. The tunnel was designed by Sir Maurice Fitzmaurice, who was also responsible for Vauxhall Bridge, the Rotherhithe Tunnel and the Aswan Dam.

2. It was built by Walter Scott & Middleton for London County Council, for the benefit of Woolwich workers.

3. The tunnel is 504 metres (1,654 ft) long and at its deepest, the tunnel roof is about 3 metres (9.8 ft) beneath the river. The tunnel is roughly 9 feet in diameter.

4. It crosses from Old Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich to North Woolwich in the London Borough of Newham.

5. Both entrances to the tunnel are Grade II listed buildings.

6. The south entrance has 94 steps. The north entrance has 126 steps. Only the south entrance has a Lift. The north lift has been out of service for years due to difficulties procuring spare parts. A group called Fogwoft (Friends of Greenwich and Woolwich Foot Tunnels) tried campaigning to get the lift fixed, but eventually gave up.

7. In 1915, a soldier returning to Woolwich barracks fired his gun into the floor of the tunnel just for the fun of it. A policeman who happened to be passing arrested him and he was fined 20 shillings. It might have been worse if not for his previous good character.

8. As well as shooting at the floor, things expressly forbidden in the tunnel are photography (although there are plenty of photos illustrating the various articles I referred to while researching this) though sadly none without restrictions, hence the map of Woolwich above and not a pic of the actual tunnel; cycling; driving animals, be they “cattle, or any animal forming part of a menagerie, or wild animal"; busking; animal fouling; skating; spitting; or loitering.

9. A 2016 survey showed around 1,000 people use the tunnel per day. That said, most of the people who wrote about their experience of walking through said it was eerily deserted and not for the faint hearted.

10. One author quoted it as the 536th best thing to do in London according to Tripadvisor although I followed the link to the Tripadvisor page, and it would appear that it has since fallen to #645 at time of writing.

25 October: Vegemite

On this date in 1923, Vegemite was first sold in Australia. Ten things you didn’t know about Vegemite.

1. Vegemite began as a replacement for Marmite after the first world war. Before the war, Australia imported Marmite from the UK but disruption to the shipping lanes made this difficult. In February 1923, food manufacturer Fred Walker enlisted food technologist Cyril Callister to create an Australian-made version of Marmite. The recipe he came up with is still used today.

2. It wasn’t an immediate success. By 1923, the Marmite shipping routes were opening up again and sales of Vegemite suffered. It was rebranded then as “Parwill”, a groan-worthy pun on Marmite: “Marmite but Parwill” (Ma might, but Pa will). It still didn’t sell.

3. In 1935, Fred Walker, the owner of the company, died and the company passed to Kraft Walker Cheese Co. who decided to give marketing Vegemite another go. They gave it away free with Kraft cheese, promoted the idea that once you’d eaten all the Vegemite you could re-use the jars as egg cups or conserve jars, and ran a Poetry competition with a Pontiac car as the prize.

4. Vegemite is made from leftover brewers' yeast extract with various vegetable and spice additives. The yeast content is the reason why it’s banned in many Australian prisons, in case inmates try to make booze out of it. Which, I gather, isn’t actually possible because the yeast isn’t active, but the ban remains. There’s a lifer in Australia challenging this, saying it deprived him of the right to enjoy his culture as an Australian.

5. It contains no animal products, so vegans can eat it, and it’s certified kosher and halal. It’s also certified as a great source of B vitamins.

6. It was rationed during the second world war although Australian soldiers were provided with Vegemite in their ration packs.

7. As with Marmite, some people love it and others hate it, and it has been known to get political. In 1987, John Howard was quoted in the New York Times as saying he doesn’t like Vegemite, while his political rival Kevin Rudd responded by saying he liked it on toast. Barack Obama tried it and didn’t like it much, while UK celebrity chef Nigella Lawson says she prefers Vegemite to Marmite.

8. In April 1984, a 115-gram (4.1 oz) jar of Vegemite was the first product in Australia to be electronically scanned at a checkout.

9. It has also hit the charts. In 1980, the Men At Work song, Down Under, featured the line: “He just smiled and gave me a Vegemite sandwich.”

10. In 2015, an Australian chemist used Vegemite to complete a circuit and turn on an LED light. It worked because of Vegemite's high concentration of ions and water. This experiment was part of an attempt to make a medical diagnostic tool that could be eaten and digested once it had done its job.

24 October: 297

Today is the 297^th day of 2026. 10 fun facts about that number.

1. The international telephone country code +297 belongs to Aruba, an island nation in the Caribbean Sea.

2. 297 is a novel by John Christophe. Originally written in French, 297 is part of Gabriella's record, a chronicle written 50 years into the future. Gabriella looks back on the events leading up to 2028, marking the arrival of the first aliens and the development of sentient AI beings on Earth.

3. The Roman numeral for 297 is CCXCVII.

4. The A297 is a road in England which connects Morden Hall Park, Merton Rose Hill, a suburb of South London.

5. The R297 is a regional road running through County Sligo and County Mayo in Ireland.

6. In binary, 297 is 100101001.

7. The year 297 was a common year starting on Friday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Valerius and Valerius. In this year, Emperor Diocletian introduced a new tax system and other economic reforms.

8. London Bus Route 297 runs between Pound Lane/Willesden Bus Garage and Ealing Broadway Station.

9. 297 Caecilia is a typical main belt asteroid. It was discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1890 in Nice.

10. Angel Number 297 means you are going the right way in life. It reminds you to stay honest and value real facts, and hints that a big and positive change is coming soon.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

23 October: Bordeaux

Today is the feast day of St Severinus or Seurin of Bordeaux Patron of Bordeaux. 10 facts about Bordeaux.

1. The name Bordeaux means “Beside the Waters”. The city is nicknamed known as the "Pearl of Aquitaine".

2. The first settlers in the area are believed to be a Celtic tribe called the Bituriges Vivisci, who named their town “Burdigala”. The Romans ruled here for a while and built the Palais Gallien, a huge amphitheatre which could seat 17,000 people. Only a small portion of the original structure remains.

3. Thanks to the marriage of Eleanor of Aquitaine to Henry Plantagenet, who became King Henry II of England, Bordeaux was part of England for 300 years. Richard II, also known as Richard of Bordeaux, King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399, was born at the Archbishop's Palace of Bordeaux. It became part of France in 1453 after the Battle of Castillon.

4. Bordeaux is famous for its wines. Its fame as a Wine growing region was helped by the English, who developed a taste for the wines during Henry and Eleanor’s time. Today, Bordeaux has 287,000 acres of vineyards, 10,000 wine producing estates. The city is home to the world's biggest wine fair, Vinexpo. 85% of Bordeaux's wine production is red wine, but that wasn’t always the case. Until the 1970s 80% of the wine produced there was white. The change is at least partly down to a frost in 1956 that killed off many white grape vines, with many growers choosing to replant with red Grapes.

5. The wine industry is also the origin of a signature pastry in the city called the canelé. This sweet treat has a crunchy exterior with a soft, custardy centre flavoured with Vanilla and Rum. Bordeaux winemakers used to use Egg whites to clarify their wines, a process known as fining. This left them with a surfeit of egg yolks. Nuns at the Annonciades convent thought it would be a shame to waste them, so they came up with a recipe using the leftover yolks, along with Flour, Sugar, and vanilla.

6. Bordeaux is home to the longest shopping street in Europe, Rue Sainte-Catherine, over 1,2km long, and the largest city square in Europe, the Place des Quinconces, into which 18 football fields would fit. A feature of the square is a monument to the Girondins, made up of bronze Horses and fountains. It allegedly survived the second world war because the Nazis were sufficiently impressed with it that they decided not to melt it down to make bullets.

7. The world’s largest reflecting pool is here, too, the Miroir d’eau which covers an area of 3,450 square metres. Not only that, but it has a water system that changes from a 2cm deep layer of Water to a fine fog every 15 minutes.

8. For a while in the 18th century, all the buildings in Bordeaux were painted Blue. This was because the Marquis de Tourny, who was responsible for much of Bordeaux's urban planning, issued a decree to that effect in 1767. Why? You might ask. Because he believed the colour blue repelled Mosquitoes, a problem in the marshy countryside at that time.

9. Talking of urban planning, parallel streets in Bordeaux are traditionally named in a way that connects them. For example, "Rue du Loup" (Wolf Street) runs parallel to "Rue de la Brebis" (Sheep Street), and "Rue du Puits" (Well Street) is next to "Rue de la Corde" (Rope Street).

10. There is a vast network of underground tunnels and chambers, some dating back to the Middle Ages. Originally dug to extract limestone for building the city, they were known as "carrières" or quarries. Since then, they have been used for various purposes from connecting wine cellars, allowing merchants to move wine without being seen, to hiding places and venues for resistance fighters during World War II.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/