13 October: Lillie Langtry

This date in 1853 was the birthdate of Lillian "Lillie" Langtry, actress, nicknamed “The Jersey Lily”. 10 facts about her.

1. She was born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton. Lillie was a childhood nickname.

2. She may have been descended from Richard le Breton, allegedly one of the assassins of Thomas Becket. Her father was the Very Reverend William Corbet Le Breton, who was the dean of Jersey at the time. Lillie's parents had eloped to Gretna Green. Lillie was the sixth of their seven children and the only girl.

3. Having six brothers meant she was a bit of a tomboy as a child, used to playing outdoors with her brothers. Her parents engaged a French governess for her, but the governess couldn’t manage her, so she was educated along with her brothers by their tutor and so got a better education than most girls at the time.

4. In 1874 she married Edward Langtry, a landowner from Northern Ireland, who kept a yacht in Jersey. Lillie became a competent sailor, but persuaded her husband to take her away from Jersey. The couple moved to London and lived in Belgravia.

5. She became involved in London society and took it by storm. Oscar Wilde was one of her acquaintances, and it was he who suggested she try acting. She first appeared on stage in 1881, causing a stir as the first society woman to tread the boards. Her first role was as Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer at the Haymarket Theatre. Critics didn’t take her seriously at first, but with experience, she became a good actress and was known for playing Rosalind in As You Like It. In due course, she became a theatre manager, opening the Imperial Theatre in 1901. Her last appearance on the stage was in 1917.

6. She became known as “The Jersey Lily” thanks to a portrait of her by Sir John Everett Millais, which he titled A Jersey Lily. Millais, as it happened, also hailed from Jersey. In the painting, she is holding a flower, but it isn’t, in fact, a Jersey lily at all. There weren’t any Jersey lilies available as she was sitting for the portrait, so she’s actually holding a Guernsey lily.

7. She is known for her affairs, most notably with Edward, Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII. That said, there have been doubts cast that she was involved with him in that way at all. There is no written evidence in the form of letters or diaries of any dalliance, although the pair did know one another. Also, the intimate relationship is said to have started at a royal house party at Crichel in January 1878, which Prince Edward’s wife refused to attend, but there is evidence that Alexandra was in fact present.

8. She did, however, have affairs with Lord Shrewsbury and Prince Louis of Battenberg, who is thought to be the father of her daughter, Jeanne Marie. Her husband couldn’t have been Jeanne Marie’s father as they had already separated acrimoniously. In 1899 she married Hugo de Bathe, who became a baronet in 1907. For the last 16 years of her life, they lived apart with Lillie living with a female companion called Mrs Peat.

9. She was fond of horse racing and ran a successful racing stable at Newmarket. The Lillie Langtry Stakes horse race is named after her.

10. She might have been the inspiration for Irene Adler, a character in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Scandal in Bohemia. Adler is notable as the only woman to best Sherlock Holmes.

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/

12 October: Three Blind Mice

On this date in 1609 Three Blind Mice was published in London, by Thomas Ravenscroft, believed to be the earliest printed secular song. 10 things you might not know about it.

1. Ravenscroft was a music theorist and composer born around 1588, known for his collections of folk music and rounds, including Deuteromelia, which is the one containing Three Blind Mice. He also wrote two treatises on Music theory. Little is known about his early life except that he sang in the choir of St Paul's Cathedral and got a degree at Cambridge.

2. His version was rather different from the words we know today. The lyrics then were: “Three Blinde Mice, three Blinde Mice, Dame Iulian, Dame Iulian, The Miller and his merry olde Wife, she scrapte her Tripe; licke thou the Knife.”

3. Like many nursery rhymes, theories abound as to the dark origins of the lyrics. A commonly quoted one is that the three blind mice represent three men executed by Mary I of England, a staunch Catholic, for being Protestants. The men in question were Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, collectively known as the Oxford Martyrs. Queen Mary, of course, was the farmer’s wife.

4. As to the blindness, some theories say it was literal; that the three men were tortured before they were killed and part of that involved actually blinding them. Alternatively, being Protestants meant they were blind to the truth about religion, or that they were blissfully unaware that Mary was plotting against them until it was too late.

5. Then again, the song was written a good half century after the deaths of the Oxford Martyrs, and in Ravenscroft’s original, there is no mention of the mice being harmed in any way.

6. There’s also the question, who the heck is Dame Iulian? Proponents of the religious interpretation would say it was Julian of Norwich, a nun who wrote books about her visions of Christ, although her works weren’t in the public eye until much later, around 1670. It seems more likely Dame Iulian was Dame Juliana Berners, a writer of books about falconry and hunting. The reference to cleaning tripe and licking the knife (yuck) would fit in the context of preparing an animal one had killed for the table. Though probably not the mice, as they’d be too small to eat.

7. The version we know dates from 1922, when it appeared in Cecily Parsley's Nursery Rhymes by Beatrix Potter.

8. Various classical composers have made use of the melody, including Robert Schuman, Joseph Haydn, Antonin Dvorak and Sergei Rachmaninoff.

9. In America the tune has a sporting connotation. It is associated with referees making decisions the crowd disagree with during games of ice hockey or Baseball. In fact, it’s banned from many sporting events, and an organist or DJ who plays it could even be fired for calling the umpire’s calls into question.

10. Mouse lovers may like to know that there is a children’s book published in 1904 which ends on a more positive note for the three mice. It’s called The Complete Version of Ye Three Blind Mice and was written by John W. Ivimey. While the mice are blinded by running into a bramble bush while being chased by Mrs Farmer, and the butcher’s wife cuts off their tails, they find medicine which restores their eyesight and makes their tails grow back. They find work making wood chips, buy a house and live happily ever after.

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/

11 October: Apollo 7

On this date in 1968 Apollo 7, the first manned Apollo mission, was launched. 10 things you might not know about Apollo 7.

1. The crew were commander Walter M. Schirra, Command Module Pilot Donn F. Eisele and Lunar Module pilot R. Walter Cunningham (even though, as they weren’t actually going to the Moon, Apollo 7 didn’t have a lunar module).

2. The mission's duration was 10 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes and 3 seconds, which was the second longest American spaceflight until Apollo 15 surpassed it in 1971. At the time, too, Commander Wally Schirra was the oldest person to fly in space at the age of 45. That record was also broken in 1971 by Alan Shepherd who was 47 when he went to space in Apollo 14.

3. It was the first manned space mission after Apollo 1, which ended tragically with a fire during a test launch, which killed three astronauts: Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham had been the back up crew for that mission and were named the primary crew for Apollo 7. In the interim, crews were suspended while improvements were made to the spacecraft and unmanned test flights took place (presumably Apollos 2-6).

4. Schirra, who’d been a close friend of Gus Grissom, suggested that the callsign for the mission should be Phoenix, because it "rose from the ashes" of Apollo 1, and suggested that the mission insignia should include the mythical bird. NASA, however, vetoed that because they thought it was in bad taste. The insignia was redesigned to show a rocket orbiting the Earth and there was no call sign at all. Apollo 9 was the first to have one since Grissom's Gemini 3 Molly Brown in 1965.

5. The main purpose of the mission was to make sure that a trio of Astronauts could safely spend the amount of time in space that a trip to the moon would require, and that the spacecraft was habitable for that amount of time. The crew orbited the Earth 163 times.

6. There were a couple of notable firsts. This crew were the first to have a hot meal in space. Sadly, I couldn’t find a reference to what they actually ate. Schirra was possibly the first person to drink Coffee in space. NASA doctors had tried to veto his instant coffee as it didn’t have any nutritional value, but Schirra ignored them and took it anyway, and would report that he’d thoroughly enjoyed drinking his coffee out of a plastic bag! On 14 October, the first television broadcast from space took place. (Gordon Cooper had transmitted television pictures from Faith 7 in 1963, but the pictures were of poor quality and were never broadcast.) It began with a view of a card reading "From the Lovely Apollo Room high atop everything", which was a nod to 1930s radio call signs. The broadcast lasted 7 minutes and included scenes of the spacecraft and of the Earth below. At the end, Schirra held another sign, "Keep those cards and letters coming in folks", another old-time radio tag line.

7. All three of the astronauts had nasty colds while in space. Schirra went down with it first, about 15 hours in, and thanks to the confined working conditions, infected his crewmates with it. Weightless conditions actually make having a cold even worse than on Earth and so it was rather painful. Luckily, they had Aspirin and decongestants on board which helped somewhat, and afterwards, Schirra netted a contract advertising cold remedies.

8. The mission was known for the tensions and disagreements between the crew and ground control, and none of the three ever went to space again (although to be fair, Schirra had already expressed his intention to retire before the mission began). Tensions began at launch. There was an easterly Wind that day which would normally result in the launch being scrubbed for safety reasons (if anything went wrong in the early stages and they had to abort, the rocket might come down on land rather than on water). Schirra felt the safety rules should be adhered to and the launch cancelled, but Mission Control put pressure on him to continue. Thankfully, all went well, but the tensions continued. The TV broadcast was another source of dispute. Schirra felt that various tests and tasks they had to do on a new spacecraft should take precedence over performing for TV audiences. Then there was a row about re-entry: because all three astronauts had colds, and would need to be able to pinch their noses and blow to reduce the risk of perforated eardrums as pressure changed, but Mission Control insisted they should wear helmets for the descent. This time, Schirra ignored them and put his crew’s welfare first. They landed without helmets and everything was fine.

9. Apollo 7 splashed down at 11:11:48 UTC on October 22, 1968, 200 nautical miles (230 mi; 370 km) SSW of Bermuda and 7 nautical miles (8 mi; 13 km) north of the recovery ship USS Essex. NASA awarded Schirra, Eisele and Cunningham its Exceptional Service Medal. Despite the difficulties, the mission was deemed a technical success, paving the way for Apollo 8’s orbit of the moon a few months later.

10. You may well have heard the tale that NASA spent millions of dollars developing a pen to use in space while the Russians simply used a Pencil. The pen the urban legend is talking about was invented and developed by pen manufacturer Paul C. Fisher (it was he who spent the money on it, not NASA). The pen got its first trip to space on Apollo 7, and there was more to it than America showing off a fancy space pen. Pencils are actually quite flammable, and NASA were doing everything they could, understandably, to reduce fire risks on board. Not only that, but pencil lead can break off and float around the capsule, another hazard. So inventing a space pen actually made sense, and a year later, the Russians were using space pens as well.

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/

10 October: 283

It’s the 10^th day of the 10^th month and also the 283^rd day of the year (non-leap years). 10 fun facts about 283.

1. 283 is the 61st prime number.

2. 283 Emma is a large Asteroid discovered by Auguste Charlois in 1889, in Nice, France. The reason for its name is unknown.

3. The 283 series is a DC electric multiple unit train type operated by West Japan Railway Company on the Kinokuni Line in Japan.

4. Pennsylvania is 283 miles long, from east to west.

5. The A283 is a road in England, connecting Milford, Surrey and Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex.

6. The highest point of the territory of Minsk, Belarus is 283 meters above sea level.

7. Telephone area code 283 serves the Cincinnati, OH metro area. It includes the cities of Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Middletown.

8. The year 283 was a common year starting on Monday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Carus and Carinus.

9. London Buses route 283 formerly operated between East Acton and Hammersmith Bus Station. Transport for London has withdrawn the route.

10. In numerology, this number resonates with diligence, conscientiousness, business and efficiency as well as creative self-expression, charisma, and tolerance. People under its influence make great team leaders.

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/

9 October: Valencia

Today is a public holiday in Valencia, the third largest city in Spain, called the Dia de la Comunitat Valenciana. It commemorates the historic entry of King James I into the city of Valencia in 1238, marking the founding of the Kingdom of Valencia. 10 things you might not know about Valencia.

1. The name of the city derives from the name given to it by the Romans, who founded a settlement here as a reward for soldiers who had fought under Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus during the Lusitanian wars. They named it Valēntia, meaning valour or strength. Although for a while, the place was under Islamic rule, and was then known as Medina at-Tarab, which depending on the transliteration, means either “City of Sands” or “City of Joy.”

2. Valencia is responsible for several “firsts”: the first printed book, a collection of poems was published in Valencia in1474; the first psychiatric hospital, opened in 1410; the first public bank, opened for merchants in the early 1400s; dating back even further, to the year 960, the oldest functioning judicial body in the world, Tribunal de las Aguas (Water Tribunal). Every Thursday, at noon, eight farmers dressed in black sit in a circle and settle irrigation disputes in public, with no written records. And a notable “last” – Valencia was the location of the last Spanish Inquisition execution. A schoolteacher called Cayetano Ripoll was executed for not believing in God in 1826.

3. The symbol of the city is a Bat, referred to as Lo Rat Penat (the Flying Rat). The reason? A legend regarding King Jaume I, who set out to take the city back from the Moors in 1238. One night, a bat got into his room and woke him up, which was lucky for him, because it meant a raid by the Moors didn’t catch him napping! It’s said he put the animal on the city’s coat of arms in gratitude.

4. The world’s second narrowest building is here (the narrowest is in Brazil), just 107cm wide. It was built that way for tax reasons, as property tax was based on how wide a building was. It was once an actual home, although today it’s an extension to a neighbouring Tapas bar.

5. A rather larger building is The City of Arts and Sciences, futuristic edifice designed by Santiago Calatrava which cost over a billion euros to build. Inside, there are a science museum, opera house, a planetarium and the world’s largest aquarium.

6. Valencia’s largest park, Turia park, used to be a river. However, when the river flooded in 1957, causing a fatal disaster, it was decided to divert the river away from the city. The original plan was to turn it into a motorway, but locals protested against that idea and it was made into a park instead.

7. Valencia’s cathedral is home to what could be the actual Holy Grail, or so it’s claimed. There’s no definite proof, and Jerusalem and Rome make similar claims. That hasn’t stopped thousands of tourists from going to have a look, or Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI from using it ceremoniously.

8. Every March there is a famous spring festival called Las Fallas, which lasts 19 days. There’s food, processions, music, Fireworks, and giant paper mache sculptures which are burned to the ground on the last day.

9. Valencia is said to be the birthplace of Paella, since the Moors introduced it in the 10^th century. It’s also nicknamed the Orange capital of Spain as 50% of the country’s oranges are grown here.

10. Valencia has its own language – Valenciano, a regional language closely related to Catalan.

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/

8 October: Les Misérables

On this date in 1985 Les Misérables premièred in London. 10 facts about the show.

1. The musical is based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, published in 1862. French lyricist Alain Boublil was inspired to turn it into a musical while watching a production of Oliver!. He saw parallels between the Artful Dodger and the character Gavroche, and imagined the latter singing on stage. From there, he imagined all the other Les Miserables characters in the same way.

2. In French, Les Misérables translates to "the miserable ones," "the wretched," or "the outcasts".

3. Initially, the show was recorded as a concept album, in French, with music composed by composed by Claude Michel Schönberg. It was released in 1980 and had a short stage run at the Palais des Sports in Paris.

4. The English lyrics were written by Herbert Kretzmer, a TV critic for the Daily Mail, and the production co-directed by John Caird and Trevor Nunn.

5. The instantly recognisable logo for the show was taken from artwork from the original novel. Hugo’s favourite illustrator was one Emile Bayard. For Les Misérables, he provided an ink drawing of Cosette sweeping the floor. The show logo is a cropped image of her face from that picture, superimposed with a tattered French Flag.

6. When it first opened, Les Misérables was panned by critics. Their comments included “a witless and synthetic entertainment,” “load of sentimental old tosh,” and one dubbed it “The Glums”. However, the public didn’t agree. In less than 24 hours after the first performance, an unprecedented 5000 tickets had been sold. Les Misérables has been running in London continuously since then, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world. In America, it’s the fifth longest running Broadway show after Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, The Lion King and Cats.

7. Around 101 cast and crew are directly involved in every performance. Several costume changes mean each production has 392 costumes and 85 Wigs.

8. Back in 1985, the producers had a policy that the lead actors had to change costumes and join the chorus when they weren’t required on stage in their principal roles. Tony winner Patti LuPone, who played Fantine, hated having to do that. She tried, to no avail, protesting that she was in another show as well and had to rest her voice. In the end, she protested by not changing out of her chorus costume for the second act. Which was a man’s outfit. She started a tradition, though, and many Fantines now appear in male costume in the second act.

9. It’s not set during the French Revolution but rather between the years from 1815 to the Paris Uprising of 1832.

10. Queen Elizabeth II once held a command performance at Windsor Castle. It was to celebrate the Anglo-French alliance and took place in 2004. Those watching the 40 minute highlights performance included French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minster Tony Blair.

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/

7 October: Woman's Hour

Woman's Hour was first broadcast on this date in 1946, 80 years ago. 10 things you might not know.

1. The first broadcast was presented by a man. His name was Alan Ivimey, who, according to Radio Times, was a specialist "in writing for and talking to women."

2. Needless to say, opinions have been expressed that the content of some early episodes was somewhat patronising, with features including ‘mother’s midday meal’ and ‘how to hang your husband’s suit’.

3. On the show’s first anniversary in 1947, the Countess of Albemarle, Chairman of the National Federation of Women's Institutes was one of the guests. She said, ‘It makes a welcome pause in the busy day of a countrywoman. By [2pm, the time the show was broadcast back then] she’s done anything up to six hours of manual labour, soon there will be Chickens to feed, the children to fetch from school, the evening meal to prepare, but from two to three she can relax a bit; and if she’s wise, she’ll put her legs up, turn on her wireless and listen in’.

4. At time of writing the presenters are Nuala McGovern and Anita Rani. Over the years, the voices of Woman’s Hour have included Mary Hill, Jean Metcalfe, Violet Carson, Judith Chalmers, Sue MacGregor, Jenni Murray, Carolyn Quinn, Oona King, and Amanda Platell.

5. In its earlier years, Woman’s Hour used various popular light classics as signature tunes, including H. Elliott-Smith's Wanderlust (Waltz), Anthony Collins' Vanity Fair, and the Overture from Gabriel Fauré's Masques et bergamasques. From the early 1970s, specially composed pieces were used.

6. While it is tailored toward women's interests, approximately 40% of its 3.7 million listeners are male.

7. Today, it’s on at 10am following a high profile time change from 2pm in 1991. Since 2015 there’s also Late Night Woman's Hour, on at 11pm and presented by Lauren Laverne. This show chooses one topic for discussion, and is free to talk about things deemed unsuitable for broadcast at 10am.

8. Every so often Woman’s Hour issues a Power List of influential women, which has in the past included Queen Elizabeth II, Theresa May, Nicola Sturgeon, JK Rowling, Margaret Thatcher, Germaine Greer and Beyonce. Even Bridget Jones, a fictional character, has made the list. The most recent Power List released by the BBC Radio 4 program was in 2023, which celebrated women in UK sport. In 2018 the theme was women having an impact in music.

9. There is a band called Woman's Hour, based in the UK and signed to the record label Secretly Canadian, who took their name from the show.

10. For one day only in 2004, the show was re-branded as Man's Hour and presented by Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow. Since then, a series called Man’s Hour came into being for real. It’s on Radio 5 and is presented by Tim Samuels.

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/