16 May: 136

On the 136^th day of the year, 10 fun facts about the number 136.

1. The Roman numeral for 136 is CXXXVI.

2. It’s 10001000 in Binary.

3. 136 Austria is a main-belt asteroid discovered by Johann Palisa in 1874. It was his first asteroid discovery and named after his homeland.

4. The A136 is a road in England which runs between the A120 in Harwich and Harwich International Port.

5. The year 136 was a leap year starting on Saturday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Commodus and Civica. In this year, Pope Hyginus succeeded Pope Telesphorus as the ninth pope, and Hadrian dictated his memoirs at his villa near Tivoli.

6. Psalm 136 begins “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods. His love endures forever.” (NIV).

7. London bus number 136 runs from Elephant & Castle/Newington Causeway to Grove Park Station.

8. 136 was the name of a talk show in Greece which began in 2012.

9. Section 136 of the Mental Health Act allows the Police in England & Wales to detain somebody in a public place who appears to be mentally disordered and in need of immediate care and/or control – this includes suicide attempts.

10. In numerology the energy of this number resonates with new beginnings and creativity. A person under its influence may explore new places/ideas or invent things.

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/

15 May: The Aurora Borealis

On this date in 1719 The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) appeared for the first time to New Englanders, USA. 10 facts about the Aurora Borealis:

1. The name was coined by Galileo in the 17^th century. He named the phenomenon after Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn and Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind. The Aurora Australis which occurs in the southern hemisphere is named for the Greek god of the south wind, Auster.

2. Galileo wasn’t the first to observe an aurora by any means. Cro-Magnon cave paintings in Spain dating to 30,000 BC feature them. The oldest known written record of the aurora was in a Chinese legend written around 2600 BC.

3. So what causes it? Charged particles being emitted by the Sun and hitting the Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field. "Coronal mass ejections", when the sun ejects more particles than usual is when you get the most impressive auras. Dr Affelia Wibisono, from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich describes it as “a big sneeze by the Sun."

4. Auroras are colourful. The different colours which can be seen are due to the different gases in the atmosphere. Green lights are caused by Oxygen and the Purples, Blues and Pinks by nitrogen. When particles hit oxygen at very high altitudes, however, it produces a Red glow.

5. The lowest part of an aurora is usually about 50 miles (80 km) above the Earth's surface. The highest part could be 150 miles (800km) above the Earth. This means that Astronauts on the International Space Station sometimes fly right through it.

6. Northern Lights are seen most often in regions close to the North Pole such as Scandinavia, Greenland, Alaska, Canada and Russia, but occasionally further south – they have been seen as far south as the Caribbean. The Southern lights are commonly seen across Antarctica and sometimes in the south of Australia and New Zealand. The northern hemisphere is more densely populated which is why you tend to hear more about the Aurora Borealis than the Aurora Australis.

7. The best time to spot auroras is around the equinoxes (March-April and September-October), because there are more magnetic storms then. The brightest auroras tend to be around 11pm to midnight local time.

8. It’s not just a light show, either. The auroras make sounds as well. People have reported hearing hissing, snapping or popping sounds. This happens when negative charges are released after being trapped in the inversion layer, a part of the atmosphere where temperature increases with altitude, rather than decreases.

9. Since it’s caused by what’s happening on the sun, it stands to reason that the other planets in the solar system get them, too, although they’d look different in terms of colours because the atmospheres are made up of different gases. The Hubble Space Telescope, and the Cassini and Galileo spacecraft have allowed us to see auroras on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

10. Ancient peoples came up with their own explanations of what those lights in the sky meant. These include: a giant Arctic fox running across the sky making sparks with its tail; the gods burning torches; the spirits of the dead giving guidance, messages or warnings, or dancing, or playing football in the sky with a walrus skull.

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/

14 May: Hebrides (Fingal's Cave)

On this date in 1832, Felix Mendelssohn's Hebrides premièred. 10 things you might not know about it.

1. This work is now popularly known as Fingal's Cave, but its title when published was Die einsame Insel (The Lonely Island) or Mendelssohn's Op. 26.

2. It’s described as a concert overture, which means it might sound as if it’s the prelude to an opera but is actually a stand alone composition to be played at a concert. This was a common form in Mendelssohn's time.

3. Felix Mendelssohn was 20 years old when he wrote it.

4. It was inspired by a trip he took to Britain in 1829 which included a boat trip to the uninhabited Scottish island of Staffa, which has a basalt sea cave known as Fingal's Cave. The young Mendelssohn found the cave so inspiring that he immediately began jotting down ideas for the music. He was so excited by it that he wrote a letter to his sister, Fanny, and included in it a few bars from the beginning of the piece.

5. According to legend, the cave is the site of what was once the royal castle of Fion na Gael ("Fingal"), ruler of the kingdom of Morven and father of the celebrated third-century warrior and bard known as Ossian.

6. Mendelssohn finished his first draft on 16 December 1830. There’s a theory that this wasn’t accidental. This date happens to be the one day of the year when the cave is fully lit by sunlight, when the sun lies 5.6 degrees above the horizon; so it’s possible Mendelssohn purposely arranged to write the final note on this date.

7. He dedicated the piece to Frederick William IV of Prussia, then Crown Prince of Prussia.

8. Performances of the overture typically last between 10½ and 11 minutes. 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 Trumpets, timpani and strings are required to play it.

9. Johannes Brahms was so impressed by it that he said, "I would gladly give all I have written, to have composed something like the Hebrides Overture".

10. The original handwritten score was purchased by the Bodleian Library on the 400th anniversary of its founding in 2002 for £600k.

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/

13 May: 133

Today is the 133rd day of the year. 10 fun facts about 133.

1. 133 is a track on Just a Little More Love, the debut studio album by David Guetta, released on 10 June 2002.

2. The A133 is a road in England which runs between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea.

3. According to NASA records, there were 133 successful Space Shuttle missions.

4. The year 133 was a common year starting on Wednesday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Hiberus and Sisenna.

5. The SEAT 133 is a small rear-engined car designed and sold by SEAT in Spain from 1974 until 1979, and until 1982 to export markets.

6. 133 Cyrene is a large, bright main-belt asteroid discovered by J. C. Watson in 1873, and named after Cyrene, a nymph, daughter of king Hypseus and beloved of Apollo in Greek mythology.

7. In The Bible, Psalm 133 begins: “How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head.” (NIV)

8. London bus 133 runs from Streatham Station to Drake Street, Holborn.

9. The Roman numeral for 133 is Roman numeral CXXXIII and in binary it’s 10000101.

10. In numerology, 133 energy is introspective, intuitive, and self-reliant. It is also focused on knowing itself and understanding its environment.

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 May: Ian Dury

English pop star Ian Dury was born on this date in 1942. 10 things you might not know about him.

1. He was born in Harrow, Middlesex. It’s sometimes reported that he was born in Upminster, Essex or Mevagissey, Cornwall, during The Blitz. Untrue, although he did spend time in both places growing up. His mother’s parents lived in Mevagissey, so he had holidays there, and after his parents split up his mother moved to Upminster to live with her sisters.

2. His mother was a health visitor; his father a former boxer, coach driver, and chauffeur for Rolls-Royce.

3. He lived in Switzerland for a while as a child when his father was working as a chauffeur for a millionaire.

4. The bands he was in were Kilburn and the High Roads, the Kilburns, Ian Dury and the Blockheads and Ian Dury and the Music Students.

5. When he was seven, he caught polio. He believed he caught it at a swimming pool in Southend. He spent 18 months recovering and was left with a permanent paralysis on his left side. He attended a school for disabled children for a time, which focussed on teaching trades and toughening up the kids. His mother wanted him to have a more academic education so he was moved to a grammar school in High Wycombe.

6. He left school at 16 with three O levels in English Language, English Literature and Art, and then attended Walthamstow College of Art, where he met his first wife, Betty Rathmell.

7. He was an actor, too and had small parts in several films including The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, Roman Polanski's Pirates and Judge Dredd.

8. He wrote and performed the theme song for the television series The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ based on the book by Sue Townsend, but turned down the chance to write the libretto for Cats, simply because he hated Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music.

9. He died of cancer at the age of 57. His last last public performance was a charity concert in aid of Cancer BACUP, supported by Kirsty MacColl and Phill Jupitus, just over a month before his death. Dury was noticeably ill by this time and had to be helped on and off stage.

10. A biopic titled Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll starring Andy Serkis as Dury was released in 2010.

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 May: Irving Berlin

This date in 1888 saw the birth of Irving Berlin, US composer who is famous for writing classic American songs like White Christmas, God Bless America, Puttin' on the Ritz, and There’s No Business Like Show Business.

1. He was born in Russia and given the name Israel Isidore Baline. His father, Moses, was a cantor, which meant he led the religious songs in the synagogue.

2. The family moved to America when he was five in order to escape anti-Jewish pogroms. He would later say that he remembered very little about Russia. His one abiding memory was of his house burning down.

3. In order to fit in, he went by the name of Izzy in New York. The name Berlin came when his first song was published and the credit read “I. Berlin”. He claimed it was a typo but it’s thought he chose it to sound more American and changed his name to Irving Berlin officially in 1911.

4. He co-wrote his first song in 1907. It was called Marie from Sunny Italy. It was sold to a music publisher for 75 cents; since he’d written it with someone else, Berlin only received half of that.

5. His father died when he was just 13, leaving the family struggling financially. He left school in order to go to work and earn Money. In due course he moved out of the family home so there would be one less mouth to feed. During this time he supported himself by busking on the street, eventually getting a job as a singing waiter.

6. Despite writing some of the best known songs ever, Berlin had no training in music at all. He couldn’t read or write Music – he had to pay secretaries to write the tunes down. He could only play the Piano using the black keys in the key of F, so he bought a special piano that would change key for him.

7. He was married twice. His first wife was Dorothy Goetz, who he married in 1912, but the marriage came to a tragic end in less than a year as Dorothy died from typhoid which she caught during their honeymoon. Berlin’s song When I Lost You was written while he was grieving for her. In 1925 he married Ellin Mackay, a Catholic whose father disowned her for marrying a Jew. They had three daughters and were together for 62 years until Ellin died in 1988.

8. They had a son, too, Irving Jr, but he died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, on Christmas Day, 1928. Every year, on Christmas Day, the Berlins would lay a Christmas wreath on his grave, a tradition their heirs continue to this day.

9. His service in WWI was to write patriotic songs to encourage the troops. During this time he wrote a musical revue called Yip! Yip! Yaphank! Which was initially performed by soldiers but eventually played at theatres as well. Berlin would perform a song called Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning at each performance himself. During World War II, Berlin wrote This Is The Army, which became a Broadway musical and 1943 film starring Ronald Reagan. He donated all the show’s earnings to the U.S. Army Emergency Relief Fund. Yip! Yip! Yaphank! Had also been written not for profit, but to raise money for a community building on his army base. Later, he would donate all the profits from the patriotic song God Bless America to the Boy and Girl Scouts and the Campfire Girls.

10. Irving Berlin died in his sleep at his home in Manhattan on September 22, 1989. He was 101 years old. When his death was announced, the lights on Broadway were dimmed as a mark of respect.

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 May: Rogation Sunday

Rogation Sunday falls on this date in 2026, so here are some facts about it.

1. Rogation Sunday is celebrated on the 5th Sunday after Easter. Although in many places today the customs and ceremonies associated with it will be observed by churches on the Sunday, officially the Rogation Days are the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday following.

2. The word “rogation” comes from the Latin rogare, meaning “to ask.”

3. The observances tend to be concerned with asking God to protect the crops so there will be a good harvest. Farmers would have their crops blessed by a priest at this time. While it started as a celebration of rural life and was concerned with farming, hunting and fishing, God’s bounty, in some parts of the world they now include commerce and industry in the prayers, and it’s also used to promote stewardship of the planet.

4. It’s also known as Rural Life Sunday or Soil Stewardship Sunday.

5. It’s said to have evolved from a Roman ceremony called Robigalia. Robigus was the god of crop diseases and so had to be placated in order to ensure healthy crops. Robigalia involved a procession through town and out to a designated spot, where they would sacrifice a Dog.

6. Rogation days were introduced around AD 470 by Mamertus, bishop of Vienne and the Council of Orleans ordered that people should observe it from 511.

7. Another aspect of it was re-establishing the borders of the parish. Hence the observance often included a ceremony called beating the bounds in which the vicar would lead a procession of church officials and parishioners around the parish boundary to pray for the protection of the parish in the coming year. In the north of England this was also known as 'Gang-day' or 'gan week'.

8. It can also be used as a time of preparation for the upcoming feast of the Ascension, a time of abstinence and fasting.

9. Texts dating back to the 12^th century describe the processions which took place at the time. People would carry banners representing various Biblical characters. In the lead would be the Dragon, representing Pontius Pilate, followed by a Lion, representing Christ. On Ascension Day there would be a similar procession, this time with the lion in front. Many people also carried torches which could weigh as much as 42 lb (19 kg).

10. Violet vestments are worn at the rogation litany and its associated Mass.

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/