26 September: 269

Today is day 269 of 2026. 10 fun facts about the number 269.

1. A record breaking game of Chess took place in Yugoslavia in February 1989, which lasted for 269 moves. The result was a draw.

2. 269 Justitia is an asteroid discovered in 1887 by Austrian astronomer Johann Palisa at Vienna Observatory and was named after Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice. Justitia is unusual in that it has a much redder colour compared to any other asteroid in the asteroid belt.

3. Fidel Castro's longest speech at the United Nations in 1960 lasted 269 minutes.

4. London bus 269 runs from Bexleyheath Clock Tower to Bromley North Station.

5. Calf 269 was a calf rescued by Israeli activists in 2012. The calf became famous and numerous people had the number "269" branded onto their bodies.

6. +269 is the international dialling code for Comoros.

7. In US politics, the result of the Electoral College vote for President of the United States could potentially be 269-269 tie. If that happened, each state delegation would get one vote at the House of Representatives.

8. The A269 is a road in East Sussex, connecting Bexhill and Ninfield.

9. Actor George Wendt appeared in 269 episodes of the hit sitcom Cheers.

10. In numerology 269 resonates with business, efficiency and realism, and also with home, family and companionship.

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/

25 September: Boy stood on the Burning Deck spoofs

On this date in 1793, poet Felicia Hemans was born. Her best-known poems are The Homes of England and Casabianca (better known as The Boy Stood on the Burning Deck). Here are 10 spoofs of the latter.

1. The boy stood on the burning deck

Whence all but he had fled -

Twit!

Spike Milligan

2. The boy stood on the burning deck.

His feet were covered in blisters.

He'd burnt the socks right off his feet

And had to wear his sister's

Ken Dodd

3. The boy stood on the burning deck

His lips were all a-quiver

He gave a cough, his leg fell off

And floated down the river.

Eric Morecambe

4. The boy stood on the burning deck,

The flames 'round him did roar;

He found a bar of Ivory Soap

And washed himself ashore.

5. The boy stood on the burning deck

Playing a game of cricket,

The ball flew down his trouser leg

And hit his middle wicket.

6. The boy stood on the burning deck

Eating a 3p walls

A piece of ice went down his neck

And paralysed his feet

7. The boy stood on the burning deck,

Amid the fiery flickers;

A spark flew up his trouser leg

And burnt away his knickers.

8. The boy stood on the burning deck

Eating red hot scallops

One fell down his trouser leg

and burnt him on the ankle

Bernard Manning

9. The boy stood on the burning deck,

He thought to himself "oh blooming heck".

10. The boy stood on the burning deck,

Eating peanuts by the peck;

His father called, he would not go,

Because he loved those peanuts so.

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/

24 September: Horace Walpole quotes

 Today, 10 quotes from Horace Walpole, born on this date in 1717.

1. Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel.

2. The whole secret of life is to be interested in one thing profoundly and in a thousand things well.

3. Who has begun has half done. Have the courage to be wise. Begin!

4. To act with common sense according to the moment, is the best wisdom I know.

5. Exercise is the worst thing in the world and as bad an invention as gunpowder.

6. History is a romance that is believed; romance, a history that is not believed.

7. We often repent of our first thoughts, and scarce ever of our second.

8. Every drop of ink in my pen ran cold.

9. I shun authors, and would never have been one myself, if it obliged me to keep such bad company.

10. Fashion is fortunately no law but to its devotees.

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 September: Dogs in Politics

Today is Dogs in Politics Day. 10 facts about canines in politics!

1. Today is Dogs in Politics Day because it’s the anniversary of a speech given by Richard Nixon on this date in 1952. Accused of hiding a secret slush fund during his candidacy for vice president, Nixon gave a speech denying that the fund existed but did admit that he’d received at least one gift, a cocker spaniel called Checkers. He went on to say that he was not going to give the dog back because he was not going to take his children’s dog away from them.

2. Franklin D Roosevelt also once made a speech about his dog. While running for a fourth term in 1944, rumours began circulating that the dog, Fala, a Scottish Terrier, had accidentally been left behind on a visit to the Aleutian Islands, and Roosevelt had sent ships to the islands, at the taxpayer’s expense, to retrieve his pet. Roosevelt said, "You can criticise me, my wife and my family, but you can't criticise my little dog. He's Scottish and all these allegations about spending all this money have just made his little soul furious."Roosevelt won the election.

3. A vast majority of US Presidents have been dog owners. Only three owned no pets at all: James K. Polk, Andrew Johnson, and, surprise surprise, Donald Trump. Though it is said that Andrew Johnson used to feed the Mice that lived in his bedroom.

4. Joe and Jill Biden had two German Shepherds, Champ and Major. Major was the first rescue dog to live in the White House.

5. The Obamas had no pets before Barack was elected President, but he famously promised his daughters they’d get a dog when they moved to the White House. That dog was Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog, chosen because Malia had allergies and this breed is hypoallergenic.

6. US presidents aren’t the only presidents to have dogs. Former Irish president Michael D. Higgins was known for his Bernese Mountain Dogs which often appeared on interviews. (The Irish president at time of writing is Catherine Connolly, who doesn’t own a dog, but she isn’t petless – she has two cats.) French President Emmanuel Macron has Nemo, a black Labrador Retriever-Griffon mix adopted from a rescue shelter. Finland's President Sauli Niinistö' has Lennu, a Boston terrier. Trump aside, liking dogs isn’t always a sign that a person isn’t an asshole: Putin has several dogs. Even Hitler rescued a stray dog during the first world war and during the second, had a dog called Blondi who was even allowed to sleep in his bed. Although he did order the dog to be used to test cyanide capsules which killed it. He was also liable to beat his dogs for disobedience.

7. Many UK Prime Ministers also had dogs, including: David Lloyd George, a Welsh terrier; Rishi Sunak, a red Labrador named Nova; Boris Johnson adopted a Jack Russell-cross named Dilyn; Winston Churchill a miniature poodle named Rufus; Tony Blair, a golden retriever named Lucy.

8. Every time there’s a general election in the UK, #dogsatpollingstations is guaranteed to trend on social media. Dogs, aside from assistance dogs, aren’t allowed in polling stations, so #dogsatpollingstations is basically a hashtag of pictures of dogs waiting outside the polling station while their owners go in to vote.

9. There are a number of towns in America where dogs have been elected as mayor, including: Bodhi, A 120lb Giant Alaskan Malamute who was elected mayor of Mendocino, California in 2026, albeit a stunt to rase funds for a local dog park; Max III, a Golden Retriever, is the mayor of Idyllwild, California. A succession of pooches have held the position since 2012 and are known for wearing many different neckties; Bosco Ramos, a black Labrador who served as honorary mayor of Sunol, California from 1981 to 1994; Wilbur, a French Bulldog elected as the official mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.

10. If a dog can be a mayor, does it then follow that a dog could run for president? While it may not specifically say in a constitution that they couldn’t, there is often one requirement that rules them out – and that is the age requirement. No dog, to my knowledge, has ever reached the age of 35.

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/

22 September: Charlie's Angels

Charlie's Angels, TV Crime Drama, made its début on US TV on this date in 1976, 50 years ago. 10 things you might not know.

1. When producers Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg first presented the idea to ABC, network executives declared it “the worst idea we have ever heard.” It was only thanks to a deal they had with Spelling which guaranteed him $25,000 to write a pilot for a new series that the Angels ever saw the light of day at all.

2. The show was originally going to be called Alley Cats, but that didn’t go down well with the prospective star, Kate Jackson, because of its derogatory connotations towards women. She suggested Harry’s Angels, since Charlie was originally going to be called Harry. It got changed to Charlie to avoid confusion with another series, Harry-O.

3. Charlie’s face was never seen on screen. His voice was that of Dynasty’s John Forsythe. He wasn’t the original choice, however. That was a veteran actor called Gig Young. However, Gig showed up drunk on the day he was supposed to record his part for the pilot. With a deadline looming, Spelling made a desperate phone call to Forsythe at 12.30am, begging a favour. Forsythe obliged; he drove to the studio in his slippers to do the recording and ended up being the voice of Charlie for the whole five years. ABC wanted an episode where the Angels (and viewers) finally got to see Charlie, but despite their pushing for it, it never happened.

4. At the start, Kate Jackson had the most acting experience of the three, but Farrah Fawcett-Majors soon became the star. Her contract stipulated that she must finish shooting at exactly 7 p.m. to make it home in time to cook dinner for her husband, Lee Majors.

5. The third season of the show was the only season to not feature a major cast change. Before the end of the first season, Fawcett-Majors announced she was leaving. ABC tried to sue her for breach of a verbal contract, but in the end settled that she could go on condition she made 6 guest appearances over then next two seasons. She was replaced by Cheryl Ladd in season 2. Kate Jackson was fired at the end of the third season. She’d already been bored of the storylines but the final straw was when she wasn’t allowed to take time out to appear in Kramer vs. Kramer. The part went to Meryl Streep, who won an Oscar. So Kate became increasingly difficult to work with. She was replaced by Shelley Hack in season 4, but audiences didn’t take to her, so she was let go and Tanya Roberts became the sixth (and final) Angel for the show’s fifth and last season.

6. Many more actors have portrayed Angels in film adaptations and spin-offs, though, including Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore, Kristen Stewart and Peyton List.

7. One of the episodes in season 4 was a bit of an experiment to try out an idea for a spin-off series. It was called Toni’s Boys and the premise was that Toni was a female colleague of Charlie, with whom she had a friendly rivalry. She set up a similar team of crime fighters, all men, including an athlete and a rodeo rider. It didn’t prove popular enough with audiences to justify a series of its own.

8. The show was shown in many other countries. In the vast majority the word “Angels” (or translation thereof) appeared in the title, except in France, where it was called "Drôles de dames" meaning “Peculiar ladies”.

9. All the Angels drove Ford cars: Jill, and later Kris, drove a Cobra, Kelly drove a Mustang, and Sabrina drove a Pinto.

10. Jaclyn Smith and David Doyle are the only cast members to appear in all hundred sixteen episodes of the show. There’s even an episode missing Charlie’s voice, except in the intro.

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/

21 September: 264

On the 264^th day of the year, 10 fun facts about 264.

1. The A264 is an east–west road in southern England that runs from Pembury in west Kent to Five Oaks in West Sussex.

2. 264 Days is a 2016 short film directed by Sofia Liaka and based on Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me series of books.

3. The Roman numeral for 264 is CCLXIV.

4. In binary, it’s 10000100.

5. HSwMS Trossö (A264) is an auxiliary ship in the Swedish Navy, built in Finland for the Soviet Navy.

6. The year 264 was a leap year starting on Friday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Gallienus and Saturninus.

7. London bus 264 runs from West Croydon Bus Station to St George's Hospital, Tooting.

8. 264 is a slang term meaning non-romantic love and care, from Originating from the social media-driven "264 Movement: Love Beyond Words,” (which is 265, surely, but the Online Urban Dictionary says 264).

9. +264 is the international telephone dialling code for Namibia.

10. 264 Libussa is a Main belt asteroid discovered by C. H. F. Peters on in 1886, in Clinton, New York and was named after Libussa, the legendary founder of Prague.

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/

20 September: Upton Sinclair Quotes

Born on this date in 1878 was Upton Sinclair, US writer. Sinclair wrote 80 books. His best known novel was The Jungle, an expose of the appalling and unsanitary conditions in the meat-packing industry. He won the 1942 Pulitzer Prize for the novel Dragon's Teeth. 10 Quotes:

1. It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

2. It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.

3. Fascism is capitalism plus murder.

4. The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.

5. There is one kind of prison where the man is behind bars, and everything that he desires is outside; and there is another kind where the things are behind the bars, and the man is outside.

6. Pessimism is mental disease. It means illness in the person who voices it, and in the society which produces that person.

7. I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.

8. All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescapably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.

9. I know that our liberties were not won without suffering, and may be lost again through our cowardice.

10. They use everything about the hog except the squeal.

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/