6 May: Orson Welles Quotes

On the anniversary of his birth in 1915, ten Orson Welles quotes.

1. My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.

2. I don't pray because I don't want to bore God.

3. Living in the lap of luxury isn't bad, except you never know when luxury is going to stand up.

4. Don’t give them what you think they want. Give them what they never thought was possible.

5. I prefer people who rock the boat to people who jump out.

6. If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.

7. Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch.

8. What's happening now is what happened before, and often what's going to happen again sometime or other.

9. The camera is much more than a recording apparatus, it is a medium via which messages reach us from another world.

10. My definition of success is not having things thrown at me!

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/

5 May: Carnegie Hall

On this date in 1891, Carnegie Hall, one of the world's most renowned concert halls, opened in New York. 10 things you might not know about Carnegie Hall.

1. The opening event was an orchestral concert, and one of the conductors was Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who conducted five of his own pieces. During his visit he kept a notebook which he called Trip to America, which was found after his death. In it, he listed a number of things he wondered about prior to the trip, such as whether it was safe to drink the water, what kind of hats people wore and whether he could get his laundry done.

2. The hall is situated 881 Seventh Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and has a footprint of 27,618 square feet (2,565.8 m2).

3. There are three auditoriums with a total of 3,671 seats. 2,790 of these are in the Stern Auditorium which was named after violinist, cultural ambassador, social advocate, and civic leader Isaac Stern. The other two are Zankel Hall, and Weill Recital Hall.

4. The hall itself is named after steel magnate Andrew Carnegie who stumped up the cash to pay for it. It was designed by American architect William Burnet Tuthill, who’d never designed a concert hall before, but got the job through serving on a board with Carnegie. Tuthill also happened to be an amateur cellist. The style is Renaissance Revival, originally developed in Florence in the 14^th century.

5. When it was first built, it was known as the Music Hall and it was intended to make a profit (it’s a non-profit organisation today). Carnegie’s wife and conductor Walter Damrosch nagged him to build a concert hall to rival those in Europe. The need to make money affected how the building looks today. An original mansard roof was removed in 1894 to make room for studios musicians could rent in order to cover a deficit. It still wasn’t enough so an extra tower was added. This was designed by a different architect, Henry Hardenbergh, because Tuthill had got a bit pissed off that his masterpiece was being tampered with. The beams from the original roof are now a feature of the building’s offices.

6. The area in which the hall was built was known at the time as Goat Hill, where there was a brewery, which had been built there to take advantage of a natural spring. The brewery was demolished to make way for the hall’s extension. There were fears at the time that it was too far uptown to be a popular venue.

7. It fell into disrepair in the 1950s and at one point was scheduled to be demolished and a skyscraper built on the site. Civic leaders lobbied the city of New York to buy the venue for $5 million and establish the non-profit Carnegie Hall Corp. to manage it.

8. Many iconic classical works had their world premieres at Carnegie Hall, including Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 (From the New World); Symphonia Domestica by Richard Strauss, conducted by the composer; Concerto in F by George Gershwin with the composer on piano, and Variations on a Theme of Corelli by Sergei Rachmaninov, also with the composer on piano.

9. Zankel Hall was an art house cinema for a while and was allegedly showing porn movies in the 1970s.

10. There’s also a museum called the Rose Museum, which is open to the public, concert schedule’s permitting. People with tickets to events at Stern can also visit the museum in the hour before the concert starts.

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/

4 May: The Moody Blues

On this date in 1964, The Moody Blues were formed in Birmingham. 10 facts about the Moody Blues.

1. The original line-up was Graeme Edge (Drums), Denny Laine (Guitar/vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/vocals), Ray Thomas (multi-instrumentalist/vocals) and Clint Warwick (bass/vocals). Laine and Warwick left the band in 1966, and were replaced by Justin Hayward (guitar/vocals) and John Lodge (bass/vocals).

2. The various members had been playing in other bands in Birmingham, including El Riot & the Rebels (Thomas and Lodge), Danny King & the Dukes (Warwick), Gerry Levine & the Avengers (Thomas and Pinder) and The R&B Preachers (Warwick, Edge and Laine).

3. When they got together to form what would become the Moody Blues, they were hoping for sponsorship from the local Mitchells & Butlers Brewery but despite naming themselves the M&B5 to this end, the sponsorship never happened. So they changed their name, keeping the initials. Moody was a reference to the Duke Ellington song Mood Indigo and also the ability of music to affect a person’s moods. Blues was a reference to the type of music they were playing on the club circuit at the time.

4. Their first single wasn’t a hit. It was a cover of Bobby Parker's Steal Your Heart Away with B side was an original song, Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose Your Mind). It was released in September 1964. The band's big breakthrough came with their second single, Go Now, a cover of a song by Bessie Banks, released in November 1964. It reached number one.

5. However, it wasn’t a lasting success. They had no more hits for over 18 months and at one gig, a member of the audience went backstage to tell them they were the worst band he’d ever seen.

6. Things changed again in 1967 when Decca Records approached them about a project they had in mind – a pop version of Dvorak’s New World Symphony to showcase their new Deramic Stereo Sound system. Somehow the album evolved into Days of Future Passed which was original Moody Blues songs accompanied by an orchestra. This album, though sales were modest at first, has been called "one of the first successful concept albums".

7. The Moody Blues were the only band to regularly use a Mellotron, which is an early sort of synthesizer that used tape loops instead of electronic tone generators in their concerts. Mike Pinder had worked for the company that had invented the Mellotron, so he was especially familiar with how to use it.

8. In an interview around the time of the release of their album Seventh Sojourn, Edge told Rolling Stone: "We've got two Christians, one Mystic, one Pedantic and one Mess, and we all get on a treat."

9. They started their own label, Threshold Records, in 1969, one of the first bands to do so with only The Beatles and the Beach Boys beating them to it. The aim was to develop and promote new talent including bands called Trapeze and Providence, but none of the new acts really took off. By by the late 1970s they’d gone back to more traditional recording contracts.

10. The Moody Blues toured the UK and US in 2015, including their first appearance at Glastonbury. 2017 saw the 50th anniversary of Days of Future Passed, so they went on tour performing the album in its entirety together with other songs. Ray Thomas died on 4 January 2018, at the age of 76, so didn’t live to see the band inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At time of writing, only two Moody Blues survive, Justin Hayward and Patrick Moraz, who joined in 1978 after Pinder left.

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/

3 May: 123

Welcome to day 123 of 2026. 10 fun facts about 123.

1. 123 Brunhild is a main-belt asteroid discovered by C. H. F. Peters in 1872, and named after Brünnehilde, a Valkyrie in Norse mythology.

2. The Pittsburgh band Animal Scream and Edinburgh band Clouds both previously went by the name 1-2-3.

3. It’s the atomic number of the hypothetical chemical element Unbitrium.

4. One, Two, Three is a 1961 American political comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, based on the 1929 Hungarian one-act play Egy, kettő, három by Ferenc Molnár.

5. 123 Money Ltd, trading as 123.ie, is an Irish insurance company with registered offices in Dublin.

6. The year 123 was a common year starting on Thursday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Paetinus and Apronius. In this year, Housesteads Fort, Hadrian's Wall was built, north of Bardon Mill, and Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli was built.

7. London bus route 123 runs from Lordship Lane to Hainault Street.

8. In religion, 123 is associated with progress and the Holy Trinity, so it may be referred to as the Trinity of Progress or Triad of Progress.

9. The A123 is a road in London running between the A113 at Chigwell and the A13 at Lodge Avenue, Barking.

10. In numerology number 123 represents a harmonious family energy. Responsibilities are taken seriously, responsibilities to family most of all. Promises are not lightly given. It also resonates with self-reliance and independence so those influenced by the number will work to ensure their family is self-sufficient.

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/

3 May: J

The first Saturday of May is designated J Day by marijuana users who organise marches worldwide on this day. 10 things you might not know about the letter J.

1. Firstly, the reason why a day of cannabis activism is known as J day: because J is a slang term for a joint.

2. It’s the 10^th letter of the Latin alphabet and the fourth least used in the English language after Z, Q and X. That said it’s more common when it comes to personal names. Hence all of the main roles in the comedy show Absolutely Fabulous are played by actresses with names beginning with J: Jennifer, Joanna, June, Julia and Jane.

3. However, if your name begins with J you can’t do that thing where you spell out your name with element symbols as J doesn’t appear in the Periodic Table. Not in English, anyway. In German, the word for Iodine is Jod, and in German texts J is sometimes used as the symbol for Iodine.

4. In international licence plate codes, J stands for Japan.

5. Agent J is a character in the Men in Black films portrayed by Will Smith.

6. J is the narrator of Jerome K Jerome's novel Three Men in a Boat.

7. The tenth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet mystery" series, published in 1993 is "J" Is for Judgment.

8. In the Metric system, J is the symbol for the joule, the SI derived unit for energy.

9. J has been used as a nickname for various music artists including a member of the K-Pop group STAYC, a solo Korean singer, a Japanese rock musician and American White Zombie guitarist Jay Yuenger. JJJ has been used to refer to Australian radio station Triple J; J. Jonah Jameson, a Marvel comics character; Jaren Jackson Jr., an American basketball player; and Jingjinji, a metropolitan region of China. It was also the production code for the 1971 Doctor Who serial The Dæmons.

10. In Morse code it’s .--- and in the NATO Phonetic alphabet, J is represented by Juliet.

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/

1 May: 121

1^st May is the 121^st day of the year. 10 facts about the number 121.

1. 121 is the atomic number of Unbiunium, also known as eka-actinium, a hypothetical chemical element with the symbol Ubu. It has attracted attention because of predictions that it may be in the island of stability. Its position in the periodic table suggests it would have similar properties to lanthanum and actinium.

2. The A121 is a road in England connecting Waltham Cross and Woodford Wells. The main settlements on it are Waltham Abbey and Loughton. it passes through the densest part of Epping Forest.

3. 121 (Eagle) Sqn is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron was one of three Eagle Squadrons manned by American volunteers during the Second World War.

4. The year 121 was a common year starting on Tuesday, known at the time as the Year of the Consulship of Verus and Augur. In 121, Construction of the Temple of Venus and Roma began in Rome, and it saw the death of Cai Lun, Chinese inventor of Paper and the papermaking process.

5. London Bus route 121 runs from Enfield Island Village to Turnpike Lane Station.

6. 121 Hermione is a binary Asteroid discovered in 1872 by J. C. Watson and named after Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology.

7. 121 is a song by Robert Forster from the album Calling from a Country Phone.

8. *121# is a 2018 film directed by V. Anand and starring Vinay Chandar, Sounil Deshmukh, Naveen Kumar Gowda. It’s about a group of friends who meet up after a long time for a party and accidentally commit a crime.

9. 121 is the square of 11.

10. In numerology, 121’s energy is methodical and focussed. People under its influence will work on one project at a time and see it through to the end. They are drawn to step-by-step instructions for reaching life-enhancing goals.

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/

30 April: World's Fairs

On this date in 1939, the New York World's Fair opened. 10 facts about World’s Fairs.

1. A world’s fair is a global exhibition event with the purpose of showcasing the achievements of the nations taking part. They generally last three to six months and are held at specific locations. World’s fair is the term most often used in America. In Europe and Asia they are called international (or universal) expositions/exhibitions. Since 1958, the word Expo has been used. Since 1995, it has been ruled there must be a gap of at least five years between them.

2. There can, however, be one Specialised Expo in between. These are smaller and shorter, lasting between three weeks and three months, and are usually focussed on a theme, for example, "Future Energy" (Expo 2017 Astana), "The Living Ocean and Coast" (Expo 2012 Yeosu), or "Leisure in the Age of Technology" (Brisbane, Expo '88). The first of these was held in Stockholm in 1936.

3. The first World’s Fair as we know it was held in Prague in 1791. It was timed to coincide with the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia, and was was held in the Clementinum, a historic complex of buildings in Prague which houses the National Library of the Czech Republic. The first in the UK was in 1851 and was Prince Albert’s idea. It was called the "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations" and held in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park.

4. There have been three distinct eras. The Industrialisation era, between 1851–1938, where the exhibitions showed off advances in technology and were big trade fairs. From 1939 in New York they began to shift in emphasis towards cultural themes and social progress. 1939’s theme was "Building the World of Tomorrow". In 1988, the emphasis shifted again and since then they have been a platform for improving and promoting the images of the nations taking part.

5. There is a central organising body called the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) which is based in Paris.

6. At time of writing, the most recent World’s Fair was in Osaka, Japan in 2025 and the next one will be in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2030. There will be a Specialised Expo in Belgrade in 2027 with the theme of “Play for Humanity – Sport and Music for All”.

7. Buildings and structures are often erected for World’s Fairs, generally meant to be temporary and dismantled when the show is over. However, there are several which have survived and become much loved attractions in the host cities. The most famous of these is perhaps the Eiffel Tower built for the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1889. The Crystal Palace in London has survived a major fire and relocation to South London and Seattle’s Space Needle was built for the 1962 event. Brisbane’s Skyneedle was built for Expo ‘88 and is still there.

8. The Epcot Centre in the Walt Disney World Resort, near Orlando, Florida began as a concept of a permanent World’s Fair and became the new home for many of the exhibitions and rides created for the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Some of them are still operational today.

9. Innovations first presented at World’s Fairs include Ferris wheels (Chicago, 1893); the new Ford Mustang (1964); IMAX movies (Osaka 1970) and cherry coke (Tennessee, 1982).

10. A US president was assassinated at a World’s Fair in 1901 in Buffalo, New York. During a reception, President William McKinley was shot twice in the stomach by an anarchist and died of gangrene eight days later. He was operated on at the time by an impromptu team at the expo’s small medical facility, which wasn’t equipped to deal with such major surgery. They weren’t able to locate one of the bullets and had to leave it in, and that’s what killed McKinley. Ironically, on display at that very Expo was a device which could have saved him – the X Ray machine, but nobody thought to use it.

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/