14 March: White Day

White Day is a day observed in Japan, South Korea, Singapore, China and other countries in Asia exactly a month after Valentine's Day. The idea is that on this day, women buy gifts for the men in their lives to reciprocate the flowers and chocolates they received on Valentine's Day. Here are ten things you might not know about the colour white.

1. The science bit - we perceive white when the light hitting our eyes stimulates all three types of cone cells by roughly the same amount. The surfaces of white objects reflect and diffuse all the light that hits them. White is made on a TV or computer screen by mixing Red, Blue and Green light at full intensity.
2. Sanskrit has a number of different words for white, depending on the particular white they are talking about - Milk white, Silver white, the white of stars, the white of teeth, the white of the Moon, the white of Pearls, the white of a ray of sunlight and the white of sandalwood, for example. Inuit and Japanese people also have several different words for different types of white.
3. The word albino comes from an ancient Roman word for a plain white. (They had a different word, candidus, for a bright white, the colour of the toga a man was expected to wear if he was seeking public office, which is where we get the word "candidate".)
4. In nature, things containing limestone will appear white. White sand usually contains limestone and/or quartz, while the White Cliffs of Dover are composed of limestone and chalk. Snow is white because the ice crystals and air which it is composed of don't absorb light, but reflect it, sometimes the light bounces around which is what makes fresh snow sparkle. When it becomes compressed, containing less air, such as in glaciers, snow appears more blue as it begins to absorb red light. Clouds are white for a similar reason.
5. White is frequently used by the Christian church as a symbol for goodness and purity - Jesus is often portrayed in white robes, or as a pure white lamb. Priests adopted the colour for their official robes. It didn't start with the Christians, though. White has represented purity since ancient times. The Egyptians associated it with the goddess Isis, and Vestal Virgins in Roman times also dressed in white. It's also the colour Muslims where during their pilgrimages to Mecca.
6. In some cultures, white is the colour of mourning. In Ancient Egypt, this came about because they saw the desert as white and lifeless, while Black represented the life-giving fertile mud of the Nile.
7. White is a common colour for bed linen and underwear. In Victorian times, all underwear and bed linen was white. There was a practical reason for this. Any other colour would fade if washed by boiling or bleaching.
8. In the political world, white may represent monarchism, or peace and passive resistance, hence waving a white flag to surrender, white Poppies on Remembrance Day, white ribbons, white Roses. The use of a white flag for surrender originated during the 15th century Hundred Years War, but was formalised by the Geneva Convention of 1949. It's a common colour in national Flags. The UK and USA took their white from the cross of St George while in the French flag it represents "the ancient French colour". In the Irish flag it represents a truce between the old Gaelic tradition and the supporters of William of Orange.
9. Sending white feathers to men who refused to enlist during war time, to signify that they were deemed to be cowards is said to have originated from cockfighting when there was a belief that a cock with a white feather in its tail would be a poor fighter.
10. Most of the things white symbolises are positive, however. Innocence, purity, cleanliness (which is why household appliances which are meant to be kept clean like cookers and fridges are traditionally white, and why both doctors and chefs wear white coats), and beginnings (debutantes entering society wear white and the Queen wears white when opening a new session of Parliament).

My Books 

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The Ultraheroes series

Several new groups of superheroes, mostly British, living and working (mostly) in British cities like London and Birmingham. People discovering they have, and learning to live with, superpowers. Each book is complete in itself although there is some overlap of characters.

The Raiders series

A tale of two dimensions, and worm hole travel between the two. People displaced in both time and space, learning to get along and work together to find a way home while getting used to the superpowers wormhole travel gave them. A trilogy.

Golden Thread

A superhero tale with a difference. Five heroes from another dimension keep returning - whenever they return, they have a job to do and are a well-meshed team in order to do it. Until one time, something goes wrong...

Tabitha Drake series

A different kind of power - the ability to talk to dead people. Tabitha has it, and murder victims seek her out to make sure justice is done. Tabitha has this and a disastrous love life to cope with.

Short story collections

Some feature characters from the above novels, others don't. They're not all about superheroes. Some are creepy, romantic, funny.