11 August: Roller skating

On this date in 1866 the world's first roller rink opened its doors, in Newport, R.I. 10 things you didn’t know about roller skating.

1. The first recorded use of roller skates was in 1743, in a London stage show. The name of the person who invented them wasn’t recorded.
2. A few years later, someone else came up with the same idea – a man named John Joseph Merlin, who decided to demonstrate his roller skates by turning up to a fancy masquerade party on them and make a grand entrance while playing a Violin. There were two problems with this. One, he hadn’t figured out how to make skates which could turn, and two, he hadn’t done enough practice. His grand entrance ended with him crashing into a large mirror.
3. It was another 100 years before another inventor named James Plimpton invented roller skates with “trucks” which allowed skaters to turn.
4. Traditional roller skates are called quads and roller blades are called inlines. There’s another variation called the "quintessence skate", invented by Miyshael F. Gailson in 1988, originally to help cross country skiers train.
5. Roller skating isn’t an Olympic sport, although Roller Derby, Speed skating and Quad skate roller hockey have all been demonstration sports. That said, Olympic athletes in sports requiring balance have been known to roller skate as part of their training. Many Olympic ice skaters started out on roller skates.
6. The Amish may not be allowed to use cars, motorbikes or even Bicycles, but they do roller skate. Young Amish started roller skating in the 1990s and still do it today. That said, a lot of the elders disapproved and only a third of the congregations officially approved of their use.
7. In 1912, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Miss Hattie Baldwin and Mr. W. McGrath got married on roller skates, the first couple to do so.
8. When the USA was preparing to enter World War II the US government considered using roller skates as a way to move troops in Europe to save petrol.
9. The Guinness World Record for the largest parade of roller skaters was set in Paris on June 15, 2008 when 1,188 people skated for 12.68 miles.
10. Roller skating has featured in any number of films, songs and music videos, starting with a silent movie called An Awful Skate in 1907. There followed, to name but a few, The Rink, starring Charlie Chaplin in 1816 (The Rink is also the name of a musical which premiered in 1984, about a roller rink at risk from developers), The Fireball, starring Mickey Rooney and Marilyn Monroe (1950), It's Always Fair Weather starring Gene Kelly (1955), Rollerball (1975) and Xanadu with Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly (1980). Then there’s the stage musical Starlight Express by Andrew Lloyd Webber in which the cast perform on roller skates. In music, Brand New Key by Melanie (1971) and Blow by Beyoncé (2014) also feature roller skating.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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