23 February

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 23 February:

Sarah Bernhardt

1. This date in 1685 saw the birth of George Frederick Handel, German born Baroque composer. His most famous works are Messiah, Water Music and Music for the Royal Fireworks. In 1732, on his 47th birthday, Handel’s Oratorio was performed for the first time at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, London, the first oratorio ever performed in Britain.
2. In 1874, Major Walter Wingfield patented an outdoor game he called ‘Sphairistike’, which would later be known as lawn Tennis.
3. In 1455, Johannes Gutenberg printed the first book, a Bible.
4. In 1505, Christopher Columbus was granted a licence to ride a Mule in Spain.
5. In 1915, the French actress, Sarah Bernhardt, had her right leg amputated, but this wasn't the end of her career. She was back on stage by November.
6. In 1836, the siege of the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas by the Mexican army under General Santa Anna began.
7. The now traditional concepts of "women and children first" and "going down with the ship" were established on this date in 1852 when a 1,400 ton paddle-wheel steamer, H M S Birkenhead ran aground on rocks near the Cape of Good Hope. As the ship sank, soldiers were ordered to stand in ranks on deck while the women and children were loaded into lifeboats. Of the 420 who died, most of them were soldiers.
8. In 1855, officials attempted to hang a murderer named John Lee. Every time they tried to release the trap door, it failed. They tested it without him, and it opened fine. After several attempts, they gave up and changed his sentence to life in prison. He was released in 1917 and lived until 1933.
9. The Rotary Club was founded in Chicago on this date in 1905, by Attorney Paul Harris. Members chose the name "Rotary" because meetings would be held in rotation at their places of business.
10. Born on this date in 1633 was Samuel Pepys, English naval administrator and Member of Parliament, most famous for his diary, which gives eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War and the Great fire of London. On his birthday in 1669 he wrote about his visit to Westminster Abbey, where the body of Katherine of Valois, interred 200 years earlier, was on display. Pepys kissed her on the mouth and wrote, 'This was my birthday, 36 years old that I did first kiss a Queen.'

A superhero love story:

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

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