3 February

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 3 February:

1. On this date in 1990 in Renton, Washington, an armed robber attempted to rob a gun shop, full of customers, many of whom were licensed to carry concealed handguns, and a uniformed police officer. When the thief announced the robbery and fired his gun into the air, the policeman and shop assistant and several of the customers returned fire and the thief was shot dead.
2. In 1877 The Celebrated Chop Waltz – better known as Chopsticks – was registered at the British Museum. The tune, known by Piano students everywhere, was arranged as a duet and solo by Euphemia Alten, using the pseudonym Arthur de Lull. She wrote it when she was 16.
3. This date in 1959 was “The day the music died”. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper were killed in a plane crash, inspiring Don McLean’s classic, American Pie.
4. In 2013, for the first time in NFL history two brothers – Jim Harbaugh of the San Francisco 49ers and John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens – were opposing head coaches in the Superbowl. The Baltimore Ravens won the match 34–31.
5. Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley had their first date on this date in 1994. They attended a gig by The Temptations.
6. Every skier's worst nightmare happened in 1998 when a US military plane sliced through the cable of a ski gondola in Italy, sending the car plunging hundreds of feet, killing all 20 people inside.
7. In 1997 Paul Redhead and his accomplice Peter Callister were imprisoned for feigning epilepsy to collect benefits. Readhead was rumbled when he got bored with being in a wheelchair and staged a miraculous recovery.
8. In 1956, a bank robber named William Leibscher made his first hold-up in an eighteen month long spree of robberies, using a toy gun.
9. In 1882, PT Barnum bought an Elephant called Jumbo. He kept him for three years until Jumbo, the inspiration for the word meaning "large", was run over by a train.
10. In 1999 a competition in the woman's magazine Chat offered an unusual prize. It was £500 towards legal bills to the woman who could come up with the best reason for getting a divorce.

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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