8 February

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 8 February:

Jules Verne

1. This date in saw the birth of 1828 Jules Verne, French author and pioneer of the science-fiction genre. His best known books are Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days. Verne predicted quite a few modern inventions in his novels. Paris in the 20th Century describes air conditioning, cars, The Internet and television. He also foresaw Helicopters, Submarines, projectors and jukeboxes.
2. In 1999 an out of work plumber in Georgia, possibly trying to prove his skills in order to find a job, pried open a man hole cover to investigate the cause of a sewage blockage. We’ll never know if he diagnosed the problem, because he hadn't put warning cones around the hole, and as he climbed out he was run over by a car and killed.
3. Buddy Holly signed a recording contract with Decca records on this date in 1956. The misspelled his last name, which was Holley. He dropped the e from his stage name after that.
4. In 1994 Oasis had to cancel their first foreign tour after being deported from the Netherlands. They were involved in a drunken brawl on a cross-channel ferry which resulted in members of the band being arrested and locked in the brig on the ferry.
5. In 1893, the first recorded striptease occurred at Paris's famed Moulin Rouge. An artist's model named Mona decided to get an edge in a beauty contest judged by art students by peeling her clothes off to Music while walking up and down the stage. She was arrested and fined 100 francs. Her arrest resulted in a riot.
6. On this date in 1983, the Derby winner Shergar was kidnapped in Ireland and a £2 million ransom was demanded. The horse has never been seen again.
7. In 1692, the Salem Witch Trials began after a doctor declared that three teenaged girls were under the influence of Satan.
8. In 1995, a group of mountaineers were hired to inspect and clean the spire of Lincoln Cathedral, because they were cheaper than surveyors.
9. In 1997, Stephen Anderson went on the rampage at Raurimu ski resort on North Island of New Zealand. He shot 6 people dead with shotgun and then hid in the bushes – naked, where he was arrested.
10. Year not recorded but sometime in the 18th or 19th century, hooved footprints appeared in fresh snow overnight across Devon. The footprints stretched in a perfectly straight line 100 miles long, over houses and haystacks. The tracks stopped at the River Exe, and started again on the opposite bank. Locals armed themselves and went looking for the Devil, but no trace of the creature which made the tracks was ever found.

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.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle