10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 20 April:
- This date in 1889 saw the birth of Adolph Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany. His original ambition was to be a painter, but was turned down by the Academy of Arts in Vienna. How different might the world have been if they'd accepted him, I wonder? The name Adolf means “Noble Wolf” and Hitler “one who lives in a hut.”
- The oldest known marsupial, an Australian Wombat, died in London Zoo at the age of 26, on this date in 1906.
- On this date in 735 BC, according to the Roman historian Varro, Romulus founded the city of Rome.
- In 1653, Oliver Cromwell kicked out the remainder of the Long Parliament which had been sitting for thirteen years without re-election. He ordered a company of musketeers to accompany him to the House and called the representatives out on their self-seeking and delays of justice. He said, "It is not fit you should sit here any longer – you have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. You shall now give place to better men." With that he called in the musketeers and expelled the MPs, calling them drunkards and worse as they left. "It is the Lord that hath caused me to do this," he said. Where is Oliver Cromwell when you need him these days?
- In 1770, Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales.
- Dolly Parton's first record was released on this date in 1959. It was called Puppy Love, and Billboard's review opined, "She sounds about 12 years old." The song had been recorded two years earlier when Dolly was, in fact, eleven. It wasn't a hit for her, but Donny Osmond did rather well with it in the early 1970s.
- In 1988, the world’s largest Termite mound, around 21 ft high, was found in the Australian outback, at Hayes Creek, 105 miles south of Darwin.
- In 1887, the world's first motor race took place along the banks of the river Seine from the centre of Paris to Neuilly. Not much of a race, in truth, as only one driver took part. His name was Georges Bouton and his vehicle a four-seater steam quadricycle. The following year, it could more accurately be termed a race when one other driver entered.
- In 1979, US President Jimmy Carter was attacked by a "Killer Swamp Rabbit" while holidaying in Plains GA. The Rabbit, it's said, "swam menacingly" towards him, and he had to repel it with a paddle. There were no injuries. At least not to the humans.
- In 1999, a court in Mobile, Alabama ruled that Tonda Dickerson, a Waffle House waitress who'd won £6.25m with a lottery ticket someone left her as a tip, must share the prize with 4 co-workers.
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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