10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 19 May:
On this date in 1536, Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, was beheaded after being found guilty of adultery and incest with her brother, Lord Rochford. Even her father had testified against her, although the charges were false. Her last words: "To Jesus Christ I commend my soul; Lord Jesus receive my soul." Henry, meanwhile, had already moved on. On the same day, Archbishop Cranmer issued a dispensation to the King so he could marry Jane Seymour.
In 1987, Chet Fleming filed for a US Patent which described in detail a method for keeping alive a severed head. The mechanisms includes Blood filtering, pumping equipment, and nutrient supply. The patent was granted, though sadly it was 451 years too late for Anne Boleyn.
In 2011 the BBC's political debate programme Question Time was broadcast from inside a prison. Ten members of staff and ten prisoners from Wormwood Scrubs prison joined 100 other audience members. Panellists included Secretary of State for Justice Kenneth Clarke and former Home Secretary Jack Straw.
In 1997, in Rostock, Germany, Oskar the Stork took flight the day after being fitted with an artificial leg. Five weeks earlier, Oskar had landed in the town with one leg missing. The town adopted him, and the local prosthesis shop made a bright orange stork leg for him.
In 1977, the funeral of Sandra West took place in Texas. It was all done in accordance with her will, in which she had stated that she wanted to be buried “next to my husband in my lace nightgown... in my Ferrari, with the seat slanted comfortably.”
1926 Thomas Edison spoke at a dinner for the National Electric Light Association in Atlantic City on this date in 1926. He may have been good with light bulbs but microphones not so much. When asked to speak into the microphone, he said, "I don't know what to say. This is the first time I ever spoke into one of these things. Good night."
On this date in 1780, an unexplained darkness covered most of New England. People believed a Salem Witch's curse was responsible, and no other explanation has ever been found. At New Haven, Colonel Abraham Davenport refused to adjourn the town council - “The day of judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, then there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that Candles may be brought.”
In 1989, a woman about to be cross-examined on allegations of fraud at Cardiff Crown Court had a note passed to the judge which read: ‘Your honour, I, Patricia Morgan, have superglued my mouth to draw the public’s attention to the mis-trial and injustice in this court.’
In 1911, the first American criminal conviction based on fingerprint evidence happened in New York when a small-time burglar named Crispey (Caesar Cella.) was sent to prison for six months because he'd touched a Glass window in the shop he was burgling.
In 1992, Dave Gauder of England pulled a 196-ton jumbo jet three inches across the runway at London Heathrow, thus achieving a world record for pulling a heavy object.
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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