12 July

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 12 July:

1. This date in 1730 saw the birth of Josiah Wedgewood, English pottery designer and manufacturer. He contracted smallpox and his right leg was amputated; while convalescing, he spent a lot of time on research and experimentation, and as a result, Wedgwood pieces became prized all over the world. He was Charles Darwin’s grandfather.
2. In 1982, a South Glamorgan school hamster died of a heart attack when a teacher fired the starting pistol at a sports day rehearsal.
3. David Douglas, Scottish botanist, for whom the Douglas Fir tree is named, died on this date in 1834 at the age of 35. He fell into an animal trap in Hawaii. It’s not known if he survived the fall, because he was crushed by a wild bull which fell into the trap on top of him.
4. In 1979 Kiribati, formerly known as Gilbert and Ellice Islands, a group of 33 islands in the Pacific Ocean, declared independence from the United Kingdom.
5. The first Etch a Sketch went on sale on this date in 1960.
6. In 1998, in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, lampshades were fitted to street lamps because the glare was disturbing rare Bats.
7. In 1994, a cat named Tabitha was recovered in a crawlspace above the baggage compartment of a Tower Air Boeing 747. Tabitha had escaped her carrier during a New York to LA flight 12 days earlier, and had logged over 32,000 air miles before she was caught.
8. In 2010 Paul the psychic Octopus, known for correctly predicting the winners of World Cup matches, went into retirement.
9. In 1998, James Numeni, a herbalist witch doctor in Liberia, shot two men to test a bullet proof spell. The spell, unfortunately, hadn’t worked.
10. In 1738, a strange creature was discovered near Exeter. It resembled a man about four foot tall, ‘with a Genital Member of considerable size – with Fins at his thighs, and larger ones like Wings – at his shoulders – and two spout holes behind his eyes.’ 

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