15 August

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 15 August:

1. Born this date in 1771 was Sir Walter Scott, writer and collector of ballads. Famous titles include Ivanhoe, Rob Roy, The Lady of The Lake, Waverley, The Heart of Midlothian and The Bride of Lammermoor. It was he who wrote: "O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive!"
2. Also born on this date, in 1769, was Napoleon Bonaparte. He expanded the French empire, becoming Emperor until a coalition of allies successfully resisted him and he was exiled to the island of Elba. He resumed his campaign at Waterloo, but was defeated and again exiled to St Helena in the South Atlantic. He said, "You must not fight too often with one enemy, or you will teach him all your art of war."
3. Wizard of Oz premièred at Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood on this date in 1939. It bombed at the time, but eventually became a classic.
4. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair opened on this date in 1969. Over 400,000 attended, most without tickets. Those on stage included Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, the Who, the Grateful Dead, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, Joe Cocker, Canned Heat, Crosby, Still Nash and Young and the Jefferson Airplane.
5. In 1877, Thomas Edison coined the telephone greeting "Hello." He suggested the use of Hello to the president of the Telegraph Company to answer the phone instead of "Ahoy" which had been suggested by Alexander Bell.
6. In 1914, an American ship, the SS Ancon sailed from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, officially opening the Panama Canal. Before the canal's opening, ships wanting to go from New York to San Francisco had to go all the way around South America.
7. In 1911, large White birds were seen near Salisbury on the same day as the death of the local bishop. Since 1414 when Miss Moberley, the bishop’s daughter, saw the white birds fly up out of the palace gardens as her father lay dying, the White Birds of Salisbury Plain, large dazzlingly white albatross-like birds, have appeared when a Bishop of Salisbury died.
8. In 1623, male impersonator Catalina de Erauzo was convicted of murder in Spain. She had earned a reputation for gambling, duelling and purse-snatching, and had fought and won many duels, killing at least seven people. In one fight, she stabbed three men to death. She avoided execution by revealing that she was actually a woman. Instead, she was freed and given permission to wear men's clothing. The Pope absolved her of her sins.
9. In 1983, Lisa Harap, aged 6 months, became the youngest, identifiable living person to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.
10. In 1996, a man who'd held up Florida gas station was arrested after 20 miles when his escape car ran out of petrol. A spokesman for the local sheriff’s office said, “When you set out to rob a gas station you’re supposed to fill up the tank before you rob the clerk”.

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