1 October

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 1 October:

1. Born on this date in 1924 was Jimmy (James Earl) Carter, 39th US President. He managed to get Egypt and Israel to sign the Camp David agreement ending hostilities between their countries. A devout Baptist, and former Peanut farmer, he claimed his agricultural efforts produced "the best seed peanuts in the country, perhaps the world." Post-presidency, Carter tirelessly devoted his time to world peace and human rights. Jimmy Carter was the first US president to be born in a hospital.
2. Also celebrating her birthday on this date, born in 1935, is Julie Andrews, former English child actress and singer best known for her roles in Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music Victor/Victoria and The Princess Diaries.
3. In 2005, a case of nominative determinism occurred at the Giant Pumpkin Growers Weighoff in Pennsylvania. when master pumpkin grower Larry Pumpkin claimed the record for the world's largest pumpkin at 1,469 pounds.
4. In 1995, a survey found that the UK’s top Tea drinking town was Dagenham.
5. In 1986, Peter Kaestner of Washington DC became the first person to see at least one species of all the world’s 159 families of bird.
6. In 1969, Concorde 001 broke the sound barrier for the first time during a test flight over France.
7. William "Jerry" Henry, a runaway slave and craftsman in Syracuse, NY was arrested on this date in 1851 and scheduled to be returned to slavery. Ten thousand citizens stormed the sheriff's office, freed Henry, and aided his escape to Canada via the underground railway.
8. Commercial production of electric Light bulbs began on this date in 1880 as Edison Lamp Works began producing them.
9. In 1989, the US issued a stamp, mistakenly labelling an apatosaurus as a brontosaurus.
10. In 1760, Lady Coventry died as a result of painting her face with white Lead. Possibly the first martyr to cosmetics.

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30 September

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 30 September:

1. Jack the Ripper struck twice on this date in 1888. The first victim was Elizabeth Stride, “Long Liz”, aged 45. Her body was found behind 40 Berner Street. Less than an hour later, the Ripper killed Catherine Eddowes, also 45, in Mitre Square.
2. In 1955, James Dean, 24, crashed his Porsche 550 Spider when on his way from Los Angeles to Monterey for a race. Although he’d got a speeding ticket earlier that day, police at the scene don't believe he was speeding at the time of the crash. Dean's mechanic also died in the crash.
3. In 2003, Sir Elton John auctioned off the contents of his London home, so he could redecorate in a more modern style. The auction raised more than £1.4 million. An oil painting, entitled Madison Square Park, sold for £67,200, and a 19th Century portrait of Lieutenant George Dyer, painted by James Northcote in 1817, fetched £55,200.
4. In 2004, the first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat were taken 600 miles south of Tokyo.
5. Pinewood Studios opened in Iver, Buckinghamshire on this date in 1936. They were the first film studios in Britain.
6. BBC Radio One was launched in the UK on this date in 1967. Former Radio Caroline DJ Tony Blackburn was the first presenter on air. The Move's Flowers In The Rain was the first record played.
7. The first around the world plane passenger race began on this date in 1936. Three reporters departed from Lakehurst, New Jersey, to see who could circumnavigate the globe the quickest using only commercial flying routes. Herbert Roslyn Ekins was the winner, returning to Lakehurst on 19 October.
8. In 1982, H. Ross Perot and Jay Colburn completed the first circumnavigation of the world in a Helicopter, the Spirit of Texas.
9. In 1965 Judge Elizabeth Lane was sworn in to become Britain's first female High Court Judge.
10. In 1966 Bechuanaland achieved its independence from Great Britain. It's now known as Botswana.

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There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

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29 September

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 29 September:

1. This date in 1547 saw the birth of Miguel de Cervantes, Spanish poet and novelist who wrote Don Quixote de la Mancha while in prison in La Mancha. The adventures of Quixote have been translated into more languages than any book other than the Bible. The story is considered by many scholars to be the first modern novel and the template for much of the world's fiction.
2. Also born on this date, in 1758, was Horatio Nelson, British naval commander and national hero, famous for his participation in the Napoleonic Wars, most notably in the Battle of Trafalgar, a decisive British victory, during which he lost his life.
3. In 1996, Egyptian farm worker Susu Borai Mohammad, 22, accidentally swallowed some Ants when she took a swig of Water. Rather than seeing it as extra protein that her stomach acids would quickly deal with, she rushed home and swallowed some insecticide to kill the ants, and died of insecticide poisoning.
4. In 1513. Spanish explorer Vasco Nunez de Balboa discovered the Pacific Ocean. He claimed the entire ocean and "all the lands it washed" for Spain.
5. In 1979, Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit Ireland as he arrived for a three day tour.
6. The World Transplant Games began in Sydney on this date in 1997. All 150 entrants from 51 countries were transplant recipients.
7. In 1960, Nikita Khrushchev banged the table with a Shoe while British prime minister Harold Macmillan was addressing the United Nations Assembly. Macmillan asked for the shoe banging to be translated.
8. 1650 Henry Robinson opened the first marriage bureau in England on this date in 1650. Known as Addresses and Encounters it was advertised as being for anyone with a “desire to dispose of themselves in marriage” and they would “be informed what encounters there were to be had, both of persons and portions”.
9. The first regular police force in London was started on this date in 1829. They were called "bobbies" after Robert Peel, the Home Secretary who began the force.
10. In 1997, the Royal Oak New Ash Green Dartford Lottery syndicate won 2 shares of a jackpot of £10.8m, after landlord Tony Young accidentally entered the winning numbers twice.

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There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

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28 September

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 28 September:

1. Born on this date in 1934 was Brigitte Bardot, French actress, fashion model, singer and animal welfare/rights activist.
2. Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani) died on this date in 1978 at the age of 65 after a Papacy of just 33 days. Rumours persist to this day that he was poisoned. His last words were, "I will see you tomorrow, if God wills it." Which, as it turned out, God didn't. John Paul was found dead, possibly of a heart attack, the following morning, by a nun. The church refused an autopsy, so the cause of his death isn't known for certain, and is the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.
3. In 1745, God Save the King, the UK national anthem, was sung for the first time, at the Drury Lane Theatre, in London, to show defiance against the Young Pretender, Bonnie Prince Charlie, who'd landed in Scotland and was ready to invade England.
4. In 1865, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson became the first qualified woman doctor in Britain. This was after threatening the Society of Apothecaries with legal action if they did not allow her to take the exam. She'd been banned from the course because other students organised a petition complaining that a woman medical student made the hospital a laughing stock.
5. In 1924, the first circumnavigation of the earth by air was completed by two US Army Douglas DWC amphibians out of Seattle, returning there after 175 days. The flight was made in 57 hops, each one averaging 483 miles. The actual flying time was 351 hours.
6. At the age of 16, Napoleon Bonaparte, graduated from the military academy in Paris on this date in 1785. He came 42nd out of a class of 51.
7. In 1995, Michael Jackson formally asked Queen Elizabeth II to knight him for his "service to children". She said no.
8. In 490 BC, the Athenians defeated the Persians at Marathon. The Spartans arrived too late for the battle but inspected the battlefield, complimented the Athenians on their good work and went home. A Greek soldier ran 26 miles to tell Athens of the victory; made the announcement and promptly expired. His feat was the model for the modern marathon race.
9. In 1820, the Tomato was publicly proved safe to eat when Robert Johnson ate a bushel (24 kg) of them in Salem, Massachusetts, and didn't die.
10. In 1995, Chester the tortoise turned up near the home of his owner Malcolm Edwards, having been missing for 35 years.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

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27 September

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 27 September:

1. Marvin Lee Adair was born on this date in 1947. He's better known as Meat Loaf, the rock singer, famous for Bat out of Hell.
2. Top Cat, starring Arnold Stang as the voice of a New York alley cat was first broadcast on this date in 1961. It also featured Sgt Bilko’s Maurice Gosfield as the voice of Benny.
3. In 2011, Tony Bennett, 85, became the oldest living person to top the US album chart when his Duets II album went to No.1.
4. In 2005, a Methuselah of Louis Roederer Cristal 1990 sold for $14,730.00 at a London auction, making it the world’s most expensive Champagne.
5. British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth, then the largest passenger liner ever built, was launched at Clydebank in Scotland on this date in 1938. The 80,000 ton liner was launched by the Queen Mother.
6. In 1869, a gunfight took place in Hays City, Kansas. Wild Bill Hickok  shot and killed Sam Strawhim, a drunken teamster who was causing trouble in the local saloon.
7. In 1888, The Central News Agency in London received a letter which began "Dear Boss, I keep on hearing the police have caught me, but they won't fix me just yet..." It was signed Jack the Ripper, the first time the name was used.
8. In 1846, an apparition of Edinburgh appeared in the sky over Liverpool.
9. The first Santa Claus training school opened in Albion, N.Y. on this date in 1937.
10. In 1995, an event organised in Colorado for people named Bob, “Bobfest”, was cancelled. It’s organiser, Tom Britz (One wonders why a festival for people named Bob was organised by a Tom...) said he was tired of running it. “I met one bad Bob and it spoiled the bunch,” he said.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

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26 September

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 26 September:

1. Born this date in 1944 was Anne Robinson, television presenter known as a presenter on consumer affairs series, Watchdog, but also gained notoriety as the hostess of quiz show The Weakest Link, which earned her the nickname "Queen of Mean". You are the weakest link, goodbye.
2. On this date in 1948 Olivia Newton-John was born. Her hits include If Not for You, Banks of the Ohio, Take Me Home, Country Roads, Long Live Love, I Honestly Love You, You're the One That I Want, Summer Nights and Physical.
3. In 2000, a Camel herder at Jizan in southern Saudi Arabia beat one of his camels this morning. The camel bore a grudge all day and waited until the herder went to sleep that night, and then trampled and bit him to death. Needless to say, the camel was shot dead when its crime was discovered.
4. In 1580, Francis Drake sailed into Plymouth after sailing The Golden Hind around the world in 33 months, with a shipload of loot from the Spanish. He was the first Briton to circumnavigate the globe.
5. An iconic episode of Dallas was first broadcast on this date in 1986. Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing, returned to the show after his character was written out and killed off a season previously. The episode had Bobby's wife Pam discover him taking a shower and realising that his death and everything that had happened in the previous season was just a bad Dream.
6. Manchester United achieved the highest score in a single match in the European Cup on this date in 1956 when they beat Anderlecht 10-1.
7. In 1983, Soviet military officer Stanislav Petrov refused to accept what his computer was telling him, that missiles had been launched against the USSR by the US. Petrov held firm while alarms around him in his bunker screamed at him for three minutes. He was right to do so: it was a computer glitch. Petrov was investigated for his conduct during the incident, and believes that the investigators tried to make him a scapegoat for the false alarm, rather than lauding him for preventing an unnecessary nuclear war.
8. Scotland Yard, the official British criminal investigation organisation, was formed on this date in 1829.
9. In 1449, according to a medieval chronicle, two fire-breathing Dragons battled each other at Great Cornard by the River Stour, Kent, England. The two dragons, one from Killingdown Hill in Suffolk, the other from Ballingdon Hill in Essex, met in the marshy field known as Sharpfight Meadow. The ground shook as the two beasts fought it out, watched by amazed villagers from miles around.
10. In 1976, Rameses the Great became the first Pharaoh to travel by plane when his mummy was flown to France for conservation.

 I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

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25 September

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 25 September:

1. On this date in 1676, two accurate Clocks were set in motion at Greenwich Royal Observatory. This marked the start of Greenwich Mean Time, which became a world standard in 1884.
2. Since the Versailles Peace Treaty forgot to include Andorra, Andorra and Germany finally signed a treaty ending WW I on this date in 1939 – just in time for the next world war.
3. Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Tim Curry, and Meat Loaf, premièred in the USA on this date in 1975.
4. Liberace made his debut at Carnegie Hall before a sell-out audience on this date in 1953, complete with his trademark candelabra and concert grand piano.
5. Britain’s first motorised (as opposed to Horse-drawn) Bus service began in Bradford on this date in 1987.
6. Samuel Pepys, according to his diary, drank a cup of Tea for the first time on this date in 1660.
7. In 2014 US President Barack Obama signed a memorandum expanding the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to 490,000 square miles, making it the biggest marine preserve in the world.
8. 1990 Kelly Murray achieved the longest golf drive ever at Airstrip at Fairmont Hot Springs, BC on this date in 1990. Distance: 684.8 Yards.
9. In 1933, the Shroud of Turin went on display to the public for the first time in 400 years. More than 25,000 people went to see the 14 foot long piece of cloth with the imprint of a man, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus.
10. In 1999, in the Henan province of China believed world's oldest musical instrument was found, a flute made from red crane hollowed bones. The instrument was so perfectly preserved that it still plays.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website