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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