12 October

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 12 October:

1. This date in 1875 saw the birth of occultist Aleister Crowley, author of many controversial books on magic, notorious for his rites of sex magic, ceremonial sorcery, and Blood sacrifices. Crowley often referred to himself as the Beast of the Apocalypse and was nicknamed "The Wickedest Man in the World" by the media and also by many who knew him personally. His most famous statement was "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law." He also said, "The customer is usually wrong; but statistics indicate that it doesn't pay to tell him so."
2. In 1915, British Nurse Edith Cavell, 49, was executed by a German firing squad in Brussels for helping 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I. “I realise that patriotism is not enough,” she said. “I must have no hatred or bitterness against anyone.”
3. Born this date in 1537 was Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, who became King of England and Ireland at the age of nine. Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty. He died at the age of 15.
4. Born on this date in 1944 was Angela Rippon, the first female newsreader. She famously guest-starred in the 1976 Morecambe and Wise Christmas show, appearing behind a news desk and then emerging to do a high-kicking dance routine.
5. In 1957, Little Richard announced he was giving up rock and roll, because he'd had a vision of his own damnation after praying to God when one of the engines on a plane he was on caught fire. He said, "If you want to live for the Lord, you can't take rock and roll too. God doesn't like it."
6. 1609 Three Blind Mice, by teenage songwriter Thomas Ravenscroft, believed to be the earliest printed secular song, was published in London on this date in 1609.
7. In 1850, classes began at the Women's Medical College of Pennsylvania, the first medical school entirely for women.
8. In 1995, Cinderella in reverse: Claudia Zenella was acquitted of shoplifting when her size 37 foot failed to fit a size 39 shoe that the thief had dropped when fleeing the scene of the crime. Meanwhile in Australia, police, in pursuit of their suspect Raymond Rankin, shot a Crocodile in the river he was wading through to escape, saving his life.
9. In 2000, a group of Japanese tourists went to Billy Smart’s Circus, mistaking the big top for the Millennium Dome. It only came to light they were in the wrong place when they asked staff where the Body Zone was.
10. In 1849, British inventor Charles Rowley patented an early version of the Safety pin.

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