10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 20 December:
- Uri Geller, Israeli-British performer known for claiming to have psychic powers was born on this date in 1946. Famous for his ability to bend metal objects by stroking them with his fingers and to stop Clocks simply by gazing at them. He claimed his metal-bending and mind reading abilities developed after he was accidentally shocked by his mother's electric Sewing machine when he was five years old.
- In 2002, Mark Billington, 35, of Halifax, west Yorkshire, died when he suffered an epileptic fit, fell out of bed and got his head stuck in a wastepaper basket.
- An even sadder story from 1786. Hannah Ocuish, aged 12, became the youngest person ever to be legally executed in US. Hannah was a Pequot Indian girl with learning difficulties, accused of killing the young daughter of a prominent white family during a fight over some Strawberries. The primary evidence against her was her confession. At her execution, she thanked the sheriff for his kindness as she stepped forward to be hanged.
- In 1803, the Louisana Purchase was completed as ownership of the territory was formally transferred to the US at ceremonies in New Orleans. The US had paid the French about $15 million for the 800,000 square miles of land, which effectively doubled the size of the country.
- In 1963, the Berlin Wall was opened for the first time. It opened for the holiday season, but closed again on January 6, 1964. 4,000 people crossed over to visit relatives during this time.
- Fred Astaire’s first film with partner Ginger Rogers, Flying Down to Rio, was premièred in New York on this date in 1933.
- On this date in 1928, Harry Ramsden started his fish and chip restaurant, which later became the most famous in the world, in a hut near Bradford.
- In 2018, Gatwick Airport was shut down intermittently after drones were seen flying over the airfield. Police believed it was "a deliberate act to disrupt the airport".
- In 1991, American and Egyptian archaeologists announced the discovery of a fleet of 5,000-year-old ships buried 13 km from the River Nile.
- A new board game, Emulation, was published on this date in 1804, ‘designed for the Amusement of Youth of both Sexes and calculated to inspire their Minds with an Abhorrence of Vice and a Love of Virtue’. Players moving their tokens around the board, passing through various virtues and vices, and the winner was the first to reach the centre where ‘Virtue is its Own reward’. It didn't catch on.
New!!
A Superhero love story.
Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.
It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.
Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.
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