Today is the feast day of John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, Italy. 10 things you might not know about Florence:
Florence was founded in 59 BC by Julius Caesar as a settlement for veteran Roman soldiers. They knew it as Florentia, and the modern name of the city, Florence, or Firenze in Italian, derives from this. The origin of the name Florentia is uncertain. It might have been because the area was known for the Flowers which grew there, or it was founded during the festival of Floralia. Alternatively, it might be named after a soldier called Florio, who was killed there. There is a theory that Florentia is a name to convey good luck, "may you be florid"!
Today, Florence is the capital of Tuscany, and the eighth biggest city in Italy; but between 1865 and 1870, Florence was the capital city of all Italy.
Florence’s most iconic landmark is its cathedral, the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower). In Italian, it is Duomo di Firenze or Il Duomo. Construction began in 1296 and it took about 140 years to build. When it was built, the dome was the biggest in the world, but has since been overtaken by St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and St. Paul’s in London, so it’s now in third place, but with 4 million bricks it remains the largest masonry dome ever built.
It was the first city in the world to have paved streets. The streets were first paved in 1339.
It’s said to be the birthplace of the Italian language as we know it. The Florentine dialect became the standard for the nation’s official language because there were so many famous writers living there.
The Piano and Opera were also invented here. Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano, then known as the pianoforte, in 1698 in the Florentine court of Cosimo III de’ Medici. Jacopo Peri’s 1598 opera Dafne was considered the first standard opera. Unfortunately, most of the music has been lost, although the libretto survives.
The river which runs through the city is called the Arno. Which helped bring commerce and wealth to the city, but has been known to flood and cause damage to the city and some of the works of art kept there. There are a number of bridges, most of them built after WWII, except Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge in Florence that wasn’t destroyed by the Nazis during the German siege of the city. Hitler considered this bridge to be too beautiful to destroy.
The fashion house Gucci was founded in Florence in 1921.
Florentine Bread has no Salt in it. This dates back to the 14th century. Before that, Tuscan bread was renowned and salt was a major ingredient. However, in the 14th century there was a war between Florence and Pisa. The Pisans were certain that Florence would surrender if their salt supply was cut off and they couldn’t make their famous bread. Florence simply carried on making the bread without salt and eventually won the war. Even when the war was over they must have decided the bread was just as good, if not better, without salt and it remains so to this day.
Famous people who have lived in Florence include: Dante Alighieri, Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli and Amerigo Vespucci. Also Robert and Elizabeth Browning, and Florence Nightingale, who was born there and named for the city.
Character birthday
Barbara Storey, a college friend of Ultra Grav and Shadow. She married another college friend and their daughter, Clare, is a genetic variant and one of Ultra Grav’s team, the G Men. Barbara Appears in Running in the Family.
Running in the Family
An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him.
A science experiment gone wrong gifts James with superhuman abilities; but they come at a price, leading him to mentor others like himself. He founds a group of amateur heroes called the Freedom League.
The Freedom League suffers a string of losses and tragedies; it seems doomed to failure; but one of its members, Peter Mayfield, has vowed to form a group of his own. He is determined to keep his vow, despite having lost Rosemary, the one person he wanted by his side to help him.
Lizzie Hopkins is a talented young athlete and dancer. Peter sees her in action and guesses her exceptional abilities are far more than they seem. He offers to train and mentor Lizzie - but her mother is violently opposed to his suggestion.
As soon as she is old enough, Lizzie takes matters into her own hands; she seeks out Peter and his group for herself. She soon makes a discovery which shakes her world at its very foundations. Her search for the truth will resolve many unanswered questions, but it will also stir up old heartbreaks dating back to the Freedom League's early days.
An alien craft approaches Earth. The alien on board is a fugitive, fleeing from an arranged marriage to freedom on our world. She befriends James, a genetics student, and shares her knowledge about the future of the human race with him. 
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