21 August: People called Joanna

In Poland, today is the name day for people called Joanna.

Joanna is a feminine given name deriving from Hebrew, meaning 'God is gracious'. 10 famous Joannas:

Joanna of Castille

1. Saint Joanna: The earliest recorded occurrence of the name, in Luke 8:3. "Joanna the wife of Chuza," was an associate of Mary Magdalene. She brought myrrh to Christ's sepulchre and helped discover the empty tomb.

2. Joanna May: title character in The Cloning of Joanna May, a science fiction novel by Fay Weldon.

3. Joanna of Navarre: consort of King Henry IV of England.

4. Dame Joanna Lumley: British actress, presenter, known for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous.

5. Joanna Eberhart: the protagonist of The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin.

6. Joanna of Castile: queen regnant of Castile, known as Joanna the Mad. Queen of Castile from 1504 and Queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was married by arrangement to Philip the Handsome, Archduke of Austria.

7. Joanna Trollope: English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel Parson Harding's Daughter won the 1980 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

8. Joanna Yeates: English landscape architect and victim in a high-profile 2010 murder case.

9. Joanna Beth "Jo" Harvelle: a hunter on Supernatural.

10. Joanna Going: American actress known for the television series Kingdom, House of Cards, Mad Men and the movie Wyatt Earp.

Character birthday

Sonik, aka Ann Rumbelowe. Former singer with the genetic variant ability to manipulate sound waves, which among other things, enables her to fly. The power first manifested at a gig when, unable to control her voice, she caused several of the audience to pass out. Depressed at what she saw as the end of her career, she was approached by the Greenroom Society, an organisation of villains in showbusiness. She refused them, so they kidnapped her. She was rescued by the G-Men and joined them. Her story is told in the short story Sound of Variance in Settling the Score.

Settling the Score

Another collection of short stories, even more murder and mayhem with carol singers, an orchestra out for revenge, a sinister magic stone and a haunted mansion.

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