18 October: International Necktie Day

18 October is International Necktie Day, so here are 10 things you might not know about ties:

1. Ties developed from the silk kerchiefs worn by Croatian mercenaries serving in France during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). France picked up on the idea and Louis XIV began wearing a lace cravat around 1646 when he was seven and set the fashion for French nobility. These early ties were called cravats, which came from the French word for Croatian people.

2. People who collect ties are called grabatologists.

3. Neckties are banned in Iran where the government of the Islamic Republic considers neckties to be "decadent, un-Islamic" and viewed as "symbols of the Cross" and the oppressive West." A three piece suit is fine, just not the tie.

4. The four most popular ways of tying a tie are: the four-in-hand knot (the easiest and most common); the Pratt knot or Shelby knot, the half Windsor and the Windsor. According to mathematicians Thomas Fink and Yong Mao of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, there are 85 different ways to tie a tie in up to nine moves.

5. The biggest and largest manufacturer of ties in the world is in Shengzhou, China.

6. Striped ties are different depending on which side of the Atlantic you’re on. British tie stripes run from the top left to the bottom right, while the American ones go from the top right to the bottom left.

7. A tie could save your life: it’s possible to buy a bullet proof tie that will stop a 9mm bullet.

8. A tie could also kill you, if it gets caught in machinery or somebody grabs it. Hence ties are often banned in industrial settings, and police officers and traffic wardens usually wear clip on ties which will just come off if they find themselves in a confrontation. Also, ties don’t get washed as often as other items of clothing so they’re banned in British hospitals since 2007, because they could be harbouring germs.

9. To make a silk tie you need a silk thread that is 245,000 feet long. That’s about 100 Silkworm cocoons.

10. The world’s most expensive tie was made by an Indian designer, Satya Paul, for the Mumbai fashion show in 2004. The cost of the tie was $220,000 and was made of pure silk and 261 Diamonds.

Character birthday

Nightingale, aka Gail Knight, healer with Combat Team Delta. Gail was the only child of a Baptist minister, and led a sheltered life until she left school. A sensitive child, she would rescue injured animals and birds and nurse them back to health. She was very good at this, unbeknown to anyone, thanks to a genetic variant healing power which operates automatically within a few feet radius of her.

When she went to nursing school in London, her mother succumbed to a cancer which had been held in check by Gail's healing power. She had few friends among her classmates. Her mother's death and loneliness made it hard for her to apply herself to study and while she was excellent at the practical side of nursing, failed all the exams.

She took a job as an orderly on a cancer ward. Patients in the ward had a much higher than average recovery rate, thanks to Gail's presence, even though she was doing no nursing.

The high remission rate of this ward became the subject of a study in which the Freedom League's Neutraliser was taking part. She quickly spotted the reason. Now aware of her ability, Gail remained in her job until the hospital closed down.

After this, she joined Combat Team Delta as their healer.