1 March: C

In Australia, this date in 1975 was C Day. On this day, Australia moved to colour television. 10 facts about the letter C:

1. C evolved from the same letter as G, the Semitic letter gimel. This in turn may have derived from an Egyptian hieroglyph for a staff sling, or possibly a Camel, although Barry B. Powell, a specialist in the history of writing, doesn’t think so. He says: "It is hard to imagine how gimel = "camel" can be derived from the picture of a camel (it may show his hump, or his head and neck!)".

2. C is the twelfth most frequently used letter in the English Language with a frequency of about 2.8% in words.

3. It’s the chemical symbol for carbon, a chemical element with the atomic number 6. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table and makes up about 0.025 percent of Earth's crust.

4. In the hexadecimal (base 16) numbering system, C corresponds to the number 12 in decimal (base 10). In the Roman numeral system, C represents 100.

5. C is a general-purpose computer programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie and is widely used and influential.

6. The musical note C is commonly pitched around 261.63 Hz.

7. "C" Is for Corpse is the third novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet mystery" series, published in 1986.

8. It is used to represent various units of measurement, including °C – degrees Celsius; Carat, the measurement of purity of precious stones and metals; Coulomb, a unit for electric charge defined as the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second; Cup, a common measurement in American recipes.

9. The speed of light in vacuum is commonly denoted as c. It’s a universal physical constant: 299,792,458 metres per second.

10. In the NATO Phonetic Alphabet, C is “Charlie,” and in Morse Code it is ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

28 February: Pretty in Pink

On this date in 1986, Pretty in Pink premièred. Pretty in Pink is a 1986 American teen romantic comedy-drama film commonly identified as a "Brat Pack" film.

1. It was directed by Howard Deutch, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, and written by John Hughes. He wrote the story on the urging of Molly Ringwald, who asked him to write a film based on her favourite song of the time, Pretty in Pink by The Psychedelic Furs.

2. Andrew McCarthy wasn’t the first choice to play Blane. Charlie Sheen was considered, and James Spader, who plays Steff, was originally offered the role. He chose to play Steff because he thought playing the villain was more fun. It was Molly Ringwald who persuaded the producers to cast McCarthy. Anthony Michael Hall turned down the role of Duckie because he didn't want to be typecast. Ringwald wanted Robert Downey Jr. to be cast but agreed that Jon Cryer made sense in light of the film's revised ending.

3. Several others were considered for the role of Andie, including Jennifer Beals, Jodie Foster, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tatum O'Neal. Anjelica Huston was considered for the role of Iona, as was Tracey Ullman, but she hadn’t quite perfected her American accent at that point.

4. Pretty in Pink was filmed at same Los Angeles high school where Grease (1978) was made.

5. The ending was originally very different, with Andie ending up with Duckie and not Blane. However, test audiences booed this ending, so John Hughes re-wrote it so that Andie and Blane get together instead. The new ending was shot several months later. When called back to film the new scene, Andrew McCarthy had lost weight and cut his hair for a stage role, so he was fitted with a wig. Jon Cryer has said he was shocked that audiences didn’t like the original ending as the plot seemed to be leading to Andie and Duckie getting together all the way through. Still, it did seem as if there was a happy ending for his character, too: another girl at the prom shows interest in him. She is played by Kristy Swanson in her first theatrical film role and is credited as "Duckette".

6. When Andie and Duckie are in the car driving home, Duckie is changing radio channels. The song If You Leave by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark comes on; Duckie says he hates the song and re-tunes. This is the same song that plays at the end of the film, when Andie chooses Blane over Duckie at the prom. This. It’s said, could be seen as foreshadowing what would happen at the end; although surely it was filmed before they changed the ending?

7. Andie's car is a 1958 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Coupe.

8. Jon Cryer didn’t get on very well with McCarthy and Ringwald on set. He has said that they found him irritating because he was outgoing and they were reserved.

9. Molly Ringwald hated the Pink prom dress she had to wear.

10. Annie Potts' character answers the phone at the record store, "Trax, what do you want?" Her character in Ghostbusters (1984) answers the phone at headquarters, "Ghostbusters, what do you want?"

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

27 February: 58

On the 58^th day of the year, 10 fun facts about the number 58.

1. The first seven prime numbers (2+3+5+7+11+13+17) add up to 58.

2. There are 58 usable cells on a Hexxagon game board.

3. 58 was an American rock band, a side project involving Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and producer Dave Darling. The band name originates from the fact that both Sixx and Darling were born in 1958.

4. 58 Concordia is a fairly large main-belt Asteroid discovered by German astronomer Robert Luther in 1860. At Luther's request, it was named after Concordia, the Roman goddess of harmony.

5. 58 is a 2021 film written and directed by Erik Junnola, who also stars in it with Hallea Jones and Stephen Bogaert. The plot concerns an older man named Christopher Blair, who writes a movie about his past as a greaser in 1958 and the adventure he and his friends have when a close friend, Joey Odell, goes missing.

6. It’s the atomic number of Cerium, a chemical element with the symbol Ce. It is a soft, ductile, silvery-white metal that tarnishes when exposed to air.

7. London bus number 58 runs from East Ham/Central Park to Walthamstow Bus Station.

8. In Central American cultures such as the Aztecs, 58 symbolises bad luck because those peoples are said to have committed 58 original sins.

9. No.58 is a Women’s Clothing Store based in Wexford, Ireland, which offers unique yet affordable clothing and statement pieces for any occasion. Their website states that they can ship to anywhere in the UK and Europe.

10. In numerology, a person influenced by this number is a practical, hard worker who plans for the future. They like to have their facts straight before beginning a project and keeps resources in reserve. It is conservative and protective, with a strong sense of dignity and worthiness. Will willingly work long and hard to build what they deem to be important.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

26 February: Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was born on this date in 1932. 10 things you might not know about Johnny Cash:

1. Johnny Cash was born in Kingsland, Arkansas and was named simply “J.R.” because his parents couldn’t agree on what to call him. His father, Ray, wanted to name him after himself while his mother Carrie wanted him to have her maiden name, Rivers. They compromised with J.R. And that is what everyone (apart from his father, who called him Shoo-Doo) called him. It’s even the name on his high school diploma. However, when he joined the Air Force, they insisted on him having an actual first name and he chose John, which led to the nickname Johnny.

2. His elder brother died in a tragic accident in the high school’s wood shop. The safety guard on the woodcutting machine had been removed and a larger blade put in, and the unsuspecting Jack suffered a nasty would to the abdomen, which he didn’t survive. Johnny, aged 12, was devastated. He helped dig his brother’s grave. Later, in an interview in 1995, admitted he thought his brother might have been murdered by a neighbour who was working with Jack at the shop that day and disappeared after the accident.

3. The young Johnny performed in school talent shows, and his mother, who had a musical bent, playing Guitar and Piano, sent him to a vocal coach. The coach, however, refused to teach him. She feared lessons would alter his unique voice and told him, “Don’t let me or anyone change how you sing.”

4. During his time in the Air Force, he spent three years in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, deciphering messages in Morse Code from Radio transmissions he intercepted from Soviet Union aircraft. In this capacity, in 1953, he became the first American to learn that Joseph Stalin had died. He relayed the message to his superiors, who directly informed President Eisenhower.

5. Other significant events in Cash’s career took place during this time. He bought his first guitar; he formed his first band, the Landsberg Barbarians, a play on the name of the military base’s newspaper, the Landsberg Bavarian; and saw a documentary called Inside Folsom Prison, which inspired his song Folsom Prison Blues.

6. He married twice. He met his first wife, Vivian Liberto, during his Air Force training. They had four daughters. However, although the relationship survived his Air Force posting, long separations during his showbiz career proved too much and she divorced him in 1966. By then he was drinking and using drugs, and quite likely being unfaithful. He met his second wife, June Carter, at his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in 1956 and it was love at first sight for both of them. Cash proposed to Carter in front of 7000 people during a show at Canada’s London Ice House in February 1968. They married in Kentucky a few weeks later, and the marriage lasted until June died in 2003.

7. Johnny Cash wrote three books, two of which were autobiographies: Man in Black and Cash: The Autobiography and a novel, Man in White, which was a biopic of St Paul. The novel was moderately successful and received positive reviews from religious periodicals, although outside the religious community it was less well received. Kirkus Reviews wrote that it “barely functions as a novel” and is “strictly for those with the patience of Job, and then some.” His choice of subject matter reflected the fact that he was a devout Christian for most of his life. He was a close friend of Billy Graham, and became an ordained minister in the 1970s. He presided at the wedding of one of his daughters, which may have been the only time he led a congregation.

8. Even so, he wasn’t always on the right side of the law, and was arrested seven times, for crimes like drug possession and reckless driving. The most notable occasion was in Starkville, Mississippi, when he got done for being drunk in public after performing at a concert at the university there. Cash protested, claiming he was just picking flowers, but the officers took him to the local jail anyway. Cash probably didn’t endear himself to the local PD as he sent the night screaming and cursing and kicking the cell door until he broke his toe. He was released the next morning, and the ordeal inspired his song Starkville City Jail. Since 2007, Starkville has held an annual Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival, at which a pardon was issued in 2008. “Johnny Cash was arrested in seven places,” festival founder Robbie Ward said, “but he only wrote a song about one of those places.”

9. There are a couple of interesting incidents involving birds. One was a prank that Cash played in Omaha, Nebraska where he was staying in a hotel with his band. The three of them went to a hatchery and bought 500 day-old chicks and set 100 chicks free on each of the five floors of the hotel. The second is that around 1981 he got mauled by an Ostrich. Cash had amassed a menagerie at his home which included a pair of ostriches. Sadly, the female died, refusing to go indoors in winter and dying of cold. The Male, Waldo, reacted badly and one day charged at Cash and kicked him in the stomach. Cash suffered several broken ribs and slashes from Waldo’s talons. Cash was quite embarrassed by the incident and said it “sounded so dumb.” While many would have had Waldo put down, Cash gave him to a zoo where he would receive proper care.

10. He has a species of tarantula named after him. The spiders were discovered in 2016 around California’s Folsom State Prison, the setting for Cash’s legendary live album in 1968, and also they were covered in black hair which reminded arachnologist Chris Hamilton of the “Man in Black”. He named the spiders Aphonopelma johnnycashi.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

25 February: Yes Minister

Yes Minister, the BBC political comedy written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn first aired on this date in 1980. 10 things you might not know:

1. The writers had advisors who worked within the government and many of the stories were based on things which really happened.

2. It was recorded in front of a live audience, something which the principal cast members hated because they often had to pause (sometimes in mid-sentence) to wait for the audience Laughter to die down.

3. Most of the episodes ended with the words, “Yes Minister”, spoken as the answer to a question posed by Minister Jim Hacker. There were only three exceptions to this rule: season one, episode three, The Economy Drive, season one, episode four, Big Brother, and season one, episode six, The Right to Know.

4. The opening titles were drawn by artist and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe and the theme music was by Ronnie Hazlehurst, who based the tune on the chimes of Big Ben.

5. Jim Hacker’s political party is deliberately never revealed. His party emblem is clearly neither Conservative nor Labour, and his party's political colour is White. That said, Lynn later admitted they had always imagined him as a centre-minded Conservative.

6. Lady Appleby, Sir Humphrey's wife, is seen only once, briefly from behind (in an uncredited, non-speaking appearance) in "Big Brother", and her first name is never revealed.

7. The series opens in the wake of a general election in which the incumbent government has been defeated by the opposition party, to which Jim Hacker MP belongs. The Prime Minister offers Hacker the position of Minister of Administrative Affairs, which he accepts. Later, the party has a leadership crisis, and Hacker is unexpectedly made Prime Minister, hence the title of the sequel series, Yes, Prime Minister. Hacker is eventually elevated to the House of Lords as Lord Hacker of Islington.

8. There is a video game of the series, which was released in 1987 for Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum. The player takes on the role of Prime Minister Jim Hacker for one week as he navigates through meetings with Sir Humphrey, Bernard Woolley, and other government officials, making decisions about minor government policies which have an effect on his approval rating.

9. Real politicians liked it, a lot. In a 2006 poll, British MPs voted Yes Minister as the greatest political comedy of all time.

10. One real politician who was a big fan was Margaret Thatcher. In fact, she liked it so much that she wrote a sketch for the show herself with Press Secretary Bernard Ingham. It was recorded for the 1984 National Viewers and Listeners Awards with Mrs Thatcher taking the role of Prime Minister. The sketch featured Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne talking to the Prime Minister about her notion to abolish economists. Eddington and Hawthorne did not want to do it and were pressured into taking part.

See also Yes Minister Quotes

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

24 February: When You Wish Upon a Star

On this date in 1940, Frances Langford, known as the "GI Nightingale", an American armed-forces sweetheart, who entertained troops by frequently touring with Bob Hope, recorded Walt Disney trademark, When You Wish Upon a Star. Here are some facts about the song.

1. When You Wish Upon a Star was written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for the 1940 Disney animated film Pinocchio.

2. The first person to record it was Cliff Edwards, who voiced Jiminy Cricket in the film.

3. Although the movie wasn’t a huge box office success at first, perhaps because distributing it in Europe was problematic thanks to the second world war, critics noticed the music. Not only did Harline and Washington win an Oscar for Best Original Score, When You Wish Upon a Star won best original song, making it the first Disney song to win an Oscar.

4. Harline and Washington knew right away this was a spotlight song that should be given prominence in the film. Disney decided that the song should play over the opening credits, and used as a musical theme throughout the film. When the producers decided to promote Jiminy to the narrator role, using Edwards' recording of the song made sense as the title theme.

5. It has become known as Disney’s unofficial theme song. Not only does it feature in films, documentaries and at Disney theme parks, but Disney Cruise Line ships use the first seven notes of the song as their signal horns.

6. In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, it has become a Christmas song, referring to the Star of Bethlehem.

7. As well as Cliff Edwards and Frances Langford, many artists have covered the song including: Glenn Miller, Rosemary Clooney, Eddie Fisher, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, Mary J. Blige, Barbara Streisand, Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, and Olivia Newton John.

8. The song was covered by John Williams for Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Spielberg called Williams's version "When You Wish Upon a Star meets science fiction".

9. The song is a relatively simple tune, referring to the tradition where a child makes a wish on the first shooting star they see at night. Gene Simmons of KISS, who grew up in Israel, once said in an interview that while he “could barely speak English… I knew the words [to the song] were true.”

10. In 2009, the song was preserved in the National Recording Registry as the Library of Congress deemed the song to be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The original sheet music is kept in the National Museum of American History.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

23 February: 54

Today is day 54 of 2025. 10 fun facts about the number 54:

1. There are 54 countries in Africa.

2. It’s the atomic number of Xenon, a chemical element with the symbol Xe. It is a dense, colourless, odourless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts.

3. 54 is a 1998 American drama film about Studio 54, a New York City nightclub which was open from 1977 until 1981. The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, and Salma Hayek.

4. 54 Alexandra is a carbonaceous Asteroid from the intermediate asteroid belt, discovered by German-French astronomer Hermann Goldschmidt on 10 September 1858, and named after the German explorer Alexander von Humboldt; it was the first asteroid to be named after a male being.

5. If jokers are included, there are 54 Playing cards in a deck.

6. A score of 54 on a par 72 course in Golf is referred to as a perfect round. This score has never been achieved in competition.

7. +54 is the code for international direct dial phone calls to Argentina.

8. 54 is a novel by Wu Ming first published in Italian in 2002. The novel is set in Italy, former Yugoslavia, Britain and the USA during the year 1954.

9. In London, the number 54 Bus runs between Woolwich and Elmers End Interchange.

10. In numerology, 54 tends to follow whim. It has an urge to be adventurous, yet is pragmatic and tries to focus and be reliable. 54 is focused on making life better for people. It has little, if any, judgement of lifestyles, and is generous, creative, tolerant, and compassionate.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

22 February: Kenneth Williams

Kenneth Williams was born on this date in 1926. 10 things you might not know about him.

1. Kenneth Williams was born in King’s Cross, London. His parents, Charles and Louisa, were also both born in London but there was a Welsh heritage going back many generations.

2. Williams got the acting bug when, as a student, his English teacher suggested he try out for a school play.

3. His father was a Methodist and thoroughly disapproved of Kenneth seeking a career in acting.

4. Kenneth attended art school and trained as an engraver. During his service in the second world war, he worked as a map maker. He also got the chance to act in shows to entertain the troops, and put his artistic skills to use by designing the posters for the shows. Later, Who’s Who would list calligraphy as one of his hobbies.

5. His father was a hairdresser, who took his own life in 1962. He drank carbon tetrachloride from a cough mixture bottle after his business failed. The inquest returned a verdict of death by misadventure, but it came to light later that at one point, Kenneth was suspected by Scotland Yard of poisoning his father.

6. Although best known for Carry On films, having starred in 26 of them, Williams actually hated them, at least partly because he didn’t think the cast were paid enough. In his diaries, Williams wrote that he earned more in a St Ivel advert than for any Carry On film. The fact that he didn’t get on with co-star Sid James didn’t help.

7. Williams claimed to be asexual and celibate, and his diaries appear to confirm this. He lived alone all his adult life and had few close companions apart from his mother, and no significant romantic relationships.

8. He was close friends with a gay couple called Tom Waine and Clive Dennis. It’s possible he was attracted to Tom, but they were never intimate. The three of them often went out on the town together.

9. Williams was a regular on the BBC radio panel game Just a Minute from its second season in 1968 until his death. He was also a member of the cast of radio shows with Tony Hancock and Kenneth Horne.

10. He died from an overdose at the age of 62 from an overdose. The coroner recorded an open verdict but opinion is divided as to whether it was accidental or deliberate. On the one hand, the last words he wrote in his journal were ‘ - oh – what’s the bloody point?’ On the other, he’d always bounced back from bouts of depression before, and had not left anything to his mother in his will, presumably as he expected to outlive her.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book

21 February: Celandine

Today is Celandine Day. 10 things you might not know about lesser celandine (Ficaria verna):

1. It belongs to the Buttercup family, and is not related to greater celandine, a member of the poppy family.

2. It has fleshy dark Green, heart-shaped leaves and distinctive flowers with bright Yellow, glossy petals.

3. It flowers from late February to May in the UK and is regarded by many as a harbinger of spring. CS Lewis no doubt did, as he mentioned the plant in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: when Aslan returns and Narnia’s perpetual winter ends, the children notice that the ground is covered in all directions with little yellow celandine flowers. It is also a favourite flower of the protagonist Paul Morel in Sons and Lovers, by DH Lawrence.

4. The plant is poisonous if ingested raw and potentially fatal to grazing animals. However, cooking eliminates the toxicity and it can be eaten as a vegetable or used as medicine. Nicholas Culpepper is said to have treated his daughter for 'scrofula' (or Kings evil) with this plant, and it is a traditional cure for piles, because the knobby tubers of the plant resemble them. Another word for the plant is pilewort. It’s also rich in Vitamin C and therefore good for preventing scurvy.

5. It was once thought that you could use lesser celandine to predict the weather as they close their petals before raindrops.

6. Lesser celandine grows on land that is seasonally wet or flooded, especially in sandy soils, but is not found in permanently waterlogged sites.

7. Lesser celandine is pollinated by bees, small beetles and flies, and caterpillars eat the leaves.

8. William Wordsworth loved them and wrote three poems about them: To the Small Celandine, To the Same Flower, and The Small Celandine. When he died it was proposed that a celandine be carved on his memorial plaque inside St Oswald's Church, Grasmere, but the flower carved thereon is actually a greater celandine.

9. Edward Thomas wrote a poem entitled Celandine. Encountering the flowers in a field, the poet is reminded of a past love, who is now dead. He also remarked on banks of celandines in his early prose work In Pursuit of Spring.

10. In America, lesser celandine is considered an invasive weed and is banned in some states. In the UK it is generally considered a weed, but some horticulturists have recommended them as a good thing to plant at the base of a hedge next to a lawn.

Beta

(Combat Team Series #2)

Steff was abducted by an evil alien race, the Orbs, at fourteen. Used as a weapon for years, he eventually escapes, but his problems are just beginning. How does a man support himself when his only work experience is a paper round and using an Orb bio-integrated gun?

Warlord is an alien soldier who knows little but war. When the centuries-old conflict which ravaged his planet ends, he seeks out another world where his skills are still relevant. There are always wars on Earth, it seems. However, none of Earth's powerful armies want him.

Natalie has always wanted to visit England and sees a chance to do so while using her martial arts skills, but there are sacrifices she must make in order to fulfil her dream. 

Maggie resorted to crime to fund her sister's medical care. She uses her genetic variant abilities to gain access to the rooms of wealthy hotel guests. The Ballards look like rich pickings, but they are not what they seem. When Maggie targets them, little does she know that she is walking into a trap.

Hotel owner Hamilton Lonsdale puts together a combat team to pit against those of other multi-millionaires. He recruits Warlord, Natalie, Maggie and Steff along with a trained gorilla, a probability-altering alien, a stockbroker whose work of art proved to be much more than he'd bargained for, a marketing officer who can create psionic forcefields, a teleporting member of the landed gentry, and a socially awkward fixer. This is Combat Team Beta.

Steff never talks about his time with the Orbs, until he finds a woman who lived through it, too. Steff believes he has finally found happiness, but it is destined to be short-lived. He is left with an unusual legacy which he and Team Beta struggle to comprehend; including why something out there seems determined to destroy it.

Paperback

E book