1 April: Quotes about fools

Happy April Fools Day! 10 quotes about fools:

1. The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so dull of doubts. Bertrand Russell

2. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Alexander Pope

3. He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. Chinese saying

4. Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. Abraham Lincoln

5. The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes. Winston Churchill

6. I have great faith in fools; self-confidence, my friends call it. Edgar Allen Poe

7. The Gods do not protect fools. Fools are protected by more capable fools. Larry Niven

8. It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak. Neil Gaiman

9. If it is ones lot to be cast among fools, one must learn foolishness. Alexandre Dumas

10. Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. Mark Twain

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

31 March: Red Rum

On this date in 1978 the racehorse Red Rum retired from competition. 10 things you might not know about Red Rum.

1. His name comes from the names of his parents. His dam was Mared and his sire Quorum.

2. He was born on 3 May 1965 at Rossenarra Stud in Kells, County Kilkenny. His dam’s owner, Martyn McEnery, had taken her to Balreask Stud, near Dublin airport and paid £251.12s for the stud fee and Mared’s board for two weeks.

3. His first ever race was at Aintree, at the Grand National meeting, though not in the big race itself. The result was a dead heat with a filly also bred at Rossenarra Stud. It was on this day that he first came to the attention of Donald “Ginger” McCain, who would later become Red Rum’s owner and trainer, although the first time the horse came up for sale, he didn’t bid as Red Rum was at that time being touted as a sprinter and McCain’s speciality was steeplechasers.

4. McCain was a second hand car dealer who trained horses from stables behind his car showroom in Birkdale. He got engaged to his wife Beryl on Grand National day and married her on Grand National Day two years later. Hence they were always at the National, celebrating their anniversary. His lifelong dream was to train a National winner. He was, as he’d say, always on the lookout for “one good horse”. McCain eventually bought Red Rum in 1972 on behalf of a businessman called Noel Le Mare whose lifelong ambition was to own a Grand National Winner. Le Mare paid 6,000 guineas for the Horse.

5. There was a problem, however. When they got Red Rum home, it looked like, as a car dealer might say, they’d been sold a lemon; for Red Rum was lame. Le Mare had already commented that Red Rum backwards spelled “murder” and that had to be a bad sign. It turned out the horse had pedolostisis, a debilitating and thought to be incurable bone disease, the equine equivalent of arthritis and bone spurs. However, there was one cure and that was training on a beach and in the sea. McCain knew this, having seen working horses recover from it after working on the beach. He was also the only trainer in England who exercised his horses on a beach. As it happened, Red Rum loved the sea and would go in up to his chest any chance he got – and it did the trick. His lameness disappeared.

6. Comedian Lee Mack was a stable boy before he became famous, and the horse on which he took his first riding lesson was Red Rum.

7. Red Rum is the only horse to win both the Aintree Grand National and the Scottish Grand National in the same season in 1974. That said, Aintree seemed to be Red Rum’s favourite course where he gave his best performances, often doing less well at other venues.

8. Red Rum won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, finishing second in 1975 and 1976. He was all set to give it another go in 1978, but the day before the race it was discovered he had a hairline fracture which could have led to collapse of the bone if he’d taken part in the race. So he was retired, although he would return to Aintree as a celebrity horse and lead the opening parade after that. In retirement, he earned more from merchandise, opening supermarkets, a roller coaster and switching on the Blackpool Illuminations, than he’d ever won in prize money. Since he was a gelding, his owners missed out on another potential goldmine they could have earned from stud fees.

9. Red Rum lived to the grand old age (for a horse) of 30. The McCains kept him at their country home in Cheshire until he died on 18 October 1995. He was buried beside the winning post at Aintree, where his epitaph reads “Respect this place, This hallowed ground; A legend here, His rest has found; His feet would fly, Our spirits soar; He earned our love, For evermore.” There is also a statue of him at Aintree.

10. A Merseyrail train and a fire engine in Southport were named after him.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

30 March: 89

Today is the 89^th day of the year. Here are 10 fun facts about the number 89.

1. If all the elements in the Periodic Table were placed in alphabetical order, at the top of the list would be Actinium (Ac) which has the atomic number 89.

2. Hellin's law is an empirical observation (before fertility treatments were commonplace) that Twins occur once in 89 births, triplets once per 89 twin births, and quadruplets once per 89 triplet births, and so on.

3. The height of the pedestal under the Statue of Liberty is 89'.

4. The longest verse in the KJV Bible is Esther 8:9 with 89 plus one words.

5. The Michaelmas daisy usually has 89 petals. It is the largest naturally occurring Fibonacci number in flowers.

6. In Rugby, an "89" or eight-nine move follows a scrum, in which the number 8 catches the ball and transfers it to number 9 (scrum half).

7. The pattern on the underside of the wing of the butterfly Diaethria neglecta resembles the number 89.

8. 89 Julia is a large asteroid discovered by French astronomer Édouard Stephan in 1866. It is believed to be named after Saint Julia of Corsica.

9. London bus route 89 runs from Lewisham Station to Forest Road / Slade Green Station.

10. In numerology, 89 energy resonates with building things, generally with a humanitarian objective, such as large structures that benefit society and last a long time. People under the influence of the number are efficient and skilled managers.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

29 March: John Tyler

This date in 1790 was the birthdate of the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler. Ten facts about him:

1. He was the first vice president to become president without an election, on the death of his predecessor William H Harrison in 1841. The US Constitution wasn’t clear about what should happen if a president died in office. Some, like John Quincy Adams believed the vice president should be an acting president, but Tyler declared that he was president and nobody was able to challenge it successfully. His opponents referred to him as “His accidency”.

2. Tyler fathered more children than any other American president. He married his first wife, Letitia Christian, on his 23rd birthday in 1813 and they had eight. Letitia died of a stroke in September 1842 and in 1844 he married Julia Gardiner and had seven more with her. Julia was 30 years his junior and five years younger than his eldest daughter, who wasn’t well pleased about the marriage. There’s speculation that he could have fathered even more with his slaves and then sold the babies. Hence there are a number of African American families today who claim to be his descendants although none of them have been able to prove it.

3. He claimed to be against slavery, but he’d grown up on a plantation and kept slaves himself, never freeing any of them. He believed it was up to individual states to decide whether slavery should be legal, not the federal government. We don’t know how well he treated his slaves, but historians surmise he treated them well and wasn’t violent towards them.

4. Tyler studied law with his father, gaining admission to the bar in 1809. He was only 19 at the time, and therefore too young to be eligible, but the admitting judge didn’t ask his age.

5. His presidency was somewhat turbulent. He’d defected from the Democrats to run with Harrison as a Whig, but when he became president, the Whigs decided they didn’t trust him and threw him out. For the remainder of his presidency, Tyler was, as he himself said, a man “without a party.” He was the only American president whose party expelled him while he was president.

6. He was also the only president to have had virtually all of his cabinet resign in protest over his veto of a tariff bill; all but his Secretary of State, Daniel Webster, resigned in protest.

7. He was influential in Texas’s journey to statehood. Though the Senate refused to ratify a treaty which would have made Texas statehood possible, Tyler did manage to get them to agree to an annexation bill which he signed three days before he left office.

8. In 1844 he entered the election, but since the Whigs had thrown him out and the Democrats didn’t support him either, he entered as a member of his own party, made up of people loyal to him. His candidacy attracted little support and in August 1844 he withdrew and the winner of that election was James K. Polk.

9. Tyler retired to a Virginia plantation which was called Walnut Grove, but Tyler renamed it Sherwood Forest because he saw himself as being outlawed by the Whig party and therefore identified with Robin Hood.

10. He died of a stroke in 1862 at the age of 71. Tyler's death was the only one in presidential history not to be officially recognised in Washington, because of his allegiance to the Confederate States. Confederate President Jefferson Davis organised a grand funeral even though Tyler had asked for a simple one. His coffin was draped with a Confederate flag, making him the only U.S. president ever buried under a flag not of the United States.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

28 March: Radio Caroline

Radio Caroline Began broadcasting on this date in 1964. 10 things you might not know about Radio Caroline.

1. The station was born at a time when pop music got very little air time on BBC Radio. Young people wanting to listen to pop Music on the radio could only do so for about an hour a week, as The BBC catered mainly to older audiences.

2. It was founded by a musician and manager from Ireland, called Ronan O'Rahilly, who had applied to the BBC to get them to play a record by one of his contracted artists, one Georgie Fame, and been turned down.

3. O'Rahilly obtained a former Danish passenger ferry called Fredericia which he took to the Irish port of Greenore to be fitted out as a radio ship. She was then renamed MV Caroline and her port of registry changed to Panama. She was the first of a number of ships used to broadcast the station. Others were used as a result of mergers with other offshore stations or replacements for ships that were wrecked or seized. Other vessels included Mi Amigo and Ross Revenge. The latter was a former fishing trawler which had (91 m) high mast, the tallest on any ship in the world.

4. Why Caroline? We don’t know for sure, but there are three different theories. One was that O'Rahilly was inspired by a picture he’d seen of Caroline Kennedy, playing with her brother, John F. Kennedy Jr., in the Oval Office. Another theory is that it was named after someone O'Rahilly knew, probably Caroline Maudling, daughter of the British government minister Reginald Maudling. The third theory is that it wasn’t named for a real person at all, but a concept of a target audience. For a time, Radio Caroline shared an office with a music magazine, Queen, whose target audience according to its editor was "a twenty something, non intellectual who had left school at 16, and was a ‘good time’ girl called Caroline." Which, it was decided, was also the target audience for the radio station.

5. Some big names in the broadcasting world started their careers on Radio Caroline. They include Tony Blackburn, Simon Dee, Tony Prince, Spangles Muldoon, Johnnie Walker, Dave Lee Travis, Tommy Vance and Emperor Rosko. For one weekend in 1965 the regular DJs were joined by a singer called Sylvan Whittingham, who visited to promote her new single and then couldn’t leave due to a storm. She spent the time mucking in and helping to present programmes and create jingles.

6. In 1967, the UK Government enacted the Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 which essentially meant companies weren’t allowed to advertise on it, which caused serious financial problems and several offshore stations, for want of a better word, went under. Caroline, however, simply moved to Dutch waters, out of the law’s jurisdiction. They stayed there until 1974, when the Netherlands enacted a similar law, at which point they moved to Spain.

7. The first programme was pre recorded and presented by Chris Moore. The opening show on the Ross Revenge was presented by Tom Anderson, who had been the one to broadcast the final goodbye from the sinking Mi Amigo in 1980.

8. There was once a murder associated with the station. In 1965, Caroline was in negotiations to take over another station, Radio City, which broadcast from a Second World War marine fort called Shivering Sands Army Fort, off the Kent coast. One Major Oliver Smedley entered into a partnership with Radio City's owner, Reginald Calvert, and had a more powerful transmitter installed on the fort. This transmitter didn’t work. Calvert didn’t pay for it and Smedley withdrew from the deal. Smedley later took a bunch of workmen to the fort to repossess the transmitter as it would still have useful parts. Calvert wasn’t happy about that and showed up at Smedley’s house asking for the transmitter back. There was a fight which ended with Calvert being shot dead. Smedley was charged with Calvert's murder, later reduced to a charge of manslaughter. The jury acquitted him.

9. As well as pop music, Radio Caroline used to broadcast shows by American Evangelists, who would pay handsomely for late night slots, perhaps hoping to reach young pop fans. This helped make ends meet during the time when advertising was outlawed.

10. Radio Caroline still exists today, but it’s not broadcast from a ship these days. The station now broadcasts on 648 AM across much of England and DAB radio in certain areas, and you can also listen to it 24 hours a day on The Internet.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

27 March: Raymond Name Day

Today is the name day for people called Raymond. Raymond is a male given name of Germanic origin, meaning counsel and protection. It is frequently shortened to Ray. 10 famous Raymonds:

1. Ray Bolger: actor who played the Scarecrow in Wizard of Oz.

2. Saint Raymond of Penyafort patron of canon lawyers and of all lawyers in Spain.

3. Ray Bradbury: American science fiction and fantasy author best known for his novel Fahrenheit 451.

4. Raymond Reddington: main character in the TV series The Blacklist.

5. Raymond Burr: Canadian actor who portrayed the title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside.

6. Ray Charles (pictured): American singer, songwriter and pianist.

7. Ray Park: British actor, martial artist and stuntman best known for as Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

8. Raymond Briggs: English illustrator, cartoonist, graphic novelist, and author best known for The Snowman and Fungus the Bogeyman.

9. Ray Romano: actor who played Ray Barone in Everybody loves Raymond.

10. Raymond E. Feist: American fantasy writer.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

26 March: Robert Frost

Robert Frost, the American poet, was born on this date in 1874. Here are 10 facts about him.

1. He was born in San Francisco; both his parents were teachers. He was named after Confederate General Robert E Lee, a hero of his father’s.

2. Frost’s father died of tuberculosis when he was 11 years old, leaving them with just eight dollars. Hence the family moved to Massachusetts to live with his grandparents.

3. Frost had two unsuccessful attempts at getting a college degree. He went to Dartmouth College but only lasted two months before dropping out, saying, "I wasn't suited for that place." He tried again at Harvard, but by this time he had a wife and child and dropped out to support them. Harvard bestowed an honorary degree on him in 1937.

4. His wife’s name was Elinor Miriam White and they were childhood sweethearts, having met at school. In fact, they shared the title of class valedictorian when they graduated in 1892. He proposed to her after he sold his first poem (My Butterfly, to the New York Independent newspaper in 1894, for which he got paid $15 which at the time was a substantial sum, about twice the weekly salary he earned as a teacher) but she insisted on waiting until she finished college. His poem, The Subverted Flower, was inspired by her.

5. His most famous poem, The Road Not Taken, was actually written as a bit of a joke. Frost used to go hiking with a friend, Edward Thomas. Thomas was often indecisive about which way to go, would spend a lot of time deliberating and then regretting that he’d not chosen the other route.

6. Another of his poems is called Fire and Ice, and this one was an inspiration to JRR Martin who admits the poem was an influence and that he lifted the title for his book A Song of Ice and Fire. Martin said, "Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardour and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is … you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.” Indeed.

7. John F Kennedy was also a fan, which led to Frost becoming the first poet to read at a presidential inauguration. The poem he used at the event was not the one he’d intended to read. He’d written one called Dedication and had it typed out, but the sun was so bright he couldn’t read the words because of the glare, so ended up reciting The Gift Outright because he knew it by heart.

8. He is the only poet to win the Pulitzer Prize four times. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature 31 times.

9. As well as poetry, he wrote a few plays including A Way Out, and The Cow's in the Corn: A One Act Irish Play in Rhyme.

10. He died in 1963 at the age of 88. The inscription on his tombstone is “I had a lover’s quarrel with the world,” which is the last line of his poem The Lesson for Today.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

25 March: Béla Bartók

This date in 1881 was the birthdate of Béla Bartók, a Hungarian composer known for composing Hungarian dances. 10 facts about him.

1. Béla Bartók was born in Nagyszentmiklós, which was in Hungary at the time but is now part of Romania. His father was descended from a noble family and worked as Director of an Agricultural School. His mother was from Slovakia. He had a sister whose name was Erzsébet.

2. His parents were both amateur musicians and Bartók’s mother began teaching him to play the Piano when he was five. At nine, he started composing.

3. His first public performance was when he was 11. One of the pieces he played at it was his one of his own compositions called The Course of the Danube. His performance attracted the attention of László Erkel, who took him on as a student.

4. He earned a place at the prestigious Vienna Conservatoire when he was 17, but being a Hungarian nationalist he chose to study piano and composition at the Budapest Academy of Music instead. He graduated in 1903, and began teaching piano there himself.

5. He was married twice. His first wife was Márta Ziegler with whom he had a son, Béla Bartók III. They divorced in 1923 and the following year Bartók he married Ditta Pásztory, a piano student, and had another son, Péter.

6. While he is famous for folk music inspired compositions, he also wrote one opera, Bluebeard's Castle in 1911.

7. He was strongly against the Nazis and Hungary's alliance with Germany. He refused to perform in Germany after 1933, and eventually left Europe altogether to escape the Nazis. He went to America, settled in New York and taught at Columbia University.

8. His passion was ethnomusicological research. He collected folk tunes from Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Yugoslavia, Turkey and North Africa. When he retired from teaching he devoted much of his time to this pursuit.

9. Bartók died in New York in 1945, at the age of 64, from complications of leukaemia. Only ten people attended his funeral, including his wife and two sons. He was buried in New York although in 1988 his sons had his remains moved and reburied in Hungary in 1988.

10. At the time of his death, Bartók left some unfinished works which were completed by one of his students, Tibor Serly.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

24 March: William Morris Quotes

Born on this date in 1834 was William Morris, architect, poet, artist, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement. 10 things he said:

1. Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.

2. The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.

3. I am going your way, so let us go hand in hand. You help me and I'll help you. We shall not be here very long ... so let us help one another while we may.

4. There is no excuse for doing anything which is not strikingly beautiful.

5. No pattern should be without some sort of meaning.

6. The past is not dead, it is living in us, and will be alive in the future which we are now helping to make.

7. I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few.

8. History has remembered the kings and warriors, because they destroyed; art has remembered the people, because they created.

9. No man is good enough to be another's master.

10. If a chap can't compose an epic poem while he's weaving tapestry, he had better shut up, he'll never do any good at all.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

23 March: 82

Today is day 82 of 2026. Here are some fun facts about the number 82.

1. In Roman numerals, 82 is LXXXII

2. +82 is the international calling code for South Korea.

3. 82 Alkmene is a main-belt asteroid discovered by R. Luther in 1864 and named after Alcmene, the mother of Herakles in Greek mythology.

4. 82 is the second studio album by the Kenyan house/funk trio Just a Band, released in 2009.

5. It’s the atomic number of Lead.

6. The first verse of Psalm 82 is "God presides in the heavenly council; in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision."

7. The A82 is a major road in Scotland that runs from Glasgow to Inverness via Fort William.

8. The Tatra 82 was a heavy-duty car model made by Czech manufacturer Tatra between 1935 and 1938. It was mainly used for military cargo and personnel.

9. In binary, 82 is 1010010.

10. In numerology 82 is an independent and pragmatic energy which gets things done. It may prefer to pursue its own goals without being hindered by others, but if needed it will assemble a team to implement the project. 82 is an effective leader but can lack empathy towards team members.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

22 March: Anthony Van Dyck

This date in 1599 was the birthdate of Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish artist. Here are 10 things you might not know:

1. Born in Antwerp, he was the seventh of twelve children. His father was a silk merchant and his mother was a skilled embroiderer.

2. His talent as an artist emerged when he was very young. He was an apprentice to Hendrik van Balen at ten. He had his own studio when he was a teenager and by 19 he was a master painter in the esteemed Antwerp Guild of St Luke.

3. He gave up his studio when he met Peter Paul Rubens, in order to become his assistant and learn from him. Rubens referred to Van Dyck as the best of his students.

4. He was a success throughout Europe, spending time in Italy and eventually settling in England. In his time spelling wasn’t standardised, so there were multiple variations of his name. Anthony van Dijk, Antonio Wandik, Anttonio Vandique, Bandeique, and Anthonius van Dyck were among the variations that existed.

5. In terms of his love life, he apparently put himself about a bit. He had many lovers and at least one long term mistress called Margaret Lemon. She was said to be jealous and possessive, but neither of them was faithful to the other. He probably had many illegitimate children, and it’s speculated that he left Antwerp to escape the consequences of getting some of his lovers pregnant. He only ever acknowledged one illegitimate child, a daughter, Maria-Theresia, shortly before he died.

6. He eventually married at the age of 41. His wife’s name was Mary Ruthven. By this time his health was declining. He died at the age of 42, just a week after the birth of his only legitimate child, Justiniana.

7. His portraits were famous for his depiction of hands, Eyes and suits of armour. He developed a style of full length portraits.

8. In case you’re wondering why he’s Sir Anthony Van Dyck, that came about after he became the principal court painter for King Charles I. Charles liked his work so much that he knighted him and also provided him with a house and a pension of £200 which would be five figures in today’s money.

9. Van Dyck was buried in St Paul's Cathedral despite being a Catholic. Unfortunately, his grave was destroyed in the Great fire of London although there is a memorial in the new cathedral to him and others whose graves met the same fate, which was installed in 1913.

10. Van Dyck was an influence to several famous painters who came after him, including Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

21 March: Modest P Mussorgsky

This date in 1839 was the birthdate of the Russian composer Modest P Mussorgsky. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Karevo, 250 miles south of St Petersburg, to an aristocratic family which was descended from Rurik, a legendary founder of the Russian state.

2. The family name was derived from another ancestor who had had the nickname "Musorga," which meant, appropriately enough, 'Music maker.' However, the name was also quite similar to the Russian word for rubbish, so from 1863 they altered the name so it sounded less like that.

3. He started learning Piano at six and by the age of nine could play complicated pieces.

4. A career in music wasn’t his family’s first choice for him, though. They wanted him to join the military so at the age of 13 he was enrolled in the Cadet School of the Guards. He was, however, allowed to continue playing the piano. In due course he graduated and got a commission with the Preobrazhensky Regiment, the top regiment of the Imperial Guard.

5. Here, he met the composer Aleksandr Borodin, and also became friends with César Cui, Mily Balakirev, and Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. They became known as “The Five”, a group of influential Russian composers. Modest eventually resigned his commission in order to concentrate on music.

6. His mission in music was to create music which sounded Russian, rather than following the usual Western styles. Some of his most famous works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral piece Night on Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

7. He was 29 when he wrote Boris Godunov, using as reference Pushkin's play and Karamzin's history. However, the opera was rejected by the theatre at first because it had no principle female role. Mussorgsky revised it, making the changes the theatre had asked for and more. The new version was accepted.

8. His family lost much of their land because of the emancipation of the serfs. Mussorgsky had to spend time trying to help his family, which made it hard to find time to compose. He had a day job as a civil servant to support himself but it wasn’t a very secure job and at times, he didn’t get paid.

9. He was an alcoholic and went into decline when he and his composer friends began to go their separate ways. He suffered from seizures and delirium tremens and was admitted to a hospital. He seemed to improve at first and had a portrait painted by Ilya Repin, which depicted him with a drink induced red nose. However, Mussorgsky died a week after his 42nd birthday.

10. The progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer performed and recorded an arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in 1971, featuring lyrics by Greg Lake, and released it as a live album.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

20 March: Big Bird

20 March is the birthday of the Sesame Street character, Big Bird. Here are 10 facts about him:

1. He’s 8 feet 2 inches tall (249cm), is bright Yellow and lives in a nest behind 123 Sesame Street, next to Oscar the Grouch's trash can.

2. It’s up for debate what species of bird he is. His colour suggests that he’s a Canary, and he’s said himself that this is the case and that his scientific name is Bigus canarius. That said, he’s also described himself as a lark, and when asked if he was a Cassowary said that he was a golden condor. Others have suggested he might be an ibis, or a crane (or a unique species evolved from a crane). Oscar the Grouch calls him a Turkey but that is probably more of an insult than fact. Big Bird’s grandfather, however, is said to be an Emu.

3. While Big Bird may not be a turkey, his suit is made from turkey feathers which have been died yellow and glued on About 6,000 are in use at any given time.

4. The Big Bird suit weighs ten pounds, and his head alone weighs four pounds. Operating the suit is not for the faint hearted. The person inside gets very hot and can’t see where they are going, so they use a monitor strapped to the chest in order to navigate. The operator’s right arm is raised to operate the head, using the right hand to operate the mouth while the little finger operates the eyes.

5. Big Bird’s operator from 1969 to 2018 was Caroll Spinney. When he retired at the age of 84, the role went to his long time understudy Matt Vogel. Here is a classic case of nominative determination as Vogel is German for “bird”.

6. As for family, Big Bird was raised by his grandmother and an aunt called Nani Bird. He has a sister called Esmerelda, an Uncle Slim (a cowbird from Wyoming) and numerous cousins including Cousin Bubba from the North Pole, Floyd, a surfer bird from Los Angeles. He also has a Teddy bear called Radar.

7. Big Bird’s suit was designed by Jim Henson and built by Kermit Love. It was based on a seven foot tall dragon character than Henson designed for another project.

8. While Big Bird has been around for well over 50 years, he is portrayed as a perpetual six year old.

9. Big Bird can Roller skate, Ice skate, Dance, Swim, Sing, write poetry, draw, and ride a unicycle.

10. He almost went into space. In the 1980s when NASA was considering sending an ordinary citizen into space on the Space Shuttle, Carroll Spinney was invited to be that person, going into orbit in Big Bird persona. Spinney was hesitant at first, but eventually decided he was up for it, only to find that the Big Bird costume wouldn’t fit in the confined space. Which turned out to be a lucky escape, as the mission in question was the January 1986 Challenger one that exploded soon after launch, killing everyone on board. Schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe was ultimately chosen as the ordinary citizen instead.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/

19 March: Avon Representative Day

Today is Avon Representative Day, so here are 10 facts about Avon.

1. There are 6.4 million Avon representatives throughout the world, so a lot of people are celebrating today!

2. Avon was founded by David H. McConnell, originally a door to door salesman selling books, based in New York. He hit on the idea of selling perfumes that way instead. He set up an office for his new company at 126 Chambers Street, Manhattan, New York in 1886.

3. It was originally known as the "California Perfume Company," because McConnell had a business partner who lived there and suggested it because many Flowers grow there.

4. The name Avon was not adopted until 1939.

5. With sales of $9.1 billion worldwide, Avon is the fourteenth-largest beauty company.

6. McConnell employed women as salespeople, believing that women should have some financial independence. While we’ve all heard the term “Avon Lady”, there are Avon gentlemen, too nowadays.

7. In 1989, Avon announced that it would no longer test its products on animals. However, some of its products are required to be tested in other countries where animals are still used. Hence People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has not included Avon on their cruelty-free list.

8. As well as selling cosmetics and personal care products, Avon is involved in charity work, raising money for good causes like breast cancer research.

9. They were the first mass-market company to stabilise Vitamin C.

10. At time of writing the company is based in London and the CEO is Kristof Neirynck, appointed in 2023.

I also write novels and short stories. If you like superheroes, psychic detectives and general weirdness you might enjoy them. 

Check out my works of fiction at https://juliehowlinauthor.wordpress.com/my-books/