18th September: Scotland decides

Today's the day that the Scottish people votedto stay in the United Kingdom. Here are 10 things you might not know about Scotland:

1. Edinburgh is the capital, but Glasgow is the largest city. Glasgow was at one time known as "the Second City of the Empire" after London.
2. Edinburgh was the first city in the world to have its own fire brigade and has more listed buildings than anywhere else in the world.
3. Scotland is home to the shortest scheduled flight in the world (one-and-a-half miles from Westray to Papa Westray in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The journey takes 1 minute 14 seconds) and the longest echo in a man made structure (15 seconds, at The Hamilton Mausoleum in South Lanarkshire).
4. It is also home to the world's tallest tree (a grand fir planted beside Loch Fyne, Argyll in the 1870s) and the oldest tree in Europe (the Fortingall Yew, which could be 5,000 years old and there is a local legend that Pontius Pilate was born under it and played under it as a child).
5. The motto of Scotland is Nemo me impune lacessit, or: "No one provokes me with impunity".
6. The national animal of Scotland is fictitious - the Unicorn.
7. There are more people living abroad who can claim Scottish ancestry than there are people in Scotland itself. 5.2 people live in Scotland, whereas 9.2 million Americans say they are of Scottish descent - and then there's 4.7 million in Canada, and 20% of New Zealand's original settlers were Scottish.
8. Although tartan is widely associated with Scotland, between 1746 and 1782, it was illegal to wear tartan there.
9. Although Scotland and England share a monarch at the moment, that wasn't always the case, and there has already been controversy around regnal numbering. Elizabeth I was only queen of England and so when the current queen was crowned, there was a legal action contesting her right to be called Elizabeth II in Scotland. As a result of that, it was agreed that future monarchs will be known by the higher of the two numbers if there is a discrepancy. So if there is a King Henry he will be Henry IX in England and Scotland, even though there has never been a King Henry in Scotland, and a King James would be James XIII, even though England has only had two kings called James. Although if they vote for independence, presumably all this will be irrelevant.
10. Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads in the world. Around 13 per cent of the population has red hair, with 40 per cent carrying the recessive gene.

17th September: Sir Francis Chichester

Sir Francis Chichester, the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, was born today in 1901.

1. From the age of 18 until the end of World War II, he lived in New Zealand and had a property development company.
2. Although best known for his sailing, Chichester's first love was flying. He learned to fly during a visit to England in 1929, qualified as a pilot and decided to fly himself back to New Zealand in his new Gypsy Moth aeroplane, and to try and break the speed record for flying solo to Australia on the way. He did the trip in 41 days, but mechanical problems meant that he failed to beat the record.
3. He was the first person to use off course navigation in an aircraft, using the sun to fix his position. This is not an easy task when flying an aircraft solo - he had to take reading's of the Sun's position using a sextant in a moving aircraft, then do the calculations by hand, while flying the plane at the same time. It worked for him, though, and he was able to navigate around tiny Pacific islands.
4. His success with this method inspired him to try flying around the world. He got as far as Japan before colliding with an overhead cable and forced to give up because of his injuries.
5. In World War II he wanted to join the Royal Air Force, but was turned down due to his age and eyesight. So he joined the Volunteer Reserves as a navigation specialist and instructor. He wrote the navigation manual that allowed the pilots of single-handed fighter aircraft to navigate across Europe and back.
6. One of his hobbies was buying surplus Air Ministry maps, sticking them to card and making jigsaw puzzles out of them.
7. His famous trip around the world in his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV took 226 days, with just one stop, in Sydney.
8. He was knighted in 1967 for "individual achievement and sustained endeavour in the navigation and seamanship of small craft". The sword used by Queen Elizabeth II for the ceremony was the very same one that had been used by Elizabeth I to knight Sir Francis Drake, who was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, although the first Sir Francis had had a crew to help him.
9. Chichester was featured on a UK Postage stamp in the same year, going against the tradition that stated that no-one who was not a member of the Royal Family and was still alive could feature on a stamp.
10. The Dire Straits song, Single Handed Sailor, is a tribute to Sir Francis Chichester.

September 16th: The Mayflower set sail

The Mayflower set sail for the New World on this date in 1620. 10 things about the Mayflower:

1. Nobody knows for sure where the famous ship was built, but it was thought to be Harwich in Essex, because the ship was designated as being "of Harwich" in port records.
2. A designation was needed because Mayflower was actually a very common name for ships in those times. Nobody knows quite why the name was so popular before the pilgrims' voyage, but there were 26 other ships in England with the same name at the time.
3. The Mayflower was built and worked as a cargo ship for many years before her most famous voyage and had carried goods such as wool, wine, hats, hemp, Spanish salt, hops and vinegar. The ship had possibly even been whaling in Greenland.
4. The voyage was supposed to start much earlier than it did. It could be said to have started in July 1620 from Rotherhithe in London, where 65 passengers boarded. From there it sailed to Southampton to start the voyage proper from there in early August, but a second ship, the Speedwell, sprang a leak so they had to turn back to Dartmouth so that the Speedwell could be repaired, and finally set sail after a final stop in Plymouth to stock up with fresh water. It's said that it did make another stop before leaving Britain completely, in Newlyn, Cornwall, because the water from Plymouth was contaminated; the plaque in Newlyn doesn't mention the exact date, and most historical accounts fail to mention it at all.
5. The voyage to America took 66 days, a long time even for those days, because they were mostly sailing against the prevailing wind, which was actually more difficult on the Mayflower because of a 30 foot high "castle" on her stern. The ship's journey back the following spring took less than half the time with the same winds behind her.
6. The original plan was not to go to Massachusetts at all, but to Virginia. Nor were these pilgrims the first colony in the New World. There was already a colony in Virginia, which is why they wanted to go there. However, the ship went seriously off course. This may have been unfavourable winds, or an inept navigator, or a bit of both. It being November by now, the decision was made to land and set up a base to spend the winter.
7. There were 102 passengers and about 30 crew. Two people died on the voyage, but two babies were born (Oceanus Hopkins and Peregrine White).
8. The passengers had to suffer living in the cramped conditions not only for the voyage itself, but during all the delays for repairs etc - up to four months in all. There were no toilets on board (they had to use a bucket) and no way of washing their clothes. The only food they had to eat was salted meat and fish, dry ship’s biscuits, dried Peas and beans, dried fruits, and Cheese, and Beer, the only drink.
9. There were no actual passenger cabins, either - they all had to camp out on the gun deck, which was a mere fifty feet by twenty-five feet with a five foot ceiling. The ship was armed with cannons and ammunition in case of pirates, so it was not the safest place to be.
10. Massachusetts later adopted the mayflower as its state flower.

15th September: Dame Agatha Christie

On this date in 1890 Dame Agatha Christie, murder-mystery author, was born. 10 things you might not know about Agatha Christie:

1. Agatha Christie is the best selling novelist of all time according to the Guinness Book of World Records and she is also the most widely translated one., her books having been translated into 103 languages. Unsurprisingly, the best selling mystery novel ever is one of hers - And then There Were None, which has sold 100 million copies. Yet even Agatha Christie had her share of rejections in the early days. Her first novel, Snow Upon the Desert, was rejected by several publishers and agents, as was her first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, until eventually one accepted it on the proviso that she re-wrote the ending.
2. During World War I she worked as an assistant at a hospital in Torquay, and qualified as an Apothecaries' Assistant (or Dispenser) in 1917. Then in World War II she worked in the pharmacy at University College Hospital, London. This was how she became knowledgeable about the various poisons which featured in her novels, such as Thallium, in The Pale Horse. Her description of thallium poisoning was so accurate that on one occasion doctors reading her novel realised that was what was wrong with a patient whose symptoms had baffled them.
3. She was married twice. Her first marriage, to Archie Christie, ended in divorce, because he had a mistress. In 1930 Christie married archaeologist Max Mallowan, having met him in an archaeological dig. That marriage was a happy one and lasted until her death.
4. It seems likely that the breakdown of her first marriage is what prompted her famous disappearance in 1926. She vanished after a quarrel with Archie, leaving a note for her secretary saying she had gone to Yorkshire. Her car was found abandoned near a lake in Guildford, which prompted a search lasting 10 days, involving over a thousand police officers, 15,000 volunteers and several aeroplanes. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle joined in the search by asking a psychic to find her using a glove belonging to Christie. Agatha Christie was eventually found at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now the Old Swan Hotel) in Harrogate, Yorkshire, registered as Mrs Teresa Neele from Cape Town. No-one is really sure why she disappeared, and she throws no light on it in her autobiography, where she does not mention the incident at all. The official diagnosis at the time was amnesia - depression brought on by her husband's affair has also been suggested. The public at the time suspected a publicity stunt. There is even a theory that she intended to commit suicide and frame her husband for her murder. It seems unlikely that her choice of alias, Neele, the surname of her husband's mistress, was a coincidence.
5. She also wrote six romances under the name Mary Westmacott. She also used the name Monosyllaba when submitting her first novel.
6. Towards the end of her career, Christie became thoroughly fed up with Hercule Poirot, describing him in her diary as "insufferable," and "an egocentric creep." She resisted any temptation to kill him off, though, because she knew the public liked him. She remained fond of Miss Marple, although she wrote twice as many novels featuring Poirot. The two characters never appeared together in any novel or story, because, in Christie's own words, "Hercule Poirot, a complete egoist, would not like being taught his business or having suggestions made to him by an elderly spinster lady".
7. She and her second husband were both honoured separately by the Queen for their work. She was made a Dame in 1971 after he had been knighted in 1968 for his work in archaeology. Because of her husband's knighthood she was entitled to call herself Lady Mallowan.
8. Christie was very interested in archaeology too and accompanied Mallowan on many digs, in places such as Syria and Iraq at excavation sites at Ur, Ninevah, Tell Arpachiyah, Chagar Bazar, Tell Brak, and Nimrud, helping with restoration work and taking notes and photographs. In her spare time on the digs, she wrote novels and short stories. She also wrote an account of her time in Syria, Come Tell Me How You Live, describing the places and the eccentric people she met there.
9. She travelled widely with her first husband, too, to South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, promoting the British Empire Exhibition. They left their daughter with her grandmother to take this trip. In Hawaii, they were among the first Britons to learn to surf standing up.
10. She and their siblings believed their mother was a psychic with second sight.

14 September: Debut of Mork and Mindy

This date in 1978 saw the début of Mork and Mindy on US television, the first big break for the late, great Robin Williams, so today here are 10 Robin Williams quotes.

1. Why do they call it rush hour when nothing moves?
2. I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone.
3. I'm sorry, if you were right, I'd agree with you.
4. You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.
5. Spring is nature's way of saying, 'Let's party!'
6. If Heaven exists, to know that there's laughter, that would be a great thing.
7. Reality is just a crutch for people who can't cope with drugs.
8. Cricket is basically baseball on valium.
9. I have an idea for a movie called 'The Walken Dead' which is about a town where, instead of zombies, everyone becomes Chris Walken.
10. Look at the walls of Pompeii. That's what got the internet started.

September 13: Roald Dahl's birthday

Roald Dahl was born on this date in 1916. He wrote numerous children's books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Here are 10 words of wisdom from him:

1. Two hours of writing fiction leaves this writer completely drained. For those two hours he has been in a different place with totally different people.
2. A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men.
3. And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.
4. A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.
5. It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.
6. Grown ups are complicated creatures, full of quirks and secrets.
7. Never do anything by halves if you want to get away with it. Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable...
8. I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.
9. A little magic can take you a long way.
10. Having power is not nearly as important as what you choose to do with it.

12th September: Cleopatra's Needle

Cleopatra's needle was erected on the Thames Embankment on this date in 1878. Here are 10 things you may not know about Cleopatra's Needle.

1. Its correct title is the obelisk of Thutmose III. It has no connection with Cleopatra, other than that she authorised its first move to Alexandria. In fact, it pre-dates the famous Egyptian queen by a thousand years. It was originally made to stand in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis around 1450BC, commissioned by the Pharaoh Thutmose III.
2. It is made of red granite and stands 69 feet (21 metres) high, and is covered in hieroglyphs, which, according to experts, were added much later by Ramasses II to commemorate his military victories.
3. There were, in fact, three of them. One is still in place in Egypt, and the third was transported to New York, where it resides in Central Park. A fourth, from a different location, ended up in Paris.
4. In 1819, Muhammad Ali, the then ruler of Egypt (not the boxer formerly known as Cassius Clay) presented it to the UK to commemorate Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile, and that of Sir Ralph Abercromby at the Battle of Alexandria. The UK said, thanks very much, but we can't afford to have it shipped over, so it stayed in Alexandria until 1877.
5. In 1877, an anatomist and dermatologist called Sir Erasmus Wilson, decided to pay the £10,000 (a small fortune in those days) for the transportation. It would appear that there was a lot of money to be made in treating skin diseases in the 19th century. It is said of him that he treated rich people by ordering them to give up their luxuries, and the poor by prescribing proper nourishment and regular bathing, often financed from his own pocket. One presumes the rich people were charged an arm and a leg to be told to give things up. The textbooks he wrote on the subject helped him make his fortune, too, and being child free, he had money to spare to give to charity and education. One final bit of trivia about Erasmus Wilson, is that he is supposed to have said, in 1878, "When the Paris Exhibition closes, electric light will close with it and no more be heard of."
6. Getting the Needle to England was no mean feat. First, it had to be dug out of the sand where it had been sitting for two thousand years, packed up in a giant floating iron cylinder-shaped pontoon vessel especially designed by engineer John Dixon for the purpose. The cylinder had a rudder, a mast and a deck house, and could be towed to London by a ship. The cylinder was dubbed Cleopatra and was towed by a ship called Olga. The mission did not go smoothly. They hit a storm in the Bay of Biscay and the Cleopatra was rolling wildly and threatening to sink. Six crewmen from Olga manned a rescue boat to rescue the crew on Cleopatra - but the rescue boat capsized and all six men drowned. If you visit the obelisk today, you'll find a commemorative plaque at the bottom which names them. Olga herself was manoeuvred alongside the stricken Cleopatra and got the crew off, but it seemed the obelisk would be lost forever. However, Cleopatra didn't sink, and was found by Spanish fishing boats four days later. A steamer from Glasgow, the Fitzmaurice, came to the rescue and towed the Cleopatra to Spain for repairs. After some wrangling and negotiating of payments to the master of the Fitzmaurice for salvage (he asked for £5,000, but got £2,000), yet another boat, the tug Anglia, was commissioned to tow the Cleopatra to London at last.
7. Inside the pedestal is a time capsule containing A set of 12 photographs of the best looking English women of the day, a box of hairpins, a box of cigars, several tobacco pipes, a set of imperial weights, a baby's bottle, some children's toys, a shilling razor, a hydraulic jack and some samples of the cable used in the erection of the Needle, a 3' bronze model of the monument, a complete set of British coins, a rupee, a portrait of Queen Victoria, a written history of the strange tale of the transport of the monument, plans on vellum, a translation of the inscriptions, copies of the Bible in several languages, a copy of John 3:16 in 215 languages, a copy of Whitaker's Almanack, a Bradshaw Railway Guide, a map of London and copies of 10 daily newspapers.
8. As a final touch, two bronze sphinxes were installed beside the Needle. On them are inscriptions in heiroglyphs which translate as "the good god, Thuthmosis III given life". The sphinxes are supposed to be guarding the Needle, but ended up looking at it instead as they got put in place the wrong way round. This may have been because Queen Victoria thought they looked better that way. Both Needle and sphinxes survived bombing during two world wars, but one Sphinx still bears the scars of a bomb which landed nearby. The damage was left unrepaired to commemorate the event.
9. The shipwreck and the near miss in the air raid caused some to believe that the monument was cursed and possibly haunted by the lost sailors, who, it is said, can sometimes be heard screaming and laughing in the area. There is also a ghost of a naked man who dashes from behind the monument and leaps into the river. A ghostly streaker! For some reason, for people who want to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the Thames, Cleopatra's Needle is a popular spot. One theory for the hauntings is that when Rameses II had the hierpglyphs carved on it, these were intended to be a spell preserving the Pharoah's soul inside the granite. Perhaps, then, Rameses II is not happy at having been torn from his place in hot and sunny Egypt, almost lost at sea and placed in grey, rainy England!
10. The famous occultist Aleister Crowley once attempted to bring the Pharoah back to life by feeding a human skeleton with animal blood at the foot of the obelisk at dead of night. Needless to say, it didn't work, and some say that the spooky laughter is Rameses mocking Crowley's efforts to revive him. Another theory as to why the sphinxes face the wrong way is that they were never intended to guard the Needle, but rather to protect London from whatever is lurking inside it.