14th January: Mark Antony

On this date in 83 BC Mark Antony, Roman politician and general was born. Here are some things you may not know about Mark Antony.

1. Antony was born in Rome on January 14, 83 BC. His father was Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the noted orator by the same name who was murdered during the Marian Terror of 87–86 BC. His mother was Julia Antonia. She was a distant cousin of Julius Caesar.
2. Antony was somewhat of a rogue as a young man. According to the historian Plutarch, he spent his teenage years wandering around Rome with his brothers and friends gambling, drinking, and becoming involved in scandalous love affairs. By the time he was twenty, he was so deeply in debt that he had to flee to Greece to escape the people he owed money to.
3. Seems as if he calmed down a bit after this - he studied philosophy and rhetoric in Athens, and a year later joined the military staff of Aulus Gabinius, the Proconsul of Syria, as chief of the cavalry.
4. Antony was a supporter of Julius Caesar, and served as one of his generals during the conquest of Gaul and the Civil War. Antony was appointed administrator of Italy while Caesar eliminated political opponents in Greece, North Africa, and Spain. He was the second most powerful man in the empire, apart from Caesar himself.
5. One of his duties for Caesar was to act as an Augur, which meant he was responsible for interpreting the will of the Roman gods by studying the flight of birds.
6. On that fateful Ides of March, Antony tried to stop Caesar from going to the meeting where the Senators planned to kill him. However, before he could get to Caesar, the Senators had already got to him and escorted him to the meeting. As Caesar's supporter, Antony's life was in danger once the assassination had been carried out - so he fled from Rome disguised as a slave.
7. Later, Antony joined forces with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, another of Caesar's generals, and Octavian, Caesar's nephew and adopted son, forming a three-man dictatorship known to historians as the Second Triumvirate. They defeated Caesar's murderers, the Liberatores, at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, and divided the government of the Republic between themselves. Antony got the eastern provinces, which included Egypt, then ruled by Cleopatra VII Philopator.
8. Lepidus, Octavian and Antony didn't get on all that well. They were always competing with each other to try and get more power. Octavian and Antony nearly started a civil war in 40BC, but it was averted when Antony married Octavian's sister, Octavia. Octavian still wasn't entirely happy with him, though, as he was carrying on a love affair with Cleopatra as well.
9. Eventually, in 32 B.C. Antony divorced Octavia. Octavian declared war on Cleopatra and proclaimed Antony a traitor. After being defeated by Octavian, Antony committed suicide by stabbing himself with his sword thinking Cleopatra had already killed herself. She hadn't. He was taken to her and died in her arms. Cleopatra committed suicide soon after.
10. As well as Octavia and Cleopatra, Antony had three other wives, Fadia, Antonia and Fulvia, and lots of children. Through Octavia's children, he became ancestor to the Roman Emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero. Through his daughter by Cleopatra, Antony is an ancestor of the royal family of Mauritania.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

13th January: Accordion Day

It's Accordion Day because on 13th January 1854 the Accordion was patented by Anthony Faas in Philadelphia, PA. Here are ten more facts about accordions:

1. The basic accordion is thought to have been invented in Berlin in 1822 by Christian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann, although Timofey Vorontsov had been making similar instruments in Russia from 1820. An instrument called an accordion was first patented in 1829 by Armenian Cyrill Demian in Vienna.
2. The word accordion comes from the 19th-century German word Akkordeon, from Akkord, meaning "musical chord, concord of sounds".
3. The accordion is colloquially referred to as a squeezebox; in other countries it has still more names. In China, the accordion is known as the "Sun-Fin-Chin"; in Russia, it is the "bayan"; in Norway the "trekspill"; and in Italy, the "fisarmonica."
4. An accordion consists of two wooden boxes joined together by a set of bellows in the middle. It produces sound when the air produced by the bellows passes over a set of reeds inside the instrument.
5. Aficionados will tell you that a hand made accordion is best. Wax is used to make them, which means they need to be stored at room temperature and very carefully so the consistency of the wax does not change.
6. The accordion is most commonly heard in folk music, but it has been used in classical pieces like Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 2 in C major and Prokofiev's Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution, op. 74.
7. The "Golden Age of the Accordion" was the first half of the 20th century when the accordion was often heard in popular music. Its popularity has declined since the 60s but there are some artists who use it. The Swiss melodic-death/folk metal band Eluveitie have used a rare type of Swiss accordion, and "Weird Al" Yankovic, who plays the accordion on many of his musical tracks. He has played the instrument since he was seven, and his grandmother would pay him a dollar every time he came over to visit and play his accordion for her.
8. In 1990, there were an estimated 75,000 accordionists in the United States.
9. There used to be a game show on television in the Soviet Union called "Play Your Accordion!"
10. The accordion is the national instrument of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the USA, it is the official instrument of Detroit, Skokie, Illinois, St. Paul, Minnesota and San Francisco (specifically the piano accordion in the latter).

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

12th January: The National Trust

The National Trust was founded 12 Jan 1895. Here are a few things you might not know about the National Trust:

1. The trust was founded on 12 January 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley.
2. The National Trust is the largest private landowner in the United Kingdom. It owns over more than 610,000 acres (985 square miles, 2550 km²), of land and over 350 properties. It owns or controls a quarter of the Lake District, 12% of the Peak District and 775 miles of coastline in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - one fifth of the total. 1.5% of the total land mass of England, Wales and Northern Ireland belongs to the Trust.
3. Known for its historic houses, the National Trust owns a few other things that you might not expect - 59 villages, including Buttermere in Cumbria and Lacock in Wiltshire, 61 pubs and inns, including the George Inn in Southwark, 49 churches, nine monasteries and, according to its website, eight billiard tables including one which is heated and has an electronic scoring system.
4. The Trust bought its first property in 1896. This property was Alfriston Clergy House, and it set them back the princely sum of £10. Even in today's money that was just £600. The house has a decorative cornice with a a sprig of Oak carved on it, which is said to have inspired the Trust's oak sprig symbol.
5. The trust's first nature reserve was Wicken Fen, a wetland nature reserve situated near the village of Wicken, Cambridgeshire, England, and its first archaeological monument was White Barrow, a large Neolithic long barrow situated on a chalk ridge on Salisbury Plain just outside the village of Tilshead in Wiltshire.
6. In 2015, the Trust had 4.24 million members. According to some sources this makes it the biggest membership organisation in Britain, although on their own website the Trust admits that the Automobile Association (AA) may be bigger. The Trust's membership is about six times bigger than that of all the main political parties put together.
7. Much of the Trust's work is done by volunteers - there are over 70,000 of them, doing 3.77 million hours of work a year which would cost £29.2 million if paid staff were employed to do it all. As well as the volunteers commonly seen in the houses, shops and ticket offices there are some more unusual roles - 120 volunteer firefighters, 15 volunteer pilots, two beekeepers and two shepherds.
8. The most visited National Trust location is the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland. The house which gets the most visitors is Stourhead in Wiltshire.
9. The motto of the National Trust is For everyone, for ever.
10. The Trust is funded by membership subscriptions, entrance fees to properties (although members usually get in free), and of course, revenue from its gift shops and restaurants. Legacies make up a big chunk as well. Beatrix Potter was a huge supporter and left most of her property to the Trust. Their head office, based in Swindon, is named Heelis, which was Beatrix Potter's married name.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

11th January: Pineapples

On this date in 1813 The first pineapples were planted in Hawaii. Here are some things you didn't know about pineapples.

1. The Latin name for pineapple is Ananas comosus, which comes from the Tupi word for excellent fruit, and comosus means "tufted". The English word pineapple derives from the fact that they resemble pine cones. In fact, pineapple was an old English word for a pine cone. The Spanish word is piña, hence the name Pina Colada for the cocktail. The Hawaiian word for pineapple is ‘halakahiki‘.
2. Despite Mr. Dole and Mr. Del Monte setting up pineapple plantations in the early 20th century, Hawaii isn't the world's top producer of the fruit. In 2013, that was Costa Rica, followed by Philippines and Brazil.
3. The fruit is actually multiple berries, which have fused together. It can take up to three years for a single fruit to mature. Once they are picked, they won't ripen any more, so there's no need to keep them. Once they reach the supermarket, they won't get any riper - so just eat it! A Green pineapple is no less ripe than a Brown one - it was just grown in a different place.
4. Once you've eaten it, the tuft at the top can be planted in soil to grow a new pineapple plant.
5. Commercial pineapples are propagated by suckers - the growers prefer that they are not pollinated, because seeds would ruin the fruit. This is the reason Hawaii has a law banning the import of Hummingbirds.
6. A pineapple plant can produce up to 200 flowers, which vary in colour from lavender to light Purple and Red. There are types of wild pineapple which are pollinated by Bats, and only open their flowers at night.
7. Christine McCallum from Bakewell, Australia holds the record for growing the largest pineapple ever in 2011. It was 32cm long, 66cm in girth and weighed 8.28kg.
8. Pineapples contain an enzyme called bromelain which breaks down proteins. It's not harmful to eat, and in fact can be beneficial as anti-inflammatory, muscle relaxant, and digestive aid. It could even help prevent tumours from growing. However, this enzyme is the reason some people get a sore mouth when eating raw pineapple, because it is breaking down tissues in the mouth. Also raw pineapples contain crystals of calcium oxalate, which are needle shaped and can be an irritant. Because Bromelain breaks down proteins, pineapple juice is great for tenderising meat.
9. The plant is indigenous to South America and is said to originate from the area between southern Brazil and Paraguay. It spread from there throughout South America, and to the Caribbean, Central America, and Mexico, where it was cultivated by the Mayans and Aztecs. Columbus was introduced to the fruit in 1493 on the leeward island of Guadeloupe. He called it piña de Indes, meaning "pine of the Indians", and was the first person to bring a pineapple back to Europe.
10. Because they were expensive to import and difficult to grow (they required a hothouse or a "pineapple stove" as was built in Chelsea Physic Garden in 1723 to keep them warm) pineapples became something of a status symbol in Europe. Rich people built "pineries" to grow them in, and they often wouldn't eat them, but used them as a table decoration at dinner parties to show off. The wealthy would try and outdo each other in the field of pineapple growing. John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore built a hothouse on his estate surmounted by a 14 metre high stone cupola in the shape of the fruit; it is known as the Dunmore pineapple.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

10 01: Binary Day

It's Binary Day because today's date can be written as 01 10 or 10 01, depending on which side of the pond you are on, both are the same backwards.

1. A binary number is a number expressed in the base two number system, which uses just two digits, usually 0 and 1.
2. Each digit in a binary number is called a "bit". The word bit is made up from the words "binary digit". 11010 is five bits long. The word binary comes from "Bi-" meaning two.
3. To show a number is a binary number the convention is to add a small 2 after the number, for example, 11010_2. When saying them, each bit is pronounced. The binary number "100" is said "one zero zero" not "a hundred".
4. If the last digit of a binary number is 1, the number is odd; if it’s 0, the number is even.
5. Binary numbers are used in computer programming - hence you'll often hear the word "bit" in connection with computers. The first computer to use the system was built in 1937 by George Stibitz. He called it "Model K", because he built it in his kitchen.
6. The modern binary number system was devised by Gottfried Leibniz in 1679.
7. The concept has been around a lot longer than that, though. Leibniz was specifically inspired by the Chinese I Ching, which uses two symbols arranged into hexagrams, which Leibniz interpreted as binary calculus.
   The ancient Egyptians used a system rather like binary for working out fractional quantities of grain or liquids. These were called Horus-Eye fractions. Drums which could sound two different tones were used to send messages in Asia and Africa.
8. Leibniz saw binary systems as an affirmation of his religious beliefs about the creation of the universe. First there was nothing; then God created something.
9. A binary system can be expressed by anything which can have two states, such as on or off, long or short, raised or not. Hence Morse Code and Braille are binary systems.
10. Enough maths for one day. How about some jokes? There are only 10 types of people in the world. Those that understand binary and those that don’t. Or you may be forgiven for thinking, There are 10 kinds of people in the world: those who understand binary, and 9 others. No, really, binary is easy. It’s as easy as 01 10 11.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

January 9th: Connecticut Ratification Day

On January 9th 1788 Connecticut became the fifth state to ratify the US Constitution. here are some things you might not know about this US state.

1. The origin of the state's name is the word “Quinnehtukqut,” which means “land on a long tidal river” or “upon the long river.” Its nicknames include “The Nutmeg State,” “The Constitution State,” and “The Land of Steady Habits.”
2. Famous people to hail from Connecticut include Noah Webster, the author of the first dictionary; Seth McFarlane. creator of the TV show Family Guy; Charles Goodyear, who created vulcanized rubber; and former president George W. Bush.
3. The state has also been home to a number of inventors. George Smith, who invented lollipops, naming them after his favourite Horse; In 1900, Louis’ Lunch in New Haven crafted the first Hamburger when a rushed patron wanted something he could eat on the go; Ezra Warner invented the can opener in 1858; David Bushness of Connecticut drew up the original plans for the first Submarine in 1776. Then there was Mary Kies, the first woman to receive a U.S. patent, which was for a method of weaving straw with silk to make hats.
4. The state capital is Hartford, and the largest city is Bridgeport.
5. State symbols are as follows: State insect: Praying Mantis; motto: Qui Transtulit Sustinet - "He Who Transplanted Still Sustains"; state song: “Yankee Doodle”; State Bird: American Robin; State Animal: Sperm whale; State Fossil Eubrontes giganteus (Fossilized footprints of a meat-eating dinosaur); State Shellfish: Eastern Oyster; State Flower: Mountain laurel; State Tree: White oak; State Mineral: Garnet; State Folk Dance Square dance.
6. Connecticut is home to the oldest library in the US, dating back to 1771 when Richard Smith, owner of a local blast furnace, used community contributions to buy 200 books in London. Patrons could borrow and return books on the third Monday of every third month. In those days, there were more library fines for getting candle grease on the books than for returning them late. In 1810, a town meeting agreed to use public funds to buy more books, making the library the first publicly supported free town library in the United States.
7. In January 1878, New Haven, Connecticut became the first town to offer a subscription to a telephone exchange service. In February, the world's first telephone directory was published there, with a grand total of fifty names in it.
8. Lyme disease, the nasty lurgy caused by ticks, is named after a town in Connecticut. It was in Lyme, Connecticut that doctors first noticed the connection between the symptoms and tick season, back in 1975.
9. The first speed limit ever set was passed into law in Connecticut in 1901, 12 miles per hour. Even now, in parts of the state, fire engines are not allowed to go faster than 25mph, even on the way to a Fire.
10. It is illegal in parts of the state for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday, walk backwards down the street after sunset, cross the street walking on his hands, ride a bicycle more than 65mph, carry a corpse in a taxi or throw used razor blades into the bin.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.

January 8th: National English Toffee Day

It's National English Toffee Day. Here are ten facts about toffee.

1. The origin of the word toffee isn't known. Theories put forward include that it was named after tafia, a type of cheap West Indian Rum, derived from tuffy, because it was chewy, or that it was from the Creole for a mixture of sugar and molasses.
2. Whatever the origin of the word, it first appeared in The Oxford English Dictionary in 1825.
3. It's a relatively recent treat, originating in Britain during the 19th century when cheap sugar became available from the Caribbean colonies, and people experimented with things they could make from it.
4. Toffee is made by caramelizing sugar or molasses along with Butter. Some recipes use flour as well. The mixture is heated until its temperature reaches 149 to 154 °C (300 to 310 °F).
5. Early recipes for toffee back in the 19th century generally had alcohol in them, usually rum. As well as making it taste nice, the alcohol made the toffee last longer.
6. One 100g serving of toffee contains 470 calories; 21g fat, 61g carbs, 49g sugars. It will also have traces of sodium, Calcium, Iron and vitamins A and C.
7. How to tell if your toffee is good - it won't be burnt, or greasy (despite having butter in it). It won't be grainy - that means the sugar hasn't melted properly. If there are nuts or Raisins in it, they should taste fresh.
8. What the Americans call "English toffee" is not what we'd call toffee in the UK. That particular type of candy is what we call buttercrunch. British toffee is made using Brown sugar, while "English toffee" is made from White sugar. "English toffee" is usually flavoured, often with Almonds or other nuts, whereas British toffee usually is not.
9. Toffee apples are Apples coated with hard toffee with a stick in the middle to help you eat them. They are popular around Guy Fawkes night and Halloween, which fall soon after the apple harvest.
10. In America, they are known as candy apples, and the coating can be sugar candy rather than toffee. They were said to have been invented by a candy shop owner, William W. Kolb, originally for a Christmas window display. He sold the whole first batch for 5 cents each and the rest is history.

I write fiction, too!

If you're doing one of those reading challenges, I could be your self-published author, your female author, or your out of your comfort zone book. There are books published in the last year, most set in the UK and one with a place name in the title.

Find out here about my novels and short stories.