13 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 13 March: 

Uranus

1. Born on this date in 1770 was Daniel Lambert, who weighed 336 kg when he died. He made a killing in the pubs of Stamford, where he would challenge people to a race, with the proviso that he had a small head start. People no doubt thought they were onto a good bet, racing against a fat bloke. Daniel had a strategy, however, to ensure he would always win. He would lead his opponents down the narrow passageways of Stamford, and because he was so fat, nobody could pass him.
2. In 1999, in New Jersey, a father and his 10 year old son had a row about who had stolen some cake icing. The father challenged his son to stab him with a kitchen knife if he hated him so much, even putting the knife back in the boy’s hand when he put it down. The son then stabbed his father to death.
3. In 1943, there was an attempt to assassinate Hitler by disillusioned German officers, known as Operation Flash. They planted a parcel bomb on the plane he was flying in, wired to explode over Minsk. The bomb failed to detonate.
4. The first cartoon showing the character "Uncle Sam" appeared in The New York Lantern on this date in 1852. Uncle Sam was based on a real US officer who served in the war of 1812, name of Samuel Wilson.
5. In 2003, the journal Nature reported that 350,000-year-old footprints of an upright-walking human had been found in Italy.
6. In 1887, teenager Chester Greenwood of Farmington, Maine, received a patent for earmuffs.
7. In 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio from Argentina was elected as the new pope, the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope. He took the papal name Pope Francis.
8. In 1781, Sir William Herschel saw what he thought was a comet, but it turned out to be a planet, Uranus, 7th from the Sun and the first planet to be discovered using a Telescope.
9. In 2012, Dallas Seavey became the youngest ever winner of the Iditarod sled dog race.
10. In 1996, Peruvian drug dealer Abelardo Cachique Rivera protested at the length of his sentence of 12 years. Unlike most, though, he wasn’t complaining that it was too much, but that his “status as a major drug trafficker” justified a longer stint in prison.

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

12 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 12 March:

The O2

1. In 2002, a doctor mistakenly declared a 72-year-old woman dead in Mettmann, Germany, and sent her body to the mortuary. Later, an undertaker raised the alarm when he found the body was still warm, but sadly it was too late to save the woman from dying of hypothermia.
2. Canberra was named capital of Australia on this date in 1913, before the city had even been built. Sydney and Melbourne, Australia’s two largest cities, both thought they should have the honour of being the capital, so it was decided that a completely new city should be built and declared the capital. The choice of name for the city was kept a secret and announced by Lady Denman, wife of the Governor-General, when the foundation stones were laid on Capital Hill, at noon today. The name probably means 'meeting place' in an Aboriginal language.
3. In 1894, Coca Cola was sold in bottles for the first time.
4. In 1903, Robert A Douglass filed a patent for a "locomotive-cab-window cleaner", essentially the first windscreen wiper.
5. In 1984, British ice dancing team, Torvill and Dean became the first skaters to score nine perfect sixes in the world championships.
6. In 2011, there was an explosion at the site of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Four workers were injured. Residents within a six mile radius of the plant were evacuated and those within 20 miles were warned to stay indoors.
7. In 2000, Scooby the drug dog retired, having found £30m worth of drugs during his career.
8. 1999 The Millennium Dome (now the O2) was given a red nose by Red spotlights inside it, for Comic Relief Day.
9. In 1958, British Empire Day was renamed "Commonwealth Day".
10. This day in 1832 saw the birth of Charles Cunningham Boycott, an Irish merchant and estate manager whose tenants "boycotted" him into poverty. This tactic gave us the word Boycott, synonymous with protest.

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

11 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 11 March:

Frankenstein

1. This date in 1952 saw the birth of Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, the Universe and Everything, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, and Mostly Harmless. He once wrote: "Any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still know where his Towel is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with."
2. In 2000 a 52 year old forklift truck driver was killed when he was thrown from the cabin and crushed. The inquest concluded his death was caused by driver error – driving too fast over loose gravel and not wearing a seat belt. The entire incident was captured on film because the man was making a safety video at the time.
3. In 1810, Emperor Napoleon of France was married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria. Marie had never seen Napoleon. She didn't even see him on the wedding day. He sent a stand-in to represent him in the marriage ceremony.
4. In 1811, hosiery trade workers attacked the machines which had been designed to replace them in the weaving of wool. One of their leaders was called Ludham, which gave rise to the protesters being called “Luddites”, a term which is still used today to describe people who hate modern technology.
5. On this date in 1993, Janet Reno became the first female US Attorney General.
6. In 2010, three earthquakes hit central Chile, the strongest measuring magnitude 6.9. All were centred near Pichilemu, capital of Cardenal Caro Province, and all took place during the inauguration ceremony for new president Sebastián Piñera. Make of that what you will.
7. On this date in 1964, Gene Roddenberry pitched a series to MGM which he described as as "Wagon Train to the stars." It became the hugely successful Star Trek franchise. On the same date in 1997, Gene Roddenberry's ashes were were launched into space.
8. Mary Shelley published her Frankenstein novel on this date in 1818, at the age of 19. The story of Frankenstein had started in the summer of 1816 when she took on a challenge set by Byron and Shelley to write the most frightening ghost story. The first edition had an unsigned preface by Percy Shelley. Many people at the time thought he must have written it, not believing a young woman could write something so horrific.
9. In 2005, Ali Mubarrat, a resident of Lodge Road, Aston, Birmingham, auctioned his front door on eBay for charity, because he was sick of people defacing it. The door in question was the front door of Ozzy Osbourne's childhood home, which had become a pilgrimage destination for fans.
10. In 1993, a robbery took place in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The victim demanded that his wallet, which contained $20, be given back. The mugger, unused to being challenged, got flustered and handed over his own wallet by mistake, then ran for it. The thief's wallet contained $250.

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

10 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 10 March:

1. In 1948, the Czech foreign minister Jan Masaryk died when he fell out of a window at his apartment in Prague. His death was ruled at first to be suicide but later the communists changed the verdict to say that he had "fallen accidentally while sitting in a yoga position on a window sill to combat insomnia".
2. The first royal wedding at Windsor Castle took place in St. George's chapel on this date in 1863, when King Edward VII married Queen Alexandra.
3. In 1681 English Quaker William Penn received a charter from Charles II, making him the sole proprietor of the colonial American territory which would become the state of Pennsylvania.
4. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel recorded The Sounds Of Silence on this date in 1964. They recorded it as an acoustic duo without accompaniment. It wasn't until record company producers added electric Guitar, bass and Drums, without their knowledge that the song became a hit.
5. In 1891, the word “blizzard” was first used to describe a snowstorm.
6. In 1996, scientists in Chicago announced their discovery that women who drink Coffee are less likely to commit suicide than those who don’t.
7. In 2012, hundreds of nude cyclists took to the streets in Lima, Peru, to protest unsafe road conditions.
8. In 2001, someone stole a hand from the frieze from the temple of Apollo at Bassae while it was on display at the British Museum. I expect the thief thought it would come in handy some day.
9. Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call on this date in 1876, in Boston. It was to his assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in the next room. The first words to be uttered over a telephone were: "Mr. Watson, come here. I want you."
10. The first Crufts dog show was held in London on this date in 1886. Only terriers were allowed to enter. Ironically, the founder of the show, Charles Cruft, never owned a dog: just a cat and a canary.

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

9 March

 10 weird and wonderful things that happened on 9 March:

1. Vyacheslav M. Molotov was born on this date in 1890. During World War II, Molotov ordered the mass production of bottles filled with flammable liquid to be used against German tanks, giving rise to the term "Molotov cocktail."
2. Also born on this date, in 1934, was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Garagrin, the first man in space, who made the 108 minute journey around the earth on Vostok 1. Ironically, years later, he would die in a plane crash.
3. A warning against sleeping on the job occurred on this date in 2001. In Egypt, shepherd Mokhtar Adam Fadl, was shot dead in his sleep by a Sheep kicking a gun.
4. On average, today is the day that Frog spawn first appears.
5. In 1996, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher walked off stage during a gig at the Vernon Valley Gorge ski resort because his hands were too cold to play. Snowflakes, or what?
6. In Essex on this date in 1170, a UFO was spotted over St. Ostwyth. An eye witness recorded that it looked like a "wonderfully large dragon... borne up from the Earth through the air". Whatever it was, it was reported to have set the air on fire and destroyed a house.
7. In 1974, 29 years after the end of WWII, the last Japanese soldier finally surrendered. Hiroo Onoda was a guerrilla operating in the Philippines and somehow missed the memo that the war was over. Many of his friends and relatives had tried to convince him of the fact, but he dismissed them as enemy imposters. In the end, his former commanding officer had to travel to the Philippines to order Onoda to stand down.
8. In 1562, Kissing in public was banned in Naples. Anyone caught smooching faced the death penalty.
9. In 1987, the largest piece of furniture ever was completed by 800 builders on Masuhoura Beach at Ishikawa, Japan. It's a bench 1,512 feet long which can seat 1,400 people.
10. It was on this date in 1959 that the Barbie doll made her first appearance. Barbara Millicent Roberts is the daughter of George and Margaret Roberts from the fictional town of Willows, Wisconsin. Her boyfriend is Ken Carson. Barbie has had over forty pets including Cats, Dogs, Horses, a Panda, a Lion cub, and a Zebra. She has owned a wide range of vehicles, too, including pink convertibles, trailers and jeeps; not to mention a CV which must be as long as War and Peace.

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle

8 March

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 8 March:

1. This date in 1859 saw the birth of Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows. He also wrote The Reluctant Dragon, which was made into a Disney film.
2. On this date in 1987 Harriet Holmes's great-great-great grandchild was born, making Harriet, at the age of 88 years and 50 days, the world’s youngest living great-great-great grandmother.
3. In 1941, Sherwood Anderson, aged 64, an American writer, died from peritonitis resulting from swallowing a Toothpick along with an hors d'oeuvre at a cocktail party. He died in Colon, Panama.
4. Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was first broadcast on BBC radio on this date in 1978.
5. In 1979, the first extraterrestrial volcano was discovered on Jupiter's moon Io, by Voyager 1.
6. The first pilot's licences were issued on this date in 1910, to an Englishman, J T C Moore Brabazon, and a Frenchwoman, Baronne Raymonde de Laroche, the first licensed woman pilot.
7. International Women's Day was first observed on this date in 1945. 8 March was chosen because it was on this date in 1908 that thousands of workers in the New York needle trade, primarily women, demonstrated and began a strike for higher wages, shorter working days and an end to child labour.
8. In 1994, 36 hours after leaving hospital after a kidney operation, Carol Matthews of Australia was bitten by a brown Snake which was caught in a redback spider's web – and then the Spider bit her as well. Doctors said it was almost a miracle that she survived this ‘‘double whammy’’.
9. In 1966, London gangster Ronnie Kray shot rival gangster George Cornell through the head in the Blind Beggar Pub, Whitechapel.
10. In 1985, John McPherson of Newcastle set a new Guinness world record when he kissed 4,444 women in eight hours. 

The Power of Love

Willow believes in crystal healing, cosmic  ordering  and the significance of chance  encounters. She believes there's a spiritual  explanation for everything. Except she struggles to find a reason why she can turn herself into  mist and create a wave of energy which can slam a would-be mugger into a wall. Or why the love of  her life left her for a mysterious woman in sunglasses, who then disappeared without trace.  

A chance encounter with Firebolt, leader of the Freedom League superhero team, in a Glastonbury coffee shop, does turn out to be significant. He offers her a new start and the chance to use her powers for good.

Servant is a Christian who has joined the Freedom League in order to use his teleporting power to serve God. He and Willow clash from the start, yet they are drawn inexorably to one another.

When Willow leaves the team abruptly for reasons unknown, Servant knows he must put her out of his mind and find a nice Christian girl to settle down with. He is about to propose to devout and straight-laced Ruth, when Willow returns and turns his entire world upside down.

Available from Amazon:

Paperback

Kindle