7 August

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 7 August:

1. This date in 1560 saw the birth of Elizabeth Bathory, possibly the most prolific serial killer in history, with possibly as many as 600 victims, although she was only convicted of 80. She was a Hungarian countess who sought immortality by killing young virgins and bathing in their blood.
2. Born on this date in 1876 was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, better known as Mata Hari, famous exotic dancer and World War I spy. She moved to Paris to escape an abusive relationship and began a career in dancing and prostitution. It's said that she never took less that $7,500 a night for her favours. She was approached by the Germans to become a spy and given the code number H21. Although she never gave the Germans any information, she was brought before a court-martial on a charge of espionage. Her reputation as a courtesan to rich and powerful men strengthened the case against her. She was executed in October 1917.
3. In 1829, Felix Mendelsson visited Fingal’s Sea Cave in the Hebrides. He was inspired by the stormy weather there that day and wrote Fingale’s Cave, one of his most famous compositions.
4. In 1957, the group which would evolve into The Beatles, The Quarry Men, played at the Cavern Club in Liverpool. Paul McCartney was missing from the line up on this occasion because he was away at a Boy Scout summer camp. The Cavern was primarily a jazz club, but skiffle was tolerated. However, when John Lennon dared to play Hound Dog and Blue Suede Shoes, the club owner sent a note to the stage saying, "Cut out the bloody rock!"
5. On this date in 1711, Queen Anne attended the horse races at Ascot, giving them their ‘Royal’ status.
6. In 1782, the Purple Heart, a badge of military honour, was established by George Washington. The Purple Heart is awarded to any civilian or member of the armed forces who is wounded or killed in action.
7. In 1993, the public got its first glimpse inside Buckingham Palace as people were given the opportunity to tour the London home of Queen Elizabeth II. Proceeds from ticket sales were earmarked to help repair fire damage at Windsor Castle.
8. In 1840, Parliament passed an Act prohibiting the employment of climbing boys as chimney sweeps.
9. In 1974 Philippe Petit crossed between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on a tightrope 1,350 feet above the city of New York. He'd secured it with an arrow shot with a bow from one building to the other.
10. In 1992,the ocean liner Queen Elizabeth II accidentally discovered an uncharted rock off Cape Cod. Said rock caused a 74 foot gash in the side of the ship, forcing the evacuation of 1,815 passengers and crew.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

6 August

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 6 August:

1. On this date in 1808, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and one of the most popular English poets was born. His works include The Charge of the Light Brigade, The Dying Swan, The Lady of Shalott and Idylls of the King.
2. This date in 1927 saw the birth of Andy Warhol, pop artist whose works featured Campbell's soup cans and Brillo boxes. He said, "In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes."
3. Also born on this date, in 1911, was Lucille Ball, whose show, I Love Lucy, lasted for 180 episodes. After that show ended in 1960, Ball went on to star in two more successful television series: The Lucy Show, which ran on CBS from 1962 to 1968, and Here's Lucy from 1968 to 1974.
4. It was on this date in 1762 that John Montagu, Earl of Sandwich, put roast beef between slices of bread so he could eat lunch without leaving the gaming table, thereby inventing the Sandwich.
5. It has been a significant date for Mars. In 1996, NASA announced it had discovered evidence of a primitive life form in a meteorite in Antarctica, which was believed to have come from Mars billions of years ago. In 2012, NASA's Curiosity Rover landed on the Red Planet.
6. In 1859, the first known advertising slogan appeared on Beechams Powders’ packets and in separate advertisements. It read ‘Worth a guinea a box’.
7. In 1945 at 8:15 EDT, the United States B-29 Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb, code named "Little Boy", on Hiroshima, Japan, killing an estimated 140,000 people in the first use of a nuclear weapon in warfare and wiping out four square miles.
8. In 1996, 30 people turned themselves in to the police in Wales, confessing to the crime of paying income tax and VAT which was used for weapons and other government activity that violated international law. The police refused to arrest any of them.
9. It's been a good day for sea serpents. In 1817, a large, snake like creature was spotted near Gloucester Harbour, Massachusetts, thought to be a sea serpent; and in 1848, another sea serpent was reported by British naval frigate Daedalus.
10. In 1868, a bright red globular ball of Fire, 24 inches across, hovered above the Glendowan Mountains in Donegal for 20 minutes.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

5 August

Ten weird and wonderful things which happened on 5 August:

1. Neil Armstrong, the first person to walk on the Moon was born on this date in 1930. On July 20, 1969, he stepped onto the lunar surface and proclaimed: "That's one small step for {a} man, one giant leap for mankind."
2. In 1833, Chicago was incorporated as a village with a population of about 200.
3. In 1901, the first cinema in Britain opened in Upper Street, Islington. People paid the equivalent of 18p to see The Rajah’s Dream and The Enchanted Forest.
4. 1844 The cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty was laid at Bedloe's Island (now called Liberty Island) on this date in 1844.
5. This has been a good date for extreme and record breaking food. In 1989, the world's largest Hamburger was served at the Outagamie County Fair in Seymour, Wisconsin. The burger weighed 5,520 pounds and was 21 feet in diameter. In 1990, the world's tallest cake was baked and served at the Shiawassee County Fair in Corunna, Michigan. The cake was 101 feet tall. In 1994, the largest cocktail was made, a 2,933 gallon Finlandia Sea Breeze, in Philadelphia.
6. On this date in 1618 Lord Salisbury wrote to King James VI of Scotland (James I of England) complaining that the importation of golf balls from Holland was costing “na small quantitie of gold and silver” to “his Hienes’ kingdome of Scoteland”. As a result, James issued a royal prohibition on the importation of golf balls. Salisbury's letter adds weight to the theory that the Dutch, not the Scots, invented the game.
7. In 1936, at the Olympic Games in Berlin, African American athlete Jesse Owens broke the Olympic record in the 200 meters. One in the eye for German Chancellor Adolph Hitler, who had planned the Games to be a showcase of Aryan supremacy.
8. In 1996, a man climbed into a tiger’s cage in Shanghai Zoo, begging the animal to eat him. The Tiger seemed happy to oblige, but only got one bite out of the man's neck before zookeepers sedated it and rescued the man.
9. In 1989, the largest ever game of musical chairs took place with 8,238 people taking part.
10. The village of Berchules, Spain, celebrated New Year on this date in 1995. Why celebrate New Year in August? you may ask. They couldn't celebrate on the actual day because of a 13 hour power cut. Though it doesn't explain why it took 8 months to re-arrange. White mousse was used to simulate Snow.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

4 August

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 4 August:

1. Born this date in 1792 was Percy Bysshe Shelley, English romantic poet. He eloped to Scotland with Harriet Westbrook but then fell in love with Mary Godwin, 16, daughter of philosopher William Godwin and writer Mary Wollstonecraft, abandoned his wife and eloped with Mary. He was a close friend of Lord Byron and an advocate of vegetarianism.
2. In 1900 Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born. She met her future husband, Prince Albert, at a children's party, and in due course her daughter became Queen Elizabeth II and she became the Queen Mother. In 2000, she received a birthday telegram from her daughter on her 100th birthday.
3. Born this date in 1961 was Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States.
4. In 1892, Andrew and Abby Borden were axed to death in their home in Fall River, Massachusetts. Lizzie Borden, Andrew Borden's daughter from a previous marriage, was accused of the killings, but acquitted at trial.
5. In 1914, Britain declared war on Germany after the Germans had violated the Treaty of London, and World War I began.
6. In 1944 Nazi police in Amsterdam, Netherlands, acted on an informant's tip, and discovered Anne Frank and her family in hiding. They had lived in a single secret room for 728 days.
7. In 1923, the BBC first used six pips as a broadcast time signal – later, the sixth pip was elongated for emphasis.
8. In 1990, British aviatrix Naomi Christie celebrated her 79th birthday with a flight standing on the roof of a Tiger Moth.
9. In 1621, during a fox hunt, George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury, accidentally shot Peter Hawkins in the arm with an arrow, severing an artery, causing him to bleed to death. Abbot gave Hawkins’s widow and orphans an annuity, and fasted one day every month to try and atone for the accident. Coincidentally, he died on this date in 1633.
10. In 2005 The longest garage sale in the world was held on Highway 127 and Lookout Mountain Parkway, Alabama. The sale stretched for about 450 Miles with around 5,000 people taking part. Mike Walker had come up with the idea of the longest garage sale in 1987 to bring traffic to America's less travelled highways. (I took the road less travelled... and ended up buying a load of junk!)

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

3 August

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 3 August:

1. On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus, with a $67,000 endowment from Queen Isabella and accompanied by a crew of 90 set sail from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, with three ships – the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.
2. The première of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot took place at the Arts Theatre, London on this date in 1955. Half the audience walked out during the performance.
3. In 1879, 3,700 panes of glass in the glasshouses at Kew Gardens were destroyed by Lightning during a violent hailstorm.
4. A British expedition led by Francis Younghusband, became the first group of westerners to enter the Forbidden City of Lhasa, Tibet, on this date in 1904.
5. Miriam Hargrave from Wakefield finally passed her driving test on this date in 1970, Wakefield. She'd failed 39 times in 8 years.
6. In 1971, Alan Shepard became the first man to play Golf on the moon.
7. In 2007, Queen guitarist Brian May handed in his astronomy PhD thesis – 36 years after abandoning it to join the band.
8. In 1958, the world's first nuclear powered Submarine, USS Nautilus, began the first crossing of the Arctic Ocean under the ice cap.
9. In 1858, the source of the Nile was found by English explorer John Hanning Speke.
10. In 1985, the mail service was re-instated at Paradise Lake, FL – a nudist colony, on condition that residents promised to put some clothes on or stay out of sight during the postman's visits.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

2 August

Ten weird and wonderful things which happened on 2 August: 

1. A pair of aces and a pair of eights – this combination came to be known as the "Dead Man's Hand" as a result of events on this date in 1876. It was the hand frontiersman Wild Bill Hickok was holding when he was shot dead while playing poker. The assassin, Jack McCall, had been enlisted by local criminals to prevent Hickok from becoming town marshal.
2. In 1975, a champagne-cork-popping record was set by Gary P. Mahan when he popped the cork 103 feet.
3. London Underground (The Tube) opened on this date in 1870. The same date in 2012 was the busiest day on the Tube ever, when 4.31 million people used it.
4. In 1873, the first trial run of a San Francisco cable car, on Clay Street between Kearny and Jones took place, downhill all the way, at 4 AM.
5. In 1875, Britain's first roller-skating rink was opened to the public, in Belgravia, London.
6. In 1784, the first specially-built Royal Mail coach ran from Bristol to London.
7. In 47 BC, Julius Caesar beat Pharnaces III of Pontus and said the immortal words “Veni, vidi, vici” (I came, I saw, I conquered).
8. In 216 BC, a battle took place at Cannae. Hannibal beat the Romans using Elephants.
9. In 1997, Australian ski instructor Stuart Diver was rescued. He was the sole survivor of the Thredbo landslide in New South Wales, Australia, in which 18 lives were lost. Diver lay buried beneath mud, rubble and snow in his pyjamas for 66 hours.
10. In 1887, Barbed Wire was patented by Rowell Hodge.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website

1 August

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 1st August:

1. On this date in 30 BC Mark Antony and his lover Cleopatra committed suicide after Antony was defeated by Octavian at the naval Battle of Actium, and in a brief land battle at Alexandria.
2. In 1838, slavery was declared unlawful throughout the British Empire.
3. MTV Europe began broadcasting on this date in 1987. The first video was Money For Nothing by Dire Straits.
4. In 1919, Doubleday published nine year old Daisy Ashford's The Young Visiters; or, Mr Salteena's Plan. Sir James M. Barrie wrote a preface – leading the public to believe Barrie was the real author.
5. In 1793, France became the first country to use the metric system of weights and measures, a by-product of the French Revolution. The kilogram was introduced in France as the first metric weight.
6. In a violent storm in London on this date in 1846, 7,000 window panes in the Houses of Parliament, 300 in Old Scotland Yard, 10,000 in Leicester Square and many more in Regent Street, Somerset House and Buckingham Palace, were shattered by hailstones.
7. In 1785, Caroline Herschel became the first woman to discover a comet.
8. In 1973, Jerry Garcia celebrated his 31st birthday by playing a concert at Roosevelt Stadium with the Grateful Dead. He was surprised with a cake wheeled on stage, which contained a naked woman. He was, in his words, "embarrassed."
9. There was a mutiny on board the convict transport ship Lady Shaw, on this date in 1797. 60 male convicts and one woman mutinied on the way to from Britain to Australia.
10. In 1996, Darlington Sub-aqua team found 6 fossilised bones in Loch Morar. Could be Morag, cousin of the Loch Ness Monster, it was concluded.

I write Fiction, too.

There is a whole new universe of superheroes to discover in my novels. The Ultraheroes Universe includes at least one alternative dimension, good guys, bad guys, secrets, romance and more.

For more information visit My Books Page

For even more information visit My website