27 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 27 December:

1. Johannes Kepler, German astronomer who discovered and confirmed Copernicus’s theory that the earth and planets circle the sun in elliptical orbits, was born on this date in 1571.
2. Another scientist was born on this date in 1822: Louis Pasteur, French chemist and bacteriologist who discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and infection and developed a vaccine for rabies.
3. In 1934, the Shah of Persia declared that henceforth, Persia would be known as Iran.
4. In 1900, the New York Tribune published a review of Puccini's new opera, La Boheme. which read: "Silly and inconsequential incidents and dialogues."
5. The Admiralty survey ship HMS Beagle, with Charles Darwin on board, set out from Plymouth on this date in 1831, on a scientific voyage around the world, which led to Darwin writing his Origin Of Species.
6. Queen's A Day At The Races album was released on this date in 1976.
7. In 1683, William Penn acquitted two witches saying there was no law against riding on broomsticks and they had every right to do so.
8. On this date in 1986 Corazon Aquino, President of the Philippines, became the third woman to be named TIME magazine’s Man of the Year. The only other women to receive that honour previously were Queen Elizabeth II in 1952 and the Duchess of Windsor, Wallis Warfield Simpson, in 1936.
9. In 1871, the World's first Cat Show was held at Crystal Palace in London.
10. The worst ever English avalanche killed 8 people in Lewes, Sussex on this date in 1836. A pub was later built on the site. It is called The Snow Drop Inn.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

26 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 26 December:

Elizabeth Bathory

1. In 1906, the world’s first feature film, The Story of the Kelly Gang, made in Australia, was screened in Melbourne.
2. In 1606, William Shakespeare's play King Lear was performed for the first time before the English court. The play is the story of the ageing King Lear who divided his kingdom among two of his hypocritical daughters, Goneril and Regan, while disinheriting his third daughter, Cordelia, who truly loves him.
3. In 1924, Judy Garland, billed as Baby Frances, made her debut as part of the family's vaudeville act on the New Grand Theater stage, managed by her father. She was two and a half.
4. In 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium while experimenting with pitchblende.
5. In 1973, two Skylab 3 astronauts walked in space for a record 7 hours.
6. The ghastly crimes of Erzsébet Báthory (Elizabeth Bathory) were uncovered on this date in 1620. Báthory was a Hungarian countess. It was alleged that she was a serial killer responsible for the torture and murder of over 600 peasants. It is believed that her primary motive for murder was to bathe in the blood of young girls to improve her complexion. When her crimes were discovered, she was tried and imprisoned in solitary confinement, where she died. Her collaborators were executed.
7. In 1982, The Man of the Year in TIME magazine wasn't human for the first time. A computer received the honours as 1982’s "greatest influence for good or evil."
8. The first charity walk took place, along Icknield Way, in aid of the World Refugee Fund on this date in 1959.
9. Born on this date in 1893 was Mao Tse-tung, Chinese Communist leader. He led his nation after the war of liberation, from 1947 to his death. Chairman Mao’s famous Little Red Book of his thoughts was issued to all the population.
10. Also born on this date, in 1792, was Charles Babbage, mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who first imagined the concept of a programmable computer. He developed the first speedometer and adding machine.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

25 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 25 December:

1. According to Christian belief, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem on this date in the year 0. However, it's impossible to prove the date or the year. The earliest known year that Jesus' nativity was celebrated on December 25th was 336. In 440, the leaders of the Christian Church fixed this day as the date to observe the birth of Christ.
2. The scientist Sir Isaac Newton was born on this date in 1643. His Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, is considered to be the most influential book in the history of science. In it, Newton described universal gravitation and the three laws of motion.
3. Also born on Christmas Day, in 1899, was Humphrey Bogart, American actor whose films include Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, Casablanca, The Big Sleep and The Maltese Falcon. He is credited with five of the US Film Institute’s top 100 film quotations – more than any other actor. These include: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine," and "Here's looking at you, kid."
4. In 1066 William the Conqueror was crowned King William I of England. In 1085 he ordered a complete survey of England, known as the Domesday Book, named after the Christian concept of a Book of Judgement at Doomsday in which all names are recorded.
5. Hirohito succeeded his father Yoshihito as emperor of Japan on this date in 1926.
6. In 1870, Richard Wagner hired an orchestra to play music for his wife Cosima's 33rd birthday. The music was the Siegfried Idyll. She was woken that morning by the orchestra performing on the lower stairs. Her reaction to this is not recorded.
7. In 1959, one Richard Starkey, aged 18, received a Drum set for Christmas. He went on to become one of the most famous rock and roll drummers in the world: Ringo Starr of The Beatles.
8. King George V made the first Royal Christmas broadcast to the Empire in 1932. Queen Elizabeth II made her first Christmas broadcast in 1952, and her first Christmas message on television was broadcast in 1957. In 2022, we presumably get the first Christmas speech by King Charles III.
9. The first man-made comet was visible in the sky on Christmas Day 1984. The sphere of chemicals from a West German satellite appeared to be yellowish-green, and in the constellation Virgo. Many said it was Santa taking a short cut back to the North Pole.
10. In 2010, Atlanta, Georgia had its first white Christmas in 128 years. 500 flights were affected. Meanwhile, South Carolina had Snow on Christmas Day for the first time ever.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

24 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 24 December:

1. Howard Hughes was born on this date in 1905. He inherited the Hughes Tool Company when his father died and invested some of the money in Hollywood films including Hell’s Angels and The Outlaw. He worked under an assumed name for American Airways, then left after less than a year with enough knowledge not just to start his own aircraft company, but also to design an aircraft to take the airspeed record. Hughes is remembered today, however, for his eccentric behaviour and reclusive lifestyle.
2. Stephenie Meyer, author of the Twilight series was born on this date in 1973.
3. Robin Hood is said to have died on this date in 1247. Famous for stealing from the rich to give to the poor, it's said he bled to death in a convent in Kirklees. He summoned Little John to his bedside, and said, "Give me my bent bow in my hand, And an arrow I'll let free, And where that arrow is taken up, There let my grave digged be." The alleged grave may still be seen near Huddersfield.
4. In 1818, a mouse put the organ out of order at St Nicholas Church in Oberdorf, Germany, which would have meant no music for midnight mass. Franz Xavier Gruber saved the day by writing a carol for guitar and choir, with lyrics by Josef Mohr. It was called Stille Nacht (Silent Night). This traditional song was sung for the first time on this night.
5. Albert Einstein and eminent physicist Leo Szilard filed a patent in England for a refrigerator on this date in 1928. It proved too noisy for domestic use, but the magnetic pump in many nuclear reactors is based on their noisy Fridge.
6. In 1968, astronauts aboard Apollo VIII, orbiting the Moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis as part of a Christmas Eve television broadcast to Earth, and took a photo of earth rising behind the moon.
7. In 1978, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog of the group ABBA separated after seven years of marriage.
8. In 1965, a Meteorite weighing about 100 lbs landed on Leicestershire, possibly the largest to fall on Britain in modern times.
9. In 1977 Thomas Helms made an unexpected appearance on TV. He was attempting to commit suicide by jumping from the 86^th floor of the Empire State Building, but strong cross winds blew him through a window on the 82^nd floor, where NBC news was being broadcast.
10. In 1998, 21 workers at a Psychic Hotline in Peru were locked out of their jobs for refusing a 50% pay cut. Their boss, Walter Mercado, hired replacement psychics. The locked out psychics weren't happy. They claimed they were trained in psychology and human behaviour while the new psychics were hired with no training whatsoever. Their only requirement was "a nice voice."

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

23 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 23 December:

1. Diana Berg was born on this date in 1987. Her twin sister Monica was not born until 30 January 1988. This is the longest recorded interval between the births of Twins.
2. In 1991 two pilots in Florida decided to let the instruments fly the plane while they had sex in the cockpit. Design limits were exceeded and the wing fell off. The plane crashed and killed them both.
3. In 1823, the poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement C. Moore ("'Twas Night Before Christmas...") was published anonymously in the Troy (New York) Sentinel.
4. 1912 Keystone released its first "Keystone Cops" film. It was called Hoffmeyer's Legacy. The films were made until 1920.
5. In 1888 Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his left ear. He was suffering severe depression at the time, exacerbated by his companion Gauguin's decision to leave their lodgings at Arles after a row about the prostitutes in Arles who seemed to prefer Gauguin. Van Gogh delivered his ear to one of them, Rachel, who liked him more than Gauguin. She fainted.
6. In 1848 The London Illustrated News published the first Christmas supplement with advice on ‘making the Christmas Pudding’.
7. In 1672, astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered Saturn's moon Rhea. Rhea is 950 miles (1500 km) in diameter and has the most craters per unit area of any of Saturn's moons. The largest crater is 190 miles (300 km) in diameter.
8. In 2010, a survey indicated that almost one third of Britons believe they have a guardian angel.
9. In 1977, singer Cat Stevens converted to Islam, and changed his name to Yusef Islam.
10. In 1972, the world record for consecutive push-ups was set by Richard Knecht. He did 25,222 on a hard surface. It took him 11 hours and 14 minutes.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

22 December

 10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 22 December:

1. On this date in 1716, Lincoln's Inn Theatre, London, put on England's first Pantomime, which included Harlequin, Columbine and Pantaloon.
2. In 1895, German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen made the first X Ray, of his wife's hand.
3. In 1938, A coelacanth, a fish thought to be extinct, was caught off South Africa.
4. In 1977, a young man named Thomas Helms decided to commit suicide. He climbed to the edge of the observation deck on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building in New York, and jumped off. However, he only fell 20 feet before landing on a narrow ledge. He suffered no major injuries but was knocked unconscious for half-an-hour – adequate time for an emergency crew to bring him safely inside.
5. In 2000, a magistrate’s musical tie played Santa Claus is coming to Town as a man convicted of common assault was led down to cells. The tie was a present from wife, and he didn't know how to switch it off.
6. In 1987, Chinese thieves caused chaos in the streets of Xianyang in north China when they stole 2,249 manhole covers to sell back to government departments.
7. In 877, King Alfred the Great passed a law that no servant had to work during the 12 days of celebration following Midwinter – basically the 12 Days of Christmas, a Christian period of celebration created to replace the pagan Saturnalia.
8. In 1984 Koko, a Gorilla who spoke sign language, cried at the news that her kitten had died.
9. In 2010, the Abbey Road Zebra Crossing in north London, famous for appearing on a Beatles Album cover, was given Grade II listed status. The crossing, the first of its kind to be listed, was being recognised for its "cultural and historical importance" following advice from English Heritage.
10. On this date in 1980, Stiff Records released an album titled The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan. The record contained no sound whatsoever.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book

21 December

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 21 December:

1. This date in 1804 saw the birth of Benjamin Disraeli, first Earl of Beaconsfield, British Conservative statesman who served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister—the first and thus far only person of Jewish parentage to do so. He was also a novelist. He wrote romances, of which Sybil and Vivian Grey are the best-known. He said, "What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens."
2. An act passed by the House of Keys on the Isle of Man on this date in 1840 granted women the vote, provided they were widows or spinsters with a property rated annually at £4 or over.
3. The first feature-length cartoon with colour and sound, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, an animated masterpiece produced by Walt Disney, had its world première in Hollywood on this date in 1937.
4. In 1981, the world's longest aeroplane made its maiden flight. It was an An-225, built by the Russian company Antonov, was made to carry the Buran orbiter, Russia's version of the Space Shuttle. The plane was 84 meters or 276 feet long.
5. In 1968, Apollo 8, the first manned moon voyage was launched with Borman, Lovell and Anders aboard. They became the first men to orbit the Moon.
6. In 1799, William Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, took possession of Dove Cottage at Grasmere, Westmorland.
7. In 2010, Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of the Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips and Rugby Union player Mike Tindall.
8. In 1988, a Pan Am jumbo jet exploded in flight and crashed onto the Scottish town of Lockerbie killing all 259 passengers aboard and 11 people on the ground. The aircraft, bound for New York, had taken off from London after completing its first leg from Germany. The bomb was hidden in a transistor radio.
9. The current cycle of the Mayan "long count" calendar, based on great cycles of 5125 years, ended on this date in 2012, having sparked fears that it meant the end of the world. Needless to say, the fears were unfounded.
10. In 2001 a Tartan was commissioned for Madonna: blue for True Blue and yellow for Blonde Ambition tour.

New!!

A Superhero love story.

Sent away to school to get her away from undesirable company, Agnes finds herself homesick and lonely. A brief connection with Jason Warner leads to the teenage crush to end all teenage crushes. Jason is barely aware Agnes exists, but she plans her whole future around him.

It is only when they meet again as adults that the connection becomes mutual; but before it can develop, Jason makes a discovery which rocks his entire world. He needs time alone, away from everyone, including Agnes. When Jason is finally ready to go back to his old life, Agnes has moved on and he cannot find her.

Agnes is now a single parent to the remarkable Seraphina. The Power League want to harness Seraphina's powers for evil before the Freedom League become aware of her. Agnes has no idea her new colleague and friend is a supervillain with his own agenda, and his willingness to babysit is not as innocent as she thinks. As Incendio starts teaching Seraphina to use her powers, the Freedom League intervene. Little do they know that they have found one of their own.

Where to get it:

Paperback

E-book