On March 31st:

1889 – The Eiffel Tower was built.

1909 – The building of the Titanic started.

1912 – The building of the Titanic was finished.

1998 – Netscape releases the code base of its browser under an open-source license agreement; the project is given the code name Mozilla and would eventually be spun off into the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.

And in 1993 - I was born. What interesting things happened on the date you where born I wonder?

Anyway, did you know on this day in 1888 - The volcano Mount Bandai erupted, killing at least 470 people in the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan.

Fact Of the (few) days:

King Henry VIII technically had either three or four wives, depending on who you wish to believe.

His marriage to Anne of Cleves was annulled.
The Pope declared his marriage with Anne Boleyn to be void as he was still married to Catherine of Aragon.
The marriage to Catherine of Aragon was declared void by Henry himself (as the new head of the Church of England) as it was illegal to marry the widow of one's brother (Catherine had previously been married to Henry's older brother Arthur).

On a cheerier note: After his death, while being moved to Westminster Abbey, the king's body swelled in the heat and exploded.

On this day in 1921 The Irish War Of Independence Ended

Other things to happen include:

1789 – French Revolution: Jacques Necker was dismissed as Director-General of Finances of France, sparking public demonstrations in Paris that led to the Storming of the Bastille three days later.

1804 – U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a duel in Weehawken, New Jersey.

1943 – In a massive ethnic cleansing operation, units of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army attacked various Polish villages in the Volhynia region of present-day Ukraine, killing the Polish civilians and burning those settlements to the ground.

1960 – American author Harper Lee's novel To Kill a Mockingbird, featuring themes of racial injustice and the destruction of innocence in the American Deep South, was first published.

(Although as the information comes from Wikipedia - maybe it's not entirely accurate, but never mind it's interesting regardless.)


Fact of The Day:

Gustav III, King of Sweden, believed that coffee was poisonous. So he set out to prove this theory, by testing this on two murderers. One to drink coffee everyday, and the other to drink tea. Two doctors where appointed to see who would die first.

The doctors died first.
The king was then assasinated in 1792.
The tea drinker died at 83.
The coffee drinker survived them all.

If we could shrink the earth's population to precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following:



There would be:
57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 8 Africans
14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south

52 would be female, 48 would be male
70 would be non-white, 30 would be white
70 would be non-Christian, 30 would be Christian
89 would be heterosexual, 11 would be homosexual


6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.
80 would live in substandard housing
70 would be unable to read


50 would suffer from malnutrition, 1 would be near death, 1 would be near birth
1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education, 1 would own a computer

Just something to think about...

I have nothing to declare but my genius.

Isn't interesting what was seen as frightening and horrific, or just plain obscene even just 20 years ago, is now seen as perfectly usual. I am thinking film wise rather than about Space Invaders but I think the picture illustrates my point perfectly. :)

I found a very interesting book today, a book of the poem "Killing Time" by Simon Armitage. Very good poem. In English we did a poem by him called "Hitcher that was very good as well, although I do prefer "Killing Time"... It's a very interesting poem - so absorbing. Speaking of books, I've almost finished Angels & Demons. Very interesting. ^_^

And for the general cute vote, here is a merecat from Berlin zoo, enjoy!

Splash.

Whilst I was randomly on the internet, I found this truly awesome poem, all I have to say really :):

Splash

the illusion is that you are simply
reading this poem.
the reality is that this is
more than a
poem.
this is a beggar's knife.
this is a tulip.
this is a soldier marching
through Madrid.
this is you on your
death bed.
this is Li Po laughing
underground.
this is not a god-damned
poem.
this is a horse asleep.
a butterfly in
your brain.
this is the devil's
circus.
you are not reading this
on a page.
the page is reading
you.
feel it?
it's like a cobra. it's a hungry eagle circling the room.

this is not a poem. poems are dull,
they make you sleep.

these words force you
to a new
madness.

you have been blessed, you have been pushed into a
blinding area of
light.

the elephant dreams
with you
now.
the curve of space
bends and
laughs.

you can die now.
you can die now as
people were meant to
die:
great,
victorious,
hearing the music,
being the music,
roaring,
roaring,
roaring.

Charles Bukowski

Praying To A God That I Don't Believe In

This I wrote whilst trying to write an essay on Charles Dickens' Hard Times - you could say I had a Hard Time writing it! (**TUMBLEWEED** **SOMEONE COUGHS**) Anyway, it's not just trying to write an essay it's also about writer's block and generally not being able to think of an idea. It's not to great but I felt I should put it down. :)

Writer's Block

Another cup of coffee
TRYING TO CONCENTRATE
That annoying tapping in the background...CAN SOMEONE TURN OFF THE RADIO??
Words trying to escape from my hand... Masses of scribbling across the page.
Every sound is a DISTRACTING EXPLOSION to my ears.
The computer and television are so inviting - MUST WRITE.
Don't break my concentration.
A dull book laying in front of me too hard to read.
Praying to a God I don't believe in, help me come up with an idea -
I'll never doubt your existence again.

The written motorway congests a fool.

Well it has been some time.
I've just sent off a story for a short story competition. Wish me luck!
In the mean time, here is a poem:

Skeletons In A Forest

Skeletal trees upon a walkway.
The rain hits their leaves into surrender,
Thunder from a distance.
Footsteps from beneath.
The grey sky above me -
Walking in a sea of leaves.

My thoughts will never leave my mind,
their mine to keep inside.
Books in my bag bang against my knees,
As I remember long lost times.
Music drumming in my ears,
The soundtrack to my life.