One of the greatest inventors in history was born today in 1891. We've all heard of Thomas Edison, James Watt, James Dyson, Richard Arkwright (well, Twelve Pee Zed, perhaps not Richard Arkwright, more's the pity) but what of the late, great Ole Kirk Christiansen, I hear you ask?
Generations have been grateful to him and he even had a land names after his invention. What did he invent?
Lego.
In other news ...
Richard Turpin was hanged in York on this day in 1739. His story is fascinating because the actual psychotic low-life who once roasted an old lady's backside on a red hot grate until she told him where she kept her valuables was turned into a hero by a single novel - Harrison Ainsworth's in the 1830s. Turpin's horse, Black Bess, his legendary ride to York before they built the A1, his derring-do and concern for the poor is all pure fiction.