22nd December

James Edward Stuart, son of the deposed James II, landed at Peterhead in Scotland today in 1715. Rightfully king of England, his aim was to overthrow the usurper, George I, who was the son of the usurper Electress Sophie, who was a cousin of the usurper Anne, who was the sister and sister-in-law respectively of Mary and William who had taken the throne from James's dad in the first place. (Do keep up, Seven Bee Four; it really couldn't be simpler).

So, despite a promising start, why did James not succeed in getting his throne back? He was only Pretending.

In other news...
Mary Ann Evans died today in 1880. She is better known as George Eliot and used the male nom de plume to get her novels published in a male-dominated, sexist world. That got me thinking of other writers whose real names should be exposed e.g. Ellis Peters (Edith Pargeter); Currer Bell (Charlotte Bronte) and Andy McNab (Priscilla-May Blenkinsop).

11th April

A remarkable character was born today in 1929. He served in the US Navy, smoked a pipe all his life and had a deformed jaw. He only had one friend, who was addicted to beefburgers and his girlfriend left a lot to be desired in the hour glass figure stakes. He was constantly having run-ins with a moron with a beard and huge shoulders and there was a kid who looked just like him and was always crawling off high buildings. Robin Williams played him - not very well, it must be said. His real claim to fame was trying to get children - or indeed any sane adult - to eat spinach.

Thank you, Popeye, for what you've been.

In other news ...

William Anne Mary was crowned today in 1689, the only official hermaphrodite monarch of England (the unofficial ones, if you're wondering are: Richard I, Edward II and [almost] Wallis Simpson).