50 Newsworthy Anniversaries in February 2014 for you to write about (and make money from!)

Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries coming up in February 2014 for you to write about (and make money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

We have painstakingly cross-checked every entry, but you are advised to check all facts again as part of your research. Please let us know of any errors you find.

This list is a small sample of the entries for February from The Date-A-Base Book 2014. There are more than 220 anniversaries for this month in the book, which covers the whole of 2014 from January to December and features more than 2,650 anniversaries in total.

Just one published article will cover the cost of your copy many times over.

250 years ago (15 Feb 1764)
The city of St. Louis, Missouri, USA was founded.

200 years ago (1 Feb 1814)
Mayon Volcano in the Philippines erupted – the most destructive eruption in its history. Approximately 1,200 people were killed.

150 years ago (17 Feb 1864)
American Civil War: the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley sank the Union warship USS Housatonic in Charleston harbour, South Carolina, becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy ship in combat. (The Hunley sank within an hour, killing all 8 crew.)

150 years ago (17 Feb 1864)
Birth of A. B. (‘Banjo’) Paterson, Australian bush poet and journalist; best known for his song Waltzing Matilda and for his poetry collections including The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses.

100 years ago (2 Feb 1914)
The film Making a Living was released in the USA. It was Charlie Chaplin’s first film appearance.

100 years ago (2 Feb 1914)
James Joyce’s first novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was serialised in the American periodical The Egoist. (Serialisation continued until Sept 1915; the novel was published in book form in Dec 1916.)

100 years ago (5 Feb 1914)
Birth of William S. Burroughs, American novelist and short story writer; a prominent member of the Beat movement.

100 years ago (5 Feb 1914)
Birth of Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British physiologist and biophysicist; joint winner of the 1963 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering the processes responsible for nerve impulses.

100 years ago (10 Feb 1914)
Birth of Larry Adler, American harmonica player.

100 years ago (12 Feb 1914)
The ground-breaking ceremony for the Lincoln Memorial was held in Washington, D.C., USA. (Completed 1922.)

100 years ago (13 Feb 1914)
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded in New York City.

100 years ago (25 Feb 1914)
Birth of John Arlott, British cricket commentator, writer and journalist.

100 years ago (25 Feb 1914)
Death of Sir John Tenniel, British illustrator and political cartoonist; best known for his work in Punch magazine and for his illustrations for Lewis Carroll’s books Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

90 years ago (3 Feb 1924)
Death of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States.

90 years ago (8 Feb 1924)
The first execution by lethal gas in the USA. Chinese-born murderer Gee Jon was executed at the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.

80 years ago (12 – 16 Feb 1934)
The Austrian Civil War.

80 years ago (17 Feb 1934)
Death of King Albert I of Belgium (mountaineering accident); succeeded by Leopold III.

80 years ago (23 Feb 1934)
Death of Edward Elgar, British composer.

75 years ago (1 Feb 1939)
The American scientific journal Physical Review published the first article that described black holes.

75 years ago (10 Feb 1939)
Death of Pope Pius XI.

75 years ago (25 Feb 1939)
World War II: The first Anderson air-raid shelters were delivered to households in Islington, north London, in anticipation of German bombing.

70 years ago (17 – 22 Feb 1944)
World War II – the Pacific Campaign – the Battle of Eniwetok Atoll; U.S. victory.

70 years ago (24 Feb 1944)
Merrill’s Marauders, a long-range deep-penetration unit of the U.S. Army, began a 1,000-mile march through Japanese-occupied Burma, marching through a region of the Himalayas and the Burmese jungle to pass behind Japanese lines.

65 years ago (17 Feb 1949)
Chaim Weizmann was sworn in as the first President of Israel.

60 years ago (18 Feb 1954)
The Church of Scientology was established in California, USA.

60 years ago (23 Feb 1954)
The first field test of the polio vaccine began in Pittsburgh, USA. The trial initially involved just two schools, but in April a year-long national trial began, involving 1.8 million children.

60 years ago (28 Feb 1954)
The first colour televisions using the NTSC standard went on sale in the USA. (Sales were low for the first few years but took off in the 1960s.)

50 years ago (6 Feb 1964)
Britain and France announced their agreement to construct the Channel Tunnel, following the completion of feasibility studies. (Construction began in 1974 after a detailed geological survey, but the British cancelled the project in 1975. It was restarted in 1988 and the tunnel opened in 1994.)

50 years ago (6 Feb 1964)
Death of Emilio Aguinaldo, first President of the Philippines (1897-1901).

50 years ago (7 Feb 1964)
Beatlemania: British rock band The Beatles arrived in New York City for their first tour of the USA, and were met by thousands of screaming fans. On 9th Feb they made their first live appearance on American television, on The Ed Sullivan Show.

50 years ago (25 Feb 1964)
American boxer Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) became world heavyweight champion after beating Sonny Liston.

50 years ago (25 Feb 1964)
Death of Maurice Farman, French racing driver, pioneer aviator, aircraft manufacturer and designer.

50 years ago (25 Feb 1964)
Death of Grace Metalious, American writer; best known for her controversial novel Peyton Place.

40 years ago (4 Feb 1974)
Patty Hearst kidnapping. The granddaughter of American newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (After two months as a hostage she joined her captors and helped them further their cause, and served two years in prison for bank robbery – later pardoned by U.S. President Bill Clinton.)

40 years ago (4 Feb 1974)
M62 coach bombing. An IRA bomb exploded on a coach carrying off-duty British Armed Forces personnel and their families in Yorkshire, England. Nine soldiers and three civilians were killed.

40 years ago (7 Feb 1974)
Grenada gained its independence from the UK.

30 years ago (9 Feb 1984)
Death of Yuri Andropov, leader of the Soviet Union; succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko.

30 years ago (14 Feb 1984)
British figure skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, scoring the first perfect 6.0 in Olympic ice-dancing history.

25 years ago (3 Feb 1989)
South African President P. W. Botha resigned after suffering a stroke.

25 years ago (5 Feb 1989)
Sky TV was launched in the UK.

25 years ago (6 Feb 1989)
Death of Chris Gueffroy, the last person to be killed while trying to escape over the Berlin Wall.

25 years ago (11 Feb 1989)
Barbara C. Harris became the first woman to be ordained as a bishop in the Anglican Church, in a ceremony held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

25 years ago (14 Feb 1989)
The first of the 24 satellites that make up the Global Positioning System (GPS) was launched by the U.S. Department of Defense.

25 years ago (14 Feb 1989)
Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a ‘fatwa’ calling for the death of British author Salman Rushdie, whose novel The Satanic Verses was condemned as blasphemous against Muslims.

20 years ago (25 Feb 1994)
British serial killer Fred West was arrested in connection with the disappearance of his daughter. Police discovered human bones buried in his garden. (On 30th June he was charged with 11 murders. His wife Rosemary was charged with 10 murders.)

10 years ago (1 Feb 2004)
American singer Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed during the Super Bowl half-time show, allegedly due to a ‘wardrobe malfunction’. Broadcaster CBS was fined $550,000 (later voided by the Court of Appeal).

10 years ago (4 Feb 2004)
The social networking site Facebook was launched.

10 years ago (5 Feb 2004)
Morecambe Bay cockle-picking disaster, England. 23 Chinese cockle-pickers drowned after being trapped by the rising tide.

10 years ago (17 Feb 2004)
Death of José López Portillo, President of Mexico (1976-82).

10 years ago (22 Feb 2004)
The first pan-European political party, the European Green Party, was founded in Rome, Italy.

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2013 and 2014  (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas, How to Win Short Story Competitions, our complete collection of 5,000+ writing ideas, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive online writing software (writing engines), and more. (Total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

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Review copies available

This week we have 25 copies of Humans Are Not From Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence by Dr Ellis Silver to give away (Kindle format only). Email mail@ideas4writers.co.uk to request your copy. We only ask that you post a one-paragraph Customer Review on Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk in exchange.

We published this book ourselves as the author is a friend of Dave’s – and also because we thought the book was pretty good: well-written, easy to understand, and very intriguing.

[Updated 16 Aug 2013: all review copies have now gone. But you can still buy it for about the price of a beer from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk – or any of the other Amazons.]

We’ll be back next week with 50 historic anniversaries in February 2014 for you to write about (a small sample of the 2,650+ anniversaries in The Date-A-Base Book 2014).

What If . . . ? 10 Creative Writing Prompts for August

Here’s this month’s selection of “What If…?” creative writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

These are all taken from our book: The Fastest Way to Get Ideas – 4,400 Essential What Ifs for Writers.

What if…

1. you were massively famous in another county but unknown in your own?

2. you withdrew your apology?

3. you never reached maturity?

4. you thought you’d been given a placebo?

5. you wished you could lose your memory?

6. you invited someone, knowing he wouldn’t come, but he did?

7. you impersonated a police officer?

8. you forgot the words?

9. your manager told you to disobey an order from above?

10. the choice was too difficult to make?

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2013, 2014 (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas (contains 4,400 what ifs), our complete 5,000+ collection of writing ideas, How to Win Short Story Competitions, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive online writing software (writing engines), and more…
(total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

ideas4writers: inspiring you since 2002!

Out soon in paperback?

We’ve decided to give Amazon’s CreateSpace a try. It’s their print-on-demand service whereby we upload a digital copy of each of our books to their computer and they print them and post them as orders are placed. It seems a lot easier than getting half-a-garage-full printed, and then packing and posting them ourselves – which is what we currently do.

We’ve sold out of printed copies of everything except The Date-A-Base Book 2014, so migrating everything to CreateSpace will ensure that all our books are always available.

Most of our books have only been available electronically until now, so this is a chance to put that right too – and that means they should also reach a wider audience.

With nearly 40 books to convert to CreateSpace’s templates, it’s certainly not going to be a quick process. So with that in mind, we’d like you to tell us which of our books you’d like to see in print first. You can choose any of the 35 books in our writing ideas collection (not the omnibus editions), The Fastest Way to Get Ideas (also known as The ‘What If’ Book) or How to Win Short Story Competitions. The books which get the most votes will be the ones we convert first. You can see the complete list of books on our order form.

We’ll get around to converting all of them eventually, but as we’ll be giving them an extra proofread/polish at the same time, that might take a year or more, which is why we’d like to start with the most popular requests first.

Notes:

The Fastest Way to Write Your Book (2nd edition) should be out next month and will be available in both print and ebook formats, so you don’t need to vote for that one.

We won’t be converting The Date-A-Base Book 2013 as it’s almost out of date now. The 2015 edition will be available (in October/November) in printed and ebook formats as usual. We’ll see if we can put that one on CreateSpace too this time, so it doesn’t sell out – though we’re not sure how well CreateSpace will handle the tabular format.

50 Newsworthy Anniversaries in January 2014 for you to write about (and make money from!)

Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries coming up in January 2014 for you to write about (and make money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

We have painstakingly cross-checked every entry, but you are advised to check all facts again as part of your research. Please let us know of any errors you find.

This list is a small sample of the entries for January in  The Date-A-Base Book 2014. There are more than 220 anniversaries for this month in the book, which covers the whole of 2014 from January to December and features more than 2,650 anniversaries in total.

 

 

200 years ago (27 Jan 1814)
Birth of Eugéne-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, French Gothic Revival architect and theorist; designed the steel framework for the Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA.

100 years ago (31 Jan 1914)
Birth of Jersey Joe Walcott, American world heavyweight boxing champion.

90 years ago (25 Jan – 5 Feb 1924)
The first-ever Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France.

80 years ago (1 Jan 1934)
Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay, USA became a federal prison.

80 years ago (1 Jan 1934)
The Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring became effective in Nazi Germany. Any citizen found to be suffering from a genetic disorder was compulsorily sterilised. (Over 400,000 people were sterilised against their will. Many of the disorders were not in fact genetic.)

80 years ago (20 Jan 1934)
The photography company Fujifilm was founded in Tokyo, Japan.

80 years ago (26 Jan 1934)
The German-Polish Non-Aggression Pact was signed. Both countries pledged to resolve their differences through negotiation and forgo armed conflict for ten years. (Adolf Hitler revoked the pact in April 1939 and Germany invaded Poland in September, starting WWII.)

75 years ago (1 Jan 1939)
The information technology company Hewlett-Packard was founded in a garage in Palo Alto, California, USA.

75 years ago (9 Jan 1939)
Birth of Susannah York, award-winning British actress. (Died 2011.)

75 years ago (24 Jan 1939)
Chillán earthquake, Chile. The deadliest earthquake in Chilean history; approximately 28,000 people were killed.

75 years ago (26 Jan 1939)
Spanish Civil War: General Franco’s forces captured Barcelona.

75 years ago (28 Jan 1939)
Death of W. B. Yeats, Irish poet and playwright; one of the leading English-language poets of the 20th century.

70 years ago (4 Jan 1944 – Apr 1945)
World War II – Operation Carpetbagger. The Allies dropped arms and supplies to resistance fighters in Europe.

70 years ago (17 Jan – 18 May 1944)
World War II – the Battle of Monte Cassino (Italy); Allied victory. Regarded as the hardest-fought and bloodiest battle of the war, with around 250,000 casualties.

70 years ago (22 Jan 1944)
World War II – Operation Shingle. The Allies launched an amphibious landing against German forces in Anzio, Italy. This led to the Battle of Anzio (22 Jan – 5 Jun).

70 years ago (23 Jan 1944)
Death of Edvard Munch, Norwegian artist whose paintings are based on psychological themes; best known for The Scream.

70 years ago (27 Jan 1944)
World War II: the Siege of Leningrad ended. Soviet victory.

60 years ago (1 Jan 1954)
The first coast-to-coast colour TV broadcast in the USA: the Tournament of Roses Parade on NBC.

60 years ago (14 Jan 1954)
The American Motors Corporation was founded when the Hudson Motor Car Company merged with the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation. (American Motors was bought by Chrysler in 1987 and renamed Eagle).

60 years ago (21 Jan 1954)
The world’s first nuclear-powered submarine, USS Nautilus, was launched in Connecticut, USA.

50 years ago (10 Jan 1964)
The first Beatles album was released in the USA: Introducing The Beatles.

50 years ago (11 Jan 1964)
U.S. Surgeon General Luther L. Terry published a report which concluded that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. This was the first official U.S. Government report on the health issues of smoking. Warnings were placed on packaging from Jan 1965. (An earlier report published in Britain in March 1962 reached the same conclusion.)

50 years ago (12 Jan 1964)
Zanzibar Revolution: the last Sultan of Zanzibar, Jamshid bin Abdullah, was overthrown and Zanzibar was proclaimed a republic.

50 years ago (13 Jan 1964)
Karol Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) was appointed Archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

50 years ago (13 Jan 1964)
The album The Times They Are A-Changin’ by Bob Dylan was released.

50 years ago (15 Jan 1964)
Death of Jack Teagarden, American jazz trombonist and singer.

50 years ago (16 Jan 1964)
The musical Hello, Dolly! opened on Broadway. (It ran until Dec 1970.)

50 years ago (20 Jan 1964)
The first Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was published.

50 years ago (23 Jan 1964)
The 24th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified. It prohibited Congress and the states from denying citizens the right to vote in federal elections if they had failed to pay poll taxes.

50 years ago (29 Jan 1964)
Death of Alan Ladd, American film actor.

50 years ago (30 Jan 1964)
The President of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam), Duong Van Minh, was overthrown by Nguyen Khanh in a bloodless coup.

30 years ago (1 Jan 1984)
Brunei became independent from the UK.

30 years ago (1 Jan 1984)
American communications giant AT&T Bell was broken up into 22 separate companies under the terms of an anti-trust agreement.

30 years ago (14 Jan 1984)
Death of Ray Kroc, American fast-food pioneer (McDonalds).

30 years ago (20 Jan 1984)
Death of Johnny Weissmuller, American swimming champion and actor.

30 years ago (21 Jan 1984)
Death of Jackie Wilson, American soul and R&B singer.

30 years ago (24 Jan 1984)
The first Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.

25 years ago (1 Jan 1989)
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer came into force.

25 years ago (7 Jan 1989)
Death of Emperor Hirohito of Japan; succeeded by his son Crown Prince Akihito.

25 years ago (8 Jan 1989)
Kegworth air disaster. A British Midland Boeing 737 crashed onto the M1 motorway in Leicestershire, England while attempting an emergency landing at East Midlands Airport. 47 people were killed and 74 injured.

25 years ago (17 Jan 1989)
Cleveland School massacre, Stockton, California, USA. A gunman opened fire on an elementary school playground. Five children were killed, and 29 children and one teacher injured. The gunman then took his own life.

25 years ago (20 Jan 1989)
George H. W. Bush was inaugurated as the 41st President of the USA.

25 years ago (23 Jan 1989)
Death of Salvador Dali, Spanish Surrealist artist and sculptor.

25 years ago (24 Jan 1989)
Death of Ted Bundy, American serial killer (executed).

20 years ago (17 Jan 1994)
Los Angeles earthquake, California, USA. 72 people were killed, 11,000 injured and $12.5 billion worth of damage was caused.

10 years ago (4 Jan 2004)
NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit landed on Mars. (Its twin, Opportunity landed on 25th Jan.)

10 years ago (13 Jan 2004)
Death of Harold Shipman, British doctor and serial killer who killed at least 215 of his patients and probably 250 or more (suicide).

10 years ago (17 Jan 2004)
Death of Ray Stark, award-winning American stage and film producer (Funny Girl, The Sunshine Boys, The Goodbye Girl, Steel Magnolias and many others).

10 years ago (25 Jan 2004)
Death of Fanny Blankers-Koen, Dutch athlete; the first woman to win 4 gold medals at a single Olympics (1948).

10 years ago (27 Jan 2004)
Death of Jack Paar, American comedian and talk show host (The Tonight Show).

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2013 and 2014  (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas, How to Win Short Story Competitions, our complete collection of 5,000+ writing ideas, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive online writing software (writing engines), and more. (Total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

ideas4writers: inspiring you since 2002!

Competition: The Bath Novel Award

You might like to enter this novel-writing competition:

The Bath Novel Award – a new international competition for unpublished novels

1st prize: £1000

Shortlist Judge: Juliet Mushens, Literary Agent (The Agency Group)

Closing Date: 28th Feb 2014

Send the first 5,000 words plus synopsis

Entry fee: £15

Full details: www.bathnovelaward.co.uk

What If . . . ? 10 Creative Writing Prompts for July

Here’s this month’s selection of “What If…?” creative writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

These are all taken from our book: The Fastest Way to Get Ideas – 4,400 Essential What Ifs for Writers.

What if…

1. your child seemed to have an extra sense?

2. a monkey could do your job?

3. you didn’t realise they were allergic?

4. something reared up at you?

5. you only bought things that were advertised?

6. humans were on their way to extinction?

7. you unearthed a secret while researching your family tree?

8. the library didn’t have any books?

9. you deliberately gave it to the wrong person?

10. keeping secrets was impossible?

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2013, 2014 (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas (contains 4,400 what ifs), our complete 5,000+ collection of writing ideas, How to Win Short Story Competitions, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive online writing software (writing engines), and more…
(total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

ideas4writers: inspiring you since 2002!

Members’ News – June 2013

We’re featuring the work of two members today – and I’ve met both of them in the bar at the Winchester Writers’ Conference (though it was a year apart as far as I can remember).

First up is Dr Ellis Silver, an American environmentalist and ecologist who (when I first met him) was in the UK acting as an adviser to a TV show. He was interested in writing books, so I quickly signed him up as a member of ideas4writers and sold him a copy of The Fastest Way to Write Your Book (2nd edition coming out in August). In the bar we ended up chatting about how humans might not have originated on Earth. Then he disappeared for about 5 years because the marine research park he runs in Texas with his uncle was smashed to bits by Hurricane Ike and they had to rebuild it.

But now he’s back, and I was astonished to learn that he’s turned our semi-drunken conversation into a book – and a good one too! As a special favour I reopened our publishing division (i4w2) and published it on Kindle for him. (I also edited it, designed the cover, and double-checked his research – which all seems surprisingly sound and convincing.)

Humans are not from Earth: a scientific evaluation of the evidence for and (mostly) against Man’s evolution on Planet Earth. The book includes an evaluation of the thirteen leading hypotheses, and discusses seventeen factors which suggest we are not from Earth. It also provides answers to questions such as: How did we get here? When did we get here? What is our home planet like? The most likely stars our home planet orbits. If the aliens are out there why can’t we detect them? and Are we the aliens? All the answers are based on current evidence and thinking in the scientific community and elsewhere.

Despite all the hard science (and that’s “hard” as in quantifiable, not as in difficult) the book is easy and hugely enjoyable to read, and can be read in a single morning/afternoon/evening. (Although if you start following up the information in the recommended reading list, as I did, you’ll probably lose several days – it’s intriguing stuff!)

Humans are not from Earth is available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com (or any of the other Amazons – you’ll find it in the Kindle store).

Regular blog readers (and ideas4writers forum members) will be familiar with Geoff Nelder’s work.

A new edition of his novel Escaping Reality has just been published on Kindle, with a brand new cover (and some re-editing). Geoff describes it as “The Fugitive meets The 39 Steps with a dash of humour thrown in.” I can confirm that it is most definitely a fun read – some parts of it reminded me of the late Tom Sharpe’s novels. (R.I.P. Tom.)

Escaping Reality is available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

And Geoff would like you to know that part two of his science fiction trilogy ARIA is also now available. ARIA: Returning Left Luggage continues the story of ARIA: Left Luggage. A highly infectious alien virus is devastating Earth’s population by causing retrograde amnesia. You forget how to do your job, where you work, where you live, and eventually even how to feed yourself. Services fail as no one knows how to run them any more, and the bodies are starting to pile up. Whatever will happen next?

In part two of the series we finally meet the aliens. Unlike most science fiction aliens, they ignore the remaining humans or make use of them for labour. They don’t bargain on encountering the psychotic Dr Antonio Menzies, and when he discovers how to use their telepathic-controlled gadgets, odd things happen. Meanwhile Ryder’s isolation group are in the South Pacific facing invasion problems of another kind. That, along with trouble in the French Alps and a runaway exotic weed, makes this a sequel you will not want to miss!

ARIA: Returning Left Luggage is available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

And finally a quick reminder that the book I co-wrote with Geoff, How to Win Short Story Competitions, is still available and getting 5-star reviews.

How to Win Short Story Competitions is available on Kindle from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com.

Don’t have a Kindle?

All of the books featured today are available in Kindle format only. If you don’t have a Kindle ebook reader you can still read the books. You just need to install the free Kindle app from Amazon’s website. It’s available for Windows PCs, Macs, and most smartphones and tablets.
Click here to find out more.

50 Newsworthy Anniversaries in December 2013 for you to write about (and make money from!)

Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries coming up in December 2013 for you to write about (and make money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

We have painstakingly cross-checked every entry, but you are advised to check all facts again as part of your research. Please let us know of any errors you find.

This list is a small sample of the entries for December in  The Date-A-Base Book 2013. There are more than 340 anniversaries for this month in the book, which covers the whole of 2013 from January to December and features more than 4,000 anniversaries.

The 2014 edition is also available.

200 years ago (8 Dec 1813)
Beethoven’s 7th Symphony was first performed in Vienna, Austria, at a charity event to raise money for soldiers injured in the Battle of Hanau

150 years ago (12 Dec 1863)
Birth of Edvard Munch, Norwegian expressionist/symbolist artist and print maker, best known for his painting ‘The Scream’

150 years ago (18 Dec 1863)
Birth of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria. His assassination in 1914 led to WWI

150 years ago (24 Dec 1863)
Death of William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist, best known for ‘Vanity Fair’

150 years ago (26 Dec 1863)
Birth of Charles Pathé, pioneering French movie and recording executive whose companies (founded with his brother Émile) dominated their industries in the early 20th century

125 years ago (7 Dec 1888)
Scottish inventor John Boyd Dunlop patented the pneumatic bicycle tyre

125 years ago (23 Dec 1888)
Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh cut off part of his left ear in a fit of depression after a quarrel with French artist Paul Gaugin

100 years ago (1 Dec 1913)
Crete united with Greece

100 years ago (1 Dec 1913)
The Buenos Aires Subway in Argentina began operating. It was the first underground railway system in South America

100 years ago (11 Dec 1913)
Birth of Jean Marais, French actor; one of the most popular leading men in French films of the 1940s and 50s; protégé, muse and lover of writer and director Jean Cocteau

100 years ago (21 Dec 1913)
The first crossword puzzle was published, in the ‘New York World’ newspaper. It was invented by British-born puzzle creator Arthur Wynne, who call it a ‘Word-Cross Puzzle’

90 years ago (31 Dec 1923)
The BBC broadcast the chimes of Big Ben for the first time, to welcome in the New Year – a tradition that continues to this day

80 years ago (5 Dec 1933)
Prohibition was repealed in the USA after more than 13 years

80 years ago (26 Dec 1933)
The Nissan Motor Company was founded in Tokyo, Japan

75 years ago (20 Dec 1938)
Russian-born American inventor and television pioneer Vladimir Zworykin was granted a patent for his ‘television system’ (the cathode ray tube). He used cathode ray tubes for both the camera (‘iconoscope’) and the receiver (‘kinescope’)

75 years ago (22 Dec 1938)
A living coelacanth was caught off the coast of South Africa. The fish was thought to have been extinct since the end of the Cretaceous period

75 years ago (31 Dec 1938)
Indiana State Police became the first law enforcement agency in the USA to use the drunkometer – a breathalyser invented by Dr. Rolla N. Harger of Indiana University

65 years ago (10 Dec 1948)
The United Nations General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights

60 years ago (1 Dec 1953)
The first issue of ‘Playboy’ magazine was published; it featured Marilyn Monroe as its centrefold

60 years ago (10 Dec 1953)
Former U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for creating the Marshall Plan – a U.S. aid package that helped Europe rebuild after WWII

50 years ago (2 Dec 1963)
Death of Sabu, Indian-born American film actor (‘The Thief of Bagdad’, ‘Jungle Book’, and others)

50 years ago (10 Dec 1963)
Zanzibar gained its independence from Britain

50 years ago (12 Dec 1963)
Kenya became independent from the UK

50 years ago (14 Dec 1963)
Death of Dinah Washington, American blues, R & B and jazz singer

50 years ago (19 Dec 1963 – 5 Jan 1964)
The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time, allowing West Berliners to visit family members in East Berlin during the Christmas season. One-day permits were required

50 years ago (21 Dec 1963)
The Daleks made their first appearance on the British science fiction TV show ‘Doctor Who’

50 years ago (21 Dec 1963)
Death of Sir Jack Hobbs, record-breaking British cricketer, regarded as the greatest batsman of his era

50 years ago (24 Dec 1963)
Idlewild Airport (officially New York International Airport, Anderson Field) was renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport

50 years ago (26 Dec 1963)
The Beatles released their first single in the USA: ‘I Want to Hold Your Hand’. (UK: 29th Nov). (Their first single in the UK was ‘Love Me Do’, released in Oct 1962)

50 years ago (31 Dec 1963)
The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (also called the Central African Federation) ended, and split into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe)

40 years ago (4 Dec 1973)
The U.S. space probe ‘Pioneer 10’ made its closest approach to Jupiter and sent back the first close-up images of the planet

40 years ago (9 Dec 1973)
The Sunningdale Agreement was signed in England. It attempted to establish a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive and a cross-border Council of Ireland, but it collapsed in May 1974

30 years ago (6 Dec 1983)
The first heart and lung transplant in Britain was performed at Harefield Hospital, London by renowned surgeon Magdi Yacoub

30 years ago (17 Dec 1983)
A car bomb exploded outside Harrods department store in London, killing 3 police officers and 3 members of the public

25 years ago (2 Dec 1988)
Benazir Bhutto became the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan, and the first woman to head a Muslim state

25 years ago (6 Dec 1988)
Death of Roy Orbison, American singer, songwriter and musician, known for his powerful ballads. (Songs include ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’, ‘Crying’, ‘Only the Lonely’, and many more)

25 years ago (12 Dec 1988)
Clapham Junction rail crash, south London: 3 commuter trains collided, killing 35 people and injuring over 100. It was one of Britain’s worst rail accidents of recent times

25 years ago (14 Dec 1988)
The first transatlantic fibre-optic cable began operating; it could carry 40,000 phone calls simultaneously

25 years ago (21 Dec 1988)
A Pan Am jet exploded and crashed onto the town of Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground. (It was caused by a bomb planted by Libyan terrorists)

20 years ago (2-13 Dec 1993)
Astronauts on the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour fitted corrective optics to the faulty Hubble Space Telescope, restoring it to its intended quality

20 years ago (10 Dec 1993)
The video game ‘Doom’ was released. It popularised the first-person shooter genre

20 years ago (15 Dec 1993)
British Prime Minister John Major and Irish Taoiseach Albert Reynolds issued the Downing Street Declaration, aimed at achieving lasting peace in Northern Ireland

15 years ago (16-19 Dec 1998)
Operation Desert Fox: U.S. and British forces launched a major 4-day series of sustained air-strikes against Iraq after Iraqi President Saddam Hussein refused to co-operate with U.N. weapons inspectors

15 years ago (19 Dec 1998)
U.S. President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives for perjury (lying under oath to a federal grand jury) and obstructing justice. (He was acquitted in February 1999)

10 years ago (1 Dec 2003)
Using a handheld mobile phone while driving became illegal in the UK

10 years ago (13 Dec 2003)
Iraq War – Operation Red Dawn: former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces, who found him hiding in a hole at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr, near his home town of Tikrit

10 years ago (16 Dec 2003)
The CAN-SPAM Act came into effect in the USA, establishing national standards for the sending of commercial email messages

10 years ago (19 Dec 2003)
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made a surprise announcement that the country would destroy its arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and would allow U.N. weapons inspectors to oversee their elimination. (This led to U.S. sanctions against Libya being lifted in April 2004, and the restoration of full diplomatic relations in May 2006)

10 years ago (25 Dec 2003)
The British-built ‘Beagle 2’ probe should have landed on Mars, but failed to send back a signal. (The mission was eventually declared lost and its fate is currently unknown; several possible theories have been suggested)

10 years ago (29 Dec 2003)
Death of Bob Monkhouse, British stand-up comedian, actor and game show host (‘Candid Camera’, ‘The Golden Shot’, ‘Celebrity Squares’, ‘Family Fortunes’, ‘Bob’s Full House’, etc); renowned for his smooth, fast-talking delivery and endless supply of one-liners

– – – – – – –

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What If . . . ? 10 Creative Writing Prompts for June

Here’s this month’s selection of “What If…?” creative writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

These are all taken from our book: The Fastest Way to Get Ideas – 4,400 Essential What Ifs for Writers.

What if…

1. you didn’t seem to have any relatives?

2. someone copied your idea?

3. you misheard what they said?

4. you could see how things would have turned out if you’d made a different choice?

5. you covered your tracks?

6. you turned off the power?

7. you weren’t as powerful as you thought you were?

8. it was only a rehearsal, but you thought you were doing it for real?

9. a novelty political party won the election?

10. you were the only person who knew that the rules had changed?

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 (or the equivalent in your local currency) and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2013, 2014 (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas (contains 4,400 what ifs), our complete 5,000+ collection of writing ideas, How to Win Short Story Competitions, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive online writing software (writing engines), and more…
(total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

ideas4writers: inspiring you since 2002!