What If…? 10 Creative Writing Prompts for May

Here’s another selection of What If writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

What if . . .

1. you wished you’d never got involved?

2. being dead was not a sufficiently good reason for failing to attend work?

3. you were wrongly declared the loser?

4. the wedding was called off?

5. you decided you could do your boss’s job better than he/she could?

6. someone set up a website that had virtually the same name/address as yours?

7. your colleagues tricked you into resigning?

8. you had a wristwatch that always brought you bad luck when you wore it?

9. you tried to get yourself fired?

10. you would do anything to make a sale?

Do you like What Ifs? We have thousands of them!

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers and you’ll receive our entire collection of 4,400 What Ifs (categorised for your convenience), plus our complete collection of 5,000+ writing ideas. You also get unlimited use of our exclusive writing software and forums, plus The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, and our Date-A-Base Books (which list thousands of newsworthy and notable anniversaries) including the 2012, 2013 and all future editions, and much more. (Total value over £150!) Click here for full details

Writers Bureau Short Story Competition 2012

The Writers Bureau, Britain’s leading creative writing correspondence college, are once again sponsoring a Short Story Competition for 2012.

Prize money totalling more than £1,000 can be won for short stories of up to 2000 words, on any theme.

The judge will be Iain Pattison, a prolific and widely published short story writer, on both sides of the Atlantic. He is a popular speaker and workshop leader, and is the author of the highly acclaimed book Cracking the Short Story Market.

First Prize is £500, second prize £300, third prize £200 and fourth prize £100. All winners will be published on the Writers Bureau website and the First Prize story will appear in print in Freelance Market News.

The entry fee for each short story is £5.00 and the closing date for entries is 30th June 2012.

For further details, to download an entry form or to enter online visit: www.wbcompetition.com

If you require an entry form by post or have any queries, please contact:

The Competition Secretary
The Writers Bureau
8-10 Dutton Street
Manchester, M3 1LE
Tel: 0161 819 9922

Historic anniversaries in October 2012

Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries in October 2012 for you to write about (and earn money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

The list presented here is just a fraction of that contained in The Date-A-Base Book 2012. There are more than 180 anniversaries for this month in the book, which also covers the whole of 2012.

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 is also available if you need to work further ahead.

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.

300 years ago (14 Oct 1712)
Birth of George Grenville, British Prime Minister (First Lord of the Treasury) (1763-65)

150 years ago (4 Oct 1862)
Birth of Edward Stratemeyer, American children’s writer and publisher, creator of the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, and other popular characters

150 years ago (19 Oct 1862)
Birth of Auguste Lumière, French inventor, photographic pioneer, and filmmaker who developed an early film camera and projector with his brother Louis, and made the first ever movie

125 years ago (6 Oct 1887)
Birth of Le Corbusier, Swiss-born French architect and city planner

100 years ago (7 Oct 1912)
The Helsinki Stock Exchange in Finland opened

100 years ago (8 Oct 1912)
The First Balkan War began when Montenegro declared war on Turkey

100 years ago (17 Oct 1912)
Birth of Pope John Paul I

100 years ago (18 Oct 1912)
The Italo-Turkish War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne. Italy took possession of Tripoli and Cyrenaica, Libya from Turkey

100 years ago (21 Oct 1912)
Birth of Sir Georg Solti, Hungarian-born British conductor

100 years ago (25 Oct 1912)
Birth of Minnie Pearl, American country music entertainer

100 years ago (30 Oct 1912)
Death of James Sherman, Vice President of the United States (1909-12)

90 years ago (18 Oct 1922)
The BBC was officially founded as the British Broadcasting Company (now the British Broadcasting Corporation)

90 years ago (31 Oct 1922)
Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister of Italy

80 years ago (3 Oct 1932)
Iraq gained its independence from the UK

80 years ago (8 Oct 1932)
The Indian Air Force was established

80 years ago (27 Oct 1932)
Birth of Sylvia Plath, American poet and novelist. (Died 1963)

80 years ago (30 Oct 1932)
Birth of Louis Malle, French film director. (Died 1995)

75 years ago (19 Oct 1937)
Death of Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand-born British physicist, known as the father of nuclear physics, winner of the 1908 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his studies of radioactivity

70 years ago (23 Oct 1942 to 5th Nov)
World War II – the Second Battle of El-Alamein, Egypt. Allied victory

60 years ago (3 Oct 1952)
Britain successfully tested its first atomic bomb in the Monte Bello Islands off the north-west coast of Western Australia

60 years ago (6 Oct 1952)
The world premiere of Agatha Christie’s play ‘The Mousetrap’ took place in Nottingham, UK. (The play opened in London on 25th November 1952 and is still running, making it the world’s longest running play)

60 years ago (8 Oct 1952)
Harrow and Wealdstone train crash, near London, UK. An express train crashed into a stationary commuter train after the driver missed two stop signals, then a third train crashed into the wreckage. 112 people were killed and around 340 injured

50 years ago (1 Oct 1962)
Mississippi race riots, USA. 2 people were killed and more than 75 injured in riots after James Meredith became the first African-American student to be admitted to the University of Mississippi

50 years ago (5 Oct 1962)
The Beatles’ first hit ‘Love Me Do’ was released in the UK. (USA: 27th April 1964)

50 years ago (9 Oct 1962)
Uganda gained its independence from the UK

50 years ago (12 Oct 1962)
The Columbus Day Storm hit the Pacific Northwest coast of the USA and Canada killing 46 people and causing more than $230 million of damage

50 years ago (22 Oct 1962)
Cuban Missile Crisis: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced a military quarantine of Cuba (an air and naval blockade) and informed the American public that Soviet missile bases had been discovered there. Over the next 6 days the crisis escalated to the brink of nuclear war

30 years ago (1 Oct 1982)
The EPCOT Centre (now Epcot) theme park opened at the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida, USA

30 years ago (7 Oct 1982)
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical ‘Cats’ opened on Broadway

25 years ago (2 Oct 1987)
Death of Sir Peter Medawar, Brazilian-born British zoologist, joint winner of the 1960 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on tissue rejection and acquired immunological tolerance, which led to successful tissue and organ transplants

25 years ago (2 Oct 1987)
Death of Madeleine Carroll, British-born American actress (‘The 39 Steps’, ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’ and other popular films of the 1930s and 40s). She gave up her acting career to become a nurse during WWII, and was awarded medals by the USA and France

25 years ago (3 Oct 1987)
Death of Jean Anouilh, French playwright

25 years ago (9 Oct 1987)
Death of Clare Boothe Luce, American playwright and politician

25 years ago (13 Oct 1987)
Death of Walter Brattain, American physicist, joint winner of the 1956 Nobel Prize for Physics for investigating the properties of semiconductors and co-inventing the transistor

25 years ago (15 Oct 1987)
The Great Storm hit southern England. Hurricane-force winds killed 18 people and caused around £2 billion worth of damage. 15 million trees were lost. Weather forecasters were criticised for failing to predict the severity of the storm. Northern France was also affected, 4 people killed

25 years ago (19 Oct 1987)
Black Monday – stock markets around the world crashed

25 years ago (19 Oct 1987)
Death of Jacqueline du Pré, renowned British cellist

25 years ago (19 Oct 1987)
Death of Hermann Lang, German racing driver

25 years ago (28 Oct 1987)
Death of André Masson, French Surrealist artist

25 years ago (29 Oct 1987)
Death of Woody Herman, American jazz musician, singer and bandleader

25 years ago (30 Oct 1987)
Death of Joseph Campbell, American writer, best known for his works on mythology, especially his book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’

20 years ago (1 Oct 1992)
Cartoon Network launched in the USA. (UK: 17th September 1993)

20 years ago (4 Oct 1992)
The 15-year civil war in Mozambique officially ended with the signing of the Rome General Peace Accords

20 years ago (6 Oct 1992)
Death of Denholm Elliott, British stage, film and television actor

20 years ago (8 Oct 1992)
Death of Willy Brandt, Chancellor of West Germany (1969-74), winner of the 1971 Nobel Peace Prize

10 years ago (2 Oct 2002)
The Beltway Sniper attacks began when a man was shot dead in Wheaton, Maryland, USA. A total of 10 people were killed in the Washington, D.C. area over the next 3 weeks

10 years ago (3 Oct 2002)
Death of Bruce Paltrow, American television and film producer and director, best known for the award-winning medical drama series ‘St Elsewhere’; father of actress Gwyneth Paltrow

10 years ago (23 Oct 2002 to 26th)
Moscow Theatre Siege. 40 – 50 Chechen rebels stormed a Moscow theatre and took about 700 people hostage, threatening to blow up the building if Russia did not withdraw from Chechnya. When negotiations broke down, Russian special forces released toxic gas into the building before moving in. Almost all the rebels plus 129 of the hostages were killed

10 years ago (25 Oct 2002)
Death of Richard Harris, Irish stage and film actor, singer and songwriter (‘Camelot’, ‘The Molly Maguires’, ‘A Man Called Horse’, ‘Patriot Games’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’, and others)

10 years ago (30 Oct 2002)
Freeview, the digital terrestrial television service, launched in the UK

– – – – – – –

You’ll find lots more anniversaries in
The Date-A-Base Book 2012, which covers the whole of 2012 and lists over 2,250 newsworthy and notable anniversaries – more than three times as many entries each month as we feature here in the blog. You’ll find out about  hundreds of fascinating anniversaries that other writers don’t know about – giving you a huge advantage!

The Date-A-Base Book 2012 is a terrific source of ideas for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, researchers, producers, teachers, students, speakers and event planners.

Click here for more details
(You’ll also be able to download a complete sample chapter.)

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 is also available.

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2012 and 2013 (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas, our complete 5,000+ collection of writing ideas, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive writing software, and much more
(total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

– – – – – – –

See our full product range for writers at: www.ideas4writers.co.uk
Email us: enquiries@ideas4writers.co.uk

What If…? Essential writing prompts (Apr 2012)

Here’s another selection of What If writing prompts to inspire you – let’s see what you can do with these!

What if . . .

1. history never repeated itself?

2. you were sentenced to death?

3. one of your children topped the bestseller chart – and you didn’t even know he/she was a writer?

4. someone was stealing your customers?

5. you agreed to keep a secret, but when you heard what it was you knew you’d have to tell someone?

6. everything was disposable?

7. you thought you’d been born nearby, but when you asked to see your birthplace it involved a long plane flight?

8. lies were admissible in court?

9. you wanted less than the other person thought you wanted?

10. nothing on Earth was edible, and people and animals got their nutrients in other ways?

Do you like What Ifs? We have thousands of them!

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers and you’ll receive our complete collection of 4,400 What Ifs (categorised for your convenience), plus our complete collection of 5,000+ writing ideas. You also get unlimited use of our exclusive writing software and forums, The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Date-A-Base Books (which list thousands of newsworthy and notable anniversaries) for 2012 & 2013 (and all future editions), and much more.
(Total value over £150!) Click here for full details

So what exactly is ideas4writers?

Happy (nearly) Easter to you all!

This week we joined our local traders’ association and we had to write  a description of exactly what we do (in under 300 words). As it came out rather well we thought we’d share it with you.

ideas4writers ( www.ideas4writers.co.uk)

Whenever a writer has a book published, everyone wants to know ‘Where do you get your ideas from?’

So for all those aspiring writers in search of great ideas, we created ideas4writers – the ideas and inspiration website (for writers!)

You’ll find more than 5,000 ready-made ideas, which you can use immediately, adapt as you wish, or use as a starting point for your own ideas. Novels, short stories, children’s books, articles, screenplays, stage plays, comedy, horror, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers, poetry, and more – they’re all covered.

Our exclusive online software generates characters, names, plots and story situations (and resolves tricky plot conflicts) with just a couple of mouse clicks.

For non-fiction writers, we have thousands of newsworthy anniversaries for you to write about: events, discoveries, inventions, births and deaths, all listed months in advance.

If you’ve always wanted to write a book but don’t have the time, we’ll show you how to write exactly the same book in just days or weeks, not months or years (without skimping on quality).

Chat with other writers (published, unpublished, and total beginners) and get your questions answered in our ultra-friendly forums. Or let some of our more experienced members cast their (very helpful) eyes over your writing in our Critique Forum.

Come and join our worldwide writing community. You’ll be a better, more inspired, and more successful writer – guaranteed!

“ideas4writers is the first site I visit in the day and the last. For inspiration, for a laugh, to stimulate the imagination and to compare notes. It’s as good as buttered toast.” — Geoff Nelder (award-winning writer of thrillers, fantasy and science fiction)

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 complete version now available

The full version of The Date-A-Base Book 2013 is now available, covering the whole year from January to December. It lists more than 4,000 newsworthy and notable anniversaries for you to write about and make money from.

Includes: significant anniversaries of important events, discoveries, inventions, births and deaths, from the UK, USA and worldwide.

With over 200 pages of anniversaries, you’ll never run out of things to write about! And just one article sale will cover the cost of the book several times over.

The ebook (PDF) version is available right now and can be downloaded immediately after making your payment. Printed copies will be available from mid-April.

If you’ve already bought Part 1 of this edition (containing January – June) you’ll receive an email from us shortly telling you how to upgrade to the full version.

If you’re a full member of ideas4writers you can download this book from the members’ home page at http://www.ideas4writers.co.uk (you’ll need to log in first). No payment required – it’s included in your membership.

For full details about this book, and to see the complete listing for January 2013, please visit www.ideas4writers.co.uk/2013

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To find out more about becoming a member of ideas4writers, please visit www.ideas4writers.co.uk/join.htm

To see the complete list of all our products, please visit www.ideas4writers.co.uk/cart/list.php

Historic anniversaries in September 2012

Here are 50 newsworthy anniversaries in September 2012 for you to write about (and earn money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

The list presented here is just a fraction of that contained in The Date-A-Base Book 2012. There are more than 180 anniversaries for this month in the book, which also covers the whole of 2012.

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available if you need to work further ahead. (Part 2 will be available at the end of this month.)

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.

200 years ago (19 Sep 1812)
Death of Meyer Amschel Rothschild, German banker, founder of the Rothschild international banking dynasty

150 years ago (11 Sep 1862)
Birth of O. Henry, American short story writer, known for his twist endings

150 years ago (13-15 Sep 1862)
American Civil War – the Battle of Harpers Ferry, Virginia. Confederate victory. General ‘Stonewall’ Jackson’s troops captured the town and took more than 12,500 prisoners – the largest Union surrender of the war

150 years ago (17 Sep 1862)
American Civil War – the Battle of Antietam (also called the Battle of Sharpsburg), Maryland. The bloodiest single day of the war with over 26,000 casualties

150 years ago (22 Sep 1862)
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, ordering the freeing of slaves in the Confederate-held territories from 1st January 1863

150 years ago (27 Sep 1862)
Birth of Louis Botha, first Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa (1910-19)

100 years ago (5 Sep 1912)
Birth of John Cage, American avant-garde composer

100 years ago (5 Sep 1912)
Birth of Kristina Söderbaum, Swedish-born German film and television actress and photographer

100 years ago (7 Sep 1912)
Birth of David Packard, American electrical engineer and businessman, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard

100 years ago (21 Sep 1912)
Birth of Chuck Jones, American cartoon animator and director (Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies)

100 years ago (23 Sep 1912)
The first Keystone Cops film ‘Cohen Collects a Debt’ was released, produced by Mack Sennett

100 years ago (28 Sep 1912)
American bandleader and composer W.C. Handy published his highly influential song ‘The Memphis Blues’, considered by some to be the first ever blues song, and certainly the one that introduced blues into the mainstream market and popularised it

90 years ago (13 Sep 1922)
The highest temperature ever recorded in the world: 57.7°C (136°F) in Al ‘Aziziyah, Libya

80 years ago (23 Sep 1932)
Saudi Arabia was founded when the Kingdom of Hejaz and Najd was unified

75 years ago (2 Sep 1937)
Death of Pierre de Coubertin, French educator and historian, father of the modern Olympics, founding member and president of the International Olympic Committee

75 years ago (14 Sep 1937)
Death of Tomáš Masaryk, founder and first President of Czechoslovakia (1918-35)

75 years ago (21 Sep 1937)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic children’s novel ‘The Hobbit’ was published

60 years ago (1 Sep 1952)
Ernest Hemingway’s novella ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ was published

60 years ago (6 Sep 1952)
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) launched its first television broadcasts

60 years ago (6 Sep 1952)
Death of Gertrude Lawrence, British stage actress and singer, best known for comedies and musicals

60 years ago (22 Sep 1952)
Death of Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, first President of Finland (1919-25)

60 years ago (25 Sep 1952)
Birth of Christopher Reeve, American stage, film and TV actor, best known for his role as ‘Superman’. (Died 2004)

60 years ago (30 Sep 1952)
Birth of Jack Wild, Academy Award-winning British stage and film actor and singer, best known as the Artful Dodger in ‘Oliver!’ (Died 2006)

50 years ago (1 Sep 1962)
Channel Television launched in the Channel Islands, UK

50 years ago (3 Sep 1962)
Death of E.E. Cummings, American poet and artist

50 years ago (12 Sep 1962)
U.S. President John F. Kennedy gave his second famous Moon speech: ‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.’ (See also 25th May 1961)

50 years ago (23 Sep 1962)
The first episode of the animated TV series ‘The Jetsons’ was broadcast

50 years ago (26 Sep 1962)
Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) was established

50 years ago (26 Sep 1962)
The first episode of the TV series ‘The Beverly Hillbillies’ was broadcast in the USA. (UK: 1st February 1963)

50 years ago (29 Sep 1962)
Canada’s first satellite, Alouette 1, was launched

50 years ago (30 Sep 1962)
The National Farm Workers Association (now the United Farm Workers of America) was founded in Fresno, California by César Chávez

40 years ago (5 Sep 1972)
Palestinian terrorists invaded the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany during the 20th Olympic Games and took 11 members of the Israeli team hostage. All the hostages were killed, as well as 5 of the 8 terrorists and a German police officer, when a rescue attempt failed

40 years ago (11 Sep 1972)
The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system began operating in San Francisco, California, USA

40 years ago (14 Sep 1972)
The first episode of the family drama series ‘The Waltons’ was broadcast on CBS TV in the USA

40 years ago (15 Sep 1972)
Death of Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury (1945-61)

40 years ago (16 Sep 1972)
The first episode of ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ was broadcast in the USA

40 years ago (17 Sep 1972)
The first episode of the TV comedy series ‘M*A*S*H’ was broadcast in the USA. (UK: 20th May 1973)

30 years ago (5 Sep 1982)
Death of Sir Douglas Bader, British RAF fighter pilot during WWII. He returned to flying despite losing both his legs

30 years ago (14 Sep 1982)
Death of Princess Grace of Monaco, formerly the Academy Award-winning American film and television actress Grace Kelly. (Car crash)

30 years ago (15 Sep 1982)
The first issue of the newspaper ‘USA Today’ was published

30 years ago (30 Sep 1982)
The TV comedy series ‘Cheers’ was first broadcast in the USA. (UK: 4th February 1983)

25 years ago (5 Sep 1987)
Death of Quinn Martin, American TV producer (‘The Untouchables’, ‘The Fugitive’, ‘Cannon’, ‘The Streets of San Francisco’, and others)

25 years ago (11 Sep 1987)
Death of Lorne Greene, Canadian broadcaster and actor (‘Bonanza’, ‘Battlestar Galactica’, and others)

25 years ago (11 Sep 1987)
Death of Peter Tosh, Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter and musician, a founding member of The Wailers with Bob Marley

25 years ago (22 Sep 1987)
Death of Dan Rowan, American comedian, best known for the TV show ‘Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In’

25 years ago (25 Sep 1987)
Death of Emlyn Williams, Welsh playwright and actor (‘Night Must Fall’, ‘A Murder Has Been Arranged’, ‘The Corn Is Green’, and others)

20 years ago (12 Sep 1992)
Death of Anthony Perkins, American stage and film actor and singer, best known for his role as Norman Bates in the Hitchcock thriller ‘Psycho’

20 years ago (16 Sep 1992)
Black Wednesday sterling crisis. Britain crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), raised interest rates from 10% to 15%, and spent billions of pounds buying up sterling that was being frantically disposed of on international financial markets

10 years ago (18 Sep 2002)
The body of British schoolgirl Amanda (‘Milly’) Dowler was found in Yateley Heath, Hampshire. She had been missing since March

10 years ago (24 Sep 2002)
British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced that Iraq had an arsenal of chemical and biological weapons capable of being activated in 45 minutes, and was attempting to acquire nuclear weapons

– – – – – – –

You’ll find lots more anniversaries in
The Date-A-Base Book 2012, which covers the whole of 2012 and lists over 2,250 newsworthy and notable anniversaries – more than three times as many entries each month as we feature here in the blog. You’ll find out about  hundreds of fascinating anniversaries that other writers don’t know about – giving you a huge advantage!

The Date-A-Base Book 2012 is a terrific source of ideas for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, researchers, producers, teachers, students, speakers and event planners.

Click here for more details
(You’ll also be able to download the complete chapter for January 2012)

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available. (Part 2 will be available from the end of this month.)

– – – – – – –

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 and you’ll receive The Date-A-Base Books for 2012 and 2013 (plus all future editions) as well as The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Fastest Way to Get Ideas, our complete 5,000+ collection of writing ideas, unlimited use of our forums and exclusive writing software, and much more
(total value: over £150!)
Click here for full details

– – – – – – –

See our full product range for writers at: www.ideas4writers.co.uk
Email us: enquiries@ideas4writers.co.uk

What If…? Essential writing prompts (Mar 2012)

Here’s another selection of What If writing prompts to inspire you – see what you can do with these!

What if . . .

1. you proved that the Theory of Evolution was wrong?

2. parents complained that you were too young/old to teach their children?

3. you decided to clone a much-loved dead relative?

4. cannibals opened a chain of restaurants?

5. you moved into someone’s house without their knowledge?

6. there was no way of stopping?

7. you paid people to come and watch you (or someone else) perform?

8. the only way to cure a fatal disease was to eat whole live slugs?

9. you missed the end?

10. the works of Shakespeare had been completely overlooked?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Do you like What Ifs? Here are 4,400 more!

The Fastest Way to Get Ideas – 4,400 Essential What Ifs for Writers.

Instant inspiration for your short stories, novels, articles, characters, plots, settings and more! Fully categorised and alphabetical for easy reference. e-book (PDF). 256 pages.

Just £6.99!

Click here for full details

——————–

Become a lifetime member of ideas4writers for just £49.95 and you’ll receive The Fastest Way to Get Ideas, The Fastest Way to Write Your Book, The Date-A-Base Books for 2012 & 2013 (plus all future editions), our complete 5,000+ writing ideas collection, unlimited use of our exclusive writing software and forums, and much more
(total value: more than £150)
Click here for full details

——————–

Visit the ideas4writers website: www.ideas4writers.co.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @ideas4writers
Email us: enquiries@ideas4writers.co.uk

Correction to The Date-A-Base Book 2012

We’ve just been made aware of an error in The Date-A-Base Book 2012 that we need to bring to your attention.

50 years ago – 12 Sept 1962
U.S. President Kennedy’s ‘Man on the Moon’ speech.

In fact he gave this speech on 25 May 1961, and we had already featured it in the 2011 edition.

His Moon speech at Rice University in Sept 1962 (which is what we should have listed in the 2012 edition) is also a famous one though, and includes the well-known line: ‘We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.’

We apologise for getting these speeches mixed up – we will keep striving to do better. Our thanks to George S. for pointing out the error – we’re sending him a free copy of the 2013 edition.

Historic anniversaries in August 2012

Here are 60 newsworthy anniversaries in August 2012 for you to write about (and earn money from). The anniversaries are listed 6 months in advance to give you enough time for research and writing.

The list presented here is just a fraction of that available in The Date-A-Base Book 2012. There are more than  150 anniversaries for this month in the book, which also covers the whole of 2012.

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available if you need to work further ahead.

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.

2000 years ago (31 Aug 12)
Birth of Caligula, Roman Emperor

300 years ago (29 Aug 1712)
Death of Gregory King, English genealogist, statistician, surveyor and map maker, and heraldry expert

250 years ago (12 Aug 1762)
Birth of King George IV of the United Kingdom and Hanover

250 years ago (21 Aug 1762)
Death of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, British writer, best known for her letters and poems, and for promoting inoculation against smallpox

250 years ago (22 Aug 1762)
Ann Smith Franklin became the first woman newspaper editor in the USA. (The ‘Newport Mercury’ in Rhode Island)

200 years ago (19 Aug 1812)
War of 1812: the U.S. Navy frigate ‘USS Constitution’ defeated the British frigate ‘HMS Guerriere’ off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. Constitution gained the nickname ‘Old Ironsides’ – and much public acclaim – following this success. Launched in 1797, the ship is still in active service

150 years ago (5 Aug 1862)
Birth of Joseph Merrick (‘The Elephant Man’), British man who suffered from severe deformities caused by a congenital disorder

150 years ago (17 Aug 1862)
Indian Wars: the Sioux Uprising (also known as the Dakota War of 1862) began in Minnesota, USA. (Ended 26th December – U.S. victory)

150 years ago (22 Aug 1862)
Birth of Claude Debussy, prominent French composer

150 years ago (28 Aug 1862 to 30th)
American Civil War – the Second Battle of Bull Run, Virginia. Confederate victory

125 years ago (3 Aug 1887)
Birth of Rupert Brooke, British poet

125 years ago (17 Aug 1887)
Birth of Charles I, last Emperor of Austria, also known as King Charles IV of Hungary

100 years ago (10 Aug 1912)
Birth of Jorge Amado, acclaimed Brazilian novelist

100 years ago (11 Aug 1912)
Birth of Thanom Kittikachorn, Prime Minister of Thailand (1958, 1963-71, 1972-73)

100 years ago (15 Aug 1912)
Birth of Dame Wendy Hiller, British stage, film and television actress (‘Pygmalion’, ‘Separate Tables’, ‘A Man for All Seasons’, and others)

100 years ago (15 Aug 1912)
Birth of Julia Child, American cookery expert, TV personality and writer, best known for promoting French cuisine

100 years ago (20 Aug 1912)
Death of William Booth, British founder of the Salvation Army

100 years ago (23 Aug 1912)
Birth of Gene Kelly, American dancer, actor, choreographer and film director

100 years ago (24 Aug 1912)
U.S. Congress established the Territory of Alaska

100 years ago (25 Aug 1912)
Birth of Erich Honecker, Leader of East Germany (1971-89)

100 years ago (30 Aug 1912)
Birth of E. M. Purcell, American physicist, joint winner of the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for discovering nuclear magnetic resonance

90 years ago (2 Aug 1922)
Death of Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born American audiologist and inventor, credited with developing the first practical telephone

90 years ago (22 Aug 1922)
Death of Michael Collins, Irish nationalist politician, a leading figure in Ireland’s fight for independence; directed a guerrilla warfare campaign against the British

80 years ago (22 Aug 1932)
The BBC began its first experimental television broadcasts, using John Logie Baird’s mechanical system. (In February 1937 the mechanical system was abandoned in favour of Marconi-EMI’s electronic system)

80 years ago (24 Aug 1932)
American aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly non-stop across the USA

75 years ago (11 Aug 1937)
Death of Edith Wharton, Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer, best known for her stories about upper-class society

75 years ago (23 Aug 1937)
Death of Albert Roussel, French composer

75 years ago (28 Aug 1937)
The Toyota Motor Corporation was founded as an independent company. (It began as a division of the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works in 1933)

70 years ago (7 Aug 1942)
World War II: the Battle of Guadalcanal began – the Allies’ first major offensive in the Pacific. (Ended February 1943)

70 years ago (19 Aug 1942)
World War II – Operation Jubilee. The Allies launched a disastrous raid on the German-occupied port of Dieppe, France

70 years ago (30 Aug 1942 to 5th Sep)
World War II – the Battle of Alam al-Halfa, Egypt. Allied victory. This halted the German offensive and marked the turning-point of the North African campaign

60 years ago (11 Aug 1952)
King Talal of Jordan abdicated after being declared unfit to rule due to mental illness. His son Prince Hussein was proclaimed king, and fully assumed the role in May 1953

60 years ago (15 Aug 1952)
Lynmouth flood, Devon, UK. 34 people were killed and buildings and bridges devastated as a flood swept through the village

50 years ago (5 Aug 1962)
ANC leader Nelson Mandela was arrested in Natal, South Africa and charged with sabotage. (In October 1962 he was jailed for 5 years, but while serving that sentence, in June 1964, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for treason, sabotage and conspiracy. Released Feb 1990)

50 years ago (5 Aug 1962)
Death of Marilyn Monroe, iconic American film actress, model and singer (‘Gentlemen Prefer Blondes’, ‘How to Marry a Millionaire’, ‘The Seven-Year Itch’, ‘Bus Stop’, and others)

50 years ago (6 Aug 1962)
Jamaica became independent from the United Kingdom

50 years ago (9 Aug 1962)
Death of Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss novelist and poet, winner of the 1946 Nobel Prize for Literature

50 years ago (27 Aug 1962)
NASA launched the Mariner 2 space probe to Venus. (It flew past Venus in December – the first space probe to fly past another planet)

50 years ago (31 Aug 1962)
Trinidad and Tobago became independent from the UK

40 years ago (4 Aug 1972)
Ugandan President Idi Amin gave the country’s 50,000 Asians 90 days to leave

40 years ago (26 Aug 1972)
The 20th Olympic Games opened in Munich, Germany. (The event was overshadowed by the kidnapping and deaths of 11 members of the Israeli team by Palestinian terrorists on 5th September)

40 years ago (28 Aug 1972)
Death of Prince William of Gloucester, member of the British royal family. (Plane crash)

25 years ago (1 Aug 1987)
Death of Pola Negri, Polish silent film actress

25 years ago (7 Aug 1987)
American swimmer Lynne Cox became the first person to swim across the Bering Strait from the USA to the Soviet Union. (She became a celebrity in the Soviet Union, but remained relatively unknown in her native USA)

25 years ago (15 Aug 1987)
Corporal punishment was banned in British state schools

25 years ago (17 Aug 1987)
Death of Rudolf Hess, Egyptian-born German politician, Adolf Hitler’s deputy in the Nazi Party

25 years ago (19 Aug 1987)
Hungerford Massacre, Berkshire, UK. Michael Ryan went on a shooting rampage around the town, killing 16 people before committing suicide

25 years ago (23 Aug 1987)
Death of Didier Pironi, French racing driver

25 years ago (28 Aug 1987)
Death of John Huston, American film director (‘The Maltese Falcon’, ‘The African Queen’, ‘Moby Dick’, ‘Key Largo’, and many others)

25 years ago (29 Aug 1987)
Death of Lee Marvin, American film actor, known for his tough-guy roles (‘The Big Heat’, ‘The Wild One’, ‘The Dirty Dozen’, ‘Bad Day at Black Rock’, ‘The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance’, ‘Cat Ballou’, and others)

20 years ago (11 Aug 1992)
The Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota. It is the biggest indoor shopping mall in the USA

20 years ago (12 Aug 1992)
Death of John Cage, American avant-garde composer

20 years ago (20 Aug 1992)
Britain’s ‘Daily Mirror’ newspaper published compromising photographs of the Duchess of York (Sarah Ferguson) on holiday in France with her ‘financial adviser’

20 years ago (24 Aug 1992)
Hurricane Andrew hit Florida, USA, causing a record $26.5 billion worth of damage (surpassed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005). The Bahamas and Louisiana were also hit. 65 people were killed

20 years ago (25 Aug 1992)
The Reverend Sun Myung Moon married 30,000 couples simultaneously in a mass wedding in Seoul, South Korea. 20,000 couples were present in Seoul’s Olympic Stadium, the other 10,000 were married via satellite link

15 years ago (31 Aug 1997)
Death of Diana, Princess of Wales; her companion Dodi Fayed; and their driver, in a car crash in Paris, France

10 years ago (3 Aug 2002)
Death of Carmen Silvera, Canadian-born British stage and television actress, best known as Edith in the wartime comedy series ”Allo ‘Allo’

10 years ago (16 Aug 2002)
Death of Abu Nidal, Palestinian militant, founder of the Abu Nidal Organisation which was responsible for numerous acts of terrorism

10 years ago (17 Aug 2002)
Soham murders, Cambridgeshire, UK. The bodies of 10-year-old schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells were found in a ditch in Suffolk, 2 weeks after they went missing (on 4th). School caretaker Ian Huntley and his girlfriend Maxine Carr were arrested

10 years ago (31 Aug 2002)
Death of Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician and bandleader, best known as a vibraphone player

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You’ll find lots more anniversaries in
The Date-A-Base Book 2012, which covers the whole of 2012 and lists over 2,250 newsworthy and notable anniversaries – more than three times as many entries each month as we feature here in the blog. You’ll find out about  hundreds of fascinating anniversaries that other writers don’t know about – giving you a huge advantage!

The Date-A-Base Book 2012 is a terrific source of ideas for writers, journalists, film-makers, editors, researchers, producers, teachers, students, speakers and event planners.

Click here for more details
(You’ll also be able to download the complete chapter for January 2012)

The Date-A-Base Book 2013 (Part 1: Jan-June) is also available.

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