July throwaways

At the start of the week I did my usual think/query/write submit and I chose three topics to write articles on and three topics to write short stories around.

Here are some throwaway ideas that I won’t be using this time (remember to double-check them first):

Nov 2017

  • 7 November 2017 is Diwali
  • 21 November is the Prophet’s birthday
  • 29 November was the national day of Yugoslavia
  • 30 November 1667 (350 years ago) Jonathan Swift was born in Dublin

Dec 2017

  • 7 December 1817 (200 years ago) Captain Bligh died in London
  • 8 December is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
  • 10 December grouse shooting ends
  • 17 December is Sow Day

Jan 2018

  • 3 January 1958 (60 years ago) Edmund Hillary reached the South Pole
  • 4 January 1958 (60 years ago) Sputnik 1 disintegrated
  • 8 January 1918 (100 years ago) recruiting began for the WRNS
  • 25 January is Burns Night

Feb 2018

  • 6 February 1918 (100 years ago) women first permitted to vote in elections (1st general election they could vote in was on 14 December 1918)
  • 6 February 1958 (60 years ago) Man Utd plane crashed in Munich
  • 13 February 1958 (60 years ago) Dame Christabel Pankhurst died in California
  • 13 February is Maha Shivaratri

If you’re very quick you may be able to query article ideas for November and December, or you may come up with some short stories that can be pegged to these dates. For January and February, we all have a little longer.

Here are some quick tips:

  • What similarities are there between Bonfire Night and Diwali? Are there other similar festivals around the world at the same time?
  • Jonathan Swift’s Dublin. Less famous Swift works.
  • Captain Bligh’s London. Captain Bligh’s Plymouth (if that’s where he was born).
  • What on earth is Sow Day?
  • A history of the WRNS. How does it compare now to 100 years ago?
  • Christabel Pankhurst’s Manchester. What did she do after the suffrage movement in the UK?

Don’t forget to let me know if you use any, and let me know how you go on with them.

Good luck!