This is not an article about global warming. It’s just a note that we’d planned a trip to see the world-famous West Coast flowers in September… only to be advised that September would be too late. Yes, the flowers always come out in September but given our mild winter and various climate-related things, this year they’ll be gone by then. So, if you’re planning a West Coast flower-gazing trip, you’d better check your dates.
The September West Coast flowers making their appearance in August brings to mind the general strangeness of the eighth month on our calendar. August is truly a month in which strange sightings have taken place throughout history.
When we think “strange sightings”, the mind makes the leap to the famous Loch Ness monster. Well, the first of such sightings allegedly took place in August of 1565. More specifically, the first sighting was that of a victim who’d been bitten by the monster, followed by sightings of the monster itself. Given that this was almost 150 years before the invention of AI, people at the time didn’t get too sceptical about the validity of what was being “seen”. But they also couldn’t prove the monster’s existence either way – and so the mystery continues.
If you happened to be in Strasbourg in August of 1518, you’d have witnessed another bizarre and unexplainable sighting. History has called it The Dancing Plague, and to this day no one can explain how it started, how many people suffered, nor how they were cured. You might say the Dancing Plague struck again in 1993, but this time it was called the Macarena, and the madness ended as suddenly as it had begun.
Fast forward to 1911, when for 24 hours nobody noticed that the Mona Lisa had been stolen. A handyman pinched it off the wall and disappeared with it, and it wasn’t found until two years later. You might think that the queues outside the Louvre must’ve been an absolute pleasure for those two years. But the thing is the Mona Lisa only became famous after the scandal of its disappearance. Only upon its return did it become the most famous painting in the world. One wonders if it would’ve achieved that status if it had never been swiped in the first place. What it does prove is that – with even Picasso being accused of the theft – the French just love a good scandal.
August 1911 is also notable in the history books because the world’s first telegram was sent around the world. It said: “This message sent around the world.” (Hey, I said it was the world’s first, not the world’s most creative.)
August also saw the publication of the first The Guinness Book of World Records back in 1955. And yes, it did come from the same Guinness that makes the beer – not surprising since it seems like the kind of idea that would come up after a bunch of guys have had a few. By Christmas the book had become a bestseller – something of a record in itself.
Turbulent times our Augusts have been. Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried Pompeii. Hurricanes Andrew and Katrina caused havoc. Oxygen was discovered. The sandwich was invented. What a ride it’s been.