The Berners Street hoax was perpetrated by the writer Theodore Hook in London in 1810. He made a bet that he could transform any property into the most talked-about address in London. He spent six weeks sending between 1000 and 4000 letters to tradespeople and businesses ordering deliveries of their goods and services to 54 Berners Street, London, at various times on the same day. Several well-known people were also invited to call on the address, including the chairmen of the Bank of England and the East India Company, the Duke of Gloucester, and the Lord Mayor of London. Chimney sweeps began arriving at the address at 5:00 am on the day, followed by hundreds of traders and businessmen; goods deliveries included organs, furniture, coal and a coffin. The police were not able to clear the street until after the final influx of visitors at 5:00 pm. Hook was unidentified at the time, but admitted his involvement in a semi-autobiographical novel published twenty-five years later.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berners_Street_hoax

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1952:

King Talal of Jordan was forced to abdicate due to mental illness and was succeeded by his eldest son Hussein. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussein_of_Jordan

1975:

The Timorese Democratic Union launches a coup in Portuguese Timor, starting the East Timorese civil war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Timorese_civil_war

1977:

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiated an investigation into the alleged vulnerability of the Ford Pinto (example pictured) to fuel leakage and fire in a rear-end collision. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Pinto

1999:

The Salt Lake City Tornado hit downtown Salt Lake City, damaging 120 homes and injuring over 100 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Salt_Lake_City_tornado

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

noddy: 1. (countable, archaic) A silly or stupid person; a fool, an idiot. [...] 2. (England, regional) Foolish, silly, stupid. 3. (transitive, obsolete, rare) Synonym of noddify (“to make (someone) into a noddy (noun sense 1), to make a fool of”) https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noddy

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

A precious place is Paradise and none may know its worth, But Eden ever longeth for the knicknacks of the earth.   --Nathalia Crane https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nathalia_Crane