Chris Coates, purveyor of niche drivel: https://oddthisday.substack.com/ https://linktr.ee/oddthisdayhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mm2ql6tk4c2pFriends fear the sad old fuck is once again listening to albums released when he was 1617 May 2026 16:06 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm2ql6tk4c2phttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mm2hk4xyos2dToday is the 116th anniversary of a small dog taking part in Edward VII’s funeral procession, which “endeared him to the nation” and gave rise to one of the most powerful literary emetics ever published 🧵17 May 2026 13:25 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm2hk4xyos2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mm24avumbk2qIt’s the 126th anniversary of the Relief of Mafeking after the small town containing about 2,000 British troops spent 217 days under siege from 5,000 Boers, during which there had been food shortages, sneaked out messages – and a truce every Sunday when the British played polo 🧵17 May 2026 10:03 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm24avumbk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlxr3lovf22uSplendidly mad bit in this book: Teresa of Avila is told that, just in case her ecstatic visions are actually demonic temptations, she should tell Jesus to fuck off whenever he appears to her [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 May 2026 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlxr3lovf22uhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlxo2iw5h22oIt’s the 51st anniversary today of one of the most marvellous examples on record of life (almost) imitating art, when #OTD in 1975, far-right wanker Colin Jordan, former chairman of the ‘British Movement’, was up in court for nicking ladies’ underwear from Tesco 🧵16 May 2026 10:43 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlxo2iw5h22ohttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlxnuf4y3s2oThis has reminded me. The Grauniad once did an alternative best albums list, and gave music 'experts' a list of the ones they couldn't pick (so it wasn't Exile on Main Street *again*), and that was how I discovered Nick Drake [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 May 2026 10:40 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlxnuf4y3s2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlxhp3qqrk2iI confess I feel slightly pleased with myself for reading 13 of the top 20 ‘best novels’ in that list - less so that I’ve read 19 of the other 80, but my desert island book (J L Carr’s A Month in the Country) isn’t in there and nor is Wodehouse, and those are the ones I reread16 May 2026 08:49 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlxhp3qqrk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlxextcgxc2oWell, happy 10th birthday to one of the very finest of tweets. @fourfoot.bsky.social, we salute you!16 May 2026 08:01 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlxextcgxc2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlw3fif5rc2hOh, Fred #TOTP15 May 2026 19:37 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlw3fif5rc2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlw22aozes2t“Take a great voice, like Jimmy Nail”? Peter Powell clearly wasted #TOTP15 May 2026 19:13 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlw22aozes2thttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlvd6cu7hk2kIt’s the 171st anniversary of the Great Gold Robbery, inspiration for Michael Crichton’s The First Great Train Robbery – and the mastermind of the 1855 job was indeed an outwardly respectable middle class man and secret criminal... 🧵15 May 2026 12:23 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlvd6cu7hk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mluywpb5cs2oThe word ‘poop’ is so coy and ridiculous, but this story is... remarkable https://www.404media.co/ai-poop-analysis-app-offered-to-sell-me-access-to-its-users-poops/15 May 2026 09:20 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mluywpb5cs2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mluwcnjwyk2dIt’s the 48th anniversary today of West Bromwich Albion’s arrival in China for a five game tour, during which they visited Chángchéng, the Great Wall. Asked his opinion of it, midfielder John Trewick replied: “When you’ve seen one wall, you’ve seen them all.” But... 1/215 May 2026 08:33 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mluwcnjwyk2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlutq5vgsk2vWell... happy James Delingpole’s Search History Day to all who celebrate15 May 2026 07:47 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlutq5vgsk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlumwbkk2c2mMy actual parents [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 May 2026 05:45 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlumwbkk2c2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlsmi2tup22gAh, 14 May! Yes: the 1,062nd anniversary, obviously, of the demise of Pope John XII due to a stroke brought on by sexual excess, or a cuckolded husband transforming into Satan and taking him away, or said husband beating him to death, or throwing him out of a window. Accounts vary 🧵14 May 2026 10:32 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsmi2tup22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mltbbhkmzk2a14 May 2026 16:44 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mltbbhkmzk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlt5geweuk2xI still wonder if this could have been avoided if Ed M had stayed on for a bit until Labour members had finished grieving [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 May 2026 15:35 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlt5geweuk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlsmi2tup22gAh, 14 May! Yes: the 1,062nd anniversary, obviously, of the demise of Pope John XII due to a stroke brought on by sexual excess, or a cuckolded husband transforming into Satan and taking him away, or said husband beating him to death, or throwing him out of a window. Accounts vary 🧵14 May 2026 10:32 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsmi2tup22ghttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlsenirfxc2iWell, happy 230th anniversary to Edward Jenner carrying out the first successful vaccination against smallpox, opening up a field of science which has saved a number of lives too unfathomable to count, and which continues to be uncontroversial and widely accepted to this day14 May 2026 08:12 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsenirfxc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlse4n2mw22lRoses are red Matt LeBlanc was in Friends14 May 2026 08:02 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlse4n2mw22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlsazfjrns2iThe timing of the Angela Rayner news is either preposterous or entirely fitting with what we’re living through, but I do wonder if the Labour Party membership needs to be reminded that the leader isn’t supposed to be popular with them14 May 2026 07:07 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlsazfjrns2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/oddthisday.bsky.social/post/3mlqiwxkdck2jIt’s the 69th anniversary of Life magazine printing a story about a banker going to Mexico to eat magic mushrooms. A ten-year-old Terence McKenna saw it, prompting him to become an ethnobotanist and come up with the theory that human consciousness comes from psilocybin Obviously... 🧵13 May 2026 14:23 +0000at://did:plc:vckf3haopb3yncclmf7o2m3f/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlqiwxkdck2j