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theDate= new Date();
var day = theDate.getDate();
var textdate = (theDate.getMonth() + 1) + '/' + theDate.getDate() + '/2000';

var numquotes = 31;
q = new Array(numquotes+1);
q[0]="During the American War of Independence Captain Patrick Ferguson of the British Army had George Washington in his rifle sights. He didn't fire because he felt it unfair to shoot an unarmed enemy in the back.";
q[1]="Neil Armstrong, astronaut and descendant of the Armstrongs of Mangerton, Scotland, was made a freeman of Langholm when he visited the town on 11th March 1972, during his world tour.";
q[2]="The English superstition 'touching wood for luck' dates from ancient times when Longbowmen relied on their wooden bows for their very survival.";
q[3]="In Britain, a horseshoe was not thought to be lucky traditionally. It was thought to be a guardian against all evil forces, as inhabitants of the spirit world were supposed to flee from the sight of cold iron.";
q[4]="Britain adopted the Gregorian calender in 1752, by which time they were 11 days behind the rest of Europe, which had changed in 1582. The date was simply moved forward - September 3rd became September 14th.";
q[5]="The early Celtic calender began on November 1st each year, which was celebrated with the festival of Samain, when ghosts and demons roamed the earth. This was later instituted in 835 AD as All Saints' Day, or as we know it now, Halloween.";
q[6]="The first lighthouse in England was built in 1619 at the Lizard, Cornwall. Local legend suggested the man that built it, Sir John Killigrew, was actually a pirate and wanted to lure ships close to the shore to plunder them.";
q[7]="In Britain, witches were once said to disguise themselves as cats. Many people refused to talk near a cat, for fear that a witch would learn their secrets.";
q[8]="The ancient British game played by children 'Ring-a-ring o' roses' is said to be a macabre parody on the horrors of the black death, or plague.";
q[9]="The well known lullaby 'Hush-a-bye baby, on the tree top', is said to have been the first English poem written on American soil, when a boy that sailed with the Pilgram Fathers was inspired by the natives' custom of propping babies cradles in tree tops.";
q[10]="A dinner party consisting of 13 people in England during the Middle Ages was the worst of omens. It foretold of the impending death of one in the group. This was associated with the Last Supper, and also with a witches coven, as both had 13 members.";
q[11]="Up until 1623 in England, criminals could escape their pursuers by claiming sanctuary in a church by grasping the ring of the door knocker called a Hagoday.";
q[12]="Lawrence of Arabia's ghost is said to be heard riding his motorbike near his house in Dorset, England, where he died in 1935 in a motorbike accident.";
q[13]="It is a superstition in the British army not to light 3 cigarettes off the same match. This dates from the Boer War (1899 - 1902) when the flame gave an enemy sniper time to sight his rifle, and the soldier lighting the 3rd cigarette was invariably shot.";
q[14]="According to the legend Sir Francis Drake finished his game of bowls before defeating the Spanish Armada in 1588. It is also said that he sold his soul to the devil in return for the wind that blew the Armada north and west to its doom.";
q[15]="The largest prehistoric monument in England is not Stonehenge but the Avebury Circles nearby. Most of the village of Avebury lies within the circle of stones which dates back to 1800 BC.";
q[16]="The New Forest in Hampshire, England, is not at all new. William the Conqueror gave the forest its name, but well before then Saxons had used the great expanse of land as hunting ground.";
q[17]="Although it has never actually existed, 221b Baker Street is one of London's most famous addresses. It was, of course, the home of Sherlock Holmes and his companion, Dr Watson.";
q[18]="The distinctive flat-topped caps worn by the fish porters at Billingsgate market in London, are said to be modelled on those worn by the English archers at the Battle of Agincourt.";
q[19]="The Great Fire of London in 1666 began at a bakery in Pudding Lane and spread out before burning itself out by the time it reached Pie Corner.";
q[20]="The city of London has had a mayor since the 12th century. And since 1215 when Magna Carta was signed, there has been an annual Lord Mayor's Show.";
q[21]="The Guildhall in London is where the Lord Mayor's Show begins. It also finishes there, with a banquet that always begins with turtle soup.";
q[22]="The mythical founder of the city of London was Brutus the Trojan, who together with his Trojan warriors defeated the original inhabitants of Britain, a race of giants.";
q[23]="In 1971 London Bridge was purchased by an American, and shipped to Lake Havasu City, Arizona, to be displayed as a tourist attraction. Legend has it that the purchaser thought he was actually buying Tower Bridge.";
q[24]="Cockney rhyming slang began in London around the 1850's as a statement of  independence felt by those who prided themselves on having been born within the sound of Bow Bells.";
q[25]="When William the Conqueror built the White Tower - the start of the Tower of London - it is said that he ordered bull's blood to be mixed with the mortar, symbolising strength and a royal power that would last forever.";
q[26]="Robin Hood is one of the great English folk heroes, yet there is no real evidence that he actually existed. It may be that he is a ballad character expressing popular resentment of medieval injustices.";
q[27]="Robin Hood was said to have been killed by his own aunt, when he took refuge in Kirkless Priory whilst suffering from an illness. She bled him, and legend has it, let him bleed to his death.";
q[28]="St George, the patron saint of England, never actually visited England. He was a high ranking Roman army officer, and was martyred in Palestine in about AD 303. 12th century Crusaders were probably the first to invoke his aid in battle.";
q[29]="Sir Francis Drake and his crew landed in what is now California on 17th June 1579. The natives thought they were gods and offered them their entire country. Drake accepted and claimed the land in the name of Queen Elizabeth, calling it New Albion.";
q[30]="It took Henry Stanley, a Welsh American, 8 months to find the Scottish explorer Dr David Livingstone in the African jungle before he could utter the immortal words 'Dr Livingstone, I presume?'.";
q[31]="Britain built a fleet of steam submarines in 1915, dubbed the K-Boat, it proved to be a disaster and never went into action. It took 5 minutes at best to perform a crash dive, and once underwater it was unstable resulting in a a number of accidents.";


quox = q[day]
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