Today is Friday, March the eighteenth, 2016. It is the 78th day of this leap year. There are exactly 288 days remaining until the end of the year.
On this day in 1834, six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, England were sentenced to be transported to Australia for forming a trade union.
Also on this day, in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republican forces defeated the Italians at the Battle of Guadalajara.
But on the bright side for the Italians, on this day in 1937, a human-powered aircraft, called Pedaliante, flew 1 kilometre (0.62 miles) outside Milan, Italy.
And finally, today is birthday (1844-1908). You are probably already familiar with his . Here is another piece you may like:
Today is a cloudy day here in Lille, which as we all agree is better than a sunny day: less glare, less heat, less sunburn. Yeah, right.