Lucian - from the basement

In 1786, Reykjavik was founded, the first convict ship set sail for Botany Bay, and on 10 June, an earthquake-caused landslide dam on the Dadu River gave way, killing 100,000 in the Szechuan province of China.

And this book was published - a translation of the comic writing of Lucian from the original Greek. He was born in Samosata on the west bank of the Euphrates in 120 AD. His humorous works entitled "True Stories" (which they clearly are not) include the tale of a journey to the moon - so he might be thought of as the first space fiction writer.

His work is a mixture of erotic adventure, romantic comedy, and good old fashioned satire.

"Any day you don't learn something new is a wasted day"! (And that is aimed at me, not you, dear Reader).