Wold Newton is a small Yorkshire Wolds village in the East Riding of Yorkshire. On the 13th of December 1795 a meteorite crashed on the outskirts of the village. As a monument to this event there is a brick column bearing the inscription
- Here on this spot, December 13, 1795 fell from the atmosphere an extraordinary stone.
- In breadth twenty-eight inches, in length thirty-six inches and whose weight was fifty-six pounds.
- This column in memory of it was erected by Edward Topham, 1799
The American science fiction author Philip José Farmer posited that this event caused genetic mutation in some people who were passing by at the time. Their enhanced genes led to the extraordinary abilities of their descendants, who include: Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Doc Savage, Nero Wolfe, James Bond, Lord Peter Wimsey, Professor Moriarty, Philip Marlowe, Sam Spade, Kinsey Milhone, Richard Hannay, Charlie Chan, Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and John Shaft.
Farmer's extended family of superheros and villains are now known as the Wold Newton family, and the concept has been elaborated upon by many other writers.
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