I suspect everyone has heard "it was a dark and stormy night..." as a bad opening line for a story, but until just now I had not encountered the full sentence. Now I understand how it has earned that distinction:
"It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents, except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness."
[slow clap]