BORN ON THIS DAY

WINSTON CHURCHILL (1874-1965). Born in Blenheim Palace, the son of Lord Randolph Churchill, he enjoyed bricklaying in his spare time, building several cottages around Chartwell, his home in Kent. He even joined the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers. MARK TWAIN (1835-1910). The American writer and humorist is best known for The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn. He was born in the same year that Halley’s Comet passed Earth and was correct in his assertion that he ‘would go out with it too’: he died the day after it returned, 74 years later.