ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 336 OF 2015
In 1989, during a trial for tax evasion — for which he was acquitted — comedian Ken Dodd admitted to keeping £ 336k in his attic, describing it as ‘a nest egg’. FOR many years it was rumoured that actor Humphrey Bogart’s birthday had been moved by 336 days, from January 23 to Christmas Day, because Warner Brothers thought it more ‘romantic’ for their leading man. When he died, it was discovered that December 25 was his birthday after all. In THE ‘Great Escape’ of 1944, 76 Allied PoWs escaped from Stalag Luft III camp through a
336ft long tunnel they’d secretly dug.
THERE ARE 29 DAYS LEFT
WHEn 88-year- old Glynn Wolfe died in California in 1997, he had been married a whopping 29 times. His last wife, Linda Wolfe (nee Essex), is the most married woman in the world, with 23 marriages. ACTOR and director Kenneth Branagh published Beginning, his autobiography, when he was aged 29. THE Scottish Cup 2nd Round football tie between Inverness Thistle and Falkirk in the 1978/1979 season was postponed 29 times owing to bad weather.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BRITnEY SPEARS, 34. The American pop star joined a select list that includes Cher, Elvis’s daughter Lisa Marie Presley, reality star Kim Kardashian, actor nicholas Cage and actress Drew Barrymore — all of them celebrities who were married and divorced in less than six months. Britney’s 55-hour marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander tops them all as the shortest. BREnDAn COYLE, 52. The Corby-born star of Downton Abbey played John Bates, the valet to the Earl of Grantham. Brendan’s real-life great uncle was Sir Matt Busby, the iconic Manchester United manager.
BORN ON THIS DAY
MARIA CALLAS ( 19231977). The volatile opera singer, love of tycoon Aristotle Onassis, waged an infamous feud with her mother Evangelia. Callas felt compelled to inform the Press in 1971: ‘I know my mother wrote a book about me, but I have never read it.’ GIAnnI VERSACE (1946-1977). The Italian fashion mogul who designed outfits for Madonna, Elton John and Princess Diana was murdered outside his Miami Beach mansion by a serial killer who committed suicide eight days later. SIR JOHn BARBIROLLI (1899-1970). Born Giovanni Battista Barbirolli in London, he became a world-famous conductor. In 1943, he helped save Manchester’s Halle Orchestra from closure and conducted it for the rest of his life. In 1943, he was due to fly from neutral Portugal to England but swapped tickets with film star Leslie Howard. The unarmed plane was shot down by the Germans.
ON DECEMBER 2 ...
IN 1982, 61-year-old Seattle dentist Barney Clark received the world’s first artificial heart made of polyurethane and aluminium. He survived for 112 days.
IN 1993, the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, once listed as the world’s seventh richest person, was gunned down by police. It was estimated that he spent more on rubber bands to wrap around his cash than most people earn in a year.
IN 1995, former futures trader nick Leeson was sentenced in Singapore to six-and-a-half years in prison for his part in the collapse of Barings Bank.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
The art of leadership is saying no, not yes. It is very easy to say yes.
Tony Blair, former PM
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT kind of pizza does King Wenceslas like? One that’s deep pan, crisp and even.