ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 144 OF 2016
BRITAIN’s tallest native tree, measuring 144 ft (44m), is a beech tree in Newtimber Woods, West Sussex. But it’s dwarfed by the tallest non-native tree, a 217 ft (66m) Douglas fir — an evergreen native to western Northern America — in Reelig Glen, near Inverness. WORK on Barcelona’s fantastical Sagrada Familia Roman Catholic church is expected to be complete by 2026 — 144 years after it was begun by architect Antoni Gaudi in 1882. He joked that his client, God, was in no hurry to see it finished. DUBBED the ‘Concordski’, the TU-144 was the Soviet supersonic passenger jet to rival the Anglo-French Concorde. At the Paris Air Show in 1973, Russian pilot Mikhail Koslov was said to have boasted at a reception that he would outfly Concorde. Instead, he crashed, killing six crew and eight people on the ground.
THERE ARE 222 DAYS LEFT
AN APPEAL went out this month from headteacher Shirley Taylor at Annette Street Primary in Glasgow for extra funds for language aids. Of the school’s 222 pupils, none was from native Scottish families. STARRING Peter O’Toole (right), David Lean’s 1962 epic Lawrence Of Arabia runs for 222 minutes. The real-life T.e. Lawrence had struggled with the attention around his part in the victorious Arab Revolt during World War I and later joined the RAF as ‘Ross’ in a bid for anonymity. He died in 1935, aged 46, following a motorcycle accident near his Dorset home. IN 1950, a TV antenna 222 ft high was added to the empire State Building in New York. There had been plans to moor airships at the top of the 1,472 ft skyscraper, but the idea proved impractical and dangerous, due to the powerful updrafts caused by the building and the lack of mooring lines tying the other end of the craft to the ground.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME JOAN COLLINS, 83. The five- times- married actress (right), best known as Alexis Carrington in eighties soap Dynasty, is godmother to model Cara Delevingne — who has 16 godparents in all. GEORGE OSBORNE, 45. The Chancellor, born Gideon Oliver Osborne, famously changed his name to George as a teenager. But that didn’t stop Barack Obama repeatedly calling him ‘Jeffrey’ during a G8 summit in 2013. Jeffrey Osborne is one of the U.S. President’s favourite soul singers.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ROSEMARY CLOONEY (1928-2002). The American singer and actress starred alongside Bing Crosby in 1954 classic film White Christmas. Actor George Clooney, her nephew, was one of ten pallbearers at her funeral in Maysville, Kentucky. DeNIS COMPTON ( 1918- 1997). The Hendon-born sportsman played cricket for Middlesex, football for Arsenal and represented england in both sports. He was on the winning team when Arsenal beat Liverpool in the 1950 FA Cup final.
ON MAY 23 . . .
IN 1873, Canada established the North-West Mounted Police — later dubbed the Mounties — to bring law to its untamed north-west. Canadian leader John A. Macdonald first announced the force as the North West Mounted Rifles, but changed the name because of U.S. fears of a military build-up.
IN 1988, Fleming Koch and Nina Tolgard, both of Denmark, were married in the world’s first underwater wedding ceremony, which took place in Mauritius.