ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 212 OF 2016
IN JuLy 1945, on the orders of Winston Churchill, Suite 212 of Claridge’s Hotel in London became yugoslavian territory for a day. This was to allow Crown Prince Alexander of yugoslavia, whose family had been exiled, to be born on home territory. THE white, rhinestone-studded modified golf glove that Michael Jackson wore the first time he performed his trademark Moonwalk dance sold for £212,000 at auction in New york in 2009. ENgLISH navigator Matthew Flinders recommended that New Holland be renamed Australia 212 years ago. The name is from the Latin ‘ australis’, meaning ‘of the south’. It took 20 years before the uK government agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia.
THERE ARE 154 DAYS LEFT
VICTOR HugO’s epic French historical novel Les Miserables was published 154 years ago. French poet Charles Baudelaire said it was a ‘vile and inept’ book, the Vatican banned this ‘socialist tract’ and it was publicly burned in Spain. It promptly became a smash hit, proving that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. gOLFER Jack Nicklaus — nicknamed the golden Bear after his high school mascot — holds the record for most consecutive major championship appearances, notching up 154 between 1962 and 1988 and winning a record 18 of them.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SIR CLIVE SINCLAIR, 76. The British inventor — whose creations included the Sinclair Executive ( the first slim- line electronic pocket calculator) and the Sinclair C5 (pictured with Sinclair), a battery electric vehicle that had a maximum speed of 15mph — and famously flopped. By the age of 12 he had designed and started to build a one-man submarine at his school, ‘but fortunately I left before I could complete it’. HARRIET HARMAN, 66. The former deputy leader of the Labour Party is the longest continuously serving female MP currently in Parliament. She denies being ‘Sam Cam posh’, but is a niece of the 7th Earl of Longford and attended a £20,000-a-year school.
BORN ON THIS DAY
Henry FORD (1863-1947). The founder of the Ford Motor Company and pioneer of the assembly line was one of the richest men ever — at the time of his death he had a net worth equivalent to $199 billion in today’s money. By 1918, half of all cars in America were Ford’s Model Ts. One notorious fan was Clyde Barrow (of murderous duo Bonnie and Clyde), who wrote to Henry saying he drove Fords exclusively ‘when I can get away with one’. Henry MOORE ( 1898- 1986). The yorkshire-born sculptor was known for producing semiabstract bronze sculptures as public art, which can be found as far afield as Jerusalem, Hong Kong and London (pictured). After his death, his total art output was valued at £130 million.
ON JULY 30 . . .
IN 1792, The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, was first sung in Paris, urging, ‘To arms, citizens’ and ‘let an impure blood soak our fields’ in the fight against tyranny. IN 2006, Top Of The Pops was broadcast for the last time on BBC2, after a 42-year run. Cliff Richard made the most appearances (almost 160), but might prefer to forget the 500th anniversary show, during which The Who’s mischievous roadies raided the props department and pelted him with wigs. I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
Groucho Marx, comedian (1890-1977) I THINK I want a job cleaning mirrors. It’s really something I could see myself doing.
QUOTE FOR TODAY JOKE OF THE DAY