ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JUNE 3, 1947 British india will be divided into two sovereign states, hindustan and Pakistan, Prime Minister Clement Attlee will announce in the house of Commons today. the Cabinet’s original plan for a united Government of india has been abandoned. JUNE 3, 1953 news of the conquest of everest was flashed to the British embassy in nepal last night. there will be regrets no British climber reached the top, but none could begrudge new Zealander edmund hillary or nepalese tensing norgay their success.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
AnitA hArris, 75. the english actress (pictured), once the world’s highest-paid cabaret artist, was declared bankrupt in 2015 and lost her home for a second time. she started out as a 16-year-old dancer in Las Vegas. Years on the flourishing cabaret circuit in the sixties and seventies, parts in Carry On films and tV appearances made her rich — until a swiss-based bank collapse wiped out her savings in 1985. Despite her woes, she believes angels protect her: ‘they bring a stillness into my life.’ rAUL CAstrO, 86. the president of Cuba since 2008, when his older brother Fidel stepped down after almost 50 years in power. the brothers were born into a prosperous sugar plantation-owning family and went to boarding school. But that didn’t tally with their wish for socialist credentials, so was conveniently played down.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ALLen GinsBerG (1926-1997). Dubbed the ‘poet laureate’ of the Beat Generation, he was best known for his poem howl and would often recite naked. At a sixties London party, John Lennon walked in to see Ginsberg wearing nothing but a Do not Disturb sign, ‘hung on his person as over a hotel door knob’. the Beatle left in disgust, saying: ‘You don’t do that in front of birds.’ JOsePhine BAker (19061975). the U.s.-born French performer (pictured), famous for her risque outfits and exotic dance routines, was awarded the Croix de Guerre for spying in world war ii — smuggling messages written in invisible ink on sheet music and photos of German military sites in her underwear.
ON JUNE 3 . . .
IN 1956, city authorities in santa Cruz, California, tried to ban rock ’n’ roll at public gatherings as ‘detrimental to the health and morals of our youth and community’.
IN 1989, Ayatollah khomeini, iran’s spiritual leader, died. he had issued a fatwa calling for the killing of British writer salman rushdie over his novel the satanic Verses.