ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 278 OF 2015
Ten years ago, German- owned discount chain Aldi had 278 stores in the UK. now it has 560 and plans to open at least 50 every year until 2021. In 1993, Tom Rodden, from Chatham in Kent, shaved 278 people in one hour with a cut-throat razor, setting a world record. TheRe are 278 species of squirrel in the world, including at least four types that fly. The town of hilo in hawaii has an average of 278 days of rain each year. The UK’s only Jewish-born prime minister, Benjamin Disraeli, held the post twice. The first, in 1868, was for just 278 days. The second time round, he lasted six years. The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed 87 of London’s 109 churches, and St Paul’s Cathedral. Sir Christopher Wren designed its replacement — the fifth on that site (the first wooden version burnt down in 675). eRoTIC author e.L. James would have you believe there are 50 shades of grey but, according to a 17th-century colour chart, there are actually 87 shades of the colour. IF yoU stretched out a Slinky, the spring toy which descends stairs, it would be 87ft long. U.S. troops in the Vietnam War used them as radio antennae. KATe WInSLeT, 40. The actress, ri ght, holds a unique position in oscar history — she has twice been up for an award for roles where another actress was also nominated as the older version of her character. The films are Titanic, with Gloria Stuart, and Iris, with Judi Dench.
THERE ARE 87 DAYS LEFT
BoB GeLDoF, 64. The Boomtown Rats singer and co-founder of Band Aid famously named his daughters by the late Paula yates Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches honeyblossom and Little Pixie. Less well known is that his own middle name is ‘Zenon’. GUy PeARCe, 48. The Australian actor — who began his career in neighbours and went on to such films as LA Confidential, Memento and The Time Machine — was born in Cambridge. his father Stuart, an RAF test pilot, died in a plane crash when Guy was eight. MIChAeL MoRPURGo, 72. The War horse author’s parents split up when he was two and his father, actor Anthony Van Bridge, emigrated to Canada. The next time Morpurgo saw him was aged 19 when the BBC screened a 1962 production of Great expectations. Morpurgo’s mother pointed at Magwitch and said: ‘That’s your father.’ RAy KRoC (1902-84). The U.S. businessman took a small restaurant chain run by Dick and Mac McDonald in California and built it up to become the McDonald’s fast food franchise. CARon KeATInG (19622004), right. The Blue Peter presenter died after fighting breast cancer. She was a disciple of spiritual healing, whose practitioners can choose an animal spirit to guide them and to draw strength from. Keating’s ‘inner animal’ was a wolf — fearless, loyal and highly protective of those closest to it. In 1952, tea rationing in the UK finally ended — more than seven years after the end of World War II. In 1967, the first majority verdict was reached by a British jury, finding a wrestler who occasionally went by the name ‘the Terrible Turk’ guilty of stealing a handbag. Fantasy is like an exercise bicycle for the mind.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) DoCToR, Doctor, I keep getting stabbing pains in my eye when I drink a cup of tea. Have you tried taking the spoon out?
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