ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 342 …
SAME-SEx marriage was outlawed by Roman Emperor Constantius II in AD 342. Before then, at least two Emperors were in same-sex unions, with Nero the first to have married a man. He wore a veil to wed former slave Pythagoras, but acted as husband to Sporus, a male lookalike of his dead wife Poppaea Sabrina, whom he even called by her name. THE bones of two children found buried in Westminster Abbey 342 years ago are thought to be the Princes in the Tower, Edward V and his brother Richard. The boys are believed to have been murdered on the orders of their uncle, Richard III, who usurped the throne in 1483. They’d been taken to the Tower for their ‘protection’ but were never seen again.
THERE ARE 24 DAYS LEFT
THE Queen’s ‘Annus Horribilis’ was 24 years ago. She used the Latin phrase, meaning ‘horrible year’, to sum up 1992, when there was a fire at Windsor Castle, Princess Anne divorced Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew separated from Sarah, Duchess of York, and the book Diana: Her True Story revealed the affair between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. GuESTS who stay at the iconic, sail-shaped Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai are offered use of an engraved 24-carat gold-plated iPad worth £8,000 to use as a ‘virtual concierge’. Guests who want a bit of bling to take home can buy them at the hotel’s boutique shop. SCHOOL buses in the u.S. are yellow for good reason. Our eyes notice the colour 1.24 times faster than red — and yellow is particularly visible in the early morning and evening light, when the buses operate.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JOHN TERRY, 36. The Chelsea and former England captain was stripped of the England captaincy twice: for having an affair with a teammate’s ex girlfriend, and over racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand. ANNE FINE, 69. The prolific English author is best known for her children’s fiction, including Madame Doubtfire, which became the hit Robin Williams film Mrs Doubtfire. Fine started writing novels in 1971 ‘in desperation’ when, at home with her first baby, a snowstorm stopped her going to the local library.
BORN ON THIS DAY
CLARENCE NASH (1904-1985). The American voice actor was the voice of Donald Duck for 50 years — as well as providing the meows and screeches in Tom And Jerry. He was nicknamed Ducky by almost everyone except his wife, who said: ‘I call him honey ’cause I knew him before he was a duck.’ HENRY STuART (1545-1567). Lord Darnley was Mary, Queen of Scots’s second husband — described as the ‘lustiest and best proportioned man’ Mary had ever seen — and father of James VI (James I of England). With friends he stabbed the queen’s private secretary and confidant David Rizzio to death. Darnley was himself killed not long after, and although his wife was among those accused, the identity of his killers remains a mystery.
ON DECEMBER 7th...
In 1783, William Pitt the Younger became the youngest British prime minister at age 24. In 1963, video-taped ‘instant replay’ was used for the first time in a live sports TV broadcast during an American football game. When a touchdown was replayed, the station’s switchboard was inundated with calls from confused viewers asking if the player had scored a second time.