ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 343 OF 2016
SAINT Nicholas, the 4th-century Christian from Turkey who inspired the modern-day Santa Claus, died in AD343. A bishop, he was known for giving secret presents, such as putting coins in people’s shoes. THE tallest bridge in the world — in terms of the height of its own structure, rather than the road deck — is the Millau Viaduct across France’s Tarn Valley, which is 343m (1,125ft). Designed by British architect Lord Norman Foster, the 8,070ft-long suspension bridge opened 12 years ago, and on certain days appears to almost float on the clouds. IN THE past six years, 343 UK libraries have closed, with a further 111 estimated to have shut down in 2016. Almost 8,000 library jobs have disappeared in the same period, about a quarter of the total staff.
THERE ARE 23 DAYS LEFT
BOB MARLEY (right) was buried in 1981 in a casket containing a Bible opened at Psalm 23, his red Gibson guitar and a stalk of cannabis placed there by his widow, Rita, at the end of his funeral ceremony. THE most beer bottles opened with a chainsaw in one minute is 23 (by Canadian Andrew Younghusband this year) — the same figure as the most drink cans broken with a whip in three minutes (by American Adam Winrich in 2009). MORE than 23,000 North Koreans have escaped from their homeland’s Communist regime since the Korean War ended in 1953. The largest population of North Korean expats in Europe is in the South-West London suburb of New Malden, where 600 have settled in the thriving 20,000-strong Korean community.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BILL BRYSON, 65. The American author has spent most of his adult life in the UK and wrote best seller Notes From A Small Island about his time here. He has said that anything good the U.S. creates is exported, so he can find a decent cheeseburger in the UK: ‘And that is why I’m happy here.’ BARBARA HULANICKI, 80. The Polish-born fashion designer (right) founded the boutique BIBA with her husband in 1964. It became an icon of Sixties and Seventies London, evolving into a five-storey West London department store, attracting Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull. AMIR KHAN, 30. The boxer from Bolton treats himself to a new watch after every fight and says: ‘I’m lucky being a boxer; no one would think of stealing from me.’ He spent £100,000 on an engagement ring for his wife. He calls his winnings from boxing ‘blood money’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
MARY, Queen of Scots (1542-1587). After being held captive in England for 19 years under the rule of her cousin, Elizabeth I, Mary was executed, having been found guilty of plotting to assassinate the English Queen. It’s said Mary’s small dog hid under her dress while the axeman took two attempts to sever her head.
ON DECEMBER 8 . . .
In 1941, the U.S. entered World War II a day after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. In 1965, the Race Relations Act came into force, outlawing racial discrimination in public places on the ‘grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins’. However, the legislation did not cover housing, employment, shops or financial services. In 1980, former Beatle John Lennon, 40, was shot four times in the back by obsessed fan Mark David Chapman in New York. Lennon died en route to hospital.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
There is always a limit to selfindulgence but none to self-restraint
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
JOKE OF THE DAY
How long did Cain hate his brother? As long as he was Abel.