ON THIS DAY

1767: Georg Telemann, the most prolific composer of all time, died in Hamburg. He wrote more than 1,000 cantatas, 40 operas, 120 concertos, 44 passions, 600 orchestral suites and 12 sets of church services with pieces for every Sunday of the year. 1797: Admiral Nelson was wounded in the right arm by grapeshot. He had it amputated that afternoon. 1870: Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist, was born. He wrote the classic spy yarn The Riddle Of The Sands but after joining the IRA he was executed for being in possession of unauthorised weapons. 1876: Custer’s Last Stand took place at Little Big Horn, Montana. The Sioux Indians, led by Crazy Horse, killed Custer and all 264 soldiers of his 7th US Cavalry. 1945: The United Nations Organisation was founded. 1953: John Christie was sentenced to death for murdering four women including his wife. He is believed to have killed three others. 1968: Comedian Tony Hancock killed himself in a hotel bedroom in Sydney, Australia. 1969: Pancho Gonzalez and Charlie Pasarell played a record 112-game singles match on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, lasting five hours 12 minutes. Gonzalez, aged 41, won. 1990: 7,000 king penguins killed themselves on uninhabited sub-Antarctic Macquaine Island. Bodies were piled four deep in this bizarre mass suicide, and the reason remains a complete mystery. 2009: Tributes from the world of music, film and celebrity flooded in following the death of 50-yearold “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR Ten fines are issued to hauliers every day after migrants are found hiding in lorries, new figures released on this day revealed.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS Roy Marsden, actor, 77; Eddie Large, comedian, 77; Carly Simon, singer/songwriter, 73; Tim Finn, musician, 66; Johnny Herbert, racing driver, 54; Jamie Redknapp, ex-footballer turned pundit, 45; Iestyn Harris, ex-rugby league player/coach, 42.