ON THIS DAY
1654: A meteorological office in Tuscany began daily temperature readings. 1832: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, the French engineer who built the great landmark that bears his name for the Paris Exhibition of 1899, was born. 1890: Chief Sitting Bull, Sioux leader, was shot dead in a scuffle with Indian police. 1939: The premiere of Gone With The Wind took place at Atlanta, Georgia. 1958: The last steam locomotive was made at Crewe. No 92250 was the 7,331st locomotive to be built at the works. 1964: The maple leaf was adopted as the national flag of Canada. 1966: Walt Disney, cartoon film producer and creator, died aged 65. 1979: Two Canadians, Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, came up with the idea for a game called Trivial Pursuit. It was manufactured in 1982 and sold 45 million copies worldwide in its first five years. 1991: More than 470 people drowned when a ferry carrying mainly Egyptian pilgrims sank in the Red Sea. 2014: Nelson Mandela was buried after a funeral ceremony that included a 21-gun salute and fly-overs by military aircraft as well as a eulogy by a traditional African leader wearing an animal skin.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Reports revealed that shoppers were expected to put £2.6bn on their cards on ‘Panic Saturday’, as millions hit the high street during the last full weekend before Christmas.
BIRTHDAYS: Don Johnson, actor, 68; Joe Jordan, former footballer and coach/manager, 66; Paul Simonon, musician (The Clash), 62; Helen Slater, actress, 54; Carl Hooper, former cricketer, 51; Frankie Dettori, jockey, 47; Adam Brody, actor, 38; Michelle Dockery, actress, 36.