ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
JANUARY 28, 1967
ThREE U.S. astronauts were killed in a launching-pad explosion at Cape Kennedy tonight. Virgil ‘Gus’ Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were taking part in a dress rehearsal of next month’s three-man Apollo shot — a prelude to America’s attempts to put a man on the Moon — when equipment under their capsule exploded.
JANUARY 28, 1995
MANCHESTER United effectively gave Eric Cantona a slap on the wrist yesterday for his karate-kick attack on a fan. The club ignored demands to sack the hottempered Frenchman, instead suspending him until the end of the season in May. It also fined him £20,000, thought to represent barely two weeks’ wages. HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME ANN LESLIE, 79. The veteran Daily Mail foreign correspondent, born in British-ruled India, was shot at by Bosnian snipers and was at the Berlin Wall the night it came down. Dame Ann, who worked briefly for Playboy magazine, was painted by Salvador Dali and once punched Muhammad Ali on the jaw to get his attention. Roy CLARKE, 90. The yorkshire-born comedy writer has created much-loved series including Keeping Up Appearances, Last of The Summer Wine and open All hours. he was a soldier before becoming a policeman, teacher, salesman and taxi driver. he said he hates what political correctness has done to comedy: ‘It never occurred to me when I was younger that the thought police would be around.’ BORN ON THIS DAY
SIDoNIE- GABRIELLE COLETTE ( 1873- 1954). Known simply as Colette, the French author made her name with the novella Gigi, turned into a 1958 film starring Leslie Caron and Maurice Chevalier. Colette — the first French female writer to be given a state funeral — opened her own chain of beauty salons and, in the 1920s, was among the first women to have a facelift. SIR JohN TAVENER (1944-2013). The Grammy-winning London-born composer wrote the cantata The Whale, which was released by The Beatles’ Apple label in 1968. his Song For Athene was the closing music at the funeral of Princess Diana and his choral work A New Beginning was played in the Millennium Dome during the last minutes of 1999. he converted to the Russian orthodox Church in 1977 and said: ‘My way towards God has been to write music.’