ON THIS DAY
May 3, 2021
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
May 3, 1982
A BRITISH submarine attacked an Argentine cruiser last night, the Ministry of Defence said early today. The cruiser, the General Belgrano, was hit by torpedoes and was believed to be ‘severely damaged,’ the Ministry said. Mrs Thatcher is preparing for the crunch point in the Falklands crisis with a landing by Commandos and paratroopers to recapture the islands.
May 3, 2011
U.S. PRESIDENT Barack Obama was watching on a TV screen as a commando gunned down Osama Bin Laden. Via a video camera fixed to the helmet of a U.S. Navy Seal, the leader of the free world saw the terror chief shot in the left eye.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ROB BRYDON, 56. The comedian and actor from Glamorgan presents BBC panel show Would I Lie To You? and plays Uncle Bryn in Gavin & Stacey. Brydon went to school with its co- creator Ruth Jones — they appeared in amateur musicals together and he said that, to this day: ‘If you put us together, we will sing.’ MARY HOPkIN, 71. The singer from the Swansea Valley was signed to The Beatles’ record label at 18 after being recommended by model Twiggy — who’d seen her on Opportunity knocks. After being asked to call the company: ‘I was put through to this guy with a Liverpool accent, who invited me to come to London and sign a contract.’ To her and her mother’s amazement, it was Paul McCartney.
BORN ON THIS DAY
RICHARD D’OYLY CARTE (1844-1901). The London-born theatrical impresario brought together Gilbert and Sullivan and presented almost all of their comic operas. He founded the Savoy theatre to be a ‘permanent abode for light opera’ (it was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity). SIR HENRY COOPER ( 1934- 2011). The heavyweight boxer from London, whose left hook was nicknamed ’Enry’s ’Ammer, is best remembered for his 1963 knockdown of Muhammad Ali, though the man then known as Cassius Clay went on to win the fight. Ali said on British TV that Cooper ‘hit me so hard that my ancestors in Africa felt it’.
ON MAY 3 . . .
IN 1978, the first unsolicited bulk commercial — or spam — email was sent.
IN 2002, former Labour minister Barbara Castle died, aged 91, holding the record as the longest-serving female MP in the history of the House of Commons (34 years).