ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 7 OF 2015
RICHARD BURTON (right) received 7 nominations for an oscar, but was never a winner. other actors who risk this disappointment are Glenn Close, with six nominations so far; Leonardo DiCaprio and Amy Adams, five apiece; and Bradley Cooper with four. THERE are 7 bones in a giraffe’s neck — the same number as those in a human neck. But at 6ft, the giraffe’s is rather longer — almost as impressive is its 20in tongue.
THERE ARE 359 DAYS LEFT
THE furthest distance between two clubs in the Premier League is the 359 miles between Newcastle united and Bournemouth. understandably, fans were in uproar when a match between the two in Bournemouth was moved to a lunchtime kick-off. Newcastle fans’ coaches left in the early hours that day. IT WAS thought impossible to run the mile in under four minutes until 1954, when that barrier was finally broken by Roger Bannister at the Iffley Road track in oxford with a time of 3:59. The record today is 3:43, held by Moroccan Hicham El Guerrouj. THE red dwarf star in the Leo constellation known as Wolf 359, catalogued by German astronomer Max Wolf in 1917, is one of the nearest stars to Earth — though still 7.78 light years away. It’s believed to be ten billion years old, twice the age of our Sun.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LEWIS HAMILTON, 31 (right). The three-time Formula one champion’s pampered bulldog Roscoe has his own pass to the F1 paddock. Sponsors pay upwards of £1 million for these — Roscoe’s was a gift from F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. NICOLAS CAGE, 52. The star of Leaving Las Vegas and Con Air once awoke in the middle of the night at his home to find a naked man sitting at the end of the bed wearing his favourite leather jacket and eating an ice lolly. HELEN WORTH, 65. The Leeds-born actress who’s had a long-running career as Coronation Street’s Gail Potter (later Tilsley, Platt, Hillman, McIntyre and Rodwell) is, in real life, just seven years younger than actress Sue Nicholls, who plays Gail’s mother Audrey Roberts. IAN LA FRENAIS, 80. With writing partner Dick Clement, he created hit sitcoms Porridge, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and The Likely Lads — which, though famously set in Newcastle, did not star true Geordies: Rodney Bewes was from Yorkshire, James Bolam from Sunderland and Brigit Forsyth from Edinburgh.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ALAN NAPIER (1903-1988). The English theatre actor became globally famous when he took the role of Bruce Wayne’s ever-faithful butler, Alfred, in the Sixties TV series Batman. In real life, he was more upstairs than downstairs, being a cousin of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. GERALD DURRELL (1925-1995). The conservationist’s 30 bestselling books included the classic My Family And other Animals. The books helped fund his Zoological Park on Jersey, dedicated to preserving endangered species. He called himself a ‘champion of small uglies’.
ON JANUARY 7 . . .
IN 1927, the first transatlantic telephone call was made, between New York and London. It cost £15 for 3 minutes — a hefty £840 in today’s money.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Marriage is the bond between a person who never remembers anniversaries and another who never forgets them.
Humorist Ogden Nash (1902-1971)
JOKE OF THE DAY
MY FRIEND is addicted to brake fluid, but assures me he can stop whenever he wants.