ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 23 OF 2016
STATISTICALLY, you need only 23 people at a party for two of the guests to have an even chance of sharing the same birthday.
FICTIONAL 23 Railway Cuttings, East Cheam, was famously the shabby, terrace home of comedian Tony Hancock in the Hancock’s Half Hour radio and TV shows. In reality, he lived at Macconkeys, a splendid Edwardian mansion in East Sussex.
THE winning margin in the world’s first international sporting fixture is the 23 runs by which Canada beat the U.S. at cricket in a New york park in 1844. A 5,000- strong crowd watched the home nation’s defeat.
THERE ARE 343 DAYS LEFT
THE biggest dog recognised by the Guinness World Records was Zorba t he Engli s h mastiff from london, who weighed 343lb in 1989. When the record was set in 1987, Zorba (right) was aged eight, weighed just over 314lb, and measured 8ft 3in from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. SOME 343 firefighters were killed during the 9/11 Al Qaeda terror attacks on New york’s Twin Towers in 2001. A total of 2,749 victims died, say the New york authorities. IT IS 343 years since the legendary French playwright Moliere collapsed and died while performing his final play, Le Malade Imaginaire, or The Imaginary Invalid. According to folklore, Moliere was wearing yellow — and because of that there is a superstition that yellow brings bad luck to actors.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
PRINCESS CAROlINE of Monaco, 59. The eldest child of Prince Rainier and film star Grace Kelly has been married three times. The first union ended in divorce; the second in tragedy when Stefano Casiraghi di e d in a powerboat accident — and Caroline (right) is estranged from husband No 3, Prince Ernst of Hanover. A 13th-century curse says the Grimaldi royal family will never enjoy true happiness in a marriage. CHESlEy SUllENBERGER, 65. The former fighter pilot was hailed a hero in 2009 when he miraculously landed his U.S. Airways Airbus on the Hudson River in New york, saving all 155 passengers and crew. A bird strike had taken out both engines shortly after takeoff from nearby la Guardia airport. Tom Hanks plays the role of ‘Sully’ in an upcoming Clint Eastwood film about the drama.
BORN ON THIS DAY
AIREy NEAVE (1916-1979) was shadow Northern Ireland Secretary when he was assassinated by an Irish National liberation Army (INlA) car bomb which exploded as he drove up the ramp of the House of Commons car park. In World War II he was the first British officer to make a ‘home-run’ back to the UK f rom ‘ escape- proof ’ prisoner-of-war camp Colditz Castle. WIllIAM STEPHENSON (1897-1989). This Canadian/British boxer, fighter pilot, entrepreneur and spy was Ian Fleming’s Martini-drinking inspiration for James Bond and there is a statue of him at CIA headquarters.
ON JANUARY 23 . . .
In 1960, Swiss engineer Professor Jacques Piccard, and U.S. Navy Capt Don Walsh, took the submersible Trieste to a depth of nearly seven miles in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, the sea’s deepest point. In 1790, after casting Captain Bligh adrift, the HMS Bounty mutineers sailed to Pitcairn Island, to begin new lives.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LIFE is a blank canvas and you need to throw all the paint on it you can.
Actor Danny Kaye (1911-1987)
JOKE OF THE DAY
A RECENT study has revealed that women who carry slightly more weight than they used to tend to live longer than any man who mentions it.