ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 219 OF 2016
THE last military invasion of mainland Britain happened 219 years ago. In the Battle of Fishguard, 1,400 members of the French Revolutionary Army landed on the Pencaer Peninsula near the Welsh town. After brief clashes with locals, the invaders surrendered in under two days. LARRY FITZGERALD witnessed 219 people being put to death as spokesman for America’s busiest execution chamber at Huntsville, Texas, until he retired from what he described as ‘probably the most exciting job I have ever had’. The former reporter was notorious for detailing in TV interviews the condemned inmates’ final moments. THE world’s first race for flying cars is planned for 2017. Vehicles must drive and fly 219 miles from California’s El Mirage dry lake to the planned El Dorado ‘Droneport’ in Nevada, U.S.
THERE ARE 147 DAYS LEFT
THE first Sainsbury’s store opened 147 years ago, launched by a young couple — Mary Ann Staples, daughter of a dairy shop owner, and John James Sainsbury, son of a craftsman. Amazingly, they married that same day. One of the couple’s first colleagues said: ‘She was always up very early in the morning and took great pride in the cleanliness of the shop.’ THE Cutty Sark, launched 147 years ago, is one of the last clippers built for the 19thcentury tea trade, and one of two to survive to this day. The name is Scots for a short petticoat and was taken from Robert Burns’s poem Tam O’Shanter, in which Tam spies on beautiful witch Nannie Dee, who wore one. The ship’s figurehead depicts her.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME Barbara Windsor, 79. The Carry On and EastEnders actress (right) allegedly had a one-night stand with Reggie Kray before marrying, then divorcing, another gangster, Ronnie Knight. Her life is being turned into a one-off drama, Babs, to be shown on BBC1 next year ahead of her 80th birthday. ROMOLA GARAI, 34. The Hong Kong-born British actress has starred in The Hour, The Crimson Petal And The White and Atonement. Asked which living person she most despises, she said: ‘I’ve worked with actors who tell everyone what to do in the scene — that makes me go pretty atomic.’ She says her favourite smell is ‘a sweaty man’s skin’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ANDY WARHOL (1928-1987), the American pop-art pioneer, best known for screenprints of stars (Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley) and household objects (Campbell’s soup cans and Brillo pad boxes). He also hoarded everyday items, including airline menus and unpaid invoices. It took nine days to auction his estate after his death. ROBERT MITCHUM (1917-1997). The star of Cape Fear and El Dorado was best known for westerns and war movies. He was jailed for cannabis possession, aged 31, and when asked what prison was like, replied: ‘It’s just like Palm Springs without the riff-raff.’
ON AUGUST 6...
IN 1971, Briton Chay Blyth set out on an epic voyage which would see him become the first person to sail the world non-stop westwards, against prevailing winds and currents. IN 1978, Pope Paul VI died at the age of 80 after 15 years as pontiff. The Roman Catholic world was left reeling when his replacement Pope John Paul I, 65, died on September 28, after just 33 days in office.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
BETWEEN two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.
Mae West (1893–1980), U.S. actress
JOKE OF THE DAY
MY WIFE told me to stop impersonating a flamingo. I had to put my foot down.