ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 265...
HuNDREDS of pigeons flew the 265 miles from Ypres, Belgium, to Somerset in 2014 to mark the centenary of World War I. The homing birds were invaluable in both World wars. One, a British pigeon called Cher Ami, helped save 190 u.S. troops trapped behind German lines in 1918 by flying to their HQ with a message despite being shot. THE most luminous star ever discovered is called R136a1 and is about 165,000 light years away. A sphere of hydrogen and helium, it is 265 times larger than the Sun and 8.7 million times brighter. THE most prolific fictional amateur sleuth, according to Guinness World Records, is Jessica Fletcher, the heroine of Murder, She Wrote. Played by British actress Angela Lansbury (right), she investigated 274 murders across 265 episodes and four films.
THERE ARE 101 DAYS LEFT
THERE are only two full-length animated Disney films in which both parents are present and alive for the duration of the movie — Peter Pan and 101 Dalmatians. THE concept of Room 101 was invented by George Orwell for his novel Nineteen EightyFour. It is a torture chamber in which a prisoner is subjected to his worst fears. Orwell is believed to have been inspired by Room 101 in BBC’s Broadcasting House — he worked for the Beeb during World War II. PHOTOS were required in British passports for the first time 101 years ago. The pictures could include whole families and any pose or location was acceptable.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
SHIRLEY CONRAN, 84. The bestselling author of 1975’s Superwoman and raunchy 1982 novel Lace. Conran complained after reading Fifty Shades Of Grey that ‘there is no sex at all until page 200’. A former women’s editor at the Daily Mail and first editor of Femail, she is the ex-wife of Sir Terence Conran. LEONARD COHEN, 82 (right). The Canadian singer-songwriter has been described as ‘the poet laureate of pessimism’. He was 32 before he decided to switch from writing poems and novels to songs, but was asked by an agent when trying to sell them in New York: ‘Aren’t you a little old for this game?’ He was still touring 47 years later. SIR JIMMY YOuNG, 95. The former Radio 2 presenter was an RAF PT instructor before becoming a pop star and notching up three number ones: Too Young, unchained Melody and The Man From Laramie. However, he said: ‘I wasn’t put on this world to strut my stuff in front of hysterical, screaming women.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
SIR ALLEN LANE (1902-1970). The publishing pioneer, who left school at 16, came up with the idea for Penguin books after a visit to Agatha Christie. He was on a railway platform, appalled by the selection of books, and resolved that high-quality fiction should be sold for the price of a packet of cigarettes.
ON SEPTEMBER 21 . . .
IN 1915, Stonehenge was put up for auction for the first and last time. It was sold for £6,600 to Cecil Chubb, who bought it ‘on a whim’ as a gift for his wife before bequeathing it to the nation three years later. IN 1937, J.R.R. Tolkien’s first novel The Hobbit was published. Last year, a first edition sold at auction for a world record £137,000.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint. Christopher Hitchens, journalist and author (1949-2011)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT’S the coldest place in the world? Chile.