ON THIS DAY
IT’S DAY 302 . . .
AN ANdy Warhol portrait of Chairman Mao owned by Easy Rider actor dennis Hopper sold for $302,000 (£193,000) at auction in 2011 after the actor’s death. The print had two bullet holes after a drugfuelled Hopper got spooked by it late at night and opened fire. Warhol, far from being angry, labelled them ‘warning shot’ and ‘bullet hole’, probably adding to the work’s value. THE computer-animated film Toy Story 3 boasts 302 characters. Woody and Buzz Lightyear can move their faces in more than 200 places and Lotso the bear (right) has more than 3.4 million individual hairs on his body.
THERE ARE 64 DAYS LEFT
IT TAkES an average of 64 seconds to recover your train of thought every time you’re interrupted by the arrival of an email, according to a Loughborough University study. Anyone who checks their email every five minutes at work wastes more than eight hours a week trying to remember what they were doing moments earlier. PRINCE CHARLES, the longest-serving heir to the throne, has held the position for 64 years. The prince is such a keen environmentalist that even his 21st birthday present from the Queen, an Aston Martin dB6 Volante, runs on biofuel — made from waste wine. WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR is a song about lovers ageing, but was one of the first written by Paul McCartney, when he was 16. Only two of The Beatles, McCartney and Ringo Starr, lived to 64 — John Lennon was murdered aged 40 and George Harrison died at 58.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JOAN PLOWRIGHT, 87. The Lincolnshire born actress won two Golden Globes in the same year (for the film Enchanted April and TV movie Stalin in 1992). The widow of Lord Olivier, dame Joan played his daughter in the 1960 film version of The Entertainer. BILL GATES, 61 (right). The U.S. billionaire founder of Microsoft and the world’s richest man. In the firm’s early days, Gates would memorise the number plate of every employee so he could monitor what time they arrived at and left the office. He washes up every night. ‘Other people volunteer, but I like the way I do it,’ he says.
BORN ON THIS DAY
EdITH HEAd (1897-1981). The legendary American costume designer won more Academy Awards than any woman in history — eight from 35 nominations. She became known for collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock and for dressing stars such as Grace kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. She only had four shades in her own wardrobe: black, white, beige and brown. FRANCIS BACON (1909-1992). The British artist’s 1969 triptych of his friend and fellow artist Lucian Freud was the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction, when it fetched £89.6million in 2013. He reportedly declined a knighthood and the Order of Merit, saying: ‘They’re so ageing.’
ON OCTOBER 28. . ..
IN 1922, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini led his March on Rome, which brought him to power — though he and his supporters actually travelled there by train, first-class. IN 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis ended when Russian leader Nikita khrushchev announced he would dismantle all of his missiles based on the island.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
A SMALL daily task, if it be really daily, will beat the labours of a spasmodic Hercules. Anthony Trollope, English novelist (1815-1882)
JOKE OF THE DAY
HOW do hens and roosters dance? Chick to chick.