ON THIS DAY

1879: Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was born in St Helens. 1895: Conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent was born in Ashford, Kent. 1899: Duke Ellington, jazz composer, bandleader and pianist, was born in Washington, DC. 1909: In a revolutionary Budget, Chancellor David Lloyd George introduced a ‘’supertax’’ of sixpence in the pound for anyone earning more than £5,000 a year, to pay for pensions and re-armament. 1930: The Academy Award-winning war classic All Quiet On The Western Front opened in America. Twelve years later, its star Lew Ayres refused to fight in the Second World War, declaring himself a conscientious objector. 1933: Footballers’ shirts were first numbered - from 1 to 22 - in the English FA Cup Final at Wembley. 1980: Film director Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, died aged 80. 1990: Stephen Hendry, at 21, became the youngest world snooker champion by beating Jimmy White 18-12 in the final at Sheffield. 1991: A 145mph cyclone devastated the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh, killing more than 100,000 people and making millions homeless. 2011: Prince William and Kate Middleton began their life together as a married couple after a glittering wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey. BIRTHDAYS: Cheryl Kennedy, actress, 67; Anita Dobson, actress, 66; Jerry Seinfeld, comedian, 60; Daniel Day-Lewis, actor, 57; Michelle Pfeiffer, actress, 56; Phil Tufnell, former cricketer, 48; Andre Agassi, former tennis player, 44; Uma Thurman, actress, 44. QUOTES OF THE DAY: “Every job you do is like the first day at school” - Actress Frances de la Tour. “I look like the Queen Mary coming into port with a faulty engine” - Broadcaster Sandi Toksvig assesses her own body. “I don’t have any hobbies. Every time I get the urge to have a hobby, I lie down till it passes” - Actor Al Pacino. “My report once said ‘It’s a great pity that one of Greta’s favourite acting roles is that of form idiot’” - Actress Greta Scacchi. “This is what happens when you try to run up steps in the dark wearing flip-flops. Turns out if you then try to stop your forward momentum with your face, the result is road rash” - Actor Brad Pitt explaining his bruised and cut face. “A fashion victim is someone who is caught by fashion, like a prison. I love fashion. I am not in a prison” - Nancy dell’Olio. “Our great African-American president hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore” - Donald Trump.