ON THIS DAY

1375: Death of Giovanni Boccaccio, Italian poet and author who wrote The Decameron. 1804: Benjamin Disraeli, twice prime minister, was born in London. 1846: Robert Liston used anaesthetic (ether) for the first time in a British operation at University College Hospital, London, to perform an amputation of a leg. 1879: The first performance took place of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House at the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen. 1913: The first crossword puzzle was published - in the New York World, compiled by Liverpool-born Arthur Wynne. 1937: Walt Disney’s Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, the first full-length animated cartoon with colour and sound, was premiered in the United States. 1945: American war hero General George “Old Blood and Guts” Patton died as the result of a car crash. 1988: Terrorists blew up a Pan-Am jumbo jet which crashed on top of Lockerbie. The plane was en route from London to New York when it exploded, killing all 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground. 1989: US troops invaded Panama to oust dictator Manuel Noriega. BIRTHDAYS: Jane Fonda, actress and keep-fit expert, 79; Albert Lee, guitarist, 73; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor, 72; Samuel L Jackson, actor, 68; Betty Wright, soul singer, 63; Chris Evert, former tennis player, 62; Kiefer Sutherland, actor, 49; Tom Payne, actor, 34. QUOTES OF THE DAY: “There is much fake news published about me, but let me make clear that I have made it a principle all my life never to ask for anything from any prime minister” - Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. “We did it! Thank you to all of my great supporters, we just officially won the election despite all of the distorted and inaccurate media” - Donald Trump, after winning the electoral college vote to ensure he becomes the next US president. “It would be bad politics and even worse ethics to try and treat citizens of the EU resident in the United Kingdom as bargaining chips in forthcoming negotiations” - Labour peer Lord Kinnock on Brexit. “The leading ladies were the same age as my granddaughters” - Actor Sir Roger Moore explaining why he retired as 007. “Choked on my bloody Mary” - Sir Nicholas Soames, Tory MP for Mid-Sussex, denouncing as “boring” and “balls-aching” his local BBC’s political programme discussing Christmas lights. “I didn’t think my body type was appropriate for lingerie ads” - Singer and actress RitaOra.