Quiztime Welsh Quiz

1. Which alcoholic drink is named after a Welsh Pirate?
Captain Morgan’s Rum
2. Which Welsh band released the album “International Velvet”?
Catatonia
3. What does the dish 'buck rarebit' have that 'welsh rarebit' does not?
A poached egg on it
4. Which is the only Welsh county to have a first class cricket team?
Glamorgan
5. Which Welsh town was awarded city status to mark the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002?
Newport
6. Which Cheese was the traditional lunch of Welsh miners?
Caerphilly - another name for Caerphilly is Eppynt
7. Which British River did the Romans call Sabrina and the Welsh name Hafren?
Severn
8. What's the main ingredient in the Welsh delicacy laver bread?
Seaweed
9. Which Welsh Rugby Union team play at Stradey Park?
Llanelli
10. True or False - In Chester, it is still legal to cut off a Welshman's head if you catch him there after dark?
True
11. Dylan Thomas died today in 1953. His play 'Under Milk Wood' is set in which fictional Welsh seaside town?
Llareggub
12. In the Welsh language Cwrw (pronounced koo roo) is what kind of beverage?
Beer
13. Who was the first Welsh female singer to top the singles charts in the USA?
Bonnie Tyler
14. Which Welshman won the world snooker championship in his first season as a professional?
Terry Griffiths
- Which Welshman won the first BBC Pot Black tournament in 1969?
Ray Reardon
15. Which river runs through Cardiff, giving a common Welsh nickname?
Taff
16. Which one of the eight Welsh counties has none of the five vowels in its name?
Clywd
17. Who in 1991 became the youngest ever welsh football international?
Ryan Giggs
18. How is the Welsh island Ynys Mon better known ?
Anglesey
19. Which Welsh town, in Mid-Glamorgan, is home to the second largest castle in Britain?
Caerphilly
20. Which Welsh rebel burnt down most of the town of Cardiff in 1404?
Owen Glendower

21. In late 1999, who became the manager of the Welsh International football team?
Mark Hughes
22. Who commentated on television, on Gareth Edwards' famous try for the Barbarians v New Zealand in 1973?
Cliff Morgan
23. Which Welsh band released the album “The Holy Bible” in 1994?
Manic Street Preachers
24. Who is the Colonel-In-Chief of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers?
The Queen
25. Which football club used to play home matches at Somerton Park?
Newport County
26. Which actor won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Ben Hur?
Hugh Griffith
27. Which Rhondda town gave Richard Llewellyn the setting for How Green Was My Valley?
Gilfach Goch
28. Name The Welsh Village Made Famous By The Prisoner?
Portmeirion
29. What mountain range lies between Aberystwyth and Rhayader?
Cambrian Mountains
30. Broadhaven, Little Haven and Newgale lie in which bay?
St. Brides
31. What is the English name for the South Wales town of Y Bont-Faen?
Cowbridge
32. What is the Welsh equivalent of the girl's name Jane?
Sian
33. Who was the Welsh born detective monk about whom Ellis Peters wrote?
Brother Cadfael
34. Which famous Welshman's real name was David Ivor Davies?
Ivor Novello
35. Which former Wales outside half had the nickname of Majid?
Gareth Davies
36. Now owned by Welsh Historic Monuments, in which century was Harlech Castle built?
13th century - 1283 to 1289
37. Which Welsh county is ‘Snowdon’ in?
Gwynedd
- In which Welsh county are the Brecon Beacons?
Powys
38. Which Welsh town’s name means “Valley of the Crow”?
Cwmbran
39. On which racecourse is the Welsh Grand National run?
Chepstow
- Which Welsh jockey won the Grand National in 1992 on Party Politics?
Carl Llewellyn
40. Which quiz show featured a “Welsh Special” in 2001?
The Weakest Link

Nos Da!

Quiztime Smoking Quiz

1. What country smokes the most cigarettes?
China
2. Where is the valley of ten thousand smokes?
Alaska
3. In the 1977 film “Smokey and the Bandit” which actor played “The Bandit” Bo Darville?
Burt Reynolds
What major law was violated in the movie Smokey and the Bandit?
Smuggling
4. What name is given to fog containing a high proportion of smoke?
Smog
5. In Alice In Wonderland which creature smokes a hookah (water pipe used by opium smokers)?
The caterpillar
6. What was the surname of the former world heavyweight boxing champion “Smokin’ Joe”?
Frazier
7. What colour smoke is released when a new pope is elected?
White
8. Which female solo singer in 1998 had a top ten hit with “Smoke”?
Natalie Imbruglia
9. In which year was cigarette advertising banned on British TV?
1965
10. What type of Smoked Sausage took its name from a German City?
Frankfurter
11. Harold Wilson, Freddie Trueman, Stephen Fry and James Galway have all won which annual award?
Pipe Smoker of the year
12. Name the author of the novel “Kim” who said “A Women is just a women, but a cigar is good smoke”?
Rudyard Kipling
13. Who played the Fire Chief Michael O’Hallorhan in the 1974 film “Towering Inferno”?
Steve McQueen
14. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is part of the Appalachian Mountains, straddles which two Eastern American States?
Tennessee and North Carolina
15. Detective Philip Marlow smokes what brand of cigarettes?
Camel
16. If you were misocapnic what do you hate?
Tobacco Smoke
17. Mosi-oa-Tunya - Smoke that Thunders - what natural feature?
Victoria falls
18. True or False - In Czarist Russia it was illegal to Smoke?
True
19. What capitol city means Bay of Smoke in the local language?
Reykjavik
20. Virtually all communications in the UK are licensed, name any methods that are not excluding speech and sign language? I.E. means of communicating over a distance
Semaphore, smoke signals and carrier pigeon

21. Kitty the most common cats name in US what's the second?
Smokey
22. The density of what is measured on the Rngelmann scale?
Smoke
23. In Italy what is Provolone?
Smoked hard cheese
24. What Gets in your Eyes according to the Platters?
Smoke
25. Apart from eggs what is in an Arnold Bennett omelette?
Smoked Haddock
26. Who claimed to have smoked a "joint" in the toilets at Buckingham Palace in 1965?
The Beatles
27. In which film did the Wicked Witch write the words ‘Surrender Dorothy’ in the sky with smoke from her broomstick?
The Wizard of Oz
28. Who wrote the 1960s classic My Girl?
Smokey Robinson
What is Smokey Robinson's real first name?
William
Who were Smokey Robinson's backing group?
The Miracles
29. Which B is The Patron Saint Of Pipe Smokers?
St Bruno
30. “Black Night”, “Hush”, and “Smoke On The Water” were all hits for which band?
Deep Purple
31. What make of cigarettes does James Bond smoke?
James Bond smokes 'Morland Balkan' cigarettes
32. Which T is a Greek creamy pink hors d'oeuvre made form smoked cod roe?
Taramasalata
33. Which band’s hits include Infinite Dreams and Holy Smoke?
Iron Maiden
34. What is the name given to herrings salted whole and then Smoked?
Bloater
Which fish belonging to the order Clupeiformes is smoked to produce kippers?
Herring
35. Which of the Marx brothers smoked a cigar?
Groucho
36. 80's Song Lyrics - Don't drink, Don't smoke, what do ya do?
"Goody Two Shoes," Adam Ant
37. On Friends, what did Phoebe promise to give Chandler if her never smoked again?
$7,000- she won it in a settlement from finding a thumb in a can of pop
38. True or False - You can not smoke in La Paz the capital of Bolivia?
True - Too high for combustion
39. What do Americans call a chimney?
Smoke Stack
40. Name the year. The Platters had a #1 hit with smoke gets in your eyes, The Dalai Lama fees from Tibet and Notts Forest beat Luton 2-1 to win the FA Cup?
1959

Tiebreaker - In which decade was the smoke detector invented?
1960s (1969)

Today's The Day

28th February 2006

Religious events today...
Feast day of St Oswald of Worcester,
St Lupicinus,
St Hilarius, pope,
St Proterius,
and St Romanus.

History Test for February 28th
Born today in 1931 Peter Alliss provides commentary on which sport? -Golf
Born today in 1820, which English cartoonist worked for the satirical magazine 'Punch' for fifty years? -Sir John Tenniel
Who reached the top of the UK pop charts today in 1968 with `Cinderella Rockefella'? -Esther and Abi Ofarim
Which famous Liverpool club, associated with the Beatles, closed down today in 1966? -The Cavern Club
American novelist Henry James died today in 1916. His novel 'Washington Square' formed the basis for which play and film? -`The Heiress'

QUOTE
"Arms alone are not enough to keep the peace - it must be kept by men." -J. F. Kennedy, US president, 1962.

Events today...
1574 Two Englishmen and an Irishman were burned at the stake in Mexico City - the Spanish Inquisition's first European victims in the New World.
1692 The Salem witch hunt began.
1784 John Wesley, English founder of the Wesleyan faith, signed its deed of declaration.
1869 Death of Alphonse de Lamartine, French poet.
1874 Claimant to the Tichborne fortune, Arthur Orton was found guilty of perjury after 260 days, the longest trial in England, and sentenced to 14 years' hard labour.
1900 The four-month siege of the British garrison at Ladysmith in Natal ended as a relief column finally rode into the battered town and the Boer forces retreated. General Sir Redvers Buller's relief force had lost more than 1000 men in an encounter, only a few miles from Ladysmith.
1906 Tommy Burns beat Marvin Hart in 20 rounds at Los Angeles to take the world heavy-weight boxing title. The fans were more interested in the referee, one James J. Jeffries, who retired unbeaten as world champion the previous year. He was unbeaten in 22 fights - and only retired because he could not find a sufficiently worthy opponent.
1912 The world's first parachute jump from an aeroplane was made over Missouri, USA, by Albert Berry.
1914 Huddersfield established a rugby league record by beating Swinton Park Rangers 119-2 in the first round of the Northern Union Cup (now the Challenge Cup).
1916 Death of Henry James US-born British novelist.
1922 In a grand ceremony Princess Mary, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, married Viscount Lascelles in London.
1940 Sandy's Half Hour began on radio, with Sandy MacPherson at the organ. It was the start of the modern listeners' request programme.
1941 Death of Alfonso XIII, ex-king of Spain.
1948 The last British troops left India.
1963 Death of Rajendra Prasad, first president of India.
1966 The Cavern Club, the venue where the Beatles and many other groups first made their mark, went into liquidation.
1967 Death of Henry Luce, US magazine publisher.
1972 In Marseilles, French police seized 937 lb. (425 kg) of pure heroin.
1973 Militant American Indian activists seized the Sioux village of Wounded Knee in South Dakota, and challenged the government to repeat the Indian massacre that happened there more than 80 years beforehand.
1975 Thirty-five people were killed in London when an Underground train from Drayton Park accelerated into a dead-end tunnel and crshed through the buffers at Moorgate station, crushing three of the six crowded coaches. 42 people were killed.
1986 Sweden's prime minister Olaf Palme was shot dead by an unknown assassin as he walked home from a cinema in Stockholm. His wife was wounded in the attack. The lone gunman escaped, and nobody claimed responsibility for the killing.
1989 In London's Covent Garden, the world's biggest litter bin was unveiled -- it was sponsored by fast-food operator Kentucky Fried Chicken.
1989 In Venezuela, President Peres faced riots as food prices rise.
1990 Northamptonshire and England cricketer Colin Milburn, whose career was cut short when he lost an eye in a car accident, died suddenly at the age of 48.
1991 Khaleda Zia, widow of President Rahman of Bangladesh, won the first national election in the country's history.
1993 Tom Kite became the first golfer to win eight million dollars in a career on the US PGA Tour.
1997 The Tories were routed in the Wirral South by-election, Labour gaining the seat with a 17% swing.
1998 The Large style 50pence piece became legal tender, having been recently
replaced by its smaller brother.
1998 Dermot Morgan, the star of the TV comedy series Father Ted died at his home in London at the age of 45.
2000 The Austrian far-right leader Jörg Haider stunned political friends and foes alike by announcing his intention to step down as leader of the Freedom Party. Mr Haider told allies he had grown tired of international criticism, and would henceforth concentrate on his job as Governor of the southern province of Carinthia.
2000 David Lloyd was been sacked as Britain's Davis Cup captain - a job he insisted was just about handing out bananas. Basically, the Davis Cup captain just sits on court, pours them a drink and gives them a banana to eat. The Lloyd outbursts which finally broke the LTA's patience, were his public complaints concerning the physical fitness of two members of his Davis Cup squad, Jamie Delgado and Arvind Parmar, made both before and after Britain's 4-1 defeat by the Czech Republic in Ostrava three weeks earlier.
2000 Culture Secretary Chris Smith warned the BBC to cut down repeats.
2000 Liam Gallagher threatened to punch Robbie Williams in the nose. The feud between the Gallaghers and the ex-Take That star began the previous year when Liam branded Robbie 'tubby-arsed Williams'. Robbie retorted by telling American fans: 'I'm nothing like my inbred cousins from Manchester who spit on audiences'.
2003 Chief UN inspector Hans Blix said a promise from Baghdad to meet demands to destroy missiles was "very significant".
2003 The Austrian far-right made a comeback. A new governmentwais sworn in, marking the return of the Freedom Party with Chancellor Schuessel's People's Party.
2003 Former conservative Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus was finally chosen as Czech president to succeed Vaclav Havel.
2003 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told Cypriot leaders his plan to reunify the island was their last chance for years.
2003 Diane Blood claimed victory in her battle to have her dead husband legally recognised as her children's father.
2003 Granada Television agrees not to use any out-takes from its controversial Michael Jackson documentary.
2003 Jimi Hendrix Experience bass player Noel Redding prepared to sue the Hendrix estate over royalties.
2003 Charlton boss Alan Curbishley won February's Barclaycard Manager of the Month Award.
2003 Tiger Woods eased into the quarter-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in California.
2003 Arsenal said Ashley Cole was out for six weeks - and would miss two vital England games.
2004 A Haiti rebel leader agreed to pause his attack on Port-au-Prince, as the president called for calm.
2004 Israeli helicopters fired missiles at a car near Gaza City, killing three people - one an Islamic Jihad militant.
2004 The IOC president Jacques Rogge expressed concerns over whether Athens would be ready to stage the Olympics.
2004 Labour chairman Ian McCartney indicated that Clare Short would not be expelled from the party over her UN bugging claims.
2004 Fame Academy's James Fox was chosen to represent the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest.
2004 Former Big Brother star Jade Goody was treated in hospital after collapsing on the set of 'Back To Reality'.
2004 Arsenal went nine points clear at the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win over Charlton.
2005 Celebrations eruptted in Lebanon as the government resigned after two weeks of popular protests.
2005 Pop superstar Michael Jackson went on trial in California, charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy.
2005 Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby beat Martin Scorsese's The Aviator to the major prizes at the Oscars.
2005 Southampton's David Prutton was charged with two counts of improper conduct after pushing referee Alan Wiley.

BIRTHDAYS (for 28 February 2006)
Rene Antoine de Reaumur, 323 (born 28 February 1683)
French scientist and inventor of a thermometer scale
Sir John Tenniel, 186 (born 28 February 1820)
British artist and cartoonist who supplied the original illustrations for Alice in Wonderland.
Charles Blondin, 182 (born 28 February 1824)
French tightrope walker who crossed the Niagara Falls on stilts.
Professor Linus Pauling, 97 (born 28 February 1909)
American chemist and physicist who won the Nobel Prizes for Chemistry (1934) and Peace (1962).
Sir Stephen Spender, 97 (born 28 February 1909)
English poet and critic
Vincente Minelli, 93 (born 28 February 1913)
US film director
Peter Medawar, 91 (born 28 February 1915)
English immunologist
Zero Mostel, 91 (born 28 February 1915)
American comedy actor who starred in Mel Brooks's cult film The Producers.
Alfred Burke, 88 (born 28 February 1918)
actor
John Carson, 79 (born 28 February 1927)
actor
Peter Alliss, 75 (born 28 February 1931)
(golf) -- Top television commentator who played in eight Ryder Cups
Brian Moore, 74 (born 28 February 1932)
football commentator
Mario Andretti, 66 (born 28 February 1940)
(motor racing) -- world Formula One champion in 1978
Brian Jones, 64 (born 28 February 1942)
founder member of the Rolling Stones.
Sepp Maier, 62 (born 28 February 1944)
(soccer) -- Germany's most-capped goalkeeper
Robin Cook, 60 (born 28 February 1946)
Died 2005. Former Foreign Secretary
Stephanie Beacham, 57 (born 28 February 1949)
actress
Jimmy Nichol, 50 (born 28 February 1956)
Manchester United Great
Cindy Wilson, 49 (born 28 February 1957)
singer
Barry McGuigan, 45 (born 28 February 1961)
(boxing) -- Irish former world featherweight champion
Colin Cooper, 39 (born 28 February 1967)
(soccer) -- Nottingham Forest defender capped by England
Noureddine Morceli, 36 (born 28 February 1970)
(athletics) -- Algerian middle-distance star
Lee Carsley, 32 (born 28 February 1974)
(soccer) -- Derby and Republic of Ireland midfielder

Today's The Day

27th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Alnoth,
St Herefrith of Louth,
and St Leander of Seville.

History Test for February 27th
Born today in 1807, which American poet wrote `The Wreck of the Hesperus'? -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Today in 1964 Cilla Black reached the top of the UK pop charts - with which song? -`Anyone Who Had a Heart'
Actress Ellen Terry was born today in 1847. Who is her famous grand nephew? -Sir John Gielgud
Born today in 1932, who won an Oscar for her role in the film `Butterfield 8'? -Elizabeth Taylor
Born today in 1873, which Italian tenor was one of the first opera singers to make a profit from gramophone recordings? -Enrico Caruso

QUOTE
"Matthew reminds us that the meek shall irrherit the earth." - George Bush, US president, before the Gulf War,1991.
"The meek shall inherit nothing." - Frank Zappa, US rock musician,1983.

QUOTE
"God grant that this is the work of the Communists. You are witnessing the beginning of a great new epoch in German history. This fire is the beginning." - Adolf Hitler, German Chancellor, speaking to a foreign correspondent as the Reichstag burns, 1933.

Events today...
1557 The first Russian Embassy opened in London; exactly one year later, the first trade mission arrived.
1706 John Evelyn, English diarist who helped to form the Royal Society, dies aged 86.
1782 The British parliament voted to abandon the American War of Independence.
1869 Four years after the Civil War, the last of three amendments to the US Constitution enshrining the rights of freed slaves as full US citizens was passed by the US Congress. The new l5th Amendment prevented state governments denying the vote to anyone "on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude". For many blacks, very little had changed; the l5th Amendment was only a piece of paper.
1879 At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, US chemists Ira Remsen and Constantine Fahlberg announced that they have discovered saccharine.
1881 A British force that set out to teach Boers of the Transvaal a lesson was wiped out at Majuba. General Sir George Colley was shot through the forehead- a chilling tribute to deadly Boer marksmanship. The Boers fled British rule in the Cape 50 years ago and declared the Transvaal a republic the year before.
1887 Death of Russian composer Alexander Borodin, whose works include the opera Prince Igor and the tone poem In the Steppes of Central Asia.
1933 The German Reichstag (parliament building) in Berlin was destroyed by fire; it is believed that the Nazis were responsible, though they blamed the Communists.
1936 Ivan Pavlov, the Russian physiologist who discovered the conditioned reflex, died in Leningrad.
1939 General Franco's rebel Nationalist government was recognised by Britain and France.
1940 Death of Peter Behrens, German architect.
1948 The Czechoslovakian Communist Party seized power in Prague, and Western leaders feared the country would become a Soviet satellite. Liberal President Eduard Benes had told his people a totalitarian Communist regime would never rule in Czechoslovakia. Now he was silent as the Communist Party leader, Prime Minister Klement Gottwald, announced that Benes had accepted a new Cabinet with Communists in all the top jobs. Czechoslovakia was the only one of the new countries in Central Europe to maintain a democratic government - until Nazi occupation in 1939. Benes, in exile during the war, afterwards resumed his post as president - under the shadow of the USSR. Concessions he was forced to make to the Czech Communists led directly to the take-over.
1952 The new United Nations building in New York saw its first session.
1980 Michael Jackson was awarded his first Grammy.
1985 Death of Henry Cabot Lodge, US politician and diplomat.
1989 Emergency powers are introduced in Kosovo, Yugoslavia, as Serbians attempted to assert rule over ethnic Albanians.
1991 The Gulf War came to an end with the liberation of Kuwait and the retreat of Iraqi forces. Saudi forces entered Kuwait City at first light as the Iraqi army fled northward, only to be cut off by allied forces which had moved behind them in a lightning strike. Later in the day the Iraqi government announced its unconditional acceptance of the UN resolutions on Kuwait, and US president George Bush later announced that the war was over.
1993 Death of Lilian Gish, US film actress.
2002 Death of Spike Milligan.
2003 New York officials selected Berlin architect, Daniel Libeskind's design - angular towers and a spire - for the World Trade Center site.
2003 Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic was sentenced to 11 years in prison for crimes against humanity.
2003 Outspoken Anglican leader Dr Rowan Williams was enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.
2003 Massive Attack musician Robert Del Naja was questioned by police over internet porn allegations, which he denied.
2003 Hit drama 24 was recommissioned by TV network Fox, in the wake of record ratings in the US.
2003 The FA charged Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp with improper conduct for clashing with West Ham's Lee Bowyer.
2003 Celtic lost 3-2 in Stuttgart but won their UEFA Cup tie on aggregate.
2003 Reading's John Mackie was banned for three games after he admitted making racist comments to an opponent.
2004 The US pledged to make its landmines detectable, but said it would not sign up to an international ban on them.
2004 Search teams found Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski's body where his plane crashed in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
2004 The Baltic state of Lithuania ordered out three Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage.
2004 Parents who claimed their children were damaged by the MMR jab were denied legal aid to sue its manufacturers.
2004 A couple who discovered their home could contain body parts left over from a murder, lost their claim against the people who sold it.
2004 It was announced that Sir Paul McCartney was to headline the Glastonbury Festival as part of a summer European tour.
2004 Leeds United failed to reach agreement with their creditors but were not yet forced into administration.
2004 Hereford ran riot with a record-equalling 9-0 win over 10-man Dagenham & Redbridge.
2004 Tottenham's Ledley King agreed a new four-year deal at White Hart Lane.
2004 Coca-Cola sealed a multi-million pound deal to sponsor the Football League.
2005 The Pope made a surprise appearance at his hospital window after the Sunday blessing was read for him.
2005 French police arrested the wife and brother-in-law of the missing Earl of Shaftesbury on suspicion of his murder.
2005 Manchester rock band Doves entered the UK album chart at number one with their new release, Some Cities.
2005 Didier Drogba and Mateja Kezman scored in extra-time as Chelsea won the Carling Cup.

BIRTHDAYS (for 27 February 2006)
Constantine the Great, 1732 (born 27 February 274)
Roman emperor.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 199 (born 27 February 1807)
American poet who wrote "Hiawatha".
Rudolf Steiner, 145 (born 27 February 1861)
Austrian philosopher, educationist, and founder of anthroposophy.
John Steinbeck, 104 (born 27 February 1902)
Pulitzer Prize-winning author who wrote The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden.
Lawrence Durrell, 94 (born 27 February 1912)
English poet and novelist best-known for his Alexandria Quartet.
Joanne Woodward, 76 (born 27 February 1930)
American actress whose many films include The Three Faces of Eve, for which she won an Oscar.
Elizabeth Taylor, 74 (born 27 February 1932)
English-born Hollywood star.
Ralph Nader, 72 (born 27 February 1934)
consumer activist.
Antoinette Sibley, 67 (born 27 February 1939)
British prima ballerina.

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The Last Week - At A Glance

Friday February 17

Five hundred houses and a school were engulfed when a mudslide buried the village of Guinsaugon, on the central island of Leyte in the Philippines. Up to 1,500 people were feared dead.
British Gas announced that it is to raise its prices for gas and elecricity by 22 per cent, meaning an energy bill of £1,000 a year could soon be the norm for the average family.
Bird flu arrived on Britain's doorstep, as France said it had found its first case of the deadly H5 strain.
Prof Sir Roy Meadow, the paediatrician whose statistical error in the Sally Clark murder case led to her wrongful conviction, won his High Court appeal against being struck off.

Saturday February 18

A survey revealed that four out of 10 British Muslims want sharia law introduced into parts of the country and that a fifth also have sympathy with the "feelings and motives" of suicide bombers.
A report warned that women who have children earlier in life forgo hundreds of thousands of pounds in lost earnings and "seriously harm" their career prospects.
Iran's hardline spiritual leaders issued an unprecedented new fatwa, or holy order, sanctioning the use of atomic weapons against its enemies.
Hamas officially took its seats in the first session of the Palestinian Legislative Council since the militant party won a huge majority in January's elections.

Sunday February 19

An authoritative survey revealed that householders across England face a 10th successive year of inflation-busting council tax rises.
Victims of the Philippines landslide disaster were buried in a mass grave as American Marines arrived to help search for more than 900 villagers still unaccounted for.
A Briton was among nine oil workers kidnapped in Nigeria in a series of attacks that has threatened to destabilise the lucrative industry.
Andy Murray achieved the biggest result of his burgeoning tennis career by beating former world No1 Lleyton Hewitt to win his first major senior tournament.

Monday February 20

David Irving, the controversial British historian, was jailed for three years in Austria after pleading guilty to charges of denying the Holocaust 17 years ago
New research revealed half of all babies would be born to unmarried mothers by 2012 if present trends continue.
Osama Bin Laden vowed never to be captured alive, telling Americans he is ready to fight a long war "until your minds are exhausted and your lives become miserable".
After months of speculation, the Football Association finally announced that the new Wembley would not be ready in time for this year's FA Cup final.

Tuesday February 21

The Prince of Wales sees himself as a "dissident" working against prevailing political consensus, according to a former senior aide whose disclosure is likely to provoke fresh debate about the role of the heir to the throne.
The Serbian government was negotiating the surrender of the Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect, Ratko Mladic, amid contradictory reports over whether he was in Nato custody.
Barclays announced record pre-tax profits of £5.28 billion, amid mounting evidence that customers were overburdened by debt.
The husband of Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, insisted that she had no involvement in allegations that he accepted a bribe from the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.

Wednesday February 22

The Prince of Wales revealed his exasperation at Tony Blair's style of government in a private travel journal released by the High Court.
Leading midwives said that women having babies in NHS hospitals should pay for epidural injections unless there is a medical need for them.
The destruction of the dome of one of Shia Islam's four holiest shrines sent tens of thousands into the streets and set off a wave of revenge attacks on Sunni mosques.
A Paris court ordered three photographers to pay nominal damages of one euro (68p) each for invading the privacy of Dodi Fayed on the night he and Diana, Princess of Wales were killed in a car crash.

Thursday February 23

Detectives hunting the armed gang that committed Britain's biggest cash robbery arrested their first two suspects.
The roof of the Baumansky market in a historic district of Moscow collapsed, crushing at least 56 people to death and trapping dozens more under its girders.
David Cameron is facing a credibility gap with voters. They like him but are unsure what he stands for, a YouGov poll for The Daily Telegraph found.
South Dakota is on the verge of becoming the first American state to ban abortion since the Supreme Court legalised the practice in the 1970s. Its state senate voted 23 to 12 for a ban.

And...
A generation of children is missing out on the traditional pastime of "licking the spoon" because most working mothers do not bake cakes.... The financial collapse of a Chinese theme park left its owners with an unusual piece of surplus equipment - a fully-fitted Russian aircraft carrier... A new online company provides cast-iron alibis that take the worry out of adulterous liaisons.... The head of the UK's first animal weight referral clinic revealed that the trend to "supersize" food portions was fuelling Britain's fat pet epidemic... Sir Alan Sugar was furious with the flirting tactics employed by female contestants on his series The Apprentice... Prince Charles spoke out in defence of hoodies... Chimpanzees were captured on film using "tool kits" to break into a termite mound... After a nine-hour flight to India, a weary tourist found she had not been booked into a nearby hotel but into one 1,200 miles away… During his time as the Prime Minister's director of communications, Alistair Campbell needed the help of an assistant to send emails… A man was fined twice for littering; he received once from Tendring council in Essex because the bag of chips landed there, and again by Colchester council because the bag blew across the local authority border... Psychologists suggested that women are more likely to be wooed by the deep masterful tones of Barry White or George Clooney than the higher-pitched squeals of James Blunt when looking for a mate... Afghanistan is seeking to reclaim its heritage by asking Pakistan to stop naming nuclear missiles after its heroes.

Today's The Day

26th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Alexander or Alexandria,
St Porphyry of Gaza,
St Nestor or Magydus,
and St Victor the Hermit.

History Test for February 26th
Inventor Richard Gatling died today in 1903. His Gatling gun consists of how many barrels? -Ten
Which Scottish music hall singer, famous for his compositions such as `Roamin' in the Gloamin', died today in 1950? -Sir Harry Lauder
Which Grand National jump is named after a rider who fell there during the first race on this day in 1839? -Becher's Brook (after Captain Becher)
Born today in 1802, who was the French author of the classic works `Les Miserables' and `The Hunchback of Notre Dame'? -Victor Hugo
British general Orde Wingate was born today in 1903. What name was given to his specially trained jungle fighters in Burma in World War Two? -The Chindits (or `Wingate's Riders')

QUOTE
"If people behaved the way nations do they would all be put in strait jackets." -Tenneesee Williams, American playwright, who died today, 1983.

Events today...
1154 Death of Roger II king of Sicily.
1531 An earthquake in Lisbon Portugal killed 20, 000 people.
1723 Sir Christopher Wren, builder of St Paul's Cathedral died. He was 90. By the age of 30, Wren was a professor of astronomy at Oxford, a renowned polymath and a founder member of the Royal Society. At 31 he turned to architecture, designing a college chapel at Cambridge and a theatre and college buildings at Oxford. Then the Great Fire of London destroyed 400 acres (161 hectares) of the city in four days. Reconstruction brought a building boom, and Wren replanned the whole city. His street plan was rejected, but he was asked to rebuild the skyline - 51 churches, and a replacement for the medieval cathedral of St Paul's, destroyed in the fire. It took him the rest of his life. St Paul's took 40 years to build - a work of splendour, its vast dome second only to St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican (on which he modelled it). With St Paul's and his many other commissions, such as Kensington Palace and the superb Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, Sir Christopher Wren left an indelible stamp on London.
1791 The Bank of England issued the first ever pound note.
1815 Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from his exile on the island of Elba.
1823 Death of John Philip Kemble, English actor.
1839 The first Grand National steeplechase was run at Aintree, Liverpool.
1848 The Second French Republic was proclaimed, following the overthrow of the Bourbon king Louis Philippe.
1852 The British troopship Birkenhead sank off Simon's Bay, South Africa, and 485 people drown.
1885 A 15-nation meeting in Berlin under Bismarck divided up Central and East Africa among the European nations.
1903 Death of Richard Gatling, US inventor of the Gatling gun.
1935 Radar was demonstrated for the first time at Daventry in England by Robert Watson-Watt.
1936 A new family car intended to rival Henry Ford's famous Model T was unveiled in Germany. Chancellor Adolf Hitler opened a factory in Saxony that would mass-produce a small, cheap saloon. This Volkswagen - the "people's car" - had been designed by Ferdinand Porsche of Auto Union, known for more luxurious models. The new Volkswagen was streamlined, and had a revolutionary four-cylinder air-cooled engine mounted over the rear axle. Hitler hoped the new car would transform the German economy.
1950 Death of Harry Lauder, Scottish music-hall comedian.
1951 The 22nd Amendment was passed, limiting US presidents to two four-year terms in office.
1952 Britain developed an atomic bomb and was to test it in the Australian desert later that year. Prime Minister Winston Churchill's announcement in the House of Commons came three years after confirmation that the Soviet Union had the bomb. Churchill said the previous Labour government had developed the bomb in secret, while publicly opposing nuclear weapons. In the US, the Senate committee on atomic energy said that it would help to keep world peace.
1980 Diplomatic relations were established between Israel and Egypt, to the outrage of other Arab nations.
1986 In the Philippines, President Marcos was deposed and Mrs Corazon Aquino was elected.
1990 Playwright Vaclav Havel, Czechoslovakia's new president, announced in Moscow that all Soviet troops would leave Czechoslovakia by July, ending 21 years of armed occupation. Most of the troops were expected to be gone by June, when elections were to be held.
1991 American jazz musician Slim Gaillard died in Britain.
1991 Saddam Hussein ordered Iraqi troops to retreat from Kuwait, meanwhile declaring a great victory.
2003 Turkey stopped oil tankers crossing from Iraq, as its parliament prepared to vote on the deployment of US troops.
2003 The Israeli PM removed Binyamin Netanyahu as Israeli foreign minister, sidelining his main party rival.
2003 Tony Blair saw the biggest rebellion of his premiership over his policy on Iraq with more than 100 MPs opposing the government.
2003 A British man freed after being wrongly arrested in an FBI identity mix-up said he wants more than an apology.
2003 Pioneer 10, the first of only four spacecraft to leave our Solar System, sent its last signal.
2003 AOL offered its subscribers access to a major legal music download service, in a boost to the fight against online piracy.
2003 Ashish Nehra took six wickets as India cantered to victory by 82 runs against sorry England.
2003 Alan Shearer scored a hat-trick as Newcastle beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1 in the Champions League.
2003 Sergio Garcia and Colin Montgomerie bowed out of the WGC-Accenture Match Play in California.
2004 The US lifted a ban on travel to Libya as a reward for its decision to scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
2004 Air searches were halted overnight for a plane carrying Macedonia's President Boris Trajkovski that came down in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
2004 The UK's first citizenship ceremony took place with participants swearing allegiance to the Queen.
2004 Tickets to tiny gigs by the Pet Shop Boys, The Darkness and The Cure were auctioned for up to £1,100 each.
2004 Steven Gerrard and Harry Kewell score as Liverpool beat Levski Sofia 2-0 in the UEFA Cup. And Newcastle were held to a 1-1- draw in Norway after Runar Normann canceled out Craig Bellamy's goal.
2005 Kansas police arrested a man in the 31-year hunt for a serial killer known as the BTK strangler - "Bind, Torture, Kill".
2005 The founder of human rights organisation Amnesty International, Peter Benenson, died in an Oxford hospital.
2005 Comedian Al Murray became the first person to be voted off Celebrity Fame Academy, in aid of Comic Relief.
2005 France 18-24 Wales. Martyn Williams' two-try blitz early in the second half sparked a sensational Wales victory against France in Paris.

BIRTHDAYS (for 26 February 2006)
Victor Hugo, 204 (born 26 February 1802)
French novelist, dramatist and poet whose books include Les Miserables.
Honoré Daumier, 198 (born 26 February 1808)
French caricaturist, sculptor and painter best-known in his lifetime as a social satirist.
Richard Gatling, 103 (born 26 February 1903)
American gunsmith who gave his name to the Gatling gun.
Tony Randall (Leonard Rosenberg), 86 (born 26 February 1920)
actor ("The Odd Couple").
Fats Domino, 78 (born 26 February 1928)
American jazz singer and pianist.
Johnny Cash, 74 (born 26 February 1932)
Died 2003. American country and western singer, musician and actor.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, 33 (born 26 February 1973)
Manchester United Great

Guess The Year?

Prime Minister Tony Blair attacked England’s football coach Glenn Hoddle after his comments that disabled people were paying for their sins in a previous life.
British meat inspectors held a 24-hour strike over pay.
The actor Robin Nedwell died in a doctor’s surgery, at the age of 52. He is probably best remembered for the role of Duncan Waring in "Doctor in the House".
The FA sacked Glenn Hoddle as manager of the England soccer team following his comments that disabled people were paying for sins in a past life.
King Hussein of Jordan returned home from America in a coma following treatment for Leukaemia. Although, clinically dead, his life support equipment kept him alive for two more days as the nation prepared for the worst.
Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 8-1 in the Premiership.
After 122 years, the Queen withdrew the Royal Warrant from Gallaher’s who make Benson and Hedges cigarettes.
King Hussein of Jordan died, aged 63. He returned home from America two days earlier following cancer treatment and a bone marrow transplant. He had devoted his life to transforming a weak desert kingdom into a strong and cohesive nation. His successor, King Abdullah, was worn in at a ceremony in the Jordanian parliament.
The body of King Hussein of Jordan was lowered into the ground at the Jordanian Royal Cemetery, following his death the day before.
The Actor Brian Moseley died six weeks after his Coronation Street character, Alf Roberts. He was 67 and had a long illness of heart disease.
Under the temporary coach Howard Wilkinson, following Glenn Hoddle’s departure, England were beaten by France 2-0 at Wembley.
The producers of Vanessa Feltz’s chat show were accused of using fake guests on the programme.
....and we ask you to ....GUESS THE YEAR

25th February - Today's The Day

25th February 2006

Religious Events today...
National Day of Kuwait.
Feast day of St Ethelbert of Kent,
St Walburga,
St Gerland,
St Louis Versiglia,
St Caesarius of Nazianzen,
and St Calixto Caravario.

History Test for February 25th
Today in 1601, Robert Devereux, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, died. He was Earl of which county? -Essex
He died today in 1723. His tomb in St. Paul's Cathedral says: 'Reader, if you seek a monument, look around'. Who is he? -Sir Christopher Wren
Born today in 1943, which ex-Beatle formed a group called `The Travelling Wilburys' with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and others? -George Harrison
Today in 1917, the writer Anthony Burgess was born. Which of his novels formed the basis for a controversial film? -`A Clockwork Orange'
Today in 1308 King Edward II was crowned. Six years later, Robert the Bruce defeated him at which battle? -The Battle of Bannockburn

QUOTE
"He who begins by loving Christianity better than Truth will proceed by loving his own sect or church better than Christianity, and end by loving himself better than all." -Samuel Taylor Coleridge, romantic poet, son of an English clergyman.

Events today...
1308 Coronation of King Edward II of England.
1570 Queen Elizabeth I of England was excommunicated by Pope Pius V.
1601 Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex was executed for high treason.
1723 Death of Christopher Wren, English architect.
1841 China offered rewards for British heads as the Opium War raged.
1862 With America locked in civil war, President Abraham Lincoln introduced a new version of the dollar bill to finance the Union's mounting Civil War costs. Congress authorised millions of the new notes, known as "greenbacks", all the same colour and all the same size, whatever the denomination ($l to $1,000). The greenback was not redeemable in gold or silver - America's first true paper money, its buying power was a matter of confidence and faith. If the industrial North was suffering under the war burden, the South was worse off: the Confederate dollar started on a par with the Union's, but its value slumped. The Confederacy was also printing money it didn't have, despite a $15million loan from a French bank.
1899 Death of Paul Julius von Reuter, founder of Reuters international news agency.
1913 English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst went on trial for a bomb attack on the home of David Lloyd George, chancellor of the Exchequer.
1913 Federal income tax came into force in the USA.
1914 Death of Sir John Tenniel, English artist who was best known for his illustrations for Alice in Wonderland.
1922 In France, Henri Landru was guillotined for the murder of at least 10 women, whose bodies had never been discovered.
1932 Austrian-born Adolf Hitler became a German citizen.
1939 The first Anderson air-raid shelter was built in Islington, North London.
1955 HMS Ark Royal was completed; the largest aircraft carrier ever built in Britain.
1964 As he'd promised, Cassius Clay floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee - and hammered Sonny Liston into the canvas at Miami Beach, Florida in one of boxing's biggest-ever surprises. After six rounds, an injured and humbled Liston, the 7-1 favourite, refused to come out of his corner and world champion loudmouth Clay also the became world heavyweight boxing champion.
1970 Death of Mark Rothko, US painter.
1983 Death of Tennessee Williams, American dramatist whose plays included Sweet Bird of Youth, A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
1986 Power abruptly changed hands in the Philippines. Right-wing dictator Ferdinand Marcos and opposition leader Mrs Corazon Aquino both claimed to have won the elections held two weeks earlier, and now both held ceremonies to install them as president. Aquino, whose husband was shot by Marcos’ troops in 1983 announced that "the long agony" of the 20-year Marcos tyranny was over. Marcos, whose supporters had rigged the polls, delivered a television address confirming his re-election - but the broadcast was blacked out. Within hours thousands of Aquino supporters mobbed Marcos's palace. He and his family escaped to the rooftop, to be whisked away by US Air Force helicopters.
1988 American television evangelist Jimmy Swaggart was banned from preaching for a year by the Protestant church elders of the Assemblies of God after being photographed with a prostitute.
1989 American heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson defeated British champion Frank Bruno.
1990 Nicaraguan elections showed that the people preferred the opposition leader Violeta Barrios de Chamorro to President Daniel Ortega and his Sandinistas.
2000 It was announced that Kate Winslet was expecting a baby in September. The actress, nominated twice for Oscars for her roles in Titanic and Sense and Sensibility, said that she wanted to be a 'young mum'.
2000 Matt Damon was back on UK cinema screens in The Talented Mr Ripley.
2003 The US played down a missile launch by North Korea but warned Pyongyang there would be no reward for "bad behaviour".
2003 American consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in ten years, prompting fears about the prospects for US economic recovery.
2003 Turkey announced it was planning to allow 62,000 US troops to use Turkish soil as a springboard for an attack on Iraq.
2003 Belgian police investigating what was possibly Antwerp's biggest-ever diamond robbery arrested three Italian men and a Dutch woman.
2003 FBI officers in South Africa question a Bristol pensioner in connection with a multi-million pound fraud.
2003 Ryan Giggs scored twice as Man Utd beat Juventus 3-0 to book a place in the last eight of the Champions League.
2003 Tim Henman lost his second comeback match after a shoulder op but was confident the victories would soon come.
2004 A translator sacked by GCHQ for revealing a secret e-mail was cleared of a charge under the Official Secrets Act.
2004 Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ" had its nationwide US opening.
2004 Musician Boy George paid £10,000 in libel damages to a nightclub employee which he said deserved to be hit.
2004 Actress Amanda Holden left hospital after receiving treatment for a severe kidney infection.
2004 Roy Keane was sent off as Benni McCarthy's brace gave Porto a 2-1 Champions League win over Man Utd.
2005 A suicide bombing outside a seafront club in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv killed three and injured 30.
2005 Togo's Faure Gnassingbe said he was stepping down as president, after coming under international pressure.
2005 Three British soldiers found guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners were jailed and dismissed from the Army.
2005 Actor Stan Richards, who played Seth Armstrong in Emmerdale, was laid to rest at his funeral in South Yorkshire.

BIRTHDAYS (for 25 February 2006)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 165 (born 25 February 1841)
French Impressionist painter who once said "I never think I have finished a nude until I think I could pinch it."
Enrico Caruso, 133 (born 25 February 1873)
Italian operatic tenor, the greatest lyric tenor of his time.
John Foster Dulles, 118 (born 25 February 1888)
American Republican politician and diplomat, secretary of state to Eisenhower.
Dame Myra Hess, 116 (born 25 February 1890)
British pianist much loved for her lunchtime concerts in the National Gallery during World War II.
Bobby Riggs (born Robert Larimore Riggs), 88 (born 25 February 1918)
tennis player.
David Puttnam, 65 (born 25 February 1941)
British film producer.
George Harrison, 63 (born 25 February 1943)
British pop musician and former Beatle.

Six Nations Rugby

Play your own Six Nations

Can you last 80 minutes in the BBC's new rugby game?

24th February- Today's The Day

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Praetextatus,
and Saints Montanus, Lucius, and their Companions.

History Test for February 24th
Which island, one of the world's largest, voted to withdraw from the European Community today in 1982? -Greenland
Today in 1969, Mariner 6 was launched in America to take photographs of which planet? -Mars
Born today in 1932, which French composer won an Oscar for his music for the Barbara Streisand film `Yentl'? -Michel Legrand
Racing driver Alain Prost was born today in 1955. In 1987, he surpassed whose record of 27 Grand Prix wins? -Jackie Stewart
Following elections in Argentina today in 1946, who was declared President? -Juan Perón

Events today...
303AD Galerius Valerius Maximianus issued an edict demanding the persecution of Christians.
1582 The Gregorian Calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII; it replaced the Julian Calendar, but was not adopted in Britain until 1752.
1810 Death of Henry Cavendish English physicist.
1815 Death of Robert Fulton, American engineer who invented the steam boat.
1815 In New Zealand, land was sold to whites for the first time, for a church mission.
1825 Death of Thomas Bowdler, English editor who produced `bowdlerised' versions of great literary works such as Shakespeare and the Old Testament.
1848 France became a republic for the second time as King Louis Philippe abdicated and fled to exile in England, while rioters invaded the Camber of Deputies and declared a repiblic.
1887 Paris and Brussels established a telephone link - The first cities to do so.
1905 The Simplon Tunnel through the Alps was completed.
1920 American-born Nancy Astor became the first woman to speak in the House of Commons.
1923 The 400-mile journey from London to Edinburgh shrank to a mere trip as the "Flying Scotsman" set off to inaugurate the London and North Eastern Railway's new scheduled train service between the two cities.
1932 Malcolm Campbell beat his own land speed record in Bluebird at Daytona Beach, USA; he reached a speed of 408.88 kph/253.96 mph.
1938 Nylon toothbrush bristles were first produced in the USA - the first commercial use of nylon.
1946 Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina.
1961 British anthropologists Louis and Mary Leakey found a second "Missing Link" in the evolutionary chain between apes and men. The uncovered a child's skull along with a collarbone and parts of a hand. The skull was half the human size and had smaller teeth; the hand had an opposable thumb. Stone tools were found near the skull.
1975 Death of Nikolai Bulganin, Soviet prime minister.
1977 American president Jimmy Carter cut off aid to Argentina, Uraguay and Ethiopia for human rights violations.
1987 Memphis Slim, American blues singer died in Paris.
1989 Fifty-one people died over the Pacific as a cargo door dropped off a Boeing 747.
1993 Death of Bobby Moore, English footballer.
1998 Princess Maragaret was admitted to hospital in Barbados after suffering a mild stroke on holiday.
1999 Actor Derek Nimmo died at the age of 68 following a fall at his home.
2000 NATO troops were sent into trouble spot Mitrovica in Kosovo. The reinforcements signalled concern about what was going on in the city. Nato officials said that tension there was being stoked from Serbia. American, British, French and Italian troops conducted a big search of the city for weapons.
2000 Brian Lara quit as captain of West Indies cricket team. After two years the moderate success and devastating failures that have engulfed West Indies cricket brought him to the "realization that there was a need for him to withdraw from my present leadership position."
2000 16,000 islanders were evacuated as a volcano erupted in the Philippines. Witnesses said the cauliflower-shaped plume darkened the skies over nearby towns, forcing drivers to turn on their headlights. Mayon, a tourist attraction for its near-perfect cone, had erupted at least 40 times since 1616.
2000 Axe killer Anthony Phillips was jailed for life for beheading his neighbour Birmingham Crown Court was told how Anthony Phillips, an electrician, had committed the murder 'to do God's way' after learning that his 34-year-old neighbour had given birth to a girl, fathered by his teenage son.
2000 The Spice Girls lost a £1 million legal battle with Italian motorcycle company, Aprilia in The High Court. A High Court judge ruled the group, worth around £80million, was in the wrong when it signed a lucrative sponsorship deal with the company knowing that Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell was going to leave. But after the case, Sporty Spice Mel C laughed off the outcome and said: 'Hey ho, life goes on'.
2003 Washington and London said Iraq had missed its final chance to disarm in a draft UN resolution, as they sought approval for military action.
2003 A huge rescue and relief operation began in north-western China after it was hit by an earthquake that killed more than 250 people.
2003 Kuwaiti authorities arrested three men for allegedly planning an attack against US troops based there.
2003 Serb Firebrand nationalist Vojislav Seselj arrived in The Hague, where he promised to contest war crimes charges.
2003 Police said they were taking no action against TV presenter Matthew Kelly over an allegation of sexual abuse against a boy.
2003 A Muslim cleric was found guilty of urging people to kill non-believers, Americans, Hindus and Jews.
2003 Singer Michael Jackson issued legal proceedings against Granada television over its documentary about the star.
2003 The victim of unlawful sex with Roman Polanski when she was 13 years old called for his work to be judged on merit.
2004 It was announced that the first Aids vaccine tested on humans offered no general protection, but may help black and Asian people.
2003 Gerard Houllier said he wanted Liverpool to be his last manager's job.
2003 Cricket, Kenya pulled off the shock of the World Cup with a 53-run victory over Sri Lanka.
2004 The Russian president sacked his government in a surprise move three weeks ahead of the presidential election.
2004 President Bush proposed a constitutional amendment - the first for many years - to prohibit same-sex unions.
2004 America suspended imports of French meat goods including hams and foie gras on health safety grounds.
2004 A 12-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the death of a Somali boy at a Glasgow school.
2004 Athlete Dwain Chambers was found guilty of taking the anabolic steroid THG.
2004 Sir Peter Burt, former head of HBOS, was named as the chairman of the newly merged broadcaster ITV.
2004 Celta Vigo 2-3 Arsenal. Edu scored twice for Arsenal as they record their first Champions League win in Spain.
2005 Pope John Paul II underwent surgery to help him breathe more easily after being admitted to hospital.
2005 A mother was found guilty at the Old Bailey of killing her nine-year-old son by putting salt in his drip feed in hospital.
2005 Maxine Carr, ex-girlfriend of Soham murderer Ian Huntley, was granted an indefinite order protecting her identity.
2005 Singer Edwyn Collins was seriously ill in hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage.

BIRTHDAYS (for 24 February 2006)
Wilhelm Grimm, 220 (born 24 February 1786)
German philologist and folklorist who, with his brother Jakob, compiled Grimm's Fairytales.
Honus Wagner (born John Peter Wagner), 132 (born 24 February 1874)
baseball great.
Michele Legrand, 74 (born 24 February 1932)
French composer noted for his film scores, which include the Oscar-winning The Summmer of '42.
Denis Law, 66 (born 24 February 1940)
Manchester United Great
Dennis Waterman, 58 (born 24 February 1948)
Actor best-known for the `Minder' series
Richard Digence, 58 (born 24 February 1948)
Comedy Singer
Jean Alexander, 57 (born 24 February 1949)
Coronation Street's Hilda Ogden
Alain Prost, 51 (born 24 February 1955)
French motor-racing champion.

Food Trivia

1) What was first served at Strickler's Drug Store in Latrobe, Pennsylvania in 1904?
a) Granola b) Pepsi Cola c) Dr Pepper
d) Ice Cream Cone e) Banana Split

2) Name this fruit.
In Latin, the name of this fruit means 'precious.' Originating in China over 4,000 years ago, they were introduced to the New World by Spanish Explorers, and were planted them in the gardens of Spanish missions all over California. The first recorded major production of of this fruit in America was in 1792 south of San Francisco. Today in the U.S., 95% of them are grown in the San Joaquin Valley and other parts of northern California.
a) Plum b) Pomegranate c) Apricot
d) Nectarine e) Tangarine

3) What cheese is more popular in Switzerland than 'Swiss' cheese itself?
It is a hard raw cow's milk cheese and is named for the Swiss town where it originated in the 12th century. It is made in rounds of 60 to 100 pounds, about 2 feet around and 4 inches thick, and is aged for 10 to 12 months. The cheese has a golden brown color and a nutty, full flavor.

4) What is the most dangerous source of bacteria in the typical home kitchen?

5) Name this vegetable/herb/spice.
This plant originated in Asia and gradually migrated to the west, first to the Mediterranean basin, and then eventually to Europe and to the Americas at the beginning of the 16th century. From the very beginning, it was recognized for its fragrance, flavour and medicinal properties. It is a vegetable, but some people regard it as an herb, others treat it as a spice and yet others purchase it in the form of capsules as medicine. Scientists recognize it as a powerful food promoting good heath mainly for its sulphur compounds, but sophisticated individuals shun it. Chinese chefs make extensive use of of it, and much of it is imported from China, although substantial quantities grow in the Americas.

6) The following events all took place in the same year, can you guess what year?
--The French prime minister urges his countrymen to drink more milk and less wine.
--Duncan Hines makes his first trip to Europe. On his return he states that American food is better than European food.
--Trix breakfast cereal is introduced - it is (46.6% sugar).
--Butterball turkeys are introduced.
--M&M Chocolate Covered Peanuts are introduced.
--Carnation introduces instant nonfat dry milk.
--The first Burger King opens in Miami, Florida
--The first Wimpy's hamburger bar opens in London.

7) Here are the ingredients, can you name this product?
Corn syrup solids, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated coconut or palm kernel, and canola, hydrogenated palm, soybean, cottonseed, and/or safflower), sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate, sodium aluminosilicate, mono and diglycerides, artificial flavor, annatto color.

8) What percentage of chickens were 'free range' in 1950, and what percentage are 'free range' today?

9) How many flower visits do honey bees have to make to produce 1 kilo (2.2 pounds) of honey?
a) 4,000 b) 40,000 c) 400,000 d) 4 million e) 40 million

10) Walter A. Anderson and E.W. Ingram founded a food business in 1921. In 1954
James McLamore and David Edgerton founded a similar business. What are the names of the businesses these men started?

Answers
1) e) The Banana Split was invented at Stickler's in Pennsylvania.

2) c) Apricot.

3) Gruyère cheese.

4) The most dangerous sources of virulent bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus and others, is the typical kitchen sponge and 'dish cloths' in American homes. They provide a source of moisture, a ready food supply in the form of food particles, and an easy surface to which the bacteria may cling. They can easily be disinfected however, by placing (wet) in a microwave oven for 60 seconds. The odor is improved too!

5) Garlic.

6) The year is 1954.

7) Nestle 'Coffee-Mate' brand coffee creamer.

8) Whats old is new. In 1950 approximately 80% of chickens were 'free range', by 1980 only 1% were 'free range.' Today it is back up over 12%.

9) (d) One kilo of honey represents 4 million visits to flowers by honey bees.

10) Walter A. Anderson and E.W. Ingram founded White Castle in 1921.
James McLamore and David Edgerton founded Burger King in 1954.

Did You Know -
Ham and eggs are considered a typically American breakfast. Well, some sources reveal that this was also a favorite of Egyptians in 1500 B.C.

-----------------------------QUOTE------------------------------
"France has found a unique way of controlling its unwanted critter population. They have done this by giving unwanted animals like snails, pigeons, and frogs fancy names, thus transforming common backyard pests into expensive delicacies. These are then served to gullible tourists, who will eat anything they can't pronounce."
Chris Harris, 'Quotable Feast' by Sarah E. Parvis (2001)

------------CULINARY CALENDAR - A FEW SELECTED EVENTS-----------

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
1957 The 'Styrofoam' cooler was invented.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
1963 Julia Child's 'The French Chef' premiered on TV.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
1872 Silas Noble and James P. Cooley of Massachusetts patented a toothpick making machine.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13
1971 'One Bad Apple' by the Osmonds reached Number 1 on the charts.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14
2003 Dolly the sheep died. Dolly was the first animal cloned from an adult animal. (Born July 5, 1996)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15
1882 The first shipment of frozen meat left Port Chalmers, New Zealand for Britain, aboard the SS Dunedin of the Albion Line.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16
1933 Prohibition (the 18th amendment) is repealed. Cheers!

For a complete listing of each day's events

Pubs News

Television show looking for freehouse owners
A TV programme aimed at helping out struggling businesses is calling on freehouse pubs.
Celador Productions are looking for businesses to take part in a new television series. The series will see a specialist business advisor go into the business and licensees could also win a business cash injection.
Please contact us on 020 7845 6830 or acox@celador.co.uk

Pubs get chance to enter rugby tournament
Pubs all over England and Wales will be getting closer to rugby’s Heineken Cup competition this spring with the launch of the Heineken Pub 7s national touch rugby tournament.
Pubs will give their regulars the chance to compete at touch rugby against other pub teams at 20 regional tournaments. The finalists will have the chance to play at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on May 20 on the day of the Heineken Cup Final.
The tournament, created by Heineken UK and supported by the RFU in England and Touch Rugby Wales, is aimed at promoting and expanding rugby at grassroots level and is being run in conjunction with the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup itself.
Rugby legend Jonathan Davies has backed the move.“Touch Rugby is a fantastic game and I’m really happy to be involved with the Heineken Pub 7s,” he said. “It’s a great way to get new players involved in the sport – running, passing and catching the ball in an exciting, dynamic and competitive environment.”
Pubs are already signing up for the 16 regional tournaments spread all over England – from Launceston in Cornwall to Blaydon near Newcastle.
Pubs wanting to enter the Heineken Pub 7s should call 01442 870188 or email info@heinekenpub7s.co.uk for more information.
Alternatively entry details can be downloaded from www.heinekenpub7s.co.uk.

Game on for pubs
The Six Nations is a perfect opportunity to drive sales up in your pub. Phil Mellows reports.
It’s cold, damp and gloomy. Christmas is a memory that twinkles fitfully in the distance and summer is so far off it feels as though the sun will never again rise above knee height. It can mean only one thing. The RBS Six Nations rugby tournament is about to kick off. For six weeks from February 4, the competition will brighten the lives of rugby fans across the UK – and for many pubs it will bring a welcome lift to trade during one of the slowest periods of the year.
While some of the world’s top players are grunting in the mud, thousands of supporters will be choosing to watch the games live in a nice warm pub where the presence of a crowd, not to mention the chance to have a pint or two, will create a big match atmosphere second only to being there at the ground.
In recent years the fixtures have been timed, it seems, with the pub in mind. All the games are live on terrestrial TV and played at the weekends between lunchtime and early evening, offering the shrewd licensee plenty of opportunity to offer fans encouragement to spend the whole afternoon there – if they need any encouragement, that is.
The 2003 Rugby World Cup now seems a long time ago. But the huge boost that England’s famous victory gave to the sport lingers on in the shape of a new wave of followers, an army of fans that includes women as well as men, young as well as old.
While England are not the side they were, interest will be revived with the Six Nations, a tournament that was itself given a thrilling twist in 2005 with the surprise triumph of Wales.
So long in the doldrums, the Welsh rediscovered their glory days by completing a shock Grand Slam to defy odds of 40-1.
This time around they will be missing the suspended Gavin Henson, at least during the first half of the tournament.
His absence means the odds against Wales winning again have gone out to 9-2. The French, at a mean 5-6, are favourites again thanks to their all-round consistency and scary looks.
But what of 2-1 shots England? The team is still in the process of being rebuilt after the departure of key elements of the World Cup winning line-up. The speculation that former skipper Lawrence Dallaglio may make a comeback could be interpreted as a symptom of weakness as much as anything.
After Wales surprised everyone last year, though, nothing can be ruled out. In what might turn out to be an open competition Ireland are a tempting bet at 16-1, and Scotland have the grit to cause an upset, if not come away with any silverware.
The only certainty is that the Six Nations will generate bags of interest and bring a lively bunch of customers into any pub that screens the games.
Licensees who promote well, take advantage of the support offered by their suppliers and add a bit of value through special menus, for instance, will maximise the opportunity.

Latest odds
France 5/6
England 2/1
Wales 9/2
Ireland 16/1
Scotland 50/1
Italy 500/1

The games
All matches are being screened live on BBC1 except where indicated
Saturday February 41pm Ireland v Italy3.20pm England v Wales
Sunday February 52.35pm Scotland v France (BBC2)
Saturday February 111pm France v Ireland3.30pm Italy v England
Sunday February 122.30pm Wales v Scotland
Saturday February 251.40pm France v Italy4pm Scotland v England
Sunday February 262.30pm Ireland v Wales
Saturday March 111.20pm Wales v Italy3.20pm Ireland v Scotland
Sunday March 122.30pm France v England
Saturday March 181.05pm Italy v Scotland3.20pm Wales v France5.30pm England v Ireland

Get your Dream Seats with Heineken
Heineken UK has launched a new promotion to help pubs and bars cash in on the UEFA Champions League and drive sales.
“Dream Seats” will be launched in time for the next round of matches, which kick off on February 21.
Anyone buying a pint of Heineken will be given a scratchcard offering them the chance to win one of 10 “Dream Seats” – exclusive season tickets to all their chosen club’s home and away matches for the entire 2006-2007 UEFA Champions League season, including guaranteed seats at the Final.
Drinkers must scratch off the first panel on their game card to reveal a unique text-to-win code. As well as the top prize, the promotion also offers drinkers hundreds of chances to win tickets for UEFA Champions League home matches.

Smoking ban Q&A
When will the ban be introduced?
As it stands, summer 2007.
Where will the smoking ban apply?
In all enclosed public places, including pubs, bars, restaurants, private members’ clubs, cinemas and offices.
Which places are exempt?
Prisons, care institutions, army barracks and hotel rooms.
Is there any chance the deadline will be extended?
“It is our intention for the ban to be in place by summer 2007,” a Department of Health (DoH) spokeswoman said. But this is dependent on the legislative process in the House of Lords, which could delay things. “This is as firm as we can be,” she added.
Will be there concessions for pubs as part of the ban?No.
How will pubs be monitored?It is likely that environmental health officers will enforce the ban.
How will fines be enforced?
For failing to display signage pubs will face a fixed penalty fine of £200. Licensees will have 29 days to pay, but this could go up to £1,000 if the case goes to court. For allowing somebody to smoke in their pub, licensees will face a fine of £200, which could be raised to £2,500.
Who will fund enforcement?
This has yet to be decided, but it is likely to be local authorities.
How does this affect a public smoking ban in Wales?
The decision by MPs now gives the Welsh Assembly power to introduce its own ban. The Assembly, which has previously voted in favour of a full ban, must decide whether to implement a ban prior to its elections in May 2007.
More -

Eurovision 2006

Waterways

An attempt to leg Standedge Tunnel - the highest, longest and deepest canal tunnel in the country - both ways in each direction is being made by members of the national Horseboating Society on 7 and 14 May.
These special events are being held by British Waterways as part of a double celebration at Standedge in 2006: the fifth anniversary of the reopening of the Tunnel and the 200th anniversary of Thomas Telford’s appointment to finish the original tunnel.
On Sunday 7 May, a team from the Horseboating Society will leg the tunnel from Diggle to Marsden in relays of two people at a time. The boat used will be the historic horseboat Maria, built in 1854 and believed to have carried limestone into the Colne Valley until 1900.
On Sunday 14th May, one member, Nigel Dix, will attempt to leg the whole tunnel length from Marsden to Diggle. Bonny the Boathorse will be coming ‘over the top’ while the boat is legged through the tunnel and visitors are invited to join her along Boat Lane.
On both Sundays there will also be free family entertainment at Standedge Visitor Centre. Visitors will be able to take part in traditional games and see waterway crafts including harness making, ropework, such as making towlines and splicing, and demonstrations on a pole-lathe. Characters dressed in costume will add to the atmosphere and members of the Huddersfield Canal Society will be on hand to talk about the history of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal and its restoration.
Standedge Tunnel on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal is 3¼ miles long, 645 feet (196 metres) above sea level and 639 feet (194 metres) deep, traversing the Pennines between Diggle and Marsden, near Huddersfield. It took 16 years to build and was eventually opened in 1811 following its completion under the supervision of Benjamin Outram, then John Rooth with one of the heroes of the Industrial Revolution, Thomas Telford as consultant.
To keep the costs down, the original tunnel was built without a towpath and while the horses crossed over the hill, the boat crew had to ‘leg’ the boat through the tunnel. This was done either by lying on boards across the boat and walking along the walls or by lying on the cabin to walk against the roof of the tunnel which could take up to four hours.
One of the most famous attempts to leg the Tunnel was made by David Whitehead in 1914 reputedly in l hour 25 minutes. Today, the only way a boat can travel through the Tunnel is as part of a carefully controlled, escorted convoy run by British Waterways using specially-designed electric tugs.
Sue Day from the Horseboating Society commented: "We have been working towards legging such a long tunnel for some time and we are really looking forward to the event. It is a good opportunity for people to come and relive some of our industrial past and have some fun at the same time.
"We think the last time the tunnel was legged was round about 1947. In fact this was by one of our members, Ronnie Barnes, who is now 87. He hopes to be on board on May 7th to watch us ‘follow in his footsteps’.
"We invite people to cheer us along as we set off then emerge from the tunnel on both days."
Laurence Morgan, general manager of British Waterways, Yorkshire, said: "Standedge is a unique place and one of the major landmarks of the waterways. It was, and is, a tremendous engineering feat, which nearly wasn’t completed.
"Legging the tunnel will be a real challenge for the Society’s members and we wish them lots of luck. These unique events are an amazing opportunity for visitors to enjoy the canal’s heritage and witness history being made, as a boat is legged through the Tunnel for the first time in over half a century. It may be many years before this feat is attempted again, so we hope as many people as possible are able to join in the celebrations in May."
The horse-drawn boat will leave Ashton on May 4 to make the full canal journey to Huddersfield and return by May 15. Bonny and Queenie will provide the horsepower.
Entertainment on both days will begin at 12 noon until 4pm. Anyone wanting more information about the event can visit the Horseboating Society website.

Horseboating around the waterways
Huddersfield Narrow Canal

23rd February - Today's The Day

23rd February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Polycarp of Smyma,
St Dositheus,
St Milhurga,
St Alexander Akimites,
St Boisil,
and St Willigis.

History Test for February 23rd
Which British Olympic gold medal hurdler received her MBE today in 1993? Sally Gunnell
Tennis star Helena Sukova was born today in 1965. What is her nationality? -Czech
Which Texan mission fortress was besieged by Mexicans today in 1836? -The Alamo
Film director Victor Fleming was born today in 1883. Which of his films starred Judy Garland and has become a classic? -'The Wizard of Oz'
Today in 1968, the BBC screened the first episode of `Not in Front of the Children'. Who played the mother? -Wendy Craig

QUOTE
"I shall soon be laid in the quiet grave - thank God for the quiet grave - O! I can feel the cold earth upon me - the daisies growing over me - O for this quiet - it will be my first." -John Keats, English poet who died on this day, 1821.

Events today...
1732 First performance of Handel's Oratorio, in London.
1792 Death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, English painter and first president of the Royal Academy.
1820 Discovery of the Cato Street conspiracy following a tip-off, police arrested revolutionaries who planned to blow up the British Cabinet.
1821 Death of John Keats English poet.
1836 The siege of the Alamo began, under the Mexican general Santa Anna.
1855 Death of Karl Gauss, German mathematician and astronomer.
1863 Lake Victoria was proclaimed to be the source of the River Nile hy British explorers John Speke and J .A. Grant.
1898 Emile Zola was imprisoned for writing his open letter J'accuse accusing the French government of anti-Semitism and of wrongly imprisoning the army officer Captain Alfred Dreyfus.
1906 Johann Hoch was imprisoned in Chicago for murdering six of his 13 wives.
1917 French actress Sarah Bernhardt had her right leg amputated.
1919 Benito Mussolini founded the Italian Fascist Party.
1924 Death of Thomas Woodrow Wilson, 28th president of the USA who proposed a plan for a League of Nations.
1931 Death of Dame Nellie Melba, Australian opera star who had a dessert named after her - Peach Melba.
1945 The Stars and Stripes was flying over Iwo Jima, a strategic island only 750 miles (1200 km) from Tokyo. After 74 days of bombardment and four days of bitter fighting on the ground, the invading force of 30,000 US Marines still had a tough fight on its hands.
1965 Death of Stan Laurel, English-born film comedian.
1968 Theatre censorship ended in Britain.
1970 Guyana became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.
1981 Spanish Fascist army officers led by Lt Colonel Antonio Tejero attempted a coup in the Cortes (parliament).
1983 Death of Adrian Boult, English conductor.
1987 Death of Andy Warhol, US Pop artist, who found art in a Campbell's soup can. He died on the operating table in New York. Warhol was the pope of Pop Art. In the early 1960s he started reproducing blown-up comic strip scenes for New York shop window displays, using a new technique of silk-screening outsized photographic enlargements. His "factory" churned out sequential mass-media images, each slightly different: the soup can or Marilyn Monroe's face. Warhol often hinted that he was taking both the public and the critics for a ride. "If you want to know anything about me, just look at the surface of my paintings. It's all there, there's nothing more," he once said, causing speculation about whether he implied profundity or shallowness about himself and his paintings.
1991 Thai premier Prem Tinsulanonda was overthrown in a bloodless coup.
1994 Death of Edward Elgar, English composer.
2000 It was announced that Abba's Benny and Bjorn were to release new album. The two men had written musicals together, but this was the first time they had composed pure pop songs since the group disbanded almost 20 years earlier.
2000 A secret Nasa file on the sex experiments, which took place in 1996, was uncovered by French scientist Pierre Kohler. He said the Nasa document stated the aim was to establish the most effective ways to have sex in space. They were obviously thinking about couples spending long periods of time in space together.
2000 England football team drew 0-0 with Argentina in friendly at Wembley. Without sending Kevin Keegan home in raptures, England's performance against one of the globe's strongest sides provided several positives for the national coach to absorb as he attempts to prepare for Euro 2000 with three match-less months.
2000 Tim Henman was beaten in the first round of AXA Cup.
2000 Robbie Williams sent wreath to Noel Gallagher in a celebrity tiff. A note read: 'To Noel Gallagher, RIP. Heard your latest album, with deepest sympathy, Robbie Williams'.
2000 Veteran musician Carlos Santana won eight Grammys with his multi-platinum album Supernatural. The feat equaled the record set by Michael Jackson's Thriller for most wins at the US music industry's annual awards. The awards for the 52-year-old guitarist included Album of the Year for Supernatural - his first Number One album for 28 years - and Record of the Year for his US chart-topping single 'Smooth'. The middle-aged British pop star Sting proved that experience could outdo youth even in the world of pop music, as he received his thirteenth Grammy award for Best Pop Album, which he arrived too late to collect. Eric Clapton was also recognised for his contribution to Santana's 'The Calling', which won Best Rock Instrumental Performance. Meanwhile, Phil Collins picked up the award for Best Soundtrack in recognition for his work on Disney's Tarzan and Sir Elton John was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to music, at the glitzy bash in Los Angeles' Staples Centre.
2000 Sir Stanley Matthews, the first footballer to be knighted and one of England's greatest players of any era, died after a short illness. The 85 year-old died peacefully at the Staffordshire Nuffield Hospital in Newcastle under Lyme. In his 34 year career he had won over fifty England caps and was twice named European Footballer of the Year. Winger Sir Stanley, dubbed the Wizard of the Dribble, was the brightest star of football's golden age. A gent on and off the pitch, he gave so much to soccer but took little back - in stark contrast to today's overpaid, bad-tempered stars who regularly drag the game into the mire. The Cup Final of 1953, in which Matthews scored for Blackpool to win 4-3 against Bolton in extra time, was "his finest hour". It was a moment that will live on forever.
2000 Prudential, the insurance giant, confirmed that its stand-alone internet bank, egg, would be partially floated later in the year to cover the company's escalating start-up costs, which could hit £500m.
2003 At least seven Palestinians and one Israeli died in clashes across the Gaza Strip, as Prime Minister Sharon struck a deal with a pro-settler party.
2003 Kurdish leaders in northern Iraq warned of reprisals if Turkish troops invaded during any military campaign against Baghdad. And Baghdad considered how to respond to a deadline for the destruction of its al-Samoud missiles, as it faced a second resolution at the UN.
2003 No one movie dominated at the Baftas, but in a surprise move "best picture" went to Roman Polanski's "The Pianist".
2003 Tony Blair was set to launch "a last push for peace", as America stepped up pressure on the UN to pass a new Iraq resolution.
2003 President Jacques Chirac urged a global ban on human cloning, warning that some "warped" research revives Nazi "fantasies".
2003 Birmingham gave their survival hopes a major boost with a 2-1 defeat of Liverpool.
2003 France gained their first Six Nations victory of the year with a 38-3 win against Scotland.
2004 Les Gray, the lead singer of 70s chart-toppers Mud, died aged 57.
2004 Simon Jones joined England's cricket squad in the Caribbean after impressing on the tour of India.
2004 It was announced that the BBC TV would end its 66-year association with the University Boat Race the following month.
2004 Arsenal got the green light to build their new ground at Ashburton Grove.
2005 Two British soldiers were found guilty of abusing Iraqi prisoners after a five-week court martial.
2005 A cancer charity refusee a donation from "Jerry Springer - The Opera" after a religious group threatened protests.
2005 Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan withdrew from the Amateur Boxing Association Championships.

BIRTHDAYS (for 23 February 2006)
Meyer Rothschild, 263 (born 23 February 1743)
German banker who founded a dynasty.
Sir George Watts, 189 (born 23 February 1817)
English painter and sculptor who found popular fame and was one of the original holders of the Order of Merit.
Victor Fleming, 123 (born 23 February 1883)
American film director best-known for The Wizard of Oz.
Erich Kastner, 107 (born 23 February 1899)
German author who wrote the children's book Emil and the Detectives.
Peter Fonda, 67 (born 23 February 1939)
actor.
Melinda Messenger, 35 (born 23 February 1971)
Page 3 Girl

22nd February - Today's The Day

22nd February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Baradates,
St Margaret of Cortona,
and Saints Thalassius and Limnaeus.

History Test for February 22nd
Born today in 1933, which member of the British Royal Family converted to Catholicism in 1993? -The Duchess of Kent
Today in 1979 the island of St. Lucia gained independence from Britain. Which sea is it in? -The Caribbean
The Dalai Lama was enthroned today in 1940. He's the head of the main Buddhist order in which Himalayan region? -Tibet
Actress Julie Walters was born today in 1950. Which character did she play in Victoria Wood's TV soap spoof 'Acorn Antiques'? -Mrs. Overall
Today in 1983, Samantha Fox made her first appearance on Page Three of the Sun. What was the pop hit she had three years later? -`Touch Me (I Want Your Body)'

QUOTE
"The latest definition of an optimist is one who fills up his crossword puzzle in ink." -Clement King Shorter, in the Observer, 1925.

QUOTE
"I must rewrite the burial service; for there are things in it that are deader than anyone it has ever been read over; but I had it read because with all its drawbacks it is the most beautiful thing that can be read as yet." -George Bernard Shaw, writing on his mother's funeral, on this day, 1914.

Events today...
1512 Death of Amerigo Vespucci, Italian navigator after whom America is named.
1741 The great agricultural innovator Jethro Tull died at his farm near Hungerford in England. He was 67. Ten years beforehand Tull published a book that was already a classic: The New Horse-Noughing Husbandry, or an Essay on the Principles of Tillage and Vegetation. The book was central to the ongoing revolution in agricultural technology. Tull had invented a steerable, multi-tined, horse-drawn hoe - not just a better hoe but a new type of tool for a new kind of farming. Tull's hoe was ideal for both grain and turnips, the new root crop. Turnips meant more winter stockfeed, which meant more manure and therefore a more fertile soil - which no longer needed a whole year's rest to recover. Turnips fit in perfectly with two grain crops and one of grass and clover for hay and pasture - the highly productive four-course system spread through England. Tull's hoe was only half the answer: it required crops planted in straight, evenly-spaced rows. So Tull had invented a mechanical seed-drill inspired by the pipes of the organ he played in church on Sundays.
1787 France approached bankruptcy, with a national debt of £800 million.
1797 Over 1,000 French troops landed at Fishguard, in South Wales, but were quickly taken prisoner.
1819 Spain ceded Florida and all her colonies east of the Mississippi, to the United States in a treaty signed on this day by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. This followed General Andrew Jackson's invasion of Florida the previous year. Jackson grossly exceeded his orders to pacify Indian tribes on the Florida border, taking his army deep into Spanish territory to occupy Pensacola in a coup. Jackson faced an inquiry, but it was likely to be a mere formality.
1855 Thirteen gold-diggers were acquitted in Melbourne of rioting and manslaughter after fighting had broken out at the Eureka gold mine.
1875 Death of Charles Lyell, English geologist.
1875 Death of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter
1879 American storekeeper Frank W. Woolworth was convinced he had a winning idea, and when at first it failed he simply tried again. His first venture was a retail store in Utica, New York, where everything on sale cost the same cheap price - five cents. But the F. W Woolworth Co. 5 Cent Store was not a success, and on this day in1879, he opened a new F. W Woolworth Co. 5 and 10 Cent Store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The area's conservative Amish and Mennonite communities apparently approved of this aid to thrifty living and gave Woolworth's new venture a warm welcome. If the store succeeded, Woolworth's plan was to open a growing chain of 5 and 10 cent stores - he reckoned centralised purchasing would help him keep prices down, and profits up.
1886 The Times newspaper published a classified personal column, the first newspaper to do so.
1934 General Augusto Sandino, the charismatic Nicaraguan guerrilla leader, was executed by his rival, General Anastasio Somoza, commander of the feared US-trained National Guard. Sandino and three aides were seized hy National Guards after a meeting with President Juan Sacasa, and shot. Somoza was poised for a coup. Sandino's guerrilla army fought US forces which occupied the country from 1912. They were withdrawn the previous year when Sandino agreed to a ceasefire.
1940 A five-year-old boy was enthroned in Lhasa as the l4th Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal ruler of Tibet, with a regent and council of ministers to guide him. Tenzin Gyatso was born in north-eastern Tibet on June 6, 1935, the very day that his predecessor died. According to Tibetan belief this was no mere coincidence - the Dalai Lamas are held to be the reincarnation of their predecessors, in an unbroken line stretching back 544 years. Lhasa's wise men located young Tenzin in 1938 and administered the time-honoured tests: the three-year-old little boy had to choose various objects that had belonged to his predecessor from a group of similar objects. Tenzin picked them all out, without any hesitation.
1942 Death of Stefan Zweig, Austrian writer.
1946 Dr Selman Abrahams announced that he had discovered streptomycin, an antibiotic which could be used to treat tuberculosis and bacterial infections.
1973 Death of Elizabeth Bowen, Irish novelist whose novels include Death of the Heart and The Heat of the Day.
1980 Death of Oskar Kokoschka, Austrian painter.
1989 Death of Aldo Jacuzzi, American manufacturer of the famous baths.
1999 One man was killed and ten injured in a gun rampage 6 miles south of Sydney.
2000 It was announced that Frank Dobson may be replaced by Mo Mowlam in London's mayoral race. Tony Blair had drawn up a contingency plan to ditch Frank Dobson and back Mo Mowlam as Labour's candidate for mayor of London. In the biggest gamble of his political life, the former GLC leader, Ken Livingstone teamed up with rebel Liberal Democrats and black activists on a new 'Livingstone for London' campaign.
2000 Princess Diana's gown was to raise over £60 million for charity. Three years after it was sold at auction for £23,000, the frock was to be cut into four million pieces and marketed as souvenir collectors' items in a charity enterprise.
2000 John Prescott shifted his ground over the rail industry twice. Before finally indicating his readiness to introduce legislation that would eventually strip Railtrack of all its safety responsibilities. After announcing that a Railtrack subsidiary would take over the responsibility for health and safety on Britain's trains, Mr Prescott was met with a barrage of abuse. Diana Macaulay - whose son Matthew, 26, died in the Paddington train crash in October - said it was like putting Peter Rabbit in charge of the lettuce patch.
2000 The IRA threw the fragile peace process in Northern Ireland into further confusion when it ruled out explicitly linking arms decommissioning to demilitarisation to pave the way for a solution to the intractable issue of weapons.
2000 TalkSport won the rights to broadcast The Ashes. The BBC lost one of the major prizes in the sporting calendar, namely ball-by-ball commentary on the Ashes tour of Australia. The blow came just 24 hours after the Government announced a £3 increase to the licence fee.
2000 Henry Cooper received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace.
2003 Left-wing guerrillas saed they are holding three US citizens who vanished when their plane crash-landed in Colombia.
2003 The Ulster Defence Association's decision to cease paramilitary activity for 12 months was welcomed by NI secretary Paul Murphy.
2003 Pope John Paul II urged Tony Blair to find a solution other than war to the crisis with Iraq, during a private audience at the Vatican.
2003 Senior Conservative MPs denied the party is in crisis and rally around Iain Duncan Smith following fresh attacks on his leadership.
2003 Lawyers for Michael Jackson submitted new video footage shot during his interview with Martin Bashir to the UK's television watchdog.
2003 Cricket, an inspired James Anderson spell leads England to a vital 112-run win over Pakistan.
2003 Wales regain their pride but still lose 26-9 at home to England in the Six Nations.
2003 Arsenal hammered Man City 5-1 to go five points clear at the top of the Premiership.
2004 The UK home security service MI5 announced that it was to expand by 50% in response to the terror threat to the UK.
2004 The German chancellor visited Turkey to encourage more reforms aimed at preparing the ground for entry to the EU.
2004 Teachers expressed concern over plans backed by the prime minister for random school drug testing.
2004 Eighty Royal Marines were flown home from training in Norway amid claims inadequate sleeping bags led to frostbite.
2004 Stars in Their Eyes presenter Matthew Kelly was named best actor in the Laurence Olivier Awards.
2004 Pop-punk band Busted broke into the singles chart at number one, after their double win at the Brits.
2004 Portsmouth 1-0 Liverpool. Richard Hughes knocked out Liverpool and put Portsmouth in the FA Cup last eight.
2005 It was announced that, the Queen would not attend the civil ceremony when Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles got married.
2005 Home Secretary Charles Clarke defended plans to give himself power to put terror suspects under house arrest.
2005 Pop star Michael Jackson arrived in court, a week after illness postponed his child abuse trial.
2005 Presenter Eamonn Holmes said he was to step down from the breakfast TV station GMTV after 12 years.
2005 Tim Henman saved a match point before beating British rival Greg Rusedski in Dubai.

BIRTHDAYS (for 22 February 2006)
George Washington, 274 (born 22 February 1732)
American statesman and general who became the first president of the USA in 1789.
Arthur Schopenhauer, 218 (born 22 February 1788)
German philosopher who saw the ideal state of man as one of contemplative freedom achieved through art.
Sir Robert Baden-Powell, 149 (born 22 February 1857)
British hero of the siege of Mafeking in the Boer War and founder of the Boy Scouts.
Eric Gill, 134 (born 22 February 1872)
British sculptor, engraver and typographer who designed the typefaces Perpetua and Gill Sans.
Luis Bunuel, 106 (born 22 February 1900)
Spanish surrealist film director whose films include Le Chien Andalou and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
Sir John Mills, 98 (born 22 February 1908)
Died 2005. Actor
Bruce Forsyth, 78 (born 22 February 1928)
entertainer
Edward Kennedy, 74 (born 22 February 1932)
US senator and younger brother of John F. Kennedy.
Duchess of Kent, 73 (born 22 February 1933)

Sheila Hancock, 73 (born 22 February 1933)
actress
George Lee `Sparky' Anderson, 72 (born 22 February 1934)
pro baseball manager.
Rocco Forte, 61 (born 22 February 1945)
hotelier
Niki Lauda, 57 (born 22 February 1949)
Austrian motor racing champion.
Julie Walters, 56 (born 22 February 1950)
Actress
Nigel Planer, 51 (born 22 February 1955)
actor/writer
Kyle MacLachlan, 47 (born 22 February 1959)
actor
Devon Malcolm, 43 (born 22 February 1963)
cricketer
Brian Laudrup, 37 (born 22 February 1969)
Footballer with Rangers
Shaka Hislop, 37 (born 22 February 1969)
footballer
Juninho, 33 (born 22 February 1973)
Middlesborough Soccer Star
Drew Barrymore, 31 (born 22 February 1975)
Actress

21st February - Today's The Day

21st February 2006

Religious events today...
Feast day of St Robert Southwell,
St Peter Damian,
St George of Amastris,
and St Germanus of Granfel.

History Test for February 21st
Born today in 1924, who was Zimbabwe's first Prime Minister? -Robert Mugabe
Which actor did Elizabeth Taylor marry today in 1952? -Michael Wilding
Today in 1972, Richard Nixon became the first serving American President to visit which country? -China
Name the presenter of the TV documentary series `The Magic of Dance', who died today in 1991. -Dame Margot Fonteyn
Which battle began in France today in 1916 and was one of the most devastating of World War One? -The Battle of Verdun

QUOTE
"President Nixon's motto was, if two wrongs don't make a right, try three." -Norman Cousins of the Daily Telegraph, on President Richard Nixon, 1979.

Events today...
1595 Death of Robert Southwell, English poet and Jesuic martyr.
1613 Michael Romanov was elected Tsar of Russia, founding the house of Romanov which ruled until the revolution in March 1917.
1673 In the dead of night and with no priest to bless his bones, the greatest showman of the age was buried in secret in a Paris cemetery. Molière, playwright, actor, and provider of theatrical extravaganzas for the Sun King, Louis XIV, was acting the part of Argan the hypochondriac in his new play Le Malade Imaginaire four days ago when he collapsed and died. He was 51. Molière's scathing wit caused offence, and though he was mourned by the King and by the people, his enemies in the church and at court denied him a decent burial.
1741 Death of Jethro Tull, English agriculturalist.
1804 British engineer Richard Trevithick demonstrated the first steam engine to run on rails.
1849 Following the end of the Second Sikh War, the Punjab was annexed by Britain.
1852 Death of Nikolai Gogol Russian novelist and dramatist.
1858 The first electric burglar alarm was installed by Edwin T Holmes of Boston, Massachusetts. 1885 Washington Monument was dedicated.
1916 Massed German artillery started a furious bombardment of a crucial 8-mile (13 km) sector of the French line at Verdun in the middle of the Western Front.
1931 The New Statesman was first published.
1938 Death of George Ellery Hale, US astronomer.
1952 Film actress Elizabeth Taylor married hotel tycoon Conrad Hilton, Jnr.
(needs checking)
1957 Israel defied a UN deadline and holds on to the Gaza Strip.
1958 Manchester United star Duncan Edwards, one of the best known of the 'Busby Babes', died at the age of 21 having clung to life for two weeks after the Munich Air Disaster which killed many of his team-mates.
1960 Castro nationalised all private businesses in Cuba.
1965 The American Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot dead while addressing a meeting in New York. A rival sect is suspected of the killing. Malcolm X once preached black violence, but he converted to orthodox Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca last year and abandoned his extreme, separatist stance for a more optimistic socialism.
1968 Death of Howard Walter Florey, Australian pathologist who developed penicillin.
1969 The US Patents Office granted a patent to King Hassan of Morocco for his device to monitor the function of the human heart.
1972 US President Richard Nixon landed in Peking, extending the hand of friendship to Communist China. Speaking at a state banquet in the Great Hall of the People, Nixon invited Prime Minister Chou En-lai to join him in a new "long march" to world peace.
1986 Shigechiyo Izumi, the world's oldest man, died in Japan at the age of 120.
1988 The grave of Boadicea, the warrior queen who fought the Romans almost 2,000 years ago, was located by archaeologists under Platform 8 at King's Cross railway station.
1988 Geet Sethi became the first amateur to register an official maximum 147 break in a tournament when he achieved the feat in the Indian National Snooker Championship.
1989 Czech writer Vaclav Havel jailed for initiating anti-govemment demonstrations.
1989 Two members of Winnie Mandela's bodyguard were charged with the murder of 14-year-old Stompie Mocketsi.
1991 Dame Margot Fonteyn died in Panama, aged 73. To millions the world over she was the epitome of the prima ballerina. Fonteyn made her debut in 1934 at London's Sadler's Wells. Her talent soon emerged and she became the company's lead ballerina. Under the direction of Sir Frederick Ashton, Fonteyn's interpretation of the classic ballet roles established her as one of the century's foremost dancers.
1995 Arsenal sacked manager George Graham as a result of the Premier League Commission findings into the 'bungs' affair.
1997 The Bridgewater Three were released from prison after almost 18 years pending an Appeal Court ruling on unsafe evidence which convicted them.
1997 Sampdoria's Swedish coach Sven Goran Eriksson apologised to Blackburn fans that he would not be joining the club as manager having decided to stay in Italy despite signing a three-year Ewood Park contract in December.
2000 Britney Spears bought a £1.5 million English mansion in Charlton Kings. The move added fuel to rumours that the American singer is chasing pin-up Prince William after the Daily Star revealed that they had agreed a romantic meeting in Britain and had been swapping personal e-mails.
2000 The BBC's pleas for more money were finally answered by an increase of £3 in the television licence fee, but the culture secretary, Chris Smith, demanded more than £1bn worth of savings from the corporation in return.
2000 Heinz unveiled a chip which contained its own ketchup. Sauce fans would never have to ask for ketchup with their chips again - it would be inside them.
2000 Greg Rusedski won his opening match in Axa Cup at the London Arena. He made an early appearance on the court to command the youngsters' attention, responding to the cheers by defeating the Frenchman Arnaud Clement, 6-3, 6-4, after 64 minutes.
2002 Death of John Thaw (aged 60) Manchester born actor who starred in The Sweeney but is probably best remembered as Inspector Morse.
2003 At least 85 people were known to have died in the fire which swept through a Rhode Island club during a rock concert.
2003 A massive explosion hit an oil and gas facility on Staten Island in New York City, setting off a huge blaze.
2003 The parents of murdered Victoria Climbie were to take legal action against the Metropolitan Police and five other authorities.
2003 A group of seven former Gurkhas who were suing the government for inferior pay and treatment lost their High Court case.
2003 It was announced that Michael Gambon would play Professor Dumbledore in the next Harry Potter film, instead of the late Richard Harris.
2003 Extra gigs are added to Sir Paul McCartney's first UK tour in nearly 10 years, after tickets were snapped up.
2003 Film-maker Michael Winner left hospital in London feeling "fine", following his two-day admission for an undisclosed complaint.
2003 Research suggested, drinking too much coffee during pregnancy raises the risk of stillbirth.
2003 A government computer network designed to combat terror threats was been hit by lack of funds and technical problems.
2003 The UK Home Office took the Internet "Villain of the Year" title at the internet industry's annual award ceremony.
2003 Actor Martin Sheen appeared in an advert campaign urging Americans to join a 'virtual march' on Washington to oppose a war with Iraq.
2003 The grand prix schedule confirmed the scrapping of Sunday warm-up sessions.
2004 Officials visited the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, for the first time since he was taken into US custody in mid-December.
2004 The UK home security service MI5 announced it was to expand by 50% in response to the terror threat to the UK.
2004 In Albania, thousands demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Fatos Nano in protests in the capital Tirana.
2004 Prime Minister Tony Blair told a Sunday newspaper he would stand for a third term of office and believed he was stronger than ever.
2004 Arsenal went seven points clear at the top of the Premiership with a 2-1 win at Chelsea.
2004 England scored four tries in a disjointed 35-13 victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.
2004 Alan Smith equalised Paul Scholes' opener as Leeds hold Man Utd 1-1 at Old Trafford.
2005 More than 100 people died and scores were missing in Indian-administered Kashmir's worst snow for 20 years.
2005 Rock star Pete Doherty was granted a one-off change to his bail curfew to allow him to play a gig at the Brixton Academy.

BIRTHDAYS (for 21 February 2006)
Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, 212 (born 21 February 1794)
Mexican revolutionary who freed his people from Spanish rule only to institute his own dictatorship between 1839 and 1845.
John Henry Newman, 205 (born 21 February 1801)
British cardinal noted for his theological and philosophical writings. His poem The Dream of Gerontius was set to music by Edward Elgar.
Leo Délibes, 170 (born 21 February 1836)
French composer noted for the music for the ballets Coppélia and Sylvia and the opera Lakmé.
August von Wasserman, 140 (born 21 February 1866)
German bacteriologist who invented a test for detecting syphilis.
W. H. Auden, 99 (born 21 February 1907)
Anglo-American poet and, in coilaboration with Christopher Isherwood, author of verse dramas.
Robert Mugabe, 82 (born 21 February 1924)
first prime minister of Zimbabwe
Nina Simone, 72 (born 21 February 1934)
American jazz singer and pianist who first scored a popular hit with her recording of "I Put a Spell on You."
Jilly Cooper, 69 (born 21 February 1937)
English novelist and journalist
King Harald V, 69 (born 21 February 1937)
of Norway
Ron Clarke, 69 (born 21 February 1937)
(athletics) -- Australian who set numerous world long-distance records
Peter McEnery, 66 (born 21 February 1940)
actor
David Geffen, 63 (born 21 February 1943)
record company owner
Tyne Daly, 60 (born 21 February 1946)
actress
Alan Trammel, 48 (born 21 February 1958)
baseball player.
Edinho, 39 (born 21 February 1967)
(soccer) -- Bradford's Brazilian striker
James Bradfield, 37 (born 21 February 1969)
rock singer (Manic Street Preachers)
Michael Slater, 36 (born 21 February 1970)
cricketer
Pierre Fulke, 35 (born 21 February 1971)
(golf) -- European Tour professional from Sweden
James Hickman, 30 (born 21 February 1976)
Stockport Swimmer who competed in the 1996 Olympics

20th February - Today's The Day

20th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Eleutherius of Toumai,
St Eucherius of Orleans,
St Tranno,
St Zenobius
and St Wulfric.

History Test for February 20th
Today in 1962, who became the first man to orbit the earth? -John Glenn - he orbited three times
Born today in 1927, who won an Oscar for his performance in the film 'Lilies of the Field'? -Sidney Poitier
Today in 1974, singer Cher filed for divorce from her husband. Who was he? -Sonny Bono
Which Kylie Minogue song reached the top of the UK pop charts today in 1988? -`I Should Be So Lucky'
Born today in 1888, which dancer and teacher founded her own ballet company in the 1930's? -Dame Marie Rambert - she founded the Ballet Rambert, originally the Ballet Club

QUOTE
"Outer Space is no place for a person. of good breeding." -Violet Bonham Carter, English writer and politician.

Events today...
1437 Scotland's King James I was assassinaterl by a group of nobles seeking to place a rival on the throne. He was 42. James was staying at the Dominican friary at Perth. His assassins, led by Sir Robert Graham, failed in their plans since James's son was to suceed him. As a boy the late King sought safety in France, but was captured by the English en route and imprisoned for 18 years. While a prisoner he married Joan, a cousin of England's King Henry V.
1513 Pope Julius II, patron of Michelangelo and Raphael, died.
1653 Martin van Tromp's Dutch fleet was defeated off Portsmouth by the English fleet of Admiral Robert Blake.
1677 Death of Benedict Spinoza, Dutch philosopher of Jewish parentage, whose equation of God and nature was furiously attacked by Christian scholars.
1707 Aurangzeh, the sixth and perhaps the last of the great Mogul emperors of India, died at the age of 88, his empire was crumbling around him. Aurangzeb seized the throne at Agra from his father, Shah Jahan, 49 years earlier, killing two of his brothers and jailing the third to secure the succession. He moved his capital to Delhi, and his rule was stable until his third son backed a revolt by the Rajputs - the Hindu warriors of Rajasthan. Aurangzeb was at continuous war with the Hindu kingdoms ever after. His military excesses brought the empire close to bankruptcy, his subjects taxed to starvation. He destroyed hundreds of Hindu temples, and his religious persecutions were to leave a long and bitter legacy.
1790 Holy Roman Emperor Josef II, whose sweeping reforms provoked rebellion in Belgium, Hungary and elsewhere, dies.
1811 Austria declared itself bankrupt.
1915 Disregarding the Great War that was tearing Europe apart, San Francisco staged a world fair at which several of the warring states exhibited. The Panama-Pacific Exhibition celebrated the opening of the Panama Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, saving a 7000-mile (11,300 km) journey round Cape Horn.
1938 Anthony Eden resigned as British foreign secretary after Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain decided to negotiate with Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini.
1947 Lord Louis Mountbatten was appointed viceroy of India, the last person to hold this office.
1961 Death of Percy Grainger, Australian-born composer.
1962 Astronaut. John Glenn circled the Earth three times in under five hours becoming the first American to orbit the planet. After 10 postponements because of bad weather and technical problems, the US Marine Corps pilot's flight aboard the tiny Friendship-7 capsule went without a hitch from blastoff at Cape Canaveral to splashdown in the Atlantic near Puerto Rico.
1972 Influential US journalist Walter Winchell, who wrote for The New York Mirror between 1929 and 1969, dies.
1984 Death of Mikhail Sholokhov, Russian author.
1985 The sale of contraceptives became legal in the Irish Republic.
1988 Torrential flooding in Rio de Janeiro left 500 dead and 10,000 homeless.
1989 The Army Barracks at Tem Hill, Shropshire, were destroyed by an IRA bomb.
1998 The High Court banned the use of pre-payment water meters.
1999 Alun Michael won the poll and became Welsh Labour Leader. Devolution was taking place in Wales and he looked favourite for the post as first Welsh Prime Minister.
2000 Gregory Peck announced his retirement from acting. Peck was modest about his career at his last performance: 'I think I've probably been a pretty good entertainer and made a few good pictures. I don`t feel any great sense of accomplishment'.
2003 One of four Algerian men accused of planning to bomb a Strasbourg market pleaded guilty and apologised for his role.
203 A man was arrested after a British man was shot dead in the Saudi capital as he waited in his car at traffic lights.
2003 Ms Dynamite and Coldplay used the Brit Awards to lambast plans for war as they picked up two prizes each at the UK's prestigious music ceremony.
2003 A government body warned that the UK faced a cultural crisis if tax breaks were not set up to keep art in the UK.
2003 Sami Hyypia scored to give Liverpool a 1-0 win over Auxerre in the UEFA Cup.
2004 The UN warned of food and medicine shortages in northern Haiti as mediators sought to restore peace.
2004 The Socialist party led by Slobodan Milosevic agreed to support a minority coalition after long uncertainty.
2004 UK film productions starring Johnny Depp and Jude Law were in limbo after a tax loophole was closed.
2004 It was announced that CDs, DVDs, and video games in the US were to get an FBI seal to try and deter people from copying them.
2004 It was announced that Nicky Campbell and Nadia Sawalha were to be the hosts of BBC One's replacement for the Kilroy programme.
2004 Paul Scholes was charged with violent behaviour after clashing with Middlesbrough's Doriva.
2005 A list of 350 foods containing a dye which wqas known to increase the risk of cancer looked set to be extended.
2005 Severe weather conditions stretching from Northumberland to East Anglia caused problems for motorists.
2005 Pop diva Jennifer Lopez scored her first UK number one single for four years with Get Right, beating Elvis Presley.
2005 Patrick Kluivert ended nine-man Chelsea's dream of an unprecedented quadruple in a pulsating FA Cup tie.
2005 Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his second Masters title with a 10-3 win over John Higgins.

BIRTHDAYS (for 20 February 2006)
Voltaire, 312 (born 20 February 1694)
French man of letters, philosopher, scientist and moralist who waged a lifelong campaign against intolerance and injustice.
Dame Marie Rambert, 118 (born 20 February 1888)
British ballerina and founder of her own company, the Ballet Rambert.
Ansel Adams, 104 (born 20 February 1902)
photographer.
Robert Altman, 81 (born 20 February 1925)
American film director who sprang to prominence with the film M*A*S*H.
Sidney Poitier, 79 (born 20 February 1927)
American film actor and the first black actor to win an Oscar, for Lilies of the Field.
Jimmy Greaves, 66 (born 20 February 1940)
British footballer and later successful television commentator.

19th February - Today's The Day

19th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Boniface of Lausanne,
St Barbatus,
St Conrad of Piacenza,
and St Mesrop.

History Test for February 19th
Born today in 1960, Prince Andrew attended the same Scottish school as his father and brothers. Name it. -Gordonstoun
The first episode of `EastEnders' was screened today - in which year? -1985
Which Austrian physicist gave his name to the ratio of the speed of an object to the speed of sound and died today in 1916? -Ernst Mach
Born today in 1473 which Polish astronomer was considered the founder of modern astronomy? -Nicolaus Copernicus
Film director Michael Powell died today in 1990. He's noted for his partnership with which screenwriter? -Emeric Pressburger
Events today...
1800 Napoleon Bonaparte proclaimed himself First Consul of France.
1837 Death of Georg Buchner German poet and dramatist.
1878 US inventor Thomas Edison patented the phonograph.
1897 Famous French tightrope walker Charles Blondin died at the age of 72.
1897 The Women's Institute was founded in Ontario, Canada, by Mrs Hoodless.
1900 A man in San Francisco claimed that X-rays had cured his cancer.
1906 William S. Kellog formed the Battle Creek Toasted Cornflake Company to make the breakfast cereal which he had originally invented for patients suffering from mental disorders.
1916 Death of Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist.
1931 Charlie Chaplin arrived on a visit to the UK.
1949 American poet Ezra Pound, spending time in a mental hospital and indicted for treason, won the first Bollingen Poetry Prize.
1951 Death of André Gide, French novelist.
1958 Carl Perkins left Sun Records and started recording for Columbia Records.
1959 Cyprus was guaranteed independence in an agreement signed by Turkey, Greece and Great Britain.
1960 Queen Elizabeth II gave birth to her third child, Andrew Albert Christian Edward, in Buckingham Palace.
1964 Popular British actor Peter Sellers married Hollywood actress Britt Ekland.
1969 The first test flight of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet.
1970 Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Charles was to join the Navy.
1975 Cricketer Gary Sobers was knighted by the Queen during her visit to Barbados, the island of his birth.
1975 Death of Luigi Dallapiccola, Italian composer.
1976 Iceland broke off diplomatic relations with Britain after negotiations failed to produce an agreement over fishing limits in the `cod war'.
1981 George Harrison was ordered to pay ABKCO Music for "subconscious plagiarism" for his hit "My Sweet Lord". It was claimed he had copied the song "He's So Fine".
1983 British Aerospace engineer Robert Calvert set a British altitude record when he reached 19250ft in his microlight aircraft over Lancashire.
1983 In the fifth round of the FA Cup, Aston Villa beat Watford by four goals to one, Manchester United beat Derby County one nil and Everton beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0.
1983 In the world of Rugby Union, Wales beat Scotland 19-15 and Ireland beat France 22-16.
1983 It was reported that the English women's cricket team tour of the West Indies had been cancelled because five of the players had visited South Africa four years earlier.
1984 An incomplete Haydn mass unheard of since 1829 was to be auctioned later in the year. It had turned up in an old record album owned by a Northern Ireland farmer.
1984 Doctors at the Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, were interviewed by police after claims they had used NHS facilities for private practice without paying the appropriate fees.
1984 The Ramblers' Association urged British Rail to abandon plans to close the scenic Settle to Carlisle route through the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
1985 A Spanish jet crashed on approach to Bilbao and 150 people died.
1985 The BBC broadcast the first episode of the soap opera EastEnders.
1988 A letter by Pope John Paul II criticised the world's superpowers for not giving enough aid to the Third World.
1988 Champion National Hunt jockey Peter Scudamore was banned from riding for 21 days following a barging incident caught on camera in a race at Newbury.
1988 Professional snooker made its debut in Monaco when Neil Foulds and Terry Griffiths played a drab game in front of a 200-strong audience. During the eighth frame, a cameraman filming the game gave the audience something to cheer about when he fell over backwards.
1989 Four black youths were detained when police raided Winnie Mandela's home in Soweto, Johannesburg, after traces of blood and items such as whips were found which were to be examined by forensic experts.
1989 Four gold medals and four silver were won by British athletes at the European indoor championship at the Hague.
1989 Presenter Jimmy Saville had his legs insured for £1 million against injury in the London marathon. When he completed the race he was be the only person to have finished 170 successive marathons and half-marathons.
1990 Death of Michael Powell (aged 84) English documentary filmmaker.
1992 Aston Villa goalkeeper Les Sealey was fined £2,000 and suspended for four matches by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute.
1992 The Princess of Wales met Mother Theresa at a retreat for the Missionaries of Charity in Rome.
1994 Death of Derek Jarman (aged 52) Director.
1995 A good day for Linford Christie when he ran a world record 200 metres in 20.25 seconds and the European record 60 metres in 6.47 seconds.
1995 A cricket pitch at Sheffeld Park in West Sussex, which hosted the opening matches against the Australians in the 1880s and 1890s, was being restored with the help of the National Trust.
1995 A survey said that when faced with calls in a foreign tongue, 74% of telephonists at leading British firms hung up!
1995 In the first week of the BBC top hymns contest, the hymn 'Dear Lord and Father of Mankind' was in first position.
1995 Almost half the country's businesses had ignored BT's much trumpeted £100 million revamp of the national telephone numbering system. The estimated cost to business of BT's action on the 16th April was put at £200 million. Most British numbers were given 11 digits making them even longer than those in the United States.
1995 Jeanne Calment was on the eve of celebrating her 120th birthday on February 20th. She was believed to be the oldest woman in the world. She was born in Arles, France, on February 21st, 1875, a year before the telephone was invented and she remembered the first moving pictures.
1995 President Clinton paid tribute to the 6,821 Americans who died in the fwe-week conquest of Iwo Jima at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington. More than 22,000 Japanese died defending the eight square miles of volcanic rock and the loss of life was so great that it was a factor in President Truman's decision to drop two atomic bombs to end the war.
1996 Jarvis Cocker ran across the stage during Michael Jackson's performance of "Earth Song" at the Brits Awards Show.
1997 It was announced that Chinese premier Deng Xiaoping had died.
1997 Second division Stockport County’s Coca Cola cup semi-final tie against premiership Middlesborough at Edgeley Park was postponed due to a bad weather.
1999 Mel C, better known as Scary Spice, gave birth to a baby girl, Phoenix Chi.
1999 There was transport chaos in Manchester as part of a bridge over Whitworth Street collapsed overnight.
2003 A military transport aircraft crashed on a flight between two towns in southern Iran, killing at least 270 people on board.
2003 The first 11 September suspect was jailed. Moroccan Mounir al-Motassadek was given 15 years by a German court for his role in more than 3,000 murders.
2003 Palestinians fired rockets into Israel to avenge the deaths of 11 people killed by Israeli troops in Gaza City.
2003 Washington said time is running out for Turkey to allow US troops onto its soil ahead of war against Iraq.
2003 An Air France Concorde made an emergency landing in Nova Scotia, Canada, after developing engine problems.
2003 Britons were advised to leave Iraq immediately and to avoid non-essential travel to Kuwait and Israel.
2003 The government was considering a refund of the £3,000 university top-up fee for poorer students in England - and variable living cost loans.
2003 Police investigating a fatal shooting at record producer Phil Spector's California home said they expected the case to be delayed.
2003 A folio of William Blake watercolours that were discovered in a second-hand Glasgow bookshop sold for £5m.
2003 The man who knocked the head off a statue of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was jailed for three months.
2003 David Beckham set up both goals as Man Utd beat Juventus 2-1 at Old Trafford.
2003 Cricket: Namibia gave England a real fright before eventually losing by 55 runs in Port Elizabeth.
2004 DJs Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley, aka Mark and Lard, announced that they were to leave BBC Radio 1 for sister stations.
2004 Roy Keane hinted at an international return with the Republic of Ireland.
2004 The chief prosecutor said that Marco Pantani may have killed himself.
2005 Olympic inspectors signed off from their London visit by praising the city's bid for the 2012 Games.
2005 One Briton was killed and seven others were seriously hurt after a coach heading to a ski resort crashed in Germany.
2005 A peak of 14.2 million viewers watched Dirty Den get killed on the eve of EastEnders' 20th anniversary.
2005 South Africa's Quinton Fortune scored as holders Man Utd advance to the FA Cup quarter-finals.

BIRTHDAYS (for 19 February 2006)
Nicolaus Copernicus, 533 (born 19 February 1473)
Polish atronomer who first suggested that the Earth revolved around the Sun
David Garrick, 289 (born 19 February 1717)
Died 1779. Celebrated English actor
Luigi Boccherini, 263 (born 19 February 1743)
Italian composer
Adelina Patti, 163 (born 19 February 1843)
Italian soprano
Sir Cedric Hardwicke, 113 (born 19 February 1893)
Died 1964. English actor
Merle Oberon, 95 (born 19 February 1911)
Died 1979. Actress best known for her role as Cathy in "Wuthering Heights"
Stan Kenton, 94 (born 19 February 1912)
US Bandleader
Saul Chaplin, 94 (born 19 February 1912)
(Died 1997) Songwriter producer.
Carson McCullers, 89 (born 19 February 1917)
US novelist best known for "The Heart is a lonely Hunter"
Lee Marvin, 82 (born 19 February 1924)
Died 1987. US film actor and Oscar-winner for his role in "Cat Ballou"
John Frankenheimer, 76 (born 19 February 1930)
Director 'Birdman of Alcatraz' 'Manchurian Candidate'.
Erin Pizzey, 67 (born 19 February 1939)
Author, campaigner for women's rights and founder of the first shelter for battered wives
Gwen Taylor, 67 (born 19 February 1939)
British actress who has worked mostly in television
Pat Crerand, 67 (born 19 February 1939)
Manchester United Great
Smokey Robinson, 66 (born 19 February 1940)
Motown Singer - biggest UK hit 'Being With You'.
Lou Christie, 63 (born 19 February 1943)
Sixties pop star
Tony Iommi, 58 (born 19 February 1948)
Member of Black Sabbath.
Mark Andes, 58 (born 19 February 1948)
Member of Spirit and Firefall.
Eddie Hardin, 57 (born 19 February 1949)
Member of Spencer Davis Group.
Andy Powell, 56 (born 19 February 1950)
Member of Wishbone Ash.
Jeff Daniels, 51 (born 19 February 1955)
Actor 'Dumb and Dumber' '101 Dalmations'.
Margot Hemingway, 51 (born 19 February 1955)
(Died 1996) Actress.
Falco, 49 (born 19 February 1957)
(Died 1998) Austrian singer 'Rock Me Amadeus'.
Lesley Ash, 46 (born 19 February 1960)
Actress and TV presenter. Val in "Love Hurts"
Holly Johnson, 46 (born 19 February 1960)
Member of Frankie Goes to Hollywood - 'Relax'.
Prince Markie Dee, 46 (born 19 February 1960)
Rap performer of Fat Boys fame.
HRH Prince Andrew, 46 (born 19 February 1960)
Duke of York.
Hanna Mandlikova, 44 (born 19 February 1962)
Czech tennis star and winner of the French Open in 1981, The US Open in 1985 and the Australian Open in 1987
Seal, 43 (born 19 February 1963)
Singer that had huge success with "Killer" and won many BRIT awards in 1992
Justine Bateman, 40 (born 19 February 1966)
Actress 'Family Ties'.

18th February - Today's The Day

18th February 2006
National day of Gambia and Nepal.

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Colman of Lindisfarne,
St Flavian of Jerusalem,
St Simeon of Jerusalem,
St Theotonius,
and St Helladius of Toledo.

History Test for February 18th
The Italian sculptor and painter, Michelangelo died today in 1564. In which Italian city is his statue `David' on display? -Florence - in the Accademia
Today in 1980, who was returned as Prime Minister of Canada after nine months out of office? -Pierre Trudeau
Discovered today in 1930, which planet is named after the Roman god of the Dead? -Pluto
Born today in 1929, who wrote the spy stories `The Ipcress File' and `Funeral in Berlin'? -Len Deighton
George Duke of Clarence, died today in 1478. According to tradition, he drowned in a butt of what type of wine? -Malmsey

Events today...
1455 Death of Fra Angelico, Florentine painter.
1478 George, Duke of Clarence, was drowned in a butt of Malmsey on the orders of his brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
1546 Death of Martin Luther, German founder of the Reformation.
1564 Michelangelo Buonarroti, Italian painter and sculptor, died in Rome at the age of 88.
1678 Publication of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.
1833 Death of Richard Wagner, German composer.
1861 Victor Emmanuel was proclaimed king of a united Italy at the first meeting of the Italian parliament.
1876 A direct telegraph link was set up between Britain and New Zealand.
1885 The "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was published. It was written by Mark Twain.
1900 The Dutch football team "AJAX" was formed in Amsterdam.
1925 England beat Australia in the Test in Melbourne for the first time in thirteen years, winning by an innings and 29 runs.
1930 The planet Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory in the US, as a result of a series of pictures taken the previous month.
1948 After 16 years in power, the Fianna Fál party was defeated in the Irish general elections.
1957 BBC television broadcast the first episode of 'Tonight", a new magazine series.
1965 The Gambia became an independent state within the Commonwealth.
1967 American physicist Robert Oppenheimer, who developed the US atomic bomb, died in Princeton, New Jersey.
1968 Pink Floyd had a new member when Dave Gilmour joined the band.
1969 Maurice Gibb married Lulu.
1971 Rupert Murdoch took control of London Weekend Television.
1976 The Race Relations Bill was published, making it an offence to incite racial hatred.
1977 Death of Andy Devine (aged 71) Actor.
1977 The Space Shuttle made its maiden flight on top of a Boeing 747.
1979 Snow fell in the Sahara Desert.
1980 Rolling Stone, Bill Wyman announced that he would be leaving the band.
1981 Harold Evans took over as editor of The Times, while Frank Giles was appointed editor of The Sunday Times.
1982 New Zealand murder-mystery novelist Dame Ngaio Marsh died.
1983 70-year-old comedian Danny Kaye had a heart by-pass operation in a Los Angeles hospital.
1983 A Royal Engineers' sapper drove a 40 ton armoured vehicle 80 miles across Dorset and Hampshire into Basingstoke, his home town, before being stopped by police. An Army spokesman commented "We do not encourage our drivers to take their vehicles home. It seems he wanted to go home for the weekend."
1983 Police arrested nine demonstrators after eggs and flour were thrown at Margaret Thatcher during her tour of North West industries.
1983 Two climbers died after falling from the 3,000ft Craig Yr Ysfa Peak in Snowdonia during freezing conditions.
1983 Universal Studios, responsible for the hugely successful film 'ET', were granted a temporary injunction in the High Court banning the sale of the spoof film 'ETn'.
1984 In Sydney, police chased five men on one motor cycle for six miles before the bike crashed, hurling its passengers onto the road. They were later charged with dangerous driving and offensive behaviour.
1984 The Royal Navy ended its 400 year association with Chatham, Kent, when the last forty sailors, led by two drummers, marched out of HMS Pembroke.
1987 Irish Prime Minister Dr. Garret Fitzgerald conceded defeat as the votes were being counted in the Irish general election, leaving Charles Haughey to become Prime Minister for the third time.
1988 A collection of paintings by Sir Noel Coward sold for £785,950 at Christie's in London.
1988 A lock of Lord Nelson's hair fetched £5,000 at Lawrence Fine Art in Somerset.
1988 Figures released in the UK showed a drop in unemployment of over 50,000.
1988 Mikhail Gorbachev removed Boris Yeltsin as a junior member of the Politburo.
1988 Russian spy Kim Philby made his first appearance on Russian television, to describe his friendship with the writer Graham Greene.
1988 The England cricket team drew with New Zealand in an ill-tempered match, after which Graham Dilley was fined for swearing.
1989 Former British Grand Prix champion Stirling Moss was fined £75 after driving his moped on the hard shoulder of the Westway.
1989 Packs of Anchor butter were recalled after small fragments of metal from machinery used in the manufacturing process were found in two packets.
1992 An American and a Russian nuclear submarine collided in the Barents Sea.
1993 Death of Jacqueline Hill (aged 63) Actress Barbara in 'Dr Who'.
1995 Paddy Ashdown had revealed that Britain was under pressure from America to give up some Trident weapons systems - a move that was denied in London and Washington.
1995 Clothing and other material from the A6 murder in 1961 was to be DNA tested in an attempt to end the controversy over the hanging of James Hanratty for the murder of Michael Gregsten and the rape of Valerie Storie.
1995 Radio 1 was to pay Chris Evans £325,000 to rescue its breakfast show after the departure of Steve Wright. The package would make Evans the BBC's highest-paid disc jockey.
1995 Rebecca Hill, an animal rights activist, left her three-hour protest at Manchester airport when police warned her that two dogs in her parked car could suffer because they were left with the windows closed.
1995 Labour's new general secretary ordered an urgent shake-up of the party's organisation to boost its prospects of winning the next general election. Apparently, according to one senior official, the 1992 campaign was a shambles. 'It was a horror story, said one offcial.
1995 Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson married.
1995 It was reported that in BBC radio, producers were supposed to log the gender, age, ethnic origin and any disability of every presenter, actor or guest as they appear, for 'a fair representation' on air. And the equal opportunities unit in network TV alone had more staff than the average local radio station. TV's equality unit grew from 1 man in 1990 to 10 in 1995. The unit produced a glossy 88-page booklet on its activities, only a few pages short of the BBC's Annual Report. Toby Jessel, Conservative MP for Twickenham said: 'It is counter-productive for the BBC to allow those with bees in their bonnets to let rip spending a lot of money on them.'
1999 Activists dumped a truck-load of Soya beans outside 10 Downing Street in protest of the Government’s comments on Genetically Modified food.
2000 Prince Andrew had a champagne dinner with supermodel Caprice at St James's Palace. Andy insisted everything had to be perfect - and the table glowed with exquisite candlesticks, flowers, silver cutlery and china with the Royal crest.
2003 A fire in an underground train in the city of Daegu, South Korea killed at least 120 people and injured many others in what officials say was an arson attack.
2003 Saudi Arabia said it was to try 90 Saudi nationals accused of al-Qaeda membership in the country's first such case.
2003 Tony Blair said the world was not rushing to war with Iraq - as it emerged he had arranged a private audience with the Pope to discuss the crisis.
2003 Up to 10,000 drivers who did not pay the £5 congestion charge on its first day of operation the previous day were being chased up to pay their fines.
2003 A computer hacker gained access to more than 5 million Visa and Mastercard credit card accounts in the US.
2003 Sir Bobby Robson celebrated his 70th birthday in style as Newcastle beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-1.
2003 Nigel de Jong's goal cancelled out a Sylvain Wiltord effort as Arsenal drew 1-1 with Ajax.
2004 In Iran, nearly 300 people died in Iran when a train carrying fuel and chemicals exploded.
2004 Howard Dean, once the front-runner in the race to challenge President Bush ended his campaign.
2004 The Basque militant group ETA said it had halted operations in the Spanish region of Catalonia for that year.
2004 Germany faced huge losses as a hi-tech project for collecting road tolls collapsed.
2004 It was announced that the children of their founder, the late Jim Henson, were selling the Muppets to Disney for an undisclosed sum.
2005 British authors Muriel Spark, Ian McEwan and Doris Lessing were among the nominees for the first world Booker prize.
2005 Britney Spears hit out at a US magazine after it published pictures of her honeymoon without permission.
2005 Celebrities including Dame Vera Lynn and Ken Dodd honoured Sir Norman Wisdom at a lunch for his 90th birthday.
2005 The team inspecting London's 2012 bid dined with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
2005 Double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes won the 1,000m at the Birmingham Grand Prix.

BIRTHDAYS (for 18 February 2006)
Mary I, 490 (born 18 February 1516)
Queen of England known as Bloody Mary
Queen Mary I, 490 (born 18 February 1516)
(Died 1558) First reigning queen.
Erich von Stroheim, 117 (born 18 February 1889)
(Died 1957) Actor Director.
Adolphe Menjou, 116 (born 18 February 1890)
(Died 1963) Actor.
Andres Segovia, 112 (born 18 February 1894)
Celebrated Spanish classical guitarist
Enzo Ferrari, 108 (born 18 February 1898)
(Died 1988) Motor racing driver and car designer.
Phyllis Calvert, 91 (born 18 February 1915)
English satge and screen actress
Jack Palance, 87 (born 18 February 1919)
US actor and Oscar-winner for his performance in the mid-lif crisis comedy "City Slickers"
Jack Palance, 86 (born 18 February 1920)
Actor 'City Slickers'.
Helen Gurley Brown, 84 (born 18 February 1922)
Founder of Cosmopolitan magazine.
George Kennedy, 81 (born 18 February 1925)
Actor 'Cool Hand Luke' 'Airplane' 'Naked Gun'.
Len Deighton, 77 (born 18 February 1929)
Novelist who has gained world-wide success since the publication of his first book "The Ipcress File" in 1962
Ned Sherrin, 75 (born 18 February 1931)
English producer, director and writer as well as a familiar TV personality
Milos Forman, 74 (born 18 February 1932)
Oscar-winning Czech film director best known for his highly successful "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"
Bobby Robson, 73 (born 18 February 1933)
Former English football team manager
Yoko Ono, 73 (born 18 February 1933)
Singer - John Lennon's widow.
Bobby Robson CBE, 73 (born 18 February 1933)
Footballer and England manager 1982-90.
Graeme Garden, 63 (born 18 February 1943)
Comedian - 'I'm Sorry I'll Read that Again' 'The Goodies'.
Dennis DeYoung, 59 (born 18 February 1947)
Member of Styx - 'Babe'.
Sinaed Cusack, 58 (born 18 February 1948)
Actress
Cybill Shepherd, 57 (born 18 February 1949)
American actress best known for her role in the popular TV series "Moonlighting"
Randy Crawford, 54 (born 18 February 1952)
Soul singer 'One Day I'll Fly Away'.
Robbie Bachman, 53 (born 18 February 1953)
Member of Bachman Turner Overdrive.
Derek Pellici, 53 (born 18 February 1953)
Member of Little River Band.
John Travolta, 52 (born 18 February 1954)
Popular American star still attempting to shake off the shackles of "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease"
Huw Davies, 47 (born 18 February 1959)
Coventry and England Rugby star
Greta Scacchi, 46 (born 18 February 1960)
Italian-born actress in films such as "Defence of the Realm", "White Mischeif", and "The Browning Version"
Matt Dillon, 42 (born 18 February 1964)
Actor 'The Outsiders' 'Kiss Before Dying'.
Tommy Scott, 38 (born 18 February 1968)
Member of Space.
Molly Ringwald, 38 (born 18 February 1968)
Actress 'Pretty in Pink'.
Gary Neville, 31 (born 18 February 1975)
Manchester United

17th February - Today's The Day

17th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of Saints Theodulus and Julian,
St Eversnod,
St Loman,
St Fintan of Cloneenagh,
and St Finan of Lindisfarne.

History Test for February 17th
Today in 1980, artist Graham Sutherland died. He painted a controversial portrait of which Prime Minister? -Sir Winston Churchill
The world premiere of the opera `Madame Butterfly' took place today in 1904. Who composed it? -Giacomo Puccini
Which North American Indian chief gave his name to the war cry of paratroopers and died today in 1909? -Geronimo
Born today in 1930, which crime writer created Chief Inspector Wexford? -Ruth Rendell
Today in 1954, Princess Marie-Astrid was born. She is a member of which country's Royal Family? -Luxembourg
Events today...
1405 Death of Tamerlane the Great, Mongol leader.
1461 Lancastrian forces defeated the Yorkists at the Battle of St Albans.
1673 French dramatist Molière died of a brain haemorrhage after a coughing fit on stage.
1855 The imperial Chinese army finally ousted the Small Sword Triad gang from Shanghai with the help of French forces.
1856 Death of Heinrich Heine, German poet.
1859 First production of Verdi's opera Un Ballo in Maschera, in Rome.
1864 The first successful submarine torpedo attack took place when the USS Housatonic was sunk by the Confederate submarine Hunley in Charleston harbour; however, the force of the explosion was so great that the submarine itself was also blown up, killing all on board.
1867 The first ship passed through the Suez Canal.
1876 Sardines in a tin were made for the first time. (.... I bet they had difficulty opening them...).
1880 Tsar Alexander II narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Russian Nihilists as a bomb exploded in the Winter Palace at St Petersburg.
1883 The Vacant/Engaged toilet door was patented by Mr Ashwell of Herne Hill, London.
1904 First production of Puccini's Madame Butterfly in Milan.
1909 Geronimo ('One Who Yawns'), the legendary Apache warrier chief, died at his ranch on an Oklahoma reservation, far from the homeland he fought to defend. He was 79.
1924 Big Ben was first broadcast on radio.
1934 Belgian King, Albert I, was killed in a climbing accident.
1938 John Logie Baird's colour television was demonstrated in public for the first time when a 12ft x 9ft screen at the Dominion Theatre in London showed a series of fashion plates and a cartoon transmitted from Crystal Palace.
1958 During a meeting at Westminster's Central Hall, The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the group calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons in Britain, was formed, led by a committee including Labour MP Michael Foot, philosopher Bertrand Russell and author J. B. Priestley.
1962 The Beach Boys had their first hit with "Surfin".
1962 After the longest murder trial in British legal history, James Hanratty was found guilty of the murder of Michael Gregson in a layby on the A6, (-funny place to have a trial) and was sentenced to hang.
1968 English actor Sir Donald Wolfit died.
1968 Jean-Claude Killy from Austria, one of the world's greatest alpine skiers, won all three men's gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
1969 Golda Meir became the first Israeli Prime Minister.
1970 Death of Alfred Newman (aged 68) Film composer Love is a Many Splendored Thing'.
1972 The German Volkswagen Beetle outsold the American Model T Ford with over 15 million cars sold.
1972 The House of Commons voted in favour of Britain joining the Common Market.
1974 There was disaster at a football match in Cairo, Egypt, when 49 people died after fans stampeded.
1978 Inflation in the UK fell to 9.9 per cent, the first time in five years that it had been in single figures.
1979 Months of border skirmishes erupted in war on this day as Chinese forces poured into Vietnam.
1980 Death of Jerry Fielding (aged 57) Composer of TV themes 'Bewitched' 'Hogan's Heroes'.
1980 British painter Graham Sutherland, best known for his uncompromising portrait of Winston Churchill, died at the age of 76.
1982 Crackdown in Poland as General Jaruzelski imposed martial law and thousands were arrested.
1982 Death of Lee Strasburg, US actor.
1982 Death of Thelonious Monk (aged 64) Jazz performer, who was influential in the development of "bop".
1983 Australia suffered a second day of the worst bush fires for at least 45 years.
1983 It was reported that a man in Warsaw, angry after an argument with his wife, had put a live artillery shell in her bed. On discovering the shell, the woman took it to the police who took in her husband for questioning, while a bomb disposal unit dealt with the explosive.
1983 Richard Attenborough's film 'Gandhi' received 11 Oscar nominations, with, Ben Kingsley nominated for Best Actor and Attenborough receiving a nomination for Best Director.
1984 James Bond star Sean Connery was awarded £2.8 million damages against his former financial adviser and accountant Kenneth Richards for breach of contract and negligence. The figure was believed to have been the biggest made to an individual.
1984 Laurence Mann from Southeast London, was jailed for fourteen years after stealing £80,000 from a postman at gunpoint while pretending to be out jogging.
1988 In a friendly in Tel Aviv, the England football team could only manage a drab nil-nil draw with Israel, while Scotland suffered a similar fate in Riyadh where they were held to a two-two draw by Saudi Arabia.
1988 It was disclosed that three men had been dismissed from the Harwell atomic research establishment after being caught smoking cannabis.
1989 Former world welterweight boxing champion Lloyd Honeyghan faced a fine and suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission when a drug test after his fight against Marlon Starling in Las Vegas proved positive.
1989 Solicitor Susan Brittain from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, whose career was destroyed when she broke her back in a road accident was awarded record damages for a tetraplegic of £949,000.
1992 A report by the Food Commission claimed that many slimming snacks and drinks contained too much fat and too little protein.
1992 An earthquake estimated at 3.3 on the Richter scale hit Peterborough around 1.23am; the first earthquake to hit the area since 1750.
1992 It was reported that a prisoner due for release from a jail in Northumberland, where 20 people had escaped in only 18 months had asked to be kept in for an extra two months so that he could complete a course to gain a qualification for which he had been studying.
1992 It was reported that at East Germany's largest maternity unit, right up until 1980 babies weighing under a kilogram at birth were drowned because there were no incubators.
1993 A Haitian ferry boat capsized during a storm and up to 2000 people drowned.
1995 It was reported that the Marine Safety Agency had detained twenty six foreign ships in British ports in January.
1995 The hit show, 'The Phantom of the Opera' was halted by a fire under the stage but continued after half-an-hour.
1995 Kevin Eason of The Times arrived at Euston station to go to Rugby. He boarded the 11.10pm to Wolverhampton, which left at 12.10am. At 1am the train reached Buckinghamshire and at 4am reached Milton Keynes, where another passenger train joined it having left Euston two hours before the Wolverhampton train. At 4.55am the train set off to arrive at 6.30am, in time for Mr Eason to return to London on the 9.17am.
1995 The head of ScotRail, Mr Chris Green, who resigned, was to become the chief executive of English Heritage.
1995 The pools company Littlewoods was to seek 560 redundancies from among its 4,000 staff in Liverpool.
1995 The Tobacco Products Labelling Bill and the Tobacco Smoking (Public Places) Bill failed to get second readings in the Commons after too few MPs attended the debate for a vote to take place.
1995 The Clinton administration said that it was prepared to sell advanced F16 fighter jets to Poland and seemed set to upset Russia in the process. Moscow, on the other hand, was determined to sell nuclear reactors to Iran, despite Washington's strong protests.
1998 The Queen Mother left hospital following her second hip-replacement operation.
1998 Frank Clark was sacked as manager of the troubled Manchester City. He was replaced by Joe Royle.
1999 Calls to keep ‘Duty Free’ were rejected by the EU.
1999 The FA confirmed that Kevin Keegan would perform the job of England team coach for the next four international matches.
2003 At least 21 people died in a stampede at a Chicago nightclub, said to have started after pepper
spray was used to break up a fight.
2003 Some of the heaviest snowfalls on record brought parts of the eastern United States to a halt, as
freezing conditions left 16 dead.
2003 German prosecutors charged six of the country's top business leaders, alleging malpractice during Vodafone's takeover of Mannesmann.
2003 London's congestion charge had a smooth start with traffic down 25%, but transport chiefs said its success could not yet be judged.
2003 Hello!'s owner apologised for offending Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas by printing paparazzi photos of their wedding.
2003 Pop star Michael Jackson's lawyers said they would ask a judge to throw out a £7.9m legal claim from the singer's former business manager.
2003 A spokeswoman confirmed that the five former Spice Girls were planning to meet this week for the first time in five years.
2003 Environment Minister Michael Meacher denied he was about to resign after his outspoken attack on genetically modified crops.
2003 The Inland Revenue revealed that it had more than 500 computers either lost by staff or stolen in the previous five years.
2003 Sir Alex Ferguson said David Beckham's eye injury was caused by a 'freak accident'. Two days earlier Ferguson had kicked a football boot across the dressing room after his side’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat against Arsenal. The boot caught Beckham in the face and left him needing stitches.
2003 Michael Vaughan revealed he would be keen to take over from Nasser Hussain as England captain.
2004 The Dutch parliament backed a plan to expel 26,000 failed asylum seekers, including many long-term residents.
2004 France considered intervention in Haiti as anti-government rebels tightened their grip on the north.
2004 Tony Blair and ministers said they had agreed a package covering rights to UK jobs and benefits for people from the 10 new EU member states.
2004 A diploma system was proposed to replace A-levels and GCSEs, in a far-reaching reform of exams.
2004 Glam rock band "The Darkness" took three Brit Awards at the UK music industry's annual ceremony.
2005 Iraqi officials announced final election results giving the main Shia party 140 of 275 seats in the new parliament.
2005 President Bush named his ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, as the first US head of national intelligence.
2005 Seven were arrested and £2m was seized by police investigating a possible link with a Northern Bank robbery.
2005 Air passengers unable to board because of overbooking, cancellations or flight delays would now be able to claim more compensation.
2005 Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles changed the venue of their forthcoming wedding.
2005 Heerenveen 1-2 Newcastle. Two second-half goals gave Newcastle a vital UEFA Cup victory at Heerenveen, and Middlesbrough scored two valuable away goals in the first leg of their UEFA Cup tie at Graz AK.
2005 Olympic officials completed their tour of London's sporting landmarks on day two of their crucial visit.

BIRTHDAYS (for 17 February 2006)
Arangelo Corelli, 353 (born 17 February 1653)
Italian composer and violinist
Andrew "Banjo" Paterson, 142 (born 17 February 1864)
Australian poet and journalist and author of the popular anthem "Waltzing Matilda".
Marian Anderson, 104 (born 17 February 1902)
American contralto and the first black singer to perform on stage at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
Elleston Trevor, 86 (born 17 February 1920)
Prolific writer
Tommy Edwards, 84 (born 17 February 1922)
Singer songwriter
Hal Holbrook, 81 (born 17 February 1925)
Actor 'Capricorn One'.
Nicholas Ridley, 77 (born 17 February 1929)
Former Trade and Industry Secretary
Patricia Routledge OBE, 77 (born 17 February 1929)
British actress working mainly on television. Hyacinth Bouquet in "Keeping up Appearances" and Hetty Wainthropp the investigator
Yasser Arafat, 77 (born 17 February 1929)
Died 2004. Palestinian President
Alan Bates, 72 (born 17 February 1934)
Died 2003. British stage and screen star who has appeared in films as diverse as "Zorba the Greek", "A Prayer for the Dying" with Mickey Rourke and "Hamlet" with Mel Gibson
Barry Humphries, 72 (born 17 February 1934)
Australian entertainer and creator of Dame Edna and Les Patterson.
Jim Brown, 70 (born 17 February 1936)
Actor.
Benjamin Whitrow, 69 (born 17 February 1937)
English actor. TV adaptation "Pride and Predudice"
John Leyton, 67 (born 17 February 1939)
Singer and actor 'Johnny Remember Me'.
Christina Pickles, 66 (born 17 February 1940)
Actress - Nurse Helen Rosenthal in 'St Elsewhere'.
Gene Pitney, 65 (born 17 February 1941)
Singer and songwriter, who had hits with "Twenty Four Hours from Tulsa", "Something's gotten hold of My Heart" and "I'm Gonna be Strong"
Julia McKenzie, 64 (born 17 February 1942)
Actress and singer who starred as Hester Fields in "French Fields" (and "Fresh Fields") on TV
Brenda Fricker, 61 (born 17 February 1945)
Actress - Megan in 'Casualty' 'My Left Foot'.
Prunella Gee, 56 (born 17 February 1950)
British actress
Norman Pace, 53 (born 17 February 1953)
Comedian of Hale and Pace fame.
Princess Marie-Astrid of Luxembourg, 52 (born 17 February 1954)

Rene Russo, 52 (born 17 February 1954)
Actress 'Ransom' 'Buddy'.
Richard Karn, 50 (born 17 February 1956)
Actor - Al Borland in 'Home Improvement'.
Lou Diamond Phillips, 44 (born 17 February 1962)
Actor - 'Young Guns' 'La Bamba'.
Michael Jordon, 43 (born 17 February 1963)
pro basketball player/athlete 'Space Jam'

16th February - Today's The Day

16th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Juliana of Cumae,
St Onesimus the Slave,
St Gilbert of Sempringham,
and Saints Elias, Jeremy, and their Companions.

History Test for February 16th
Knighted today in 1993 which TV celebrity and interviewer has the middle name `Paradine'? -Sir David Frost
Named after a former Minister of Transport, who died today in 1957, what is the familiar feature of pedestrian crossings? -Belisha beacons - after Lord Hore-Belisha
Today in 1926, director John Schlesinger was born. Which film, starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman, won him an Oscar? -`Midnight Cowboy'
The musical `Fiddler on the Roof' opened in London today in 1967. What was the title of Topol's top ten hit from the show? -'If I Were A Rich Man'
John McEnroe was born today in 1959. In which year did he first win the Men's Singles Championship at Wimbledon? -1981

Events today...
600 AD The phrase "God Bless You" was decreed by Pope Gregory as the correct response to a sneeze.
1279 Death of Alfonso III, king of Portugal.
1659 The first British cheque was written by Nicholas Vanacker. It is now preserved in the archives of the National Westminster Bank.
1779 Death of William Boyce, (aged 69) British composer.
1823 Death of Pierre-Paul Prudhon, French painter.
1834 Death of Lionel Lukin, English inventor of the lifeboat.
1887 25,000 prisoners in India were released to celebrate Queen Victoria's jubilee.
1892 Death of Henry Walter Bates, English naturalist and explorer.
1900 Winston Churchill's first novel, 'Savrola', was published.
1921 The government announced that it was to increase unemployment benefit from 15 shillings to 18 shillings a week for men and from 12 shillings to 15 shillings for women.
1923 The burial chamber of King Tutankhamen was opened in Egypt.
1932 Irish general election won by Fianna Foil party, led by Eamon de Valera.
1934 Noel Coward's 'Conversation Piece' received its premiere at His Majesty's Theatre in London.
1936 Great Britain won the ice hockey gold medal in the Winter Olympics in Germany, to end the Canadian team's uninterrupted sixteen-year run of gold medals.
1937 Nylon, developed by Dr. W. H. Corothers and his American research team, was patented.
1940 The British navy rescued about 300 British seamen who were held on board the German ship Altmark, in a Norwegian fjord.
1949 Chaim Weitzman was sworn in as the first President of Israel.
1954 Movie star Marilyn Monroe started a four day trip entertaining troops in Korea.
1956 MP's voted in favour of a move to abolish the death penalty.
1957 The popular music show "The 6.5 Special" made its debut on BBC Television.
1957 British statesman Sir Leslie Hore-Belisha, responsible for the introduction of Belisha beacons, the Highway Code and driving tests, died.
1959 At the age of 30, Fidel Castro became Prime Minister of Cuba, having overthrown the regime of Batista.
1960 The American nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on an underwater circumnavigation of the world which was completed on the 10th May, 1960.
1961 Robert Graves was appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.
1967 The British film industry experienced a purple patch as three British films, 'Georgy Girl', 'A Man For All Seasons' and 'Alfie' won top honours at the Golden Globe awards in the US.
1968 Elvis Presley's religious album "How Great Thou Art" went gold.
1970 Joe Frazier became world heavyweight boxing champion when he knocked out Jimmy Ellis in New York.
1972 Nine-hour electricity black-outs were imposed on virtually all of Britain as a result of the miners' strike crisis.
1974 The BBC announced that Tom Baker was to be the next Dr Who. He was to take over the part from John Pertwee.
1982 Farrah Fawcett Majors and Lee Majors divorced.
1983 Sixty-three people died as large areas of southern Australia were struck by bush fires during the country's worst drought this century.
1983 It was reported that police were using psychics and diviners in an attempt to try and locate missing racehorse Shergar.
1983 Robert Hunter resigned as head of news with TV-am.
1983 Scientists searching for the Loch Ness monster claimed to have made more than 40 contacts with "something large" moving under the water.
1984 Four British actors, Michael Caine, Albert Finney, Tom Courtenay and Tom Conti were nominated for the best actor Oscar. Julie Walters was nominated for best actress alongside Meryl Streep and Shirley Maclaine.
1984 High Court judge, Justice Leggatt, won undisclosed damages after he claimed he had lost £163,000 in earnings because of injuries suffered in a road crash. He sued H. R. Goodale of London, the owners of the lorry which collided with a taxi in which he was a passenger.
1984 The BBC won the Royal Television Society's domestic award for its coverage of the resignation of Cecil Parkinson. John Tusa of the BBC's 'Newsnight' won the award for television journalist of the year.
1984 Two Danish trawler skippers were each fined £17,000 by Plymouth magistrates after fishing illegally for mackerel inside prohibited waters around south-west England.
1987 Jan Leeming was attacked at the BBC Television Centre after some intruders got into the building and sprayed ammonia into her eyes. Jan was a newsreader at the time.
1988 Ford strikers agreed to return to work following the offer of a 14 per cent pay rise.
1995 A prize draw in aid of demonstrators who were arrested in animal rights protests in the Essex port of Brightlingsea was won by the Assistant Chief Constable of Essex who was in charge of police operations. He asked that the draw be made again after he declined the prize.
1995 Brigitte Bardot, the actress, wrote to the Agriculture Secretary urging him to impose an eight-hour limit on animal journey times in transit. She hoped he may persuade the EU states to introduce such a limit.
1995 According to research by the Institute of Local Government Studies, three quarters of those appointed to quangos were male, 60% to 70% were from the commercial sector and more than 98% were white. There is no register of the 40,000 or more appointments.
1995 The small Channel Island of Sark threw out the Maastricht treaty. The Chief Pleas, the feudal island's parliament, rejected a proposal to include elements of the treaty in Sark law. One of the parliament's deputies compared the Maastricht treaty to the decision that allowed the Germans to occupy the island in 1940.
1995 The Conservative Party lost its deposit in a by-election as Labour held Neil Kinnock's former seat of Islwyn, South Wales.
1995 Since the launch of the Courts Charter in 1993, more than £600,000 was paid out by the Lord Chancellor's department in compensation for errors and delays in the county courts.
1995 The wife of President Mitterrand of France said that the fuss over his illegitimate daughter only helped to bring them closer together. She said: 'Francois at once thought I would be hurt. I reassured him by saying 'Don't worry, it only makes me closer to you since we have to stick together".
1996 Death of Roger Bowen, (aged 63) Actor.
1997 Actor Gary Oldman married Donya Fiorentino.
1999 Fifty protesters barricaded themselves inside the Greek Embassy in London.
2000 University of Manchester scientists said that human beings inherit their love of music from fish. Scientists found evidence that a tiny organ in the inner ear detects some musical frequencies and relays them to the brain's pleasure centres. The only other creatures known to use the organ for hearing are fish.
2000 Soccer yob Stan Collymore flew home in disgrace after he led team-mates on a drunken rampage and trashed a posh Spanish bar. As Collymore and the other Leicester City stars landed at Gatwick they were sent straight to the club's ground for a showdown with furious manager Martin O`Neill. The team were staying at the exclusive La Manga resort in preparation for the Worthington Cup final which was to take place in a week and a half. But the whole team were sent home in disgrace. A hotel bar was trashed. There were punch-ups between the team and other holidaymakers. Women were insulted and Collymore sprayed players and guests with a fire extinguisher, wrecking expensive carpets and furniture and ruining clothes. Collymore, who only joined Leicester the previous week after months at Aston Villa without a first team match, tried to deny his involvement in the incident.
2000 GP Harold Shipman was accused of 23 murders by police. Police had hoped the 54-year-old ex-GP would be charged with murdering the 23 patients - all elderly women. They regarded the evidence in each case as strong as the 15 murders which sent him to jail for life the previous month. But his lawyers were already considering an appeal claiming that pre-trial publicity prevented a fair hearing.
2000 `Posh Spice` made a surprise appearance on catwalk at the Maria Grachvogel fashion show, in London. Beckham's short spiky hair was fluffed up and she wore a tight green polo neck tank top - apparently without a bra - with a delicate trim at the hem. She also wore a pair of tiny olive satin hotpants, with a pair of knee-length, brown, high-heeled boots.
2000 A leaked medical report revealed that General Augusto Pinochet had brain damage. The report concluded that the former Chilean dictator suffers from brain damage brought on by multiple strokes and is unfit to stand trial on charges of human rights abuses. It was released to two Spanish newspapers by the foreign ministry of Spain within hours of it being delivered."
2000 George Michael was "in the clear" as a case against him wass dismissed in California. The officer who arrested Michael for lewd behaviour in a public lavatory two years earlier went to court over an irreverent pop video released shortly after the incident. Marcelo Rodriguez claimed the video - for the song Outrage - caused him emotional and mental distress and that the singer was profiting at his expense.
2000 The England cricket team won by five wickets in the first match of one-day series in Zimbabwe. With nine balls remaining, Hick - playing his first innings for England in the country of his birth - smashed a six to clinch a five-wicket victory. It was one of four steepling sixes hit by the right-hander, who came to the crease with the score on just 13 and was named man-of-the-match for his unbeaten 87.
2003 In Cyprus, opposition candidate Tassos Papadopoulos defeated the veteran President Glafcos Clerides in a poll crucial to the future of the divided island.
2003 Nato ambassadors considered a Belgian proposal to end the bitter row over military aid to Turkey in case of war with Iraq.
2003 The 200th anniversary of the birth of Hector Berlioz has sparked a row over whether his remains should be moved to the Pantheon in Paris.
2003 A man allegedly found with a live grenade after flying into Gatwick Airport from Venezuela three days earlier was charged with terrorism offences.
2003 England cricket team recorded an emphatic six-wicket win over Holland in their opening World Cup game.
2003 Scientists revealed that if the water-ice hidden just below the Martian surface were to melt, it would create a planet-wide sea 13cm deep.
2003 A group of leading scientific journals announced it was to restrict publication of research if it is felt the information could aid bioterrorists.
2003 Harry Kewell fired Leeds into the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace.
2004 In France, a spokesman for President Chirac's political party and an ex-defence minister were convicted of money-laundering.
2004 President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, named his cabinet which included some of Europe's youngest ministers.
2004 Record label EMI threatened legal action against a DJ who remixed The Beatles' White Album.
2004 Cyclist Marco Pantani's autopsy revealed the cyclist suffered from severe swelling of the heart and brain.
2005 Tony Blair urged London mayor Ken Livingstone to apologise for his "Nazi" comment to a Jewish reporter.
2005 Singer George Michael said a new film about his life was the beginning of a retirement from public view.

BIRTHDAYS (for 16 February 2006)
Edger Bergen, 103 (born 16 February 1903)
(Died 1978) Comedian ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy).
John Schlesinger, 80 (born 16 February 1926)
Oscar-winning film director whose successes include "Midnight Cowboy", "Sunday, Bloody Sunday", "Marathon Man" and "Pacific Heights".
June Brown, 79 (born 16 February 1927)
Actress best known as Dot Cotton in EastEnders.
Peter Porter, 77 (born 16 February 1929)
Australian poet
Peter Adamson, 76 (born 16 February 1930)
Actor best remembered as Len Fairclough in "Coronation Street"
Sonny (born Salvatore) Bono, 71 (born 16 February 1935)
(Died 1998) Singer & mayor - of Sonny & Cher fame.
Christine Truman, 65 (born 16 February 1941)
Tennis player.
Jeremy Bulloch, 61 (born 16 February 1945)
English actor who appeared in "The Empire strikes Back", and "Return of the Jedi". He has also appeared in "Casualty" and "The Bill"
Ian Lavender, 60 (born 16 February 1946)
Actor best known as Private Pike in "Dad's Army"
Pete Postlethwaite, 60 (born 16 February 1946)
Actor 'In the Name of the Father' 'Brassed Off'.
Lyn Paul, 57 (born 16 February 1949)
New Seekers, who had hits with "Never Ending song of Love", "I'd Like to teach the World to Sing" and "Beg Steal or Borrow"
James Ingram, 50 (born 16 February 1956)
Singer - 'Yah Mo B There'.
Levar Burton, 49 (born 16 February 1957)
Actor - Lt Geordie La Forge in 'Star Trek: Next Generation'.
John McEnroe, 47 (born 16 February 1959)
US tennis player
Andy Taylor, 45 (born 16 February 1961)
Duran Duran - who attracted a huge following in the early 80s and recorded a James Bond movie theme "A View To A Kill"
Pete Willis, 45 (born 16 February 1961)
Member of Def Leppard.

15th February - Today's The Day

15th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Tanco or Tacto,
St Agape of Temi,
St Walfrid or Galfrid,
and St Sigfrid of Vaxjo.

History Test for February 15th
Today in 1952 the funeral of King George VI took place at Windsor. What title was conferred on him in 1920? Duke of York
Born today in 1929, which British racing driver won the World Championship in 1962 and 1968? -Graham Hill
Today in 1907, the actor Cesar Romero was born. Which villain did he play in the 'Batman' TV series? -The Joker
Today in 1973, Frank Spencer first appeared in TV's `Some Mothers Do `Ave `Em'. What was the name of the character's daughter? -Jessica
Britain went decimal today in 1971. How many old pennies were there in a Guinea? - One Guinea = £1/1s = 252d

QUOTE
Remember the Maine, to hell with Spain! - The warmongering slogan in William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal on the sinking of the USS Maine in Havana today, 1898.

QUOTE
He floats Like an anchor, stings like a moth. - Sports writer Ray Gandolf updates Muhammad Ali's line "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" after Ali lost his title tonight, 1978.

Events today...
483 BC Death of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, (aged 79) Religious leader founded Buddhism.
1718 Death of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German author.
1857 Russian composer Mikhail Glinka died inBerlin.
1882 New Zealand cargo ship Dunedin sailed with the first consignment of frozen meat for the British market.
1898 The US battleship Maine exploded and sank in Havana harbour with the loss of 260 lives. She had been sent to Havana to protect American citizens during the Cuban rebellion against Spanish rule. The US said the tragic explosion was caused by a floating mine, but Spanish authorities said the ship's bunkers caught fire. The incident brought the two countries to the brink of war. The American press was holding Spain responsible and demanding revenge. William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal was deliberately whipping up pro-war feelings. Hearst had agitated for US intervention in the brutal Spanish suppression of Cuba's peasant rebellion, and had recently published a stolen letter in which Spain's envoy criticised President McKinley. In a now-famous cable to a cameraman sent to Havana, he promised to provide the war himself. Spain, meanwhile, was hastily trying to withdraw from Cuba without loss of face.
1922 The first session of the Permanent Court of International Justice in The Hague was held.
1928 Death of Herbert Henry Asquith, British statesman and Liberal Prime Minister from1908 to 1916.
1933 Giuseppe Zangara, an Italian immigrant, failed in an attempt to assassinate President Franklin D. Roosevelt in Miami's Bayfront Park.
1942 Singapore fell to Japanese forces who captured thousands of British troops.
1944 The Allies began to bomb the German-held strategic position of Monte Cassino in Italy.
1945 British forces reached the River Rhine in their advance to Berlin.
1952 King George VI was buried at Windsor after a state funeral. More than 300,000 silently paid their respects as his coffin lay in state at Westminster Hall in London. His brother Edward VIII's abdication in 1936 forced him to take the throne he had never wanted. Wartime leadership was thrust upon him, but he won wide affection and tremendous respect for his dedication, often risking his life on morale-building visits to troops in the war zones. The eldest of his two daughters became the new Queen of England, Elizabeth II.
1954 The 800th episode of 'The Archers' was broadcast by BBC radio. Its audience stood at a record ten million.
1963 Police in Paris foiled an assassination attempt on President Charles de Gaulle.
1965 Death of Nat King Cole, (aged 45) American singer and musician 'When I Fall in Love'.
1968 The Beatles (John and George) went to India for some meditation with the Maharishi. Paul and Ringo joined them later.
1968 The Royal Navy’s first Polaris missile was successfully tested in the Atlantic.
1970 Death of Lord Dowding, the architect of British Fighter Command's victory over the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
1971 Britain went decimal, leaving millions of older citizens brought up with pennies, tanners, bobs, florins and half-crowns to fumble with unfamiliar coins inelegantly known as "p", short for "new pence" - as in "five p", which equalled 12 old pennies (or one old shilling). If this all sounds confusing, that's because it was. New pence were more than twice the value of old pennies, and critics said the awkward conversion scale would mean higher prices and hidden inflation. But the government claimed the changeover went very smoothly.
1973 Death of Wally Cox, (aged 48) Actor comedian 'Hiram Holiday'.
1974 "Rebel Rebel" was released by David Bowie
1974 The battle for the strategic Golan Heights between Israeli and Syrian forces began.
1978 Muhammad Ali lost his world heavyweight title to Leon Spinks in a 15-round decision at Las Vegas. Ali first won the title in 1964, but was stripped of it, for refusing to fight in Vietnam. He started fighting again in 1970 and won the title a second time when he beat the fearsome George Foreman in a sensational upset in 1974. Ali was 36, and after his defeat punters are saying he is past it - but he was a superb athlete with enormous staying power. Spinks was only the third fighter ever to beat Ali. Joe Frazier did it in 1971, but Ali later beat him twice. Ken Norton defeated Ali in 1973, but Ali won the return bout. Now Ali wanted a return match against Spinks. If Ali was to win, he'd be the only man to hold the title three times.
1981 For the first time, English Football League matches were played on a Sunday.
1981 Death of Mike Bloomfield, (aged 36) Blues singer musician.
1982 Eighty-four died as a storm wrecked and sank the oilrig "Ocean Ranger" off the coast of Newfoundland.
1983 Animal rights activists sent a fire bomb in a postal package to Peter Walker, the Minister for Agriculture in protest against the culling of seals in Canada.
1983 Figures published in the UK gave the BBC's `Breakfast Time' programme a huge lead over ITV's 'TV-am', with an audience of one million, compared to the independent channel's 300,000.
1983 In the League Milk Cup, Manchester United beat Arsenal by two goals to nil in the first leg of their semi-final, while Liverpool went through to the final following a 3-1 aggregate win over Burnley.
1983 The Queen was mobbed by excited schoolchildren during a visit to Montego Bay in Jamaica.
1984 Death of Ethel Merman, (aged 75) US singer and actress.
1984 Five seamen were saved from the British coaster Camilla Weston which sank in the North Sea after colliding with a German ship eight miles off Cromer, Norfolk, in dense fog.
1984 Much-loved comedian and conjurer Tommy Cooper died after collapsing on stage; many people thought that it was part of his act.
1984 Six Russian paintings which were expected to fetch around £35,500 in a Sotheby's auction in London were withdrawn after it was revealed that they were fakes.
1984 Under Secretary at the Home Office, David Mellor, announced that fines for dealing in video nasties would be doubled from £10,000 to £20,000 and a custodial sentence would also be imposed.
1985 Gary Kasperov was beaten by Anatoly Karpov in the World Chess Championship.
1986 London police in riot gear fought violently with 5000 angry union pickets trying to stop distribution of the Sunday Times and News of the World newspapers. Australian press baron Rupert Murdoch moved the papers to a new computerised plant at Wapping in London's docklands to outflank the 2000 print union strikers who had brought production to a halt. The papers were now being produced by managers and journalists, and Wapping was virtually under siege.
1988 Prince Edward began his first day with Andrew Lloyd Webber's Really Useful Company as a production assistant.
1988 Swiss skier Pirmin Zurbriggen became downhill ski champion in the Winter Olympic's most prestigious event.
1988 Temperatures in the UK reached 15 degrees Centigrade in some areas, higher than those in many Mediterranean countries.
1988 The Princess of Wales opened a centre for drug addiction in Birmingham.
1988 US physicist and Nobel Prize-winner Richard Phillips Feynman died.
1989 A small quantity of radioactive waste from the Hinkley Point A nuclear power station in Somerset was found fifteen years after it was dumped on an unlicensed site outside the power station.
1989 Alan Kane from Exeter became the second Briton this century to discover a supernova while using his telescope from his back garden.
1989 Demonstrators marched on the British embassy in Tehran in support of Ayatollah Khomeini's death sentence on Salman Rushdie, author of 'The Satanic Verses'.
1989 Magistrate Florence Cameron from Purley, Surrey, who was accused of taking £43,000 from a childrens' charity, walked free from Southwark Crown Court after the prosecution admitted it got its sums wrong.
1990 Britain and Argentina restored full diplomatic relations (first time since the Falklands War in 1982).
1995 A couple were married 35,000ft above the ground aboard a Boeing 747 en route from Los Angeles to Heathrow. Dr Gary Dickey, who conducted the ceremony, said: 'I've never held a wedding so close to God.'
1995 A parrot recognised his owner in Kingston upon Thames Crown Court. Barney, a key witness in a stolen goods trial, let out a wolf-whistle when he spotted Georgina Morgans, from whom he had allegedly been stolen. A man was accused of handling the stolen bird that he called 'Blue'. The judge said that he was astonished that no lawyer had picked up an obvious point: the only name the bird had spoken while at the police station was - Barney. The accused man was found guilty.
1995 The Ministry of Defence found that hundreds of valuable paintings had gone missing when it made a check. Two paintings had not been seen for 20 years and no one seemed to know what had happened to them.
1995 President Mandela of South Africa said that he would not run for a second term in office in the next election in 1999.
1995 American marines entering Somalia were to be equipped with unusual weapons aimed at immobilising rioters. 'Doughnut guns' fire rubber discs that can wind people if they are hit in the chest; 'Foam goo', which fires a sort of melted toffee which becomes a strong glue when exposed to the air; 'Bean-bags' that release a shower of stinging pellets on impact and 'Gladiators', nets made of fine string covered in glue that can be flung over an advancing mob.
1996 Death of McLean Stevenson, (aged 66) Actor Lt Col Henry Blake in TV's 'MASH'.
1996 Prince and Myte tied the knot.
1996 The "Sea Empress" spilled its load of crude oil after it ran aground at the entrance to Milford Haven harbour.
2003 A bomb blast in the northern Gaza Strip killed four Israeli soldiers and destroyed a tank, in an attack by Palestinian militants.
2003 London saw its biggest peacetime demonstration as activists in up to 60 countries rallied against a US-led war in Iraq.
2003 Archives about Church ties with Nazi Germany were opened to counter charges that Pope Pius failed to speak out against the Holocaust.
2003 In Rugby, twenty points from Jonny Wilkinson helped England to a vital 25-17 Six Nations victory over France.
2003 The last Ariane-4 rocket left the launch pad as the series made way for a larger craft capable of taking bigger loads into space.
2003 The Internet's top administrators were wrangling over who would get to run its core address system.
2003 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger praised his side after the 2-0 FA Cup sixth round win at Man Utd.
2003 Nasser Hussain said he will consider stepping down as England captain after the World Cup.
2003 Sir Alex Ferguson had kicked a football boot across the dressing room after his side’s 2-0 FA Cup defeat against Arsenal. The boot caught Beckham in the face and left him needing stitches.
2004 Thousands took to the streets to call for the resignation of Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
2004 In Moscow, a criminal investigation opened as rescuers searched the rubble of a water park where a roof collapsed killing at least 24 people.
2004 Budget airline Ryanair said it was lowering costs by ordering a fleet of planes without items like reclining seats or window blinds.
2004 A magistrate said he had ruled out suicide in the death of the Italian cycling star Marco Pantani.
2004 An investigation was launched into how a runaway trolley ploughed into railway workers, killing four of them.
2004 Comedy duo The Two Ronnies announced that they were set to return to the nation's screens after a 17-year absence.
2004 Jose Antonio Reyes scored twice as Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-1 in the FA Cup fifth round. And a single goal by Sheffield United's Paul Peschisolido edged Colchester out of the Cup.
2005 Michael Jackson was rushed to hospital with "flu-like symptoms" and his trial is postponed for a week.
2005 Foreigners wanting to work in the UK would face mandatory health checks under plans unveiled by the Tories.
2005 BBC One was set to show more current affairs programming; Panorama would remain in its Sunday slot.
2005 The world's finest players put on a feast of football to raise money for the tsunami relief fund.

BIRTHDAYS (for 15 February 2006)
Galileo Galilei, 442 (born 15 February 1564)
Died 1642. Italian mathematician, astronomer and physicist.
Louis XV, 296 (born 15 February 1710)
French king whose weak rule and tendency to vacillation did much to foster the conditions for the French Revolution after his death.
Jeremy Bentham, 258 (born 15 February 1748)
English philosopher and pioneer of utilitarianism, an ethical doctrine which held that the best action is one that will result in the greatest happiness and least pain for the greatest number of people.
Charles Tiffany, 194 (born 15 February 1812)
American jeweller and founder of the famous New York store.
Ernest Shackleton, 132 (born 15 February 1874)
British explorer who nearly reached the South Pole in 1909 and died on his fourth expedition to Antarctica.
John Barrymore, 124 (born 15 February 1882)
Died 1942. Famous American stage and screen actor
Harold Arlen, 101 (born 15 February 1905)
(Died 1986) Songwriter 'Over the Rainbow'.
Cesar Romero, 99 (born 15 February 1907)
(Died 1994) Actor - TV Batman's The Joker.
Kevin McCarthy, 92 (born 15 February 1914)
Actor - 'Invasion of Body Snatchers' 'Twilight Zone'.
Harvey Korman, 79 (born 15 February 1927)
Comedian 'Blazing Saddles'.
Gerald Harper, 77 (born 15 February 1929)
Actor, best known for his role in the long-running TV series "Hadleigh"
Graham Hill, 77 (born 15 February 1929)
Died 1975. British motor racing champion
Paul Ferris, 77 (born 15 February 1929)
Author and journalist
Claire Bloom, 75 (born 15 February 1931)
Leading British actress who has appeared in numerous films including "Look Back in Anger", and "The Spy Who came in from the Cold". Her most memorable role on TV was as Lady Marchmain in "Brideshead Revisited"
Paddy McMahon, 73 (born 15 February 1933)
Former Irish show jumper
Brian Holland, 65 (born 15 February 1941)
Composer & producer of Holland-Dozier-Holland fame.
Mick Avory, 62 (born 15 February 1944)
The Kinks. Avory once attacked Dave Davies on stage and they went through a very tempestuous period in the 1960s but The Kinks remain one of Britain's most enduring groups
John Helliwell, 61 (born 15 February 1945)
Saxophonist with Supertramp.
Clare Short MP, 60 (born 15 February 1946)
Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood.
David Brown, 59 (born 15 February 1947)
Member of Santana.
Jane Seymour, 55 (born 15 February 1951)
British screen actress who first made her name as a Bond Girl but is probably best known as "Dr Quinn, Medecine Woman" in the TV series
Melissa Manchester, 55 (born 15 February 1951)
Singer.
Derek Conway, 53 (born 15 February 1953)
Conservative politician
Matt Groening, 52 (born 15 February 1954)
Cartoonist - creator of 'The Simpsons'.
Alistair "Ali" Campbell, 47 (born 15 February 1959)
Member of UB40 - biggest UK hit '(I Can't Help) Falling in Love With You'.
Mikey Craig, 46 (born 15 February 1960)
Bass player with Culture Club, who had number one hits with "Do You really want to Hurt Me" in 1982 and "Karma Chameleon" in 1983
Chris Farley, 42 (born 15 February 1964)
(Died 1997) Comedian 'Saturday Night Live' and films.

14th February - Today's The Day

14th February 2006 - St Valentine's Day.

Religious events today...
Feast day of St John the Baptist of the Conception,
St Antoninus of Sorrento,
St Maro,
St Abraham of Carrhae,
St Adolf of Osnabruck,
St Auxentius,
Saints Cyril and Methodius,
and St Conran.

History Test for February 14th
Born today in 1951, who took over as manager of Newcastle United Football Club in 1992? -Kevin Keegan
Which children's hospital opened in London today in 1852? -Great Ormond Street
Name the English explorer murdered in Hawaii today in 1779. -Captain James Cook
Which United States Union general in the Civil War died today in 1891 and had a tank named after him? -William Sherman
Name the star of the sixties radio series `Round the Horne', who died today in 1969. -Kenneth Horne

Events today...
399 AD Socrates, the philosopher was sentenced to death.
1400 Death of King Richard II of England.
1525 Death of Fiorenzo di Lorenzo, Italian painter.
1766 Thomas Robert Malthus, economist and author of An Essay On The Principles Of Population (1798), was born. He saw famine, disease and disaster as a method of controlling the earth's fast-growing population.
1779 Famed adventurer Captain Cook was stabbed to death by natives at Kealakekua Bay in the Sandwich Islands, later to become known as Hawaii. Cook was 50.
1797 The naval Battle of St Vincent took place off SW Portugal, in which Captain Nelson and Admiral Jervis defeated the Spanish fleet.
1797 The Spanish fleet was defeated off Cape St Vincent by Admiral John Jervis and Captain Horatio Nelson.
1852 Three-and-a-half year old Eliza Armstrong was admitted to London's famous children's hospital in Great Ormond Street to become its first patient.
1891 Death of William Sherman, US general.
1895 The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde had its premiere in London. Wilde had reportedly written it in three weeks.
1896 England bowled South Africa out for just 30 runs at Port Elizabeth, where George Lohmann took eight wickets for seven runs. The South Africans' total stood as the lowest in Test history until it was broken by New Zealand at Auckland in 1955.
1907 Jockey Johnny Longden was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. He went on to become the first man to ride more than 6,000 winners in a 40-year Flat race career in America, where he partnered Count Fleet to the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and the Preakness Stakes) in 1943.
1925 Wigan beat amateur side Flimby, from Cumberland, 116-0 in the Rugby League Northern Cup (now known as the Challenge Cup). Full-back Jim Sullivan kicked a British record 22 goals.
1929 The infamous St Valentine's Day massacre took place in a warehouse in Chicago when seven members of George 'Bugsy' Morane's gang were gunned down by, it is believed, members of notorious gangster Al Capone's gang.
1931 The movie "Dracula" was released. It starred Bela Lugosi in the title role.
1939 The 35, 000 ton German battleship Bismarck was launched.
1941 "Take The A Train" was recorded by Duke Ellington.
1946 The Bank of England was nationalised.
1950 "Cinderella" was released by Disney.
1956 At the 20th Soviet Communist Party Conference, Nikita Khrushchev denounced the policies of Stalin.
1963 Harold Wilson became leader of the British Labour Party, getting 144 votes against 103 for George Brown.
1967 "The Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin recorded her classic "Respect".
1969 Wild-eyed actor and comedian Marty Feldman was named television personality of 1968.
1973 British boxer Joe Bugner was beaten on points by former world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali after their twelve round fight in Las Vegas.
1975 Death of Julian Huxley, English biologist and philosopher.
1975 English novelist P. G. Wodehouse, creator of Jeeves And Wooster, died at the age of 93.
1978 First "micro on a chip" patented (Texas Instruments).
1983 Japanese golfer Isao Aoki won the Hawaiian Open, with England's Nick Faldo seventeen shots off the lead.
1983 The Duchess of Kent officially opened a BBC exhibition commemorating 60 years of children's broadcasting at the Langham Gallery in London.
1984 Renate Blauel married Elton John.
1984 Harry Tipple and his wife Cicily, who ran a newsagents in Peckham, south east London, were recovering in hospital after being tortured for ninety minutes by youths who stole £100.
1984 British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean took gold at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, scoring 19 maximums for artistic expression with their masterful Ravel's Bolero routine.
1984 MP's were told that animals were deliberately shot in Ministry of Defence ammunition tests to help research into treatment of wounds.
1984 The public were advised to avoid beaches in Cumbria contaminated by an accidental discharge of radioactive waste into the sea from British Nuclear Fuel's Windscale and Calder Works at Sellafield.
1988 Death of Frederick Loewe, (aged 86) Composer 'My Fair Lady' 'Camelot'.
1988 15-year-old British chess player Michael Adams defeated world champion Gary Kasparov.
1988 A seven-week dispute by seamen came to an end.
1988 Following a raid by police, ten men were charged with organising a dog fight on waste ground in West Drayton, Middlesex.
1988 Patty Sheehan won the Sarasota Classic at Bent Tree Country Club in Florida.
1989 Peter Scudamore became the third jockey, after Stan Mellor and John Francome, to ride 1,000 National Hunt winners.
1989 Former bank manager Leslie Pines from Worcester, he had a thirty-two-year grudge against his old employer poured engine oil into three cash machines, causing £9, 000 damage.
1989 Heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson and actress Robin Givens finalised their divorce in the Dominican Republic.
1989 Salman Rushdie's award-winning novel 'The Satanic Verses' was condemned by the Iranian Leader Ayatollah Khomeini as an insult to Islam, who subsequently issued an edict calling on Muslims to execute the author.
1992 An attempt to outlaw fox-hunting was narrowly defeated in the House of Commons.
1992 British number one tennis player Jeremy Bates led the way as four Britons reached the semi-finals of the LTA Men's Indoor Satellite Tournament in Telford.
1992 in the quarter finals of snooker's Regal Welsh Open at Newport, Nigel Bond beat James Wattana by five frames to four, with Stephen Hendry beating Steve James by the same margin.
1992 Inflation fell from 4.5 to 4.1 per cent.
1992 Texaco and Shell announced petrol rises of 6.4 pence a gallon.
1993 The Sun newspaper apologised to the Queen for publishing her Christmas message two days early. The paper offered to donate £200, 000 to the Save The Children Fund.
1995 China's population was officially recorded as 1.2 billion (...wonder who did the counting...)
1995 A motor-cyclist caught riding his Honda Fireblade at 160mph was banned from driving for two years by Sutton Coldfield magistrates and would have to take an extended driving test before he could hold a full licence.
1995 Judge Stephen Tumin said in a report on Armley jail in Leeds that hundreds of prisoners live in overcrowded conditions that are an affront to human dignity.' The population of 1, 104 compared with a certified normal accommodation figure of 985.
1995 Tesco launched buffalo steaks and burgers from a Canadian ranch in 160 of its stores. Buffalo is slightly stronger and sweeter tasting than beef but can be cooked in the same way, although at lower temperatures. The meat, if exposed to Gas mark 7, would, according to a Canadian brochure, be `nearly as palatable as roofing shingles'. The meat has less cholesterol than fish and was selling at £5.99 for a 10oz pack of two steaks.
1995 The Employment Policy Institute said that crime was linked to unemployment, despite the Government's insistence that unemployment was not linked to increased lawlessness. The Institute said that: 'The fact is that the nation's unemployment black spots are also its crime black spots'.
1995 Those who didn't receive a Valentine's card could have taken consolation from the fact that over 500, 000 letters were held up by an unofficial postal strike in Cardiff.
1996 Soccer Legend Bob Paisley died at the age of 77.
1997 The Daily Mail named five men as the killers of Stephen Lawrence and challenged them to sue for libel if they were innocent.
2000 It was announced that David Bowie was having a baby by his second wife, Iman in August Bowie said "It's been a long and patient wait for our baby, but both Iman and I wanted the circumstances to be absolutely right, and didn't want to find ourselves working flat out during the first couple of years of the baby`s life.
2003 The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said he would appoint a prime minister - meeting a key demand made by the international community.
2003 A Colombian police raid was hit by an explosion. At least 15 people died in a blast during a raid by police trying to stop an alleged presidential assassination plot.
2003 The debt-laden telecoms firm France Telecom said 7,500 French jobs were to go as part of the drive to cut its 70bn euro debt in half.
2003 Prosecutors at the Hague war crimes tribunal said Serbian hardline leader Vojislav Seselj had been indicted for alleged crimes during the Balkans war.
2003 Five men were charged with conspiracy to kidnap pop star Victoria Beckham.
2003 Dolly the sheep - the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell - was put down after she was found to be suffering from progressive lung disease.
2004 A swimming pool roof shattered at a Moscow water park, killing at least seven people and injuring nearly 70.
2004 Tunisia beat Morocco 2-1 to win their first-ever African Cup of Nations.
2004 Italian cycling star Marco Pantani was found dead in his flat in Rimini.
2004 Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice as Man Utd win 4-2 in the FA Cup fifth round.
2005 Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was killed as a massive explosion ripped through west Beirut.
2005 At least 59 people died and more than 200 were hurt as fire swept through a packed mosque in Tehran.
2005 The London Assembly passed two motions calling on Ken Livingstone to apologise for making a Nazi comment to a Jewish journalist.
2005 Several people were arrested as the final Waterloo Cup hare coursing event took place in Merseyside.
2005 Soul legend Ray Charles was honoured at the Grammy music awards with eight posthumous prizes.
2005 Chelsea star Eidur Gudjohnsen was arrested and bailed on suspicion of drink driving.

BIRTHDAYS (for 14 February 2006)
Francesco Cavalli, 404 (born 14 February 1602)
Italian composer
Thomas Malthus, 240 (born 14 February 1766)
English economist
Christopher Scholes, 187 (born 14 February 1819)
US inventor of the modern typewriter
Jack Benny, 112 (born 14 February 1894)
Died 1974. Celebrated American comedian of radio, TV and film
Thelma Ritter, 101 (born 14 February 1905)
(Died 1969) Actress 'Miracle on 34th Street'.
Fred Davis OBE, 93 (born 14 February 1913)
Snooker and billiards player.
Arthur Pentelow, 82 (born 14 February 1924)
Actor best known as Henry Wilks in "Emmerdale Farm"
Lois Maxwell, 79 (born 14 February 1927)
Actress best known for her former role as Miss Moneypenny in the "James Bond" films
Jocelyn Stevens, 74 (born 14 February 1932)
Chairman of English heritage
Vic Morrow, 74 (born 14 February 1932)
(Died 1982) Actor.
Florence Henderson, 72 (born 14 February 1934)
Actress - Carol Brady in 'The Brady Bunch'.
Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, 71 (born 14 February 1935)
Former govenor of Hong Kong who was replaced by Chris Patten following the 1992 General Election
John MacGregor, 69 (born 14 February 1937)
MP and former Cabinet minister
Michael Rudman, 67 (born 14 February 1939)
Theatre director and producer
Alan Parker, 62 (born 14 February 1944)
British film director with a number of successes under his belt, including "Bugsy Malone", "Midnight Express", "Mississippi Burning", "The Road to Wellville" and "Angel Heart"
Carl Bernstein, 62 (born 14 February 1944)
Journalist - exposed the 'Watergate' scandal.
Vic Briggs, 61 (born 14 February 1945)
Member of The Animals.
Gregory Hines, 60 (born 14 February 1946)
Tap dancing actor 'Taps' 'Running Scared'.
Tim Buckley, 59 (born 14 February 1947)
Died 1975. American singer songwriter
Roger Fisher, 56 (born 14 February 1950)
Member of Heart.
Kevin Keegan OBE, 55 (born 14 February 1951)
Former England footballer and former manager of Newcastle United
Tom Watt, 50 (born 14 February 1956)
Actor - Lofty in 'Eastenders'.
Judy Oakes, 48 (born 14 February 1958)
(athletics) -- Leading British women's shot putter throughout the 1980s and 90s
Ice-T, 46 (born 14 February 1960)
Rap singer.
Meg Tilly, 46 (born 14 February 1960)
Actress 'Body Snatchers' 'The Big Chill'.
Philippe Sella, 44 (born 14 February 1962)
(rugby union) -- Saracens and former France centre who is the world's most capped player
Jon Ridgeon, 39 (born 14 February 1967)
(athletics) -- Former Olympic 110m hurdles finalist whose career was wrecked by Achilles tendon injuries
Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere, 39 (born 14 February 1967)
tennis player
Chris Lewis, 38 (born 14 February 1968)
(cricket) -- Former England all-rounder
Du'ane Cadejo, 35 (born 14 February 1971)
athlete
Sasa Curcic, 34 (born 14 February 1972)
(soccer) -- Aston Villa midfielder
Dean Gaffney, 28 (born 14 February 1978)
Actor - Robbie Jackson in 'Eastenders'.

13th February - Today's The Day

13th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Catherine dei Ricci,
St Stephen of Rieti,
St Ermenilda or Ermengild,
St Martinian the Hermit,
St Polyeuctes of Melitene,
St Licinus or Lesin,
and St Modomnoc.

History Test for February 13th
Today in 1974, which Russian author was expelled from the Soviet Union? -Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Belgian writer Georges Simenon was born today in 1903. What is the first name of his detective Maigret? -Jules
In which town was Britain's first public school for girls opened today in 1854? -Cheltenham (Ladies College)
Actor George Segal was born today in 1936. In which 1973 film did he star with Glenda Jackson? -`A Touch Of Class'
Fyodor Chaliapin was born today in 1873. With which branch of the arts is he associated? -Opera singing

Events today...
1542 Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's fifth wife, was executed on Tower Green having been found guilty of adultery.
1571 Death of Benvenuto Cellini, Italian sculptor and goldsmith.
1689 William of Orange and Mary ascended the throne of Great Britain as joint sovereigns.
1692 The massacre of the Macdonalds at Glencoe in Scotland was carried out by their traditional enemies, the Campbells.
1728 Death of Cotton Mather, US colonist and writer.
1793 Britain, Prussia, Austria, Holland, Spain, and Sardinia formed an alliance against France.
1861 Abraham Lincoln was declared President of the U.S.A.
1867 The "Blue Danube" was premiered in Vienna. Written by Johann Strauss.
1883 German composer Richard Wagner died of a heart attack in Venice, aged 69.
1886 The James Younger gang made its first 'hit', robbing $60, 000 from a bank in Missouri, USA.
1907 Sixty suffragettes were arrested after they stormed the British Parliament.
1917 Dutch spy Mata Hari was arrested by the French.
1917 The British government announced it’s decision to allow women to become taxi drivers.
1949 A mob burned down a radio station in Quito, Ecuador after a dramatisation of 'The War Of The Worlds' caused widespread panic.
1959 A doll which went on to become an icon was launched in the U.S. Her name was "Barbie".
1960 The French tested their first atomic bomb in the Sahara.
1969 Cambridge University announced that eggs removed from a woman volunteer had been fertilised in a test tube as a result of work done in collaboration with Dr. Patrick Steptoe at Oldham General Hospital.
1970 A man eating tiger was reported to have killed up to 48 people near New Delhi.
1971 A disastrous game of golf for Vice President Gerald Ford. He was taking part in the Bob Hope Desert Classic and managed to hit three spectators with his first two shots.
1972 The musical "Grease" opened on Broadway in New York.
1974 Russian novelist Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nobel Prize-winner in 1970, was expelled from the Soviet Union.
1978 Anna Ford began work as ITN's first woman newscaster.
1979 Death of Jean Renoir, French film director.
1980 Death of David Janssen, (aged 49) Actor 'The Fugitive' 'Harry-O'.
1983 10,000 youngsters turned up at the Olympic Exhibition Hall in west London to audition for the stage version of 'Bugsy Malone'.
1983 At least 74 people died in two separate disasters in Italy, when three cable-cars collided and dropped 200ft in the Alps and a fire broke out at a cinema in Turin.
1983 John Hinckley, the man who gained notoriety with an unsuccessful assassination attempt on President Reagan attempted to kill himself after swallowing an "unidentified substance".
1983 Montracia Kaskarak Hitarie, an Afghan Hound, won Best In Show at Crufts Dog Show.
1983 The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived in Kingston, Jamaica on the start of a month-long tour.
1984 Anne Jacobs from Teynham, Kent, was among four women who were jailed after attempting to smuggle hundreds of gold coins hidden in their corsets and knickers into Britain from Jersey.
1984 Buckingham Palace announced that the Princess of Wales was expecting her second baby in late September.
1984 Konstantin Chernenko was named Soviet Communist Party leader following the burial of Yuri Andropov.
1984 The Kennel Club were to investigate complaints that nineteen terriers were left overnight in narrow crates at Cruft's Dog Show, unable to turn or lie down.
1987 The London property boom resulted in a 5ft 6in x 11ft converted broom cupboard opposite Harrods being offered for sale at £36,500.
1988 In the Barclays League Division One, Liverpool beat Watford by four goals to one, to go twelve points clear of their nearest rivals, Manchester United, at the top of the table, with two games in hand.
1988 Scottish athlete Liz McColgan won the Tampa 15 kilometre road race in a time of 47 minutes and 42 seconds, the second fastest time in the world.
1988 Starlite Express, an English Setter, received the Best in Show award at Crufts. It was later revealed that one dog had collapsed and another became lethargic after apparently being drugged with tranquillisers.
1988 The 15th Olympic Games opened in Calgary, Canada.
1989 A-Ha's lead singer Morten Harket secretly married Swedish actress Camilla Malmquist in Stockholm.
1989 National Power revealed plans to create Britain's first new barge canal for eighty four years in South Yorkshire.
1989 Student’s Union equal opportunities officers at the University of Wales, Cardiff, banned 'Postman Pat' after the character was used on T-shirts and posters in a campaign against the Government’s student loan proposals. The union president claimed that "Postman Pat was a white heterosexual male who would have alienated ethnic minorities".
1990 Mike Tyson lost his heavyweight title after he was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas.
1992 It was reported that a survey of telephone costs in the EC had shown that peak rate local calls in the UK were the most expensive in the EC and almost 14 times as expensive as in other member states.
1995 Estimates of the rabbit population were put at between 20 and 30 million, with some farms having 40 rabbits per hectare, and eating an estimated £100 million worth of crops in total.
1995 Hugh Grant was nominated best leading actor by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for his role in 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'.
1995 According to the National Rivers Authority, one-third of the 25,000 combined sewage and storm water overflows in England and Wales present some kind of problem.
1995 The Georgian leader, Eduard Shevardnadze, arrived in Britain for a three-day visit. Mr Shevardnadze was a former Soviet Foreign Minister.
1995 McDonald's was considering opening its first branch in a Scottish hospital.
1996 Pop group `Take That’ announced that they were calling it a day. - No more. Telephone helplines were jammed by distraught teenage fans.
1996 Death of Martin Balsam, (aged 76) Actor.
1997 Louise Woodward, a British au pair, was charged with murdering Matthew Eappin.
2000 Charles M Schulz, creator of Peanuts died, in California, aged 77. Schulz passed away just hours before his last ever Peanuts appeared in American newspapers. It was, said fellow cartoonist Lynn Johnson, `as if he had written it that way`."
2000 72 hostages flew home to Afghanistan from Brize Norton. Meanwhile up to 19 men from the plane, remaining in custody, were due to appear in court at Southend-on-Sea, Essex, charged over the hijacking of the internal flight on February 6th. It was believed they would face charges of air piracy and possession of firearms.
2000 England cricket team lost the final of one-day triangular tournament in Johannesburg, South Africa. Captain, Nasser Hussain, was gracious, as ever, in defeat. He said South Africa had depth in batting, they fielded brilliantly and they deserved to win. They won more matches than any other side in the tournament.
2003 A French court ruled that Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon should not go back to jail, rejecting a government appeal against his early release.
2003 Israel delivered a tough warning after Belgium's Supreme Court cleared the way for possible war crimes charges against Ariel Sharon.
2003 Anti-terrorism police questioned a man found with a live hand grenade at London's Gatwick Airport, which sparked an evacuation of a terminal.
2003 Two areas of Britain have more black people and Asians than white people for the first time ever, results of the 2001 census reveal.
2003 Singer Kelly Osbourne pulled out of a promotional trip to the UK because of the risk of terrorist attacks.
2003 Rock groups Coldplay and Oasis won two major prizes each at this year's NME Awards as The Clash got a "Godlike genius" award.
2003 Man City decided not to sue Roy Keane over his horror tackle on Alfie Haaland.
2004 Cypriot leaders reached a landmark agreement on peace talks, paving the way for a referendum on reunification.
2004 Twenty-one crew members of a Cambodian-registered ship were missing after their ship sank in blizzards off Turkey.
2004 Singer Diana Ross began her two-day jail time for drink driving in her home town of Greenwich, Connecticut.
2004 Gordon Strachan was replaced by Steve Wigley as Southampton manager until the end of the season.
2004 Charlton boss Alan Curbishley signed a three-year extension to his contract.
2005 One of Madrid's tallest buildings was at risk of collapsing after it was completely gutted by fire.
2005 The home secretary denied that he was about to drop plans to detain terror suspects in their homes without trial.
2005 Brits success helped return Keane's album "Hopes and Fears" back to the top of the UK album chart.
2005 Pop star Christina Aguilera announced that she was to marry long-time boyfriend and music executive Jordan Bratman.
2005 England 17-18 France. England slipped to a third straight Test defeat as Dimitri Yachvili kicked France to Six Nations victory at Twickenham.
2005 Sheffield United beat West Ham 3-1 on penalties to set up an FA Cup fifth round trip to Arsenal.

BIRTHDAYS (for 13 February 2006)
Georges Simenon, 103 (born 13 February 1903)
Belgian novelist who created Maigret and claimed to have made love to many thousands of women
Tennessee Ernie Ford, 87 (born 13 February 1919)
(Died 1991) Singer - 'Sixteen Tons'.
Chuck Yeager, 83 (born 13 February 1923)
former test pilot.
Caroline Blakiston, 73 (born 13 February 1933)
English actress of film and TV
Kim Novak, 73 (born 13 February 1933)
US film actress, linked to celebrities including Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant at various times during her heyday in the late 1950s
George Segal, 72 (born 13 February 1934)
US screen and stage actor who worked as a janitor before breaking into showbusiness and gaining success in such films as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf", and "A Touch of Class"
Oliver Reed, 68 (born 13 February 1938)
Died 1999. Leading British actor in films and television, "Three Muskateers"
Jacqueline Clarke, 64 (born 13 February 1942)
English stage and TV actress
Norma Major, 64 (born 13 February 1942)
Wife of John, ex-British Prime Minister
Carol Lynley, 64 (born 13 February 1942)
Actress.
Peter Tork, 62 (born 13 February 1944)
Member of The Monkees - biggest UK hit 'I'm a Believer'.
Stockard Channing, 62 (born 13 February 1944)
Actress.
Jerry Springer, 62 (born 13 February 1944)
TV talk show host.
Peter Gabriel, 56 (born 13 February 1950)
Former Genesis member who has gone on to a hugely successful solo career with hits including "Games Without Frontiers", "Don't Give Up", and "Sledgehammer"
David Naughton, 55 (born 13 February 1951)
Actor 'American Werewolf in London'.
Liam Brady, 50 (born 13 February 1956)
Former Irish international footballer
Peter Hook, 50 (born 13 February 1956)
Bass player with New Order
Tony Butler, 49 (born 13 February 1957)
Member of Big Country.
Peter Gabriel, 48 (born 13 February 1958)
Singer - biggest UK hit 'Sledgehammer'.
Jesse Birdsall, 43 (born 13 February 1963)
English stage and TV actor seen in "Minder", "Soldier Soldier", and "Eldorado"
Freedom Williams, 40 (born 13 February 1966)
Member of C&C Music Factory.
Arik Marshall, 39 (born 13 February 1967)
Member of Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
Sonia, 35 (born 13 February 1971)
Liverpudlian singer who recorded a version of James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend"
Sonia, 35 (born 13 February 1971)
Singer - biggest UK hit 'You'll Never Stop me Loving You'.
Robbie Williams, 32 (born 13 February 1974)
Singer. Formerly Take That's youngest member, he featured on lead vocals on the singles "I Found Heaven", and "Could it be Magic" but left in 1995

12th February - Today's The Day

12th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Julian the Hospitaller,
St Ethelwald of Lindisfarne,
St Antony Kauleas,
St Marina or Pelagia,
St Meletius,
and St Ludan.

History Test for February 12th
Known as `The Nine Days Queen', who was executed today in 1554? -Lady Jane Grey (she ruled from 10th to 19th July 1553)
Which English artist and forger of paintings called his autobiography `The Fake's Progress' and died today in 1984? -Tom Keating
Today in 1924, 'Rhapsody in Blue' received its world premiere in New York. Who composed it? -George Gershwin
Abraham Lincoln was born today in 1809. A giant sculpture of his head is carved into the side of Mount Rushmore, next to those of three other American Presidents. Name them. -George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt
The actor Lorne Greene was born today in 1915. He became famous for his role as Ben Cartwright in which TV series? -`Bonanza'
Events today...
1554 Lady Jane Grey, queen of England for nine days, was executed along with her husband Lord Guildford Dudley on Tower Green for high treason.
1797 Over 1000 French troops, led by Irish-American General William Tate, made an unsuccessful attempt to invade Britain, on the Welsh coast.
1804 German philosopher Immanuel Kant died in Konigsberg.
1818 Independence was proclaimed by Chile.
1831 Rubber galoshes first went on sale, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
1851 Prospector Edward Hargreaves made a discovery at Summerhill Creek, New South Wales, which set off a gold rush in Australia.
1894 Death of Hans Guido von Bulow, German pianist and conductor.
1912 China became a republic following the overthrow of the Manchu Dynasty.
1915 French composer Emile Waldteufel, noted for 'The Skater's Waltz', died in Paris.
1924 George Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" was premiered.
1924 The lid of Tutankhamun's sarcophagus was lifted by Howard Carter to reveal the golden effigy of the Egyptian king for the first time. Having been left undisturbed for 3,300 years, a small wreath of flowers enclosed in the sarcophagus still retained its colours.
1929 English actress Lillie Langtry, nicknamed Jersey Lily because of her complexion, died at her Riviera home in Monte Carlo at the age of 74.
1937 Petrol in the UK went up a halfpenny to one shilling and sevenpence.
1947 Britain ground to a halt because of blizzards.
1950 Albert Einstein declared that the hydrogen bomb should not be used.
1950 The E.B.U, (European Broadcasting Union) was formed.
1953 Magistrates in the UK voted in favour of retaining corporal punishment.
1954 The British Standing Authority Committee on cancer claimed that there was a definite link between the disease and cigarette smoking.
1964 The Beatles staged their first concert in New York at Carnegie Hall.
1967 Mick Jagger, Marianne Faithful & Keith Richards were all arrested on drugs charges.
1967 British mountaineers Dougal Haston and Mike Burke became the first Britons to climb the north face of the Matterhorn in Winter.
1973 The first group of US prisoners of war were released from North Vietnam.
1976 Death of Sal Mineo (aged 37) Actor 'Rebel Without a Cause'.
1979 Death of Jean Renoir (aged 84) Director.
1979 Over a thousand schools in the UK closed as a result of a shortage in heating oil, brought about by a strike of lorry drivers.
1980 The 13th Winter Olympics opened in Lake Placid, New York.
1982 Rupert Murdoch transferred control of The Times and Sunday Times to his company News International.
1983 In the First Division of the Football League, Aston Villa beat Everton by two goals to nil and Liverpool beat Ipswich Town by one goal to nil.
1983 It was reported that a man found strangled in a cemetery in Preston had died after he was garrotted by his polo neck jumper as a friend attempted to lift him off the floor.
1983 It was reported that Gary Coleman, the young star of the popular American TV show 'Diff'rent Strokes', had left hospital in Los Angeles following surgery on an abscess.
1983 Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson was forced to withdraw from a pentathlon competition in Toronto after injuring his back during the long jump.
1984 At the Olympics Jayne Torvill & Christopher Dean performed their ice dance routine "Bolero".
1984 Archaeologists had unearthed a 4,500-year-old egg at a Neolithic site near Zhengzhou in the Henan province of central China.
1984 Parachutist Albert Wheeler fell 5,000 feet to his death after his parachute failed to open at Strathallan Airfield near Perth.
1984 Picture forger, Tom Keating, who fooled the art world with his imitations of great painters work died in hospital aged 66 after suffering from a heart condition for several years.
1985 Death of Henry Hathaway, US filmmaker.
1986 The Channel Tunnel agreement between France and Britain was signed at Canterbury by British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and France's President Mitterrand.
1987 Health minister Edwina Currie caused controversy when she said that "good Christians won't get AIDS."
1988 It was announced that a Stradivarius violin had been bought for more than $1 million on behalf of British violinist Norbert Brainin.
1988 Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough announced that he would not be resigning, despite the club's refusal to let him manage the Welsh national team on a part-time basis.
1988 The Duchess of York arrived in Liverpool on her first official visit to the city to unveil a plaque at Merchant Taylor's School for Girls, to mark its centenary year.
1991 The "wrong kind of snow" fell in Britain causing train delays.
1993 The South African government and the ANC reached an agreement on a transitional `Government of National Unity' in which both parties would be partners for five years.
1995 The Scottish Secretary, Ian Lang, said that if a future administration brought Scottish public spending in line with the rest of the UK, then the loss of £3 billion in funds from Westminster would need to be replaced by a Scottish income tax of 19p in the pound.
1995 Professor David Bishop said that Britain would be ill-equipped to deal with the arrival of deadly animal-borne viruses from Africa or Asia. Professor Bishop, director of the Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology at Oxford, said no British laboratory was studying some dangerous viruses and only one had the necessary containment facilities at Porton Down. He said that animals should ideally be tested and quarantined at source, to ensure they were free of infection before they travelled.
1996 Yasser Arafat became the first Palestinian president.
1998 Ruud Gullit quit as manager of Premiership side Chelsea as he refused to sign a contract. Vialli was named as the new boss.
1998 It was announced that 1,000,000 customers had switched from British Gas since deregulation.
2003 Anti-aircraft weapons were set up around Washington as the US and UK ramped up security amid warnings of imminent attacks. The serious nature of the terrorist threat against the UK was underlined, as troops patrolled Heathrow Airport for a second day.
2003 Work started on a new UN resolution on Iraq's disarmament, as Nato remained embroiled in a dispute over defending Turkey in a war.
2003 The UN's nuclear watchdog said Pyongyang had broken its international obligations and referred the issue to the Security Council.
2003 The Prince of Wales and the Australian Prime Minister John Howard joined grieving families at a memorial service for those who died in the Bali bomb.
2003 Michael Jackson released a clip of video footage that he said proves the unfairness of a TV documentary about his life.
2003 One of "Hello!" Magazine's key contributors admitted lying to a court over the exclusive rights to photos of Catherine Zeta Jones' wedding.
2003 The London Film Critics' Circle named Oscar-nominated Sir Michael Caine actor of the year, beating fellow nominee Jack Nicholson.
2003 Bad weather forced a delay to the final launch of Europe's Ariane 4 rocket from French Guiana.
2003 Football, England 1-3 Australia.
2004 A US federal jury charged four men with supplying illegal, performance-enhancing drugs to sports competitors.
2004 Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced he was to give away $83m of his fortune to help find new vaccines to fight tuberculosis.
2004 Russia's president Putin formally launched a bid for his re-election.
2004 US politicians and TV regulators expressed outrage at singer Janet Jackson's Super Bowl breast flash.
2004 iPod designer Jonathan Ive beat JK Rowling to be named most influential person in British culture.
2004 An arrest warrant was issued for singer and actress Courtney Love after she missed her two court cases.
2004 Athlete Dwain Chambers' coach Remi Korchemny was indicted on charges relating to distributing steroids to athletes.
2004 England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson was discharged from hospital after surgery for neck and shoulder problems.
2004 Sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer raised his stake in Manchester United, following a move by its biggest shareholders.
2004 Brian Horton left his job as Port Vale manager by mutual consent.
2005 Europe launched its most powerful rocket to date - the Ariane 5-ECA.
2005 Gordon Brown told supporters the "stakes were too high" not to vote in the forthcoming general election.
2005 "The Aviator" won best movie at the 2005 Bafta film awards, while Vera Drake won best director and actress.
2005 US theatres went dark to mark the passing of Arthur Miller, the playwright who gave the world "Death of a Salesman".
2005 Actor Stan Richards, who played Seth Armstrong in ITV soap Emmerdale, died aged 74.

BIRTHDAYS (for 12 February 2006)
Thomas Campion, 439 (born 12 February 1567)
English composer
Charles Darwin, 197 (born 12 February 1809)
Died 1882. English naturalist who received overwhelming criticism for his theory of evolution which suggested that man was a descendant of the apes, in direct opposition to prevalent religious beleifs
Abraham Lincoln, 197 (born 12 February 1809)
(Died 1865) 16th US President.
George Meredith, 178 (born 12 February 1828)
English poet and novelist
Marie Lloyd, 136 (born 12 February 1870)
English music hall star famous for her risque comedy routines
Lorne Greene, 91 (born 12 February 1915)
Died 1987. Canadian actor best known as Ben Cartwright in the TV series "Bonanza" and as Commander Adama in "Battlestar Galactica".
Forrest Tucker, 87 (born 12 February 1919)
(Died 1986) Actor - 'F Troop'.
Franco Zeffirelli, 83 (born 12 February 1923)
Leading Italian film director with such films as "Romeo and Juliet", "The Champ", and "La Traviata"
Annette Crosbie OBE, 72 (born 12 February 1934)
Scottish actress - Janet in "Doctor Finlay" and Margaret Meldrew in "one Foot in the Grave"
Gene McDaniels, 71 (born 12 February 1935)
Singer, born in Kansas, who had hits with "A Hundred Pounds of Clay", and "Tower of Strength" in 1961 in America
Ray Manzarek, 71 (born 12 February 1935)
Keyboards player with The Doors who had a huge hit with the standard "Light My Fire" in the late 60s and much later "Riders On the Storm"
Joe Don Baker, 70 (born 12 February 1936)
Actor.
Maud Adams, 61 (born 12 February 1945)
Actress.
Cliff DeYoung, 61 (born 12 February 1945)
Actor - TV's 'Robocop'.
Alec Carlile, 58 (born 12 February 1948)
Liberal politician
Nicholas Soames, 58 (born 12 February 1948)
Conservative politician
Steve Hackett, 56 (born 12 February 1950)
Former Genesis guitarist who pursued a solo career after leaving Genesis in the late 70s
Michael Ironside, 56 (born 12 February 1950)
Actor - Dr William Swift in 'E.R.'.
Simon MacCorkindale, 54 (born 12 February 1952)
English actor, writer and director who appeared in the TV series "Falcon Crest" in the late 1980s
Arsenio Hall, 51 (born 12 February 1955)
US TV presenter.
Mick Harford, 47 (born 12 February 1959)
Footballer
Omar Hakim, 47 (born 12 February 1959)
Drummer of Dire Straits and Weather Report.
Chynna Phillips, 38 (born 12 February 1968)
Singer of Wilson Phillips fame.

11th February - Today's The Day

11th February 2006
White Shirt Day.

Religious Events today...
Feast day of Saints Saturninus and Dativus,
St Benedict of Aniane,
St Gregory II, pope,
St Caedmon,
St Pascal, pope,
St Lazarus of Milan,
St Lucius of Adrianople,
and St Severinus of Agaunum.

History Test for February 11th
Today in 1858 the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to a peasant girl at Lourdes for the first time. What was her name? -Bernadette
What motoring aids were first introduced in Britain today in 1928 with a one-day trial in Wolverhampton? -Traffic lights
Which Scottish author, also known as Baron Tweedsmuir, died today in 1940? -John Buchan
Which member of the Royal Family took his seat in the House of Lords today in 1970? -The Prince of Wales
Today in 1975, Margaret Thatcher became the first woman to lead a British political party. What is her middle name? -Hilda
Events today...
1799 Death of Lazaro Spallanzani, Italian physiologist and chemist.
1818 Independence was proclaimed by Chile.
1852 The first public ladies toilet opened in Bedford Street.
1858 The Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette Soubirous, an asthmatic peasant girl, in a grotto in Lourdes. This later became the famous Shrine of Lourdes.
1878 The first weekly weather report was published by the Meteorological Office.
1879 Death of Honore Daumier, French caricaturist.
1940 Scottish novelist John Buchan, best known for 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', died.
1941 Glenn Miller was presented with a Gold Disc for "Chattanooga Choo Choo".
1945 The Yalta Conference came to an end in the Crimea, with world leaders Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin agreeing to the formation of the United Nations Organisation and the division of Europe and the East.
1948 Death of Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein, Russian film director.
1959 Unemployment figures in the UK stood at 620,728.
1962 A schoolboy from Essex claimed to have set a world record by dancing The Twist non-stop for 33 hours.
1963 It took just one day for the Beatles to record their first album "Please, Please Me".
1963 Death of Silvia Plath, US poet.
1970 Prince Charles took his seat in the House of Lords for the first time.
1971 In Moscow, 40 nations, including Britain, signed a treaty banning the deployment of nuclear weapons on the sea bed.
1974 In the fourth rise in a year, four-star petrol rose 50 pence a gallon.
1975 At the age of 49, Margaret Thatcher became the first woman leader of a British political party, beating William Whitelaw 146 votes to 79 in a poll for Tory leadership, with Geoffrey Howe, John Peyton and James Prior trailing with less than 20 votes apiece.
1976 Death of Lee J Cobb (aged 64) American actor.
1976 John Curry became the first Briton to win a medal in a men's skating event when he took the gold medal for men's figure skating during the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.
1982 Death of Eleanor Powell (aged 69) Actress.
1983 Britain suffered its second day of snow, sleet and ice.
1983 The Sunday Times and the Daily Star were found guilty of contempt of court following their reports about Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan which, judges at the High Court suggested, had created a "substantial risk of serious prejudice" to legal proceedings involving Fagan.
1984 Publicans were campaigning to stop a private member's Bill that would allow betting offices to install televisions and soft drinks machines.
1984 Several inmates at Winson Green Prison, Birmingham, were questioned after wardens discovered a replica .357 revolver which was thought to had been used in an attempted escape.
1984 The Greater London Council announced it would set up its own film censorship board if the British Board of Film Censors did not tighten its restrictions on violence and sex in motion pictures.
1987 Cynthia Payne was cleared by a jury of running a brothel in Streatham, South London.
1988 The blouse worn by Marilyn Monroe in the film 'Bus Stop' was sold at Sotheby's for £7,150; purchased by property developer Patrick Mills.
1988 The Nottingham Forest board refused manager Brian Clough permission to become the part-time manager of the Welsh national team.
1989 The Boston Episcopal church consecrated the first woman bishop in Anglican history, the Right Rev. Barbara Harris.
1990 ANC leader Nelson Mandela was set free from a prison near Cape Town after 27 years in jail, watched by millions on television throughout the world.
1993 HM Queen started paying income and capital gains taxes.
1994 Death of William Conrad (aged 73) Actor 'Conrad'.
1995 Railtrack was preparing to offer voluntary redundancy to up to 15% of its 12,000 staff.
1995 Drivers of Land Rover Discovery four-wheel-drive vehicles and other 4x4 vehicles were being turned away from the Eurotunnel car-carrying chunnel trains as they were too high to fit the Shuttle's double-deck wagons.
1995 The brother of Britain's biggest lottery winner said that he was dismayed by the effects of the win - £17.8 million. 'It is terrible what has been going on. You don't know who you can trust, even in a family'.
1995 The Conservative party was left over £1 million by a Bournemouth builder in a legacy - the biggest the party has received.
1995 Boots was facing two investigations into complaints that it was using unfair practices to create local monopolies that then allow it to increase prices. The allegations concerned the way Boots was taking advantage of legislation to restrict the number of chemists allowed to handle NHS prescriptions in a given area. In 1993 the Monopolies and Mergers Commission showed that Boots was pushing up perfume prices by a third in areas where it had a monopoly. Boots denied that any of the company's pharmacy business practices were either illegal or unethical.
1995 In a Royal College of Physicians survey, only 2% of GPs in the study said that they sent pensioners with coronary artery disease to hospital specialists and even fewer elderly patients received treatment to improve the quality of their lives. A hospital consultant said: 'The attitude of GPs seems to be that their patients wouldn't be treated anyway, so they tell them to go home and stop complaining.'
1996 A fall in Hong Kong badly injured jockey Walter Swinburn.
1998 Michael Owen became the youngest footballer to play for England.
1998 The winner of the first Snowball fight in the Olympics was disqualified in Nagano, Japan. During a drugs test it was discovered he had taken Marajuana.
1999 The producers of Vanessa Feltz’s chat show were accused of using fake guests on the programme.
1999 Four men were arrested at Charlton’s football ground, The Valley, accused of tampering with the floodlights in view of a betting scam. It was believed that these men were also responsible for a blackout at Old Trafford a few weeks earlier.
2000 Leonardo Dicaprio was back on the big screen in "The Beach" The film was described as a treat... fast-paced, sardonic, with a visceral (and often loud) soundtrack featuring usual suspects such as Leftfield and Underworld.
2000 It was announced that lastminute.com was to float on London Stock Exchange the following month. Lastminute.com, launched in October 1998, intended to list up to 25% of the company, worth about £100m, with a large chunk of the shares going to retail investors.
2000 Geri Halliwell testified in civil action over Spice Girls sponsorship. The band signed a £500,000 contract with Aprilia to promote their products, including a special Spice Sonic scooter with a picture of all five girls on it. But the company says the promotion turned into a "total marketing flop" when Miss Halliwell left.
2003 An Arab TV station broadcast a message attributed to Osama bin Laden, calling for Muslims to stand by Iraq against the US.
2003 "Chicago" led the fight for the forthcoming Oscars with 13 nominations, "Gangs of New York" and "The Hours" were hot on its heels.
2003 The British energy giant BP tapped into Russia's vast oil and gas reserves by investing more than £4bn to set up a new joint venture.
2003 The former head of internet giant Yahoo was cleared in France of illegally selling Nazi memorabilia on the website.
2003 The prime minister Tony Blair gave his personal authorisation for soldiers to be drafted in to boost security in London.
2003 England's cricket game was finally to be caled off. They would not play their World Cup opener in Zimbabwe now only two days away. Australian spinner Shane Warne was out of the World Cup anyway after testing positive for a banned substance.
2003 Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Caine, Stephen Daldry and Catherine Zeta Jones led Britain's assault on the 2003 Academy Awards.
2003 American TV network ABC was said to be negotiating a re-run of Martin Bashir's controversial interview with pop star Michael Jackson.
2003 Data released by Nasa showed that the Universe would expand for ever, at an ever-increasing rate.
2003 One of the world's best-known computer hackers, Kevin Mitnick, suffered the indignity of having his own website hacked.
2003 Former Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane retired from international football.
2004 A car bomb killed 47 people in Baghdad - bringing to nearly 100 the number of Iraqis killed in two days.
2004 UN prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said Serbia is providing a safe haven for fugitive Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.
2004 Businessmen John Magnier and JP McManus took their stake in Manchester United to 29%, raising the temperature in their dispute with the firm's board.
2004 Russell Crowe's "Master and Commander" won three awards at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards.
2004 Man Utd 2-3 Middlesbrough. Joseph-Desire Job grabbed a winner for Middlesbrough to inflict a rare home defeat on Man Utd.
2004 Tunisia reached the African Cup of Nations final after a penalty shoot-out win over Nigeria.
2004 Goals from Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard give Liverpool a 2-1 victory over Manchester City.
2005 Playwright Arthur Miller, famous for "The Crucible" and "Death of a Salesman", died aged 89.
2005 South Africa clinched the one-day series against England after rain interrupted play in Durban.

BIRTHDAYS (for 11 February 2006)
George Washington, 275 (born 11 February 1731)
(Died 1799) 1st U S President.
William Henry Fox Talbot, 206 (born 11 February 1800)
English photographic pioneer
Thomas Alva Edison, 159 (born 11 February 1847)
(Died 1931) Inventor incl. phonograph (record player!) and the light bulb.
E. W. Swanton, 99 (born 11 February 1907)
Sports commentator and author
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 97 (born 11 February 1909)
Film director, producer and screen writer
Sidney Sheldon, 89 (born 11 February 1917)
Author.
Eva Gabor, 85 (born 11 February 1921)
(Died 1995) Actress.
Kim Stanley, 81 (born 11 February 1925)
Actress.
Leslie Nielsen, 80 (born 11 February 1926)
Canadian actor and comedian best known for "Police Squad" and the "Naked Gun" series of films
John Surtees, 72 (born 11 February 1934)
Former world motor cycle and motor racing champion
Mary Quant, 72 (born 11 February 1934)
Leading stylist and designer of the 60s
Gene Vincent, 71 (born 11 February 1935)
(Died 1971) Singer.
Burt Reynolds, 70 (born 11 February 1936)
Hollywood star of the 70s and early 80s with films like "Cannonball Run" and "Deliverance". Following a lull in his career, he had staged a recovery with the sitcom "Evening Shade"
Bryan Gould, 67 (born 11 February 1939)
Labour politician
Gerry Goffin, 67 (born 11 February 1939)
Songwriter.
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, 66 (born 11 February 1940)
Novelty singer 'Monster Mash'.
Sergio Mendes, 65 (born 11 February 1941)
Brazilian musician and arranger
James Couchman, 64 (born 11 February 1942)
Conservative politician
Ray Lake, 60 (born 11 February 1946)
Singer with Real Thing - 'You to me are Everything'.
Brian Capron, 57 (born 11 February 1949)
Actor - 'Grange Hill' 'Crocodile Shoes'.
Sheryl Crow, 42 (born 11 February 1964)
Singer - 'All I Wanna Do'.
Jennifer Aniston, 37 (born 11 February 1969)
Actress - 'Friends'.
Steve McManaman, 34 (born 11 February 1972)
Footballer.
Nick Barmby, 32 (born 11 February 1974)
Middlesborough footballer
D'Angelo, 32 (born 11 February 1974)
Singer.
Brandy, 27 (born 11 February 1979)
Singer.

10th February - Today's The Day

10th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St William of Maleval,
St Scholastica,
St Trumwin,
St Austrebena,
and St Soteris.

History Test for February 10th
Today in 1840, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert. Where did they spend their honeymoon? -Windsor
Today in 1894, Sir Harold Macmillan was born. What earldom was conferred on him on his 90th birthday? -Earl of Stockton
Today in 1944 what system of tax payment was approved by the House of Commons? -P.A.Y.E.- Pay As You Earn
Known as `The Father of Antiseptic Surgery', which English surgeon died today in 1912? -Joseph Lister
Musician Larry Adler was born today in 1914. With which instrument is he most associated? -The mouth organ (harmonica)

Events today...
1354 A street battle between Oxford University students and townspeople resulted in several deaths and many injuries.
1482 Death of Luca della Robbia, Italian sculptor.
1567 Lord Darnley, father of James I, was murdered near Edinburgh.
1763 Canada was ceded to Britain by the Peace of Paris.
1774 Andrew Becker demonstrated his practical diving suit in the River Thames.
1837 Russian poet and novelist Alexander Pushkin was killed in a duel.
1840 Prince Albert married Queen Victoria in the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace. They were both aged 20.
1916 Conscription began in Britain.
1923 German physicist Wilhelm Rontgen responsible for the discovery of X-rays, died.
1931 New Delhi became the capital of India.
1932 English thriller writer Edgar Wallace died in Hollywood.
1940 Creators of Tom & Jerry, Hanna and Barbera showed their cartoon for the first time.
1942 The first gold disc - sprayed with gold by the record company RCA Victor - was presented to Glenn Miller for 'Chattanooga Choo Choo'.
1948 Death of Sergei Eisenstein (aged 50) Russian film director 'Battleship Potemkin'.
1955 MPs voted by a majority of 31 to keep the death sentence.
1956 "Heart Break Hotel" was recorded by Elvis Presley.
1961 The hydroelectric installation at Niagara Falls started producing electricity.
1962 Gary Powers, pilot of the U2 aircraft shot down over the Soviet Union, was released in a spy swap with KGB Colonel, Rudolph Abel.
1966 Death of Billy Rose US producer and lyricist.
1966 Death of Sophie Tucker, US singer.
1966 Watney put a penny on the price of a pint of bitter, raising the cost to 1/8d.
1970 A car crash left Phil Spector badly injured.
1981 The National Coal Board announced the closure of 50 pits, employing some 30,000 miners.
1983 At the home of serial killer Dennis Nilsen police found the remains of 17 bodies.
1983 Comedian Bob Monkhouse signed a three-year contract to return to BBC Television after a break of nineteen years, to take over the 'Tonight' show from Des O'Connor.
1983 Derby County and Leeds United were reprimanded by the Football Association for crowd trouble during a match at Derby's Baseball Ground.
1983 Michael Roberts, Under Secretary of State for Wales, collapsed and died from a heart attack at the dispatch box of the House of Commons.
1983 Snow and ice brought chaos to many of Britain's roads.
1983 The British Insurance Association claimed that fire in Britain was costing more than £1 million every day in 1982, with a third of all large fires believed to be caused deliberately.
1983 The ransom demand for kidnapped horse Shergar dropped from £2 million to £40,000.
1984 Builder Keith Parnell from Fenton, Stoke, was fined £1,000 after demolishing a listed Georgian building without permission from the city council.
1988 A report published by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys showed a 2 per cent increase in the number of women smokers between the ages of 20 and 24.
1988 Dean Reynolds won the first snooker title of his professional career when he beat Neal Foulds 9-5 in the final of the English professional championship in Ipswich.
1988 Former Frankie Goes To Hollywood singer, Holly Johnson, won a legal case against record producer Trevor Horn when contracts signed in 1983 were declared unreasonable in the High Court.
1988 It was reported that Sir Richard Attenborough's film 'Cry Freedom' had been nominated for seven awards by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
1988 The Court of Appeal rejected a demand by the Government for a permanent ban on publication of excerpts from Peter Wright's book 'Spycatcher' in the British media.
1989 Jamaican-born Tony Robinson became Nottingham's first black sheriff.
1989 It was announced that rare informal photographs of the Russian Imperial family just before their assassination in 1918 were to be auctioned at Sotheby's later in 1989.
1989 The Inland Revenue revealed that more than six thousand people were successfully prosecuted in England and Wales for social security fraud.
1992 Mike Tyson was found guilty of raping Ms Desiree Washington.
1992 A police constable was put on three years probation by Southwark Crown Court after being found guilty of the theft of £28,000 from a savings club which he ran at Holloway Police Station in north London.
1992 Alex Haley, author of the best-selling novel 'Roots', died in a Seattle Hospital at the age of 70.
1992 Peter Clowes, former head of the collapsed Barlow Clowes financial empire, was found guilty of eight charges of fraud and ten of theft, involving sums in the region of £14 million.
1992 The Royal Mail announced that ink used on stamps from £1 to £5 would cause the image of the Queen to change from gold to green in a new move to prevent forgery.
1992 US Vice-President Dan Quayle arrived in London with his wife Marilyn on the final day of a six-day tour of Europe.
1995 A man who was given a shaven head against his wishes while on remand at a privately run jail in Doncaster was awarded £100 damages by a judge who held the hearing at the £90 million prison which opened in 1994. The 'cut' earned the prisoner the nickname 'Baldman of Doncatraz'.
1995 More than 1,500 demonstrators blocked the road to Brightlingsea docks in Essex in an effort to halt the export of veal calves in a four-week animal rights dispute. Thirty people were arrested.
1995 More than £1.3 million was raised in America towards the cost of building an annexe at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, to house American warplanes. The actor, Charlton Heston, is a co-chairman of the project which will commemorate the sacrifices made by American pilots flying missions over Germany during the Second World War.
1995 The German Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, said in an interview that his wife was his first and only girlfriend and he would not be able to cope if she committed adultery. He could not, however, readily recall when he had last told his wife he loved her. It slowly emerged that the occasion was New Year's Eve 1993-94 - he thought.
1995 20 million 1920s German Marks were stolen from a collector's home in Tyne and Wear. They had a face value of 4p.
1996 Gary Kasparov was defeated by an IBM's (Deep Blue) computer.
1997 Death of Brian Connolly (aged 52) Member of "The Sweet".
1999 Under the temporary coach Howard Wilkinson, following Glenn Hoddle’s departure, England were beaten by France 2-0 at Wembley.
2000 The four-day hostage crisis at Stansted ended. The hijackers who seized an Ariana jet in Afghanistan four days earlier surrendered peacefully - the true intentions behind their actions were still unknown. The hostages came off the Ariana Boeing 727 in two waves. Up to 40 of the "hostages" were thought to be relatives of the hijackers, adding further weight to conspiracy theories sugesting that the "hijack" was nothing more than a plot to escape Afghanistan`s Taleban regime. 60 adults and 14 children, claimed asylum in Britain. Home Secretary Jack Straw announced that he would personally oversee all applications. All 186 had been on board the plane which was originally on a scheduled 45-minute internal flight in Afghanistan.
2000 The House of Commons voted to lower the homosexual age of consent to 16. Two previous attempts to lower the consent age had been blocked by the Lords.
2000 John Barnes was sacked as Celtic boss - with a £1 million pay-off to ease the blow. Rookie Barnes was ditched after just seven months in the job. The board decided Celtic's Scottish Cup KO by little Inverness Caledonian-Thistle was too great a humiliation for him to survive.
2000 The Bank Of England raised interest rates to six percent The bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) offered no explanation for the quarter point rate rise, the fourth in six months. But economists said it reflected concern that the economy was growing too fast to prevent inflation rising above the government's 2.5 percent target in the months ahead.
2000 Stan Collymore signed for Leicester City. The troubled former England striker, who cost Liverpool and Villa £8.5m and £7m respectively, finally completed his move to Filbert Street in a deal that was to net the Birmingham club £500,000. The fee was to be dependent on the number of appearances.
2003 The Israeli army imposed a complete closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, citing fears of Palestinian attacks.
2003 One of three men accused of the 1985 bombing of an Air India jet received five years in prison for the manslaughter of all 329 people killed on board.
2003 France, Germany and Russia released a joint declaration demanding more weapons inspectors in Iraq - describing war as a last resort.
2003 Germany and the Netherlands assumed joint command of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
2003 Actor Michael Douglas defended his and wife Catherine Zeta Jones' damages claim against "Hello!" after a lawyer deemed it "trivial".
2003 Hollywood star Nicole Kidman denied rumours of an affair with Jude Law at the London première of their new film, "The Hours".
2003 Cable firm NTL apologised to customers for limiting its fast net service but said changes were vital to maintain profitability.
2004 French MPs voted overwhelmingly to ban the Islamic headscarf and other religious symbols from state schools.
2004 A council official was charged with seven counts of manslaughter after an outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease in Cumbria.
2004 Legal music download sales reached a new high to become the second most popular singles format in the UK.
2004 Thierry Henry scored his 100th Premier League goal as Arsenal extended their lead by beating Southampton 2-0.
2004 A spirited Leeds side brushed Wolves aside 4-1 in the relegation battle at Elland Road.
2005 The Palestinian leader sacked top security commanders in Gaza after militants violated a truce deal with Israel.
2005 Pope John Paul II returned to the Vatican in his "popemobile" after treatment for throat spasms.
2005 Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles made their first public appearance since becoming engaged.
2005 Several people were injured as thousands of customers flocked to the opening of a new Ikea store in north London.
2005 Court papers revealed that potential jurors in the Michael Jackson child abuse trial had links to the singer's Neverland Ranch.
2005 Derby manager George Burley signed a 12-month contract extension at Pride Park.

BIRTHDAYS (for 10 February 2006)
William Congreve, 336 (born 10 February 1670)
English Restoration comedy playwright
Charles Lamb, 231 (born 10 February 1775)
English writer
William Pember Reeves, 149 (born 10 February 1857)
New Zealand journalist and author
Boris Pasternak, 116 (born 10 February 1890)
Nobel Prize-winning Russian author of "Dr Zhivago"
James Francis `Jimmy' Durante, 113 (born 10 February 1893)
(Died 1980). US comedian, songwriter and performer. "Dere's a million good-looking guys in the world, but I'm a novelty"
Harold Macmillan, 112 (born 10 February 1894)
Died 1986. Former British Prime Minister from 1957 to 1963
Bertolt Brecht, 108 (born 10 February 1898)
German poet and playwright
Dame Judith Anderson, 108 (born 10 February 1898)
Australian actress
Lon Chaney Jr, 101 (born 10 February 1905)
(Died 1973) Actor 'The Wolfman'.
Joyce Grenfell, 96 (born 10 February 1910)
English comedy writer and actress
Larry Adler, 92 (born 10 February 1914)
US harmonica player
Dr Alexander Comfort, 86 (born 10 February 1920)
Physician, poet and novelist, but best known for his authoritative book "The Joy of Sex"
Danny Blanchflower, 80 (born 10 February 1926)
(Died 1993) Footballer.
John Ringham, 78 (born 10 February 1928)
Actor - Penny's father in 'Just Good Friends'.
Jerry Goldsmith, 77 (born 10 February 1929)
Film composer.
Robert Wagner, 76 (born 10 February 1930)
Hollywood actor and erstwhile star of the popular TV series "Hart to Hart". He also appeared in the TV series "Colditz"
Olwyn Bowey, 70 (born 10 February 1936)
Painter
Don Wilson, 69 (born 10 February 1937)
Ventures
Roberta Flack, 67 (born 10 February 1939)
American singer best known for "Killing Me Softly"
Peter Purves, 67 (born 10 February 1939)
TV presenter.
Jenny Ovington, 66 (born 10 February 1940)
My Mam
Peter Allen, 62 (born 10 February 1944)
(Died 1992) Singer songwriter 'I Go To Rio'.
Nicholas Owen, 59 (born 10 February 1947)
TV presenter.
Mark Spitz, 56 (born 10 February 1950)
Swimmer.
Greg Norman, 51 (born 10 February 1955)
Australian golfer and former world number one, known as the Great White Shark
Robbie Nevil, 45 (born 10 February 1961)
Songwriter and singer - 'C'est la Vie'.
Laura Dern, 39 (born 10 February 1967)
Actress - 'Jurassic Park' 'Wild at Heart'.

9th February - Today's The Day

9th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Apollonia,
St Sabinus of Canossa,
St Teilo,
St Alto,
St Ansben,
and St Nicephorus of Antioch.

History Test for February 9th
Which Soviet leader was in office from 1982 until his death today in 1984? -Yuri Andropov
Today in 1945 the actress Mia Farrow was born. She made her name in which long-running American TV soap? -`Peyton Place'
Which aircraft had its first trial flight in America today in 1969? -The Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet'
Born today in 1942 who had a top ten chart hit with her song `It Might As Well Rain Until September'? -Carole King
Born today in 1922, which former English cricketer and commentator called his autobiography `Over to Me'? -Jim Laker

Events today...
1540 Britain's first recorded horse race meeting was held at the Roodee Fields in Chester.
1801 The Holy Roman Empire came to an end with the signing of the Peace of Luneville between Austria and France.
1811 Death of Nevil Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal.
1830 Explorer Charles Sturt discovered the source of the Murray River in Australia.
1863 Alanson Crane patented the fire extinguisher.
1872 Lieutenant Dawson's expedition in search of Dr Livingstone began.
1881 Death of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky, Russian novelist.
1923 Dobrolet, the Soviet State Airline, was launched, and renamed Aeroflot nine years later.
1942 In Britain soap rationing began because of the war.
1949 American actor Robert Mitchum was jailed for two months in Los Angeles for smoking marijuana.
1956 W. H. Auden was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.
1958 The Lord Chamberlain refused Samuel Beckett's play 'End Game' a licence over an alleged blasphemy.
1964 The Beatles appeared on the "Ed Sullivan show" in the U.S. and 73 million people tuned in to see the fab four.
1966 Death of Sophie Tucker (aged 82) Singer.
1966 The government announced plans to build a prototype reactor at Dounreay in Scotland.
1969 Death of George "Gabby" Hayes (aged 83) Actor.
1969 The Boeing 747 (Jumbo jet) made its first commercial flight.
1971 The first British soldier was killed in Northern Ireland since troops arrived in August 1969.
1972 The British government declared a state of emergency due to the miners strike, which was in its third month.
1976 Death of Percy Faith (aged 67) Conductor composer.
1979 Trevor Francis became the first British footballer to be signed for a million pounds. He was signed by Nottingham Forest.
1981 Death of Bill Haley (aged 55) Rock and Roll singer.
1983 A huge hunt was underway following the kidnap of Shergar, considered one of the world's most valuable horses.
1983 Australia beat New Zealand by six wickets to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three match for the World Series Cup.
1983 Labour MP John Golding completed a record speech of eleven hours in the House of Commons.
1983 Many Britons abided by a national Don't Smoke Day.
1983 Police Constable Henry Henderson Monro of Lancashire Constabulary's mounted division, was awarded £4,500 damages against his chief constable in the High Court after being bitten by his horse.
1983 The first £1 coin to be struck was auctioned for £2,310 by Spink & Son at the Cavendish Hotel in London.
1984 Barry Foster was released from Rampton top security hospital after being granted a royal pardon for a rape he did not commit.
1984 Harold Macmillan was awarded an earldom to celebrate his ninetieth Birthday. He was the first earl to have been created for twenty one years.
1984 Soviet leader Yuri Andropov died after fifteen months in office, to be succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko.
1985 Madonna’s album "Like a Virgin" was at no.1 for the third week running.
1987 At the Brit awards the Best Single of the Year went to the Pet Shop Boys.
1988 The House of Commons voted in favour of allowing its proceedings to be televised.
1988 An attempt to reopen the case of the six Irishmen convicted of the Birmingham pub bombing was launched.
1988 Five people were killed and thousands of homes were left without power as hurricane force winds battered the UK and Ireland.
1989 British engineers from Southampton University's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research successfully flew the world's first aircraft fitted with a system that could cancel much of the engine noise.
1989 Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough was found guilty of bringing football into disrepute and fined £5,000 for striking fans who invaded the pitch after a cup tie.
1989 Parents whose children were taught only four days a week at the Church Mead junior school in Waltham Forest, east London, because of a shortage of teachers, were to sue the local authority for not providing the full five-day week.
1989 Seventy-seven-year-old Ted Newbury, who shot a thief attempting to rob his allotment shed, was cleared by Derby Crown Court of deliberate shooting and was freed.
1991 Freezing temperatures in the UK disrupted roads, railways and airports.
1991 The republic of Lithuania held a plebiscite on independence which showed overwhelming support for secession from the USSR.
1992 Nottingham Forest and Tottenham Hotspur drew 1-1 in the opening leg of the Rumbelows Cup semi-final.
1992 Scottish snooker player Stephen Hendry won the final of the Benson And Hedges Masters with a 9-5 victory over John Parrot at the Wembley Conference Centre.
1995 Death of David Wayne (aged 81) Actor.
1995 According to a report by British Invisibles, the trade association that promotes Britain's invisible exports, the music business earned more overseas income for Britain than the armaments, china and brewing industries in 1993. The highest earner was finance at £15.6 billion, music £1.158 billion, £307 million for armaments (excluding aircraft), china and ceramics £392 million and brewing £216 million. Media Research Publishing said that the highest earners were Phil Collins, Elton John, Dire Straits and Eric Clapton.
1995 A Finnish study showed that people with lower back pain should grin and bear it! Ordinary day-to-day activities led to the fastest recovery, as long as they were within the bounds of tolerability.
1995 The Bishop of Chester said that people who put less than £8 in the church collection plate but could afford to buy football tickets had 'no sense of value' in God.
1995 A blood-stained gown, designed by the film director, Franco Zeffrelli, and worn by the opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland in a performance of 'Lucia Di Lammermoor' at Covent Garden in 1959, sold for £5,750 at Sotheby's.
1997 At a Newark park 1,788 line dancers set a world record.
1999 The Actor Brian Moseley died six weeks after his Coronation Street character, Alf Roberts. He was 67 and had a long illness of heart disease.
2000 Prince Charles scrapped an official visit to Austria in protest at the rise to power of the far-right Freedom Party. Charles was due to attend a British trade fair in Vienna in May. Freedom Party leader Jörg Haider expressed support for some Nazi policies in the past, but claimed that he had been misunderstood and should have be given the chance to prove that he was not a Fascist.
2000 Tony Blair was humiliated in the Commons when his Welsh supremo Alun Michael quit - at the very moment the PM was defending him. Scores of pagers bleeped the bombshell news to Tory MPs as Mr Blair told them: `I believe Alun Michael is doing an excellent job as First Secretary`."
2000 England's cricket team went through to the tri-series final against South Africa after their clash with Zimbabwe was washed out. Rain finally stopped falling at Pretoria's Centurion Park in the afternoon, but it was decided that the match would not go ahead when another shower began at 1845 local time (1645 GMT). Captain Nasser Hussain said it would have been nice to win convincingly to take some confidence in to the final, but it would have been farce. In the past, England had been criticised for not having a high run rate, but nobody can criticise them for the fact it rained.
2000 Leonardo Dicaprio attends premiere of his new film "The Beach" at The Empire in Leicester Square. Hysterical girls standing ten-deep screamed his name as 10,000 people showed up to see the heart-throb at the opening of The Beach. One fainted and was hauled to safety by sobbing pals.
2000 Dutch winger Jordi Cruyff announced he was to leave Manchester United at the end of the season. It was expected he would return to Spain.
2002 Death of HRH Princess Margaret aged 71.
2003 Ariel Sharon said the new Israeli Government would end "Palestinian terrorism" and remove its "leader", Yasser Arafat.
2003 A top Indian security official said Pakistani policies resulted in expanded safe havens for al-Qaeda groups on the Afghan-Pakistan border.
2003 Presenter Johnny Vaughan launched digital channel BBC Three, which offered a mix of documentaries, comedy, news and celebrity profiles.
2003 Singer Tom Jones was said to be grief-stricken after the death in Los Angeles of his mother, Freda.
2003 Controversial teen duo Tatu enjoyed second week at number one as DJ Wes Butters took over the Radio 1 top 40 chart run down.
2003 A tropical fish's ability to "grow a new heart" may help scientists to find a way of aiding the recovery of human patients.
2004 The US froze assets of 10 Bosnian Serbs suspected of helping fugitive wartime leader Radovan Karadzic.
2004 An operation began to recover the famous German warship The Graf Spee, scuttled 64 years earlier in Uruguayan waters.
2004 Former Atomic Kitten singer Kerry McFadden won the third series of ITV1's "I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here".
2004 Veteran folk artist June Tabor was named folk singer of the year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards in London.
2004 Nottingham Forest were in talks with Joe Kinnear about taking over as manager.
2005 Carly Fiorina resigned as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard after a dispute with the company.
2005 Ex-Prime Minister John Major said Treasury papers showed the 1992 ERM crisis cost much less than often estimated.
2005 Robbie Williams' track Angels won the prize for the best British song of the past 25 years at the Brit Awards.
2005 It was announced that viewers in Wales could see analogue TV signals switched off within four years, according to Ofcom proposals.
2005 England and Holland played out a tame stalemate at Villa Park.

BIRTHDAYS (for 09 February 2006)
William Harrison, 233 (born 09 February 1773)
Ninth US President
Anthony Hope, 143 (born 09 February 1863)
Born Anthony Hope Hawkins. English novelist, author of "The Prisoner of Zenda"
Mrs Patrick Campbell, 141 (born 09 February 1865)
English actress who had a close relationship with George Bernard Shaw, playing Eliza Doolittle in his play `Pygmalion'
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, 127 (born 09 February 1879)
Distinguished Australian aviator who disappeared without trace over Calcutta in 1935 on a flight from England
Ronald Colman, 115 (born 09 February 1891)
(Died 1958) Actor.
Brian Donlevy, 107 (born 09 February 1899)
(Died 1972) Actor.
Carmen Miranda, 97 (born 09 February 1909)
(Died 1955) Singer dancer actress.
Gypsy Rose Lee (born Rose Louise Hovick), 92 (born 09 February 1914)
(Died 1970) Actress stripper.
Jim Laker, 84 (born 09 February 1922)
England cricketer who gained legendary status in 1956 when he took all ten Australian wickets for only 53 runs in a match at Old Trafford
Kathryn Grayson, 84 (born 09 February 1922)
Actress and singer in Hollywood from the early 1940s
Brendan Behan, 83 (born 09 February 1923)
Irish novelist, playwright and poet best known for "The Quare Fellow"
Clive Swift, 69 (born 09 February 1937)
English actor with the RSC in the late 1960s and seen regularly on TV. Plays Richard Boquet in "Keeping Up Appearances"
Jimmy Jones, 68 (born 09 February 1938)
Comic
Janet Suzman, 67 (born 09 February 1939)
Leading South African-born actress
Barry Mann, 67 (born 09 February 1939)
Songwriter.
Brian Bennett, 66 (born 09 February 1940)
Drummer with The Shadows. The Shadows received an Ivor Novello Award in 1983 to celebrate their 25th Anniversary
Carole King, 64 (born 09 February 1942)
Singer born in New York who found fame with "Walking Back to Happiness" in 1962. Her album "Tapestry" released in 1971 confirmed her position as a major singer-songwriter
Joe Pesci, 63 (born 09 February 1943)
Actor - 'Lethal Weapon' 'My Cousin Vinny' 'Home Alone' 'Goodfellas'.
Mia Farrow, 61 (born 09 February 1945)
American actress who was married to Frank Sinatra in the 1960s and Andre Previn in the 70s and has a son by Woody Allen. She appeared in the TV series "Peyton Place" until 1967 and has made numerous films
Joe Ely, 59 (born 09 February 1947)
Country singer.
Bernard Gallacher, 57 (born 09 February 1949)
Golfer
Jimmy Persey, 51 (born 09 February 1955)
Sham 69
Gordon Strachan, 49 (born 09 February 1957)
Manchester United Great
Cyril Regis, 48 (born 09 February 1958)
Footballer
Sandy Lyle MBE, 48 (born 09 February 1958)
Golfer.
Mike Wallbank, 48 (born 09 February 1958)
Radio Starlion presenter
Holly Johnson, 46 (born 09 February 1960)
Singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood.
Lennox Lewis, 41 (born 09 February 1965)
Boxer.
Helen Young, 37 (born 09 February 1969)
TV weather presenter.

8th February - Today's The Day

8th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Jerome Emiliani,
St John of Matha,
St Cuthman,
St Stephen of Muret,
St Elfleda,
St Nicetius or Nizier of Besançon,
and St Meingold.

History Test for February 8th
Jack Lemmon was born today in 1925. In which film about feuding neighbours does he star with Walter Matthau? -'Grumpy Old Men'
The first ‘Grange Hill' was screened today in 1978. Which pop hit, sung by the cast, warned of the dangers of drugs? -`Just Say No'
Born today in 1828, who wrote `From the Earth to the Moon' and other sci-fi classics? -Jules Verne.
Today in 1874 the world premiere of the opera `Boris Godunov' took place in St. Petersburg. Who composed it? -Modeste Mussorgsky
Mary, Queen of Scots was executed today in 1587. Which actress played the title role in a 1971 film of her life? -Vanessa Redgrave

Events today...
1587 Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at Fotheringay Castle in Northamptonshire where she had been imprisoned for nineteen years following her attempt to overthrow Elizabeth.
1725 Catherine I succeeded her husband, Peter the Great to become Empress of Russia.
1740 The `Great Frost' of London ended (began 25 Dec 1739).
1883 The first experiments to make the fountain pen were carried out by Louis Waterman.
1894 Death of R. B. Ballantyne, Scottish writer.
1910 The US Boy Scout movement was founded, inspired by the British Boy Scouts.
1920 Odessa was taken by Bolshevik forces.
1921 Death of Peter Alexeivich Kropotkin, Russian anarchist.
1924 The gas chamber was used for the first time in the US to execute Gee Jon, a member of a Chinese gang, in the Nevada State Prison in Carson City.
1926 Death of William Bateson, English biologist.
1933 An all metal Boeing 247 aircraft flew for the first time.
1935 Death of Max Liebermann, German painter and etcher.
1951 King George VI received a ten per cent pay rise.
1952 On the death of her father George VI, Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen.
1958 David Lean's film 'The Bridge On The River Kwai', starring Alec Guinness, won three British Film Academy Awards.
1961 The BBC announced that it was to drop 'Children's Hour'. The programme was first broadcast in 1922.
1965 "Stop In the Name of Love" was released by the Supremes.
1965 Health Minister Kenneth Robinson announced that cigarette advertisements were to be banned from British television.
1969 Houston, Texas was the venue for the world's biggest dance, more than 16,500 people attended.
1969 The Boeing 747, the world's largest commercial plane, made its first flight.
1972 A concert by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention was cancelled at the Albert Hall, London, because some of their lyrics were considered obscene.
1974 Ringo Starr's "You're sixteen" was released.
1974 After 85 days in space, the US Skylab station returned to earth.
1977 An earthquake measuring 5.0 hit San Francisco.
1983 Derby winner, Shergar, owned by the Aga Khan, was stolen from a stable in County Kildare and a ransom of £2 million was demanded for the horse's release.
1983 In the first leg of the League Cup Semi final Liverpool beat Burnley by three goals to nil.
1983 It was reported that miners' wives in Nottinghamshire were concerned over plans to open a local public house between the hours of 6am to 8am so that their husbands could go for a drink after night work.
1983 Snow and ice brought chaos to British roads, with parts of Scotland, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Kent hit by heavy snow falls.
1984 The fourteenth Winter Olympics began at Sarajevo in Yugoslavia.
1988 Esther Rantzen was named Woman of the Year.
1988 It was reported that a record 15,500 dogs would be entered in Crufts Dog Show.
1988 It was reported that baked beans were more likely to reduce the risk of heart disease than any other high fibre vegetable.
1988 The Pet Shop Boys were named Best British Band in the BPI awards, with George Michael winning the award for Best male Singer and Alison Moyet the award for best female. Rick Astley won the Best Single category with 'Never Gonna Give You Up', while Sting took the prize for Best Album with 'Nothing Like The Sun'.
1989 England cricketer Ian Botham was to stand trial after being accused of head butting a hotel security man after an argument over a taxi outside the Sheraton Park Hotel in Knightsbridge, west London.
1989 The British Medical Association's ethics committee called on the Government to outlaw the sale of all human tissues following allegations that Turks were paid to donate kidneys for transplants at the Humana Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, north west London.
1990 Death of Del Shannon (aged 50) Singer 'Runaway’.
1993 All 132 persons aboard an Iran Air passenger jet were killed minutes after take-off when the plane collided with a military aircraft.
1995 A station master who was found to be drunk in charge of Glasgow Central Station was sentenced to 150 hours' community service by Glasgow Sheriff Court.
1995 It was reported that the Home Secretary, Michael Howard, was studying proposals to privatise the running of the police national computer. Mr Howard insisted that ownership would remain with the police however.
1995 About three million Americans were fermenting a fungus into a drink that was America's latest health fad. 'Kombucha', a sort of 'miracle tea', was claimed to lower blood pressure, ease arthritis, eliminate acne and raise the body's immunity.
1995 A Turkish F16 aircraft crashed after being intercepted by Greek fighters near Rhodes. The incident threatened to worsen the already fraught relations between Greece and Turkey.
1995 According to Home Office figures, 54% of men and women were reconvicted of a serious offence within two years of leaving jail, compared with 56% of those given a community service order and 54% of those put on probation.
1995 A survey to be published by the Community Care magazine shows that more than half Britain's social workers had been attacked by a client, a fifth were sexually harassed and a few sexually assaulted.
1995 The National Trust was hoping to buy two properties on the West Sussex Downs - Devil's Dyke, a beauty spot, and Saddlescome Farm which was once farmed by the Knights Templar. Both were being put on the market by Brighton Borough Council.
1998 Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys died at the age of 51. Carl had been suffering from lung cancer.
1999 The body of King Hussein of Jordan was lowered into the ground at the Jordanian Royal Cemetery, following his death the day before.
2000 It was announced that Wendy Toms would be the first woman to officiate at a Wembley cup final where: Wembley Stadium, on February 27th. Toms, who came from Poole in Dorset, worked as a collection and delivery manager for Parcelforce. She first joined the national assistant referees' list in 1994 and reached the Premier League list in 1997."
2000 Negotiations at Stansted airport with the armed hijackers of an Afghan airline Boeing 727 were continuing with no immediate prospect of an end to the crisis. The plane was seized shortly after leaving the Afghan capital Kabul two days earlier. They were demanding the release of rebel leader Ismail Khan, nicknamed the Lion of Herat, who has been a prisoner of the Afghan government, the Taleban, since 1997.
2000 Movie mogul Steven Spielberg was recovering after having one of his kidneys removed. The director of Jaws, ET and Schindler`s List was having a routine check-up when an "irregularity" was found and he was whisked to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Los Angeles for immediate surgery. The director`s spokesman, Marvin Levy, told press: "The prognosis is for a complete recovery. And no further treatment is necessary." Spielberg had twice won Academy Awards for Best Director and, was due to be presented with a lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of America.
2000 eBay, Amazon and CNN were closed down by internet attacks. The FBI was investigating a series of electronic sabotage attacks which disrupted some of the world's most popular websites. Online auction house eBay.com, Amazon.com and CNN.com became the latest victims following attacks on Yahoo and buy.com.
2000 Israeli forces attacked Hezbollah guerrillas as fear of war loomed. Lebanon was on the verge of all-out war with Israel drawing in tens of thousands of Syrian troops after it unilaterally withdrew from the 1996 ceasefire agreement and lost yet another of its soldiers to Hizbollah guerrillas.
2000 George W Bush won the Republican vote in second presidential primary in Delaware. The victory in the tiny north-eastern US state followed the Texas governor's surprise defeat by Arizona Senator John McCain in New Hampshire.
2000 Celtic suffered a shock 1-3 defeat at the hands of First Division Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Steve Paterson's First Division team came down from the Highlands and administered a humbling defeat with goals from Barry Wilson, Bobby Mann and, with a penalty, Paul Sheerin.
2003 Chief arms inspector Hans Blix said he was satisfied with a first day of talks in Baghdad, as the United Nations pressed for more Iraqi co-operation.
2003 Eurostar launched an investigation after passengers were stranded for five hours and had to smash windows to ventilate carriages.
2003 The musical Nord-Ost returned to the stage for the first time since Chechen rebels stormed its Moscow theatre the previous October.
2003 Lord Irvine rejected his controversial £22,000 pay rise, pending a review, after coming under fire from backbenchers and union leaders.
2003 Auctioneers in Japan who valued an unsigned painting at $80 sold the work for more than half a million dollars after it was identified as a Van Gogh.
2003 Users vented their fury as it emerged cable company NTL was imposing a one gigabyte per day download limit on its broadband service.
2004 Haiti's prime minister accused opposition groups of trying to topple the government, as unrest continued to spread.
2004 Rescuers in the town of Konya in Turkey found a woman alive a week after an 11-storey block of flats collapsed.
2004 Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou was named as Socialist Party leader four weeks before elections.
2004 Nottingham Forest dismissed manager Paul Hart after a terrible run of results.
2005 Ex-Libertines singer Pete Doherty was released from jail after four nights after his manager paid £100,000 bail.

BIRTHDAYS (for 08 February 2006)
John Ruskin, 187 (born 08 February 1819)
English writer
Jules Verne, 178 (born 08 February 1828)
Died 1905. French pioneer of science fiction whose works include "Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea" and "Around the World in Eighty Days"
Dame Edith Evans, 118 (born 08 February 1888)
Died 1976. Distinguished English actress of stage and screen, whose "H-A-N-D-B-A-G" in the 1951 film of "The Importance of being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde has gone down in history
King Vidor, 112 (born 08 February 1894)
(Died 1982) Film producer director.
Lord Jakobovits, 85 (born 08 February 1921)
former Chief Rabbi
Lana Turner, 85 (born 08 February 1921)
(Died 1995) Actress.
Jack Lemmon, 81 (born 08 February 1925)
American actor, son of the president of a doughnut company, famous for both his comic and serious screen roles
Osian Ellis, 78 (born 08 February 1928)
Britain's most famous harpist
Sir Stanley Baker, 78 (born 08 February 1928)
Welsh actor who starred in films such as "Undercover", "Lili Marlene" and "Zulu"
James Dean, 75 (born 08 February 1931)
Died 1955. Legendary US film actor who made just three major films before his untimely death, which only served to compound his cult status: "Rebel Without a Cause", "East of Eden" and "Giant"
John Williams, 74 (born 08 February 1932)
Composer of film scores, famous for "Jaws", "Star Wars", "E.T.", "The River", "Home Alone", and "Schindler's List"
Lady Howe of Aberavon, 74 (born 08 February 1932)
Wife of Lord (Geoffrey) Howe
Joe Raposo, 69 (born 08 February 1937)
(Died 1989) Composer of Sesame Street theme and songs.
Nick Nolte, 66 (born 08 February 1940)
Actor - '48 Hours' 'Prince of Tides'.
Brooke Adams, 57 (born 08 February 1949)
Actress - 'Body Snatchers'.
`England' Dan Seals, 56 (born 08 February 1950)
Singer of England Dan and John Ford Coley fame.
Andy Powell, 56 (born 08 February 1950)
Member of Wishbone Ash.
Carolyn Pickles, 54 (born 08 February 1952)
Actress - 'The Bill'.
Mary Steenburgen, 53 (born 08 February 1953)
Actress - 'Parenthood' 'Nixon' - Ted Danson's wife.
Roger Lloyd Black, 52 (born 08 February 1954)
Trigger in "Only Fools and Horses"
Ethan Phillips, 51 (born 08 February 1955)
Actor - ship cook in 'Star Trek Voyager'.
John Grisham, 51 (born 08 February 1955)
Author 'The Pelican Brief' 'The Client' 'The Firm'.
Vince Neil, 45 (born 08 February 1961)
Member of Cheap Trick, Motley Crue.
Ken McCluskey, 44 (born 08 February 1962)
Blubells, whose "Young at Heart" was used in a Volkswagen TV advert in 1993
Clare Wood, 38 (born 08 February 1968)
tennis player
Gary Coleman, 38 (born 08 February 1968)
Actor 'Diff'rent Strokes'.

Guess The Year?

The first baby to be conceived by embryo transplant was born in Long Beach, California.
Ballet dancer Geoffrey Wynne was awarded £5,674 compensation after losing his job with the London Festival Ballet who claimed he was too effeminate and not strong enough to lift ballerinas.
Cambridge University celebrated four hundred years of publishing which, it claimed, made it the oldest university press in the world.
The Central Criminal Court jailed seven members of a Mafia-run smuggling ring which had smuggled cannabis worth £4.5 million into Britain.
Eleven seamen were rescued from the freezing waters of the English Channel after their Panamanian registered ship sank after being battered by severe gales.
Thieves stole £2, 000 in cash and £7, 000 worth of postal orders and stamps after smashing down the wall of a post office at Chattenden, near Rochester, Kent with a stolen tractor.
US astronaut Bruce McCandless, from the Challenger space shuttle, became the first person to walk in space without being attached to his space craft.
The fourteenth Winter Olympics began at Sarajevo in Yugoslavia.
Barry Foster was released from Rampton top security hospital after being granted a royal pardon for a rape he did not commit.
Harold Macmillan was awarded an earldom to celebrate his ninetieth Birthday. He was the first earl to have been created for twenty one years.
Soviet leader Yuri Andropov died after fifteen months in office, to be succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko.
Builder Keith Parnell from Fenton, Stoke, was fined £1,000 after demolishing a listed Georgian building without permission from the city council.
THE YEAR?

Today's The Day

7th February 2006

Religious events today...
Feast day of St Luke the Younger,
St Theodore of Heraclea,
St Adaucus,
St Moses,
St Richard, `King of the English',
and St Silvin.

History Test for February 7th
Today in 1987 George Michael topped the UK pop charts with the duet 'I Knew You Were Waiting For Me'. Who sang with him? -Aretha Franklin
Actor Gareth Hunt was born today in 1943. What was the name of the character he played in TV's `The New Avengers'? -Gambit
Today in 1301, Edward of Carnarvon was invested first Prince of Wales. In which year was Prince Charles invested with the same title? -1969 (He was created Earl of Chester and Prince of Wales on 26.07.58 and invested on 01.07.69)
Actress Dora Bryan was born today in 1923. She stars as Roy Barraclough's mother in which TV comedy series? -'Mother's Ruin'
Charles Dickens was born today in 1812. What is the title of the book he left unfinished? -`The Mystery of Edwin Drood'

Events today…
1301 Edward Caernarvon (later King Edward II) became the first Prince of Wales.
1779 Death of William Boyce, English organist and composer.
1792 Austria and Prussia formed an alliance against France.
1812 Charles Dickens was born at Landport, Portsmouth.
1845 William Lloyd, a drunken visitor to the British Museum, smashed The Portland Vase, a cameo glass Roman vase dating from 25 BC and believed to have belonged to the Emperor Augustus.
1863 HMS Orpheus was wrecked off the New Zealand coast, with the loss of 185 lives.
1873 Death of Sheridan Le Fanu, Irish writer.
1878 Pope Pius IX died having reigned for over thirty one years.
1894 Death of Adolphe Sax (aged 79) Belgian inventor of the saxophone.
1900 The Labour Party was formed.
1922 It was announced that thousands of cattle, pigs and sheep were to be slaughtered as the UK suffered a foot and mouth epidemic.
1924 Helena Normanton, the first female barrister started work at the Old Bailey.
1940 "Pinocchio", Walt Disney's 2nd feature-length movie premiered.
1947 The main group of the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to about 150 BC-AD 68, was found in caves on the West side of the Jordan River.
1959 Buddy Holly's funeral was attended by over 1000 people.
1959 Death of Daniel Malan, South African statesman.
1960 Death of Igor Vasilevich Kuchatov, Russian nuclear physicist.
1962 Blockade of Cuba began by America.
1962 England drew the third Test against Pakistan in Karachi to win the series.
1964 Baskin-Robbins introduced Beetle Nut ice cream.
1965 Cassius Clay became known as Muhammad Ali when he converted to the Muslim religion.
1974 "Blazing Saddles" premiered. It was directed by Mel Brooks.
1974 Grenada became a fully independent state within the Commonwealth.
1976 Two ladies made sporting history: Joan Bazely became the first woman referee of an all-male football match at Croydon, and Diana Thorne became the first woman jockey to win under National Hunt Rules.
1976 In Russia the world's largest telescope started operation.
1977 Amnesty International claimed that Ugandan dictator Idi Amin had executed thousands of people since coming to power.
1983 A company director who left £87, 000 behind the seat of his car while going to a supermarket in Manchester returned a few minutes later to find that the money had gone.
1983 Bristol adventurer and mountaineer David Hempleman Adams left on the first stage of a solitary walk to the North Pole.
1983 Golfer Tom Kite won the forty-second Bing Crosby national pro-amateur tournament.
1983 It was reported that the Cromwell Hospital in Kensington, London, had been inundated with hundreds of blood donors after a request was broadcast by Capital Radio for fresh supplies for a patient who had undergone major heart surgery; the station's switchboard was jammed within moments of the broadcast.
1983 Thieves stole a lorry loaded with toilet paper valued at £13, 000 from a trading estate in Surrey.
1984 Eleven seamen were rescued from the freezing waters of the English Channel after their Panamanian registered ship sank after being battered by severe gales.
1984 Thieves stole £2, 000 in cash and £7, 000 worth of postal orders and stamps after smashing down the wall of a post office at Chattenden, near Rochester, Kent with a stolen tractor.
1984 US astronaut Bruce McCandless, from the Challenger space shuttle, became the first person to walk in space without being attached to his space craft.
1986 Lindy Chamberlain, whose claims that her baby had been taken by a dingo were disregarded in the infamous 'dingo baby' case, was freed from jail after new evidence undermined the original conviction.
1988 Boxing commentator Henry Cooper was overcome by fumes when two CS gas canisters were thrown into the crowd before a world middleweight title fight between Tony Sibson and Frank Tatte at Stafford.
1988 In the first leg of the Littlewoods Cup semi-final, Arsenal beat Everton by one goal to nil.
1988 More than 120 people were killed when torrential rain, mud slides and floods in the Rio de Janeiro area swept away cars and demolished buildings. The disaster also accounted for more than 1, 000 injured and 6, 000 homeless.
1988 Steve Cram returned to action after a bout of food poisoning with an appearance in the Chester-le-Street road race.
1989 Air accident investigators were called in after pieces of metal from an aircraft were discovered strewn across a one-mile area of woods and farmland in Oxfordshire.
1989 Former tennis legend Bjorn Borg survived a drugs overdose in Milan.
1989 Mountaineer Chris Bonington. was to take part in a hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest later in 1989. The pilot would be Per Lindstrand, who made the first crossing of the Atlantic by hot-air balloon in 1987 and held the world balloon altitude record of 65, 000 feet.
1989 Three Britons, David Barnsdale, Joseph Harris and Pamela Banks were arrested and expelled from Czechoslovakia after handing out pacifist leaflets in Brno, central Czechoslovakia.
1990 Death of Jimmy Van Heusen, US composer.
1990 In the USSR, the Central Committee agreed to end communist monopoly on power, paving the way for a multi-party democracy
1991 The IRA claimed responsibility for three mortar bombs, which were fired at the British Prime Minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street, through the roof of a van, parked nearby. Fortunately no one was seriously harmed, although a window was broken in the room where John Major’s war cabinet was discussing the Gulf crisis. The Prime Minister said that this would not change his policy towards Northern Ireland ‘one iota’.
1992 Ill health forced Bob Paisley to quit the Liverpool board of directors, ending a relationship with the club that had lasted since he joined them as a player, from Bishop Auckland, in 1939.
1995 A new military medal was announced - open to all ranks in the three armed services - called the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. The medal was to become the second most senior decoration for gallantry, next to the Victoria Cross.
1995 According to the Office of Health Economics, health spending in Britain would reach £47 billion in 1995 - £808 for every person in the country, or 6.7% of the Gross National Product. The average hospital stay is ten days against 45 days in 1951. Although the figures on NHS spending are large, most industrialised countries spend between 8% and 10% of their GNP on health.
1995 Bomb disposal experts spent a week looking for a Second World War bomb supposed to have been beneath a cottage in Louth, Lincolnshire, after a neighbour said he had heard the bomb fall when he was a boy. The house could not be sold with the possibility of an unexploded bomb on the site. The estate agent said: 'The place looks like a bomb's hit it.
1995 The Cambridgeshire firm of Clarratts won international orders from farmers and anglers for a 6ft male doll, timed to inflate and deflate at regular intervals and thus scare away herons.
1995 The Church of England was to sell its biggest and most profitable asset, the Metro Centre shopping Centre in Gateshead, for about £500million.
1996 Birmingham City hired Lou Macari as manager.
1997 Princess Diana severed links with a book by designer Gianni Versace over its pictures of naked men opposite the Royal Family.
1999 After 122 years, the Queen withdrew the Royal Warrant from Gallaher’s who make Benson and Hedges cigarettes.
1999 King Hussein of Jordan died, aged 63. He returned home from America two days earlier following cancer treatment and a bone marrow transplant. He had devoted his life to transforming a weak desert kingdom into a strong and cohesive nation. His successor, King Abdullah, was worn in at a ceremony in the Jordanian parliament.
2000 Zookeeper Darren Cockrill was crushed to death by La Petite the elephant at Aspinall Zoo, near Folkestone owned by millionaire John Aspinall. It was the fifth tragedy at an Aspinall zoo and the 14th serious incident involving his animals.
2000 Mark Richardson, Europe`s leading 400 metres runner of the previous year, revealed that he is the latest British athlete to have tested adversely for nandrolone. The 27-year-old Windsor runner, who showed up metabolites of the banned steroid in a urine sample taken in October, now looked certain to miss this year`s Olympic Games.
2000 Labour peers staged a massive rebellion over the PM`s fight to scrap Clause 28 - the law outlawing homosexual propaganda in the classroom. They joined forces with Tories by voting 210-165 to KEEP the legislation, introduced 12 years earlier by Mrs Thatcher.
2000 Chemist Lynn Walker was ordered to pay £400,000 in compensation for falsely accusing a colleague of rape. A jury branded Ms Walker a callous liar who had put married Mr Garfoot through `three years of hell`. She was also ordered to pay £150,000 legal costs. The 20,000-a-year pharmacist now faced utter financial ruin.
2000 Tiger Woods won the Pebble Beach National ProAm in California. He electrified an otherwise grey afternoon on the Monterey Peninsula by sinking a 97yard shot for eagle on the 15th hole and making birdies on two of the last three holes.
2003 The first draft of an EU constitution was met with sharp criticism over use of the word "federal" and plans for foreign and economic policy.
2003 The Catholic Church in Ireland said it took out insurance to cover child abuse claims, long before admitting to the problem.
2003 England's final bid to have their Cricket World Cup match moved from Zimbabwe was turned down.
2003 Michael Jackson's US fans reacted with a mixture of dismay and pity to the super star's controversial ITV interview with Martin Bashir.
2003 Coroners said a gunshot to the face killed actress Lana Clarkson, found dead at the house of music producer Phil Spector four days earlier.
2003 A French waiter charged with stealing paintings and artefacts worth more than $1bn got a four-year jail sentence from a Swiss court.
2003 The Israelis and Palestinians signed up to an historic agreement to tackle joint environmental problems.
2004 Sri Lanka's president dissolved parliament in a bid to win full power back from her bitter rival, the prime minister.
2004 Glamour model Jordan was the latest contestant to be voted out of the ITV1 reality show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
2004 Ruud van Nistelrooy scores his 101st goal and the winner as Man Utd beat Everton 4-3.
2005 Britain's Ellen MacArthur completed her solo round-the-world voyage in record time.
2005 Singer Britney Spears sued insurance firms that refused to reimburse her for cancelling her tour the previous year.
2005 Amir Khan was knocked down before winning on his senior ABA Championships debut.

BIRTHDAYS (for 07 February 2006)
Thomas More, 528 (born 07 February 1478)
English politician
Philippe Buache, 306 (born 07 February 1700)
French canographer
John Deere, 202 (born 07 February 1804)
farm equipment manufacturer
Charles Dickens, 194 (born 07 February 1812)
Died 1870. Celebrated English Novelist
Alfred Adler, 136 (born 07 February 1870)
Austrian psychoanalyst
Sinclair Lewis, 121 (born 07 February 1885)
Nobel Prize-winning US Novelist best known for such works as "Main Street" and "Elmer Gentry"
Buster Crabbe, 98 (born 07 February 1908)
Died 1983. American actor who played the title role in the "Flash Gordon" movies
Ralph Whitlock, 92 (born 07 February 1914)
Farmer, writer and broadcaster. Best remembered for his Radio 4 series "Farming Magazine" and his appearances on the panel of "Any Questions"
Dick Emery, 89 (born 07 February 1917)
(Died 1983) Comedian.
The Earl of Harewood, 88 (born 07 February 1918)

Dora Bryan, 82 (born 07 February 1924)
Actress who appeared in over fifty British films, usually as a kind-hearted cockney. She won a BFA Award for her lead role in a "Taste of Honey"
Peter Jay, 69 (born 07 February 1937)
Writer, broadcaster, former British Ambassador to Washington and TV-am founder
Gareth Hunt, 63 (born 07 February 1943)
English actor and star of the TV series "The New Avengers"
Gerald Davies, 61 (born 07 February 1945)
(rugby union) -- played for Wales 46 times
Alan Lancaster, 57 (born 07 February 1949)
Former member of Status Quo.
Brian Robertson, 50 (born 07 February 1956)
Member of Thin Lizzy and Motorhead.
Terry Marsh, 48 (born 07 February 1958)
(boxing) -- World light-welterweight champion who retired unbeaten due to epilepsy
Brian Travers, 47 (born 07 February 1959)
Saxophonist with UB40 who had a major hit in 1993 with "I can't help Falling in Love with You", which reached number one
Mick McCarthy, 47 (born 07 February 1959)
football manager
Sammy Lee, 47 (born 07 February 1959)
Former Liverpool footballer
James Spader, 46 (born 07 February 1960)
American actor with appearances in movies throughout the 1980s including "Wall Street", "Sex, Lies and Videotape", and "Wolf"
Steve Bronski, 46 (born 07 February 1960)
Bronski Beat. Their debut single "Smalltown Boy" was an immediate success with their lead vocal, Jimmy Somerville. In 1985 Somerville left the group but Bronski Beat released two more albums which had some success
James Spader, 46 (born 07 February 1960)
Actor - 'Stargate' 'sex lies and videotape'.
Garth Brooks, 44 (born 07 February 1962)
Country singer.
David Bryan, 44 (born 07 February 1962)
Member of Bon Jovi.
Roland Lefebvre, 43 (born 07 February 1963)
(cricket) -- Dutch former Somerset and Glamorgan pace bowler
Chris Rock, 40 (born 07 February 1966)
Comic actor.
Brian Deane, 38 (born 07 February 1968)
(soccer) -- Benfica striker
Jonathan Bell, 32 (born 07 February 1974)
(rugby union) -- Northampton and Ireland centre

9pm February 7th - Quiztime UK - 3rd Birthday

Raise your glass at 9pm on Tuesday 7th February

The Toast is - "Happy Quizzing"

Celebrating Quiztime's 3rd Birthday on the Internet

Quiztime Website - Happy 3rd Birthday!!!

There are times, three years ago that if had been more careful in chosing my website address things may have been a bit more user friendly.
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/Quiztime2003 is a bit of a mouthful but thanks to Google and other search engines 'Quiztime' is near the top of most searches.
Using a free web builder via my service provider I decided to publish archived quizzes and my latest quiz files, written on a weekly basis, to the world.
I am based at the Ancient Oak, Cottam, Preston, Lancashire and have been presenting or providing quizzes since the cement of the pub set, some 10 years ago.
In that time I have gone on to be a local radio presenter (Southport) and a Pub Landlord (Hoscar - look it up... near Parbold / Ormskirk, Lancashire).
I once presented Quizzes in Southport Pubs, including the Imperial, The Bold Arms, The Mount, The Zetland, The Pageant, The Herald, The Thatch & Thistle, The Shrimper, The Scarisbrick (now Suttons) and The Lakeside (Smallest Pub In England!).
Whilst on Dune FM (Southport's Local Radio Station) I ran an inter pub Quiz whereby the Winning Pub won £100 for their local charity.
The amount of Charity Quiznights I have run in 25 years is beyond any counting and I have not kept any records but I trust that all those worthy causes have been grateful of my input.
There have been many 'Fun Times' and one night in particlar comes to mind...
The Quizmaster's Challenge - held at the Red Lion at Scarisbrick (now an Indian Restaurant) where the Top 5 Quizmasters in Southport all gave their time for free to raise money for our local hospice. We all contributed one round each, the landlord put on a free supper, we raised a lot of money and everyone had a great night - unfortunately never to be repeated!
When I first placed my website on the internet it was frowned upon by the Quiz Powers of the time - "Who is this upstart from Preston providing Free Quiz material"?
I actually recieved a lot of abuse, mind you I did lead with "Stop wasting money on Crap Quiz Suppliers when you can get it free from me".
Three Years down the line and even I know who are Good Quiz Suppliers and who are not!
There are times even I have purchased a quick helpful quiz to get me out of a tight corner or because I could not be arsed writing one.
Meanwhile, Looking back over three years on the web, I have met lots of new friends, people who have similar interests, people who love quizzes, people who are genuinely trying to give customers in pubs a great quiz!
I will strive to provide the best resources for Quiznights as I possibly can and still will ask for Donations, just so I can at least buy a Pint on the strength that a good service is provided.
Remember though, on a serious note, any donations to Quiztime also support the Rosemere Cancer Foundation who, without their personal support, I would not be here now.
I would love to invite you all to Quiztime's Website 3rd Birthday Party but raise a glass wherever you are at 9pm (GMT) on Tuesday 7th and the toast is -
"Happy Quizzing!"

Guess The Year?

Medical prescriptions on the NHS became free of charge (they remained so until June 1968).
Singer PJ Proby was banned from making appearances at theatres in Britain due to his trouser splitting exploits.
Brighton hosted the opening of Joe Orton's play "Loot.".
"You've Lost That Loving Feeling" hit the no. 1 spot for the Righteous Brothers.
Cassius Clay became known as Muhammad Ali when he converted to the Muslim religion.
"Stop In the Name of Love" was released by the Supremes.
Health Minister Kenneth Robinson announced that cigarette advertisements were to be banned from British television.
Death of Nat King Cole, (aged 45) American singer and musician 'When I Fall in Love'.
The Gambia became an independent state within the Commonwealth.
The American Black Muslim leader Malcolm X was shot dead while addressing a meeting in New York. A rival sect is suspected of the killing. Malcolm X once preached black violence, but he converted to orthodox Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca last year and abandoned his extreme, separatist stance for a more optimistic socialism.
Death of Stan Laurel, English-born film comedian.
3,500 US marines landed in South Vietnam.
THE YEAR?

Today's The Day

6th February 2006

Waitangi Day -National Day of Australia

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Paul Miki and his Companions,
St Vedast or Vaast,
St Hidegund,
St Amand,
Saints Mel and Melchu,
and St Guarinus of Palestrina.

History Test for February 6th
Joseph Priestley died today in 1804. He is noted for his discovery of which gas? -Oxygen
Today in 1952, Queen Elizabeth succeeded to the British throne on her father's death. Where was she when she heard the news? -On tour in Kenya with Prince Philip
Jimmy Tarbuck was born today in 1940. Name the TV quiz show he presented in which Geoffrey Wheeler asked the questions. -`Winner Takes All'
Today in 1961, which footballer refused to take part on `This is Your Life'? -Danny Blanchflower
Which style of English furniture has fine upholstery and wood inlays and is named after a monarch, born today in 1665? -Queen Anne

Events today...
1508 Maximilian I assumed the title of Holy Roman Emperor.
1685 King Charles II died from apoplexy, with his brother James II, succeeding him to the throne.
1778 Britain declared war on France.
1783 Death of Lancelot `Capability' Brown, English landscape gardener.
1793 Death of Carlo Goldoni, Italian dramatist.
1804 Death of Joseph Priestley, English chemist.
1832 Cholera appeared in Edinburgh for the first time.
1840 The Treaty of Waitangi was signed by Great Britain and the Maori chiefs of New Zealand, granting British sovereignty.
1857 The Portrait Gallery opened in London.
1918 Women over thirty became eligible to vote in elections to Parliament at Westminster for the first time.
1935 The board game "Monopoly" went on sale.
1952 Queen Elizabeth II succeeded King George VI following his death. He died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 56.
1958 Seven Manchester United footballers, returning from their victory in the final of the European Cup in Belgrade, were killed when their plane crashed in thick snow on the runway at Munich airport. Their manager, Matt Busby, was left seriously ill on a life support machine, while England international Duncan Edwards was left in a critical condition. Matt Busby eventually recovered but Edwards died fifteen days later.
1961 Danny Blanchflower became the first person to refuse appear on the television programme "This is Your Life".
1964 The French and British governments agreed to the building of a Channel Tunnel at a cost estimated at £160 million.
1965 "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" hit the no. 1 spot for the Righteous Brothers.
1968 The 10th Winter Olympic games opened in Grenoble, France.
1971 Astronaut Alan Shepherd became the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon.
1977 Celebrations for Queen Elizabeth II and her Silver Jubilee.
1979 Pakistan's Supreme Court upheld the death sentence imposed on former Prime Minister Bhutto.
1981 Death of Hugo Montenegro (aged 55) Conductor composer.
1981 Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the European ice dancing title which had been held by the Soviets for twelve years.
1983 Australia beat New Zealand by twenty seven runs to knock England out of the World Series Cup.
1983 John McEnroe beat Czech tennis player Ivan Lendl over four sets in the final of the United States indoor professional tennis championship in Philadelphia.
1983 Suspected Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was imprisoned in Lyons and charged with crimes against humanity.
1984 Ballet dancer Geoffrey Wynne was awarded £5,674 compensation after losing his job with the London Festival Ballet who claimed he was too effeminate and not strong enough to lift ballerinas.
1984 Cambridge University celebrated four hundred years of publishing which, it claimed, made it the oldest university press in the world.
1984 The Central Criminal Court jailed seven members of a Mafia-run smuggling ring which had smuggled cannabis worth £4.5 million into Britain.
1988 Death of Marghanita Laski, English author.
1988 In the First Division of the Football League, table toppers Liverpool could only manage a draw with West Ham, while Manchester United beat Coventry City 1-0 and Nottingham Forest beat Chelsea 3-2 to close the gap at the top of the table.
1988 In the world of Rugby Union, Wales beat England 11-3 to secure the British Gas Challenge Cup at Twickenham.
1989 Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Timothy West and Derek Jacobi were among actors and playwrights who demanded the Government give £150,000 to save the British Theatre Association Library.
1989 Scotland Yard launched a £400,000 campaign against racial harassment in London, attempting to encourage ethnic communities to trust the police and report racially motivated attacks.
1989 South West Water Authority paid out a total of £52,000 in compensation to two hundred people whose tap water was contaminated after twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate were pumped into the wrong tank at a treatment works near Camelford, Cornwall.
1990 In Jamaica Bob Marley's birthday was commemorated as a national holiday.
1991 Debris from Salyut 7, a Soviet space station abandoned in 1986, re-entered the Earth's atmosphere; it was believed that most of it landed in the Atlantic Ocean.
1992 Bill Clinton's bid for the US Presidency was thrown into doubt by claims that he had dodged the Vietnam draft in 1969.
1992 It was reported that Sean Connery, on recently joining the Newington branch of the Scottish National Party, had, quite by chance, been given the membership number, C007.
1993 Death of Arthur Ashe (aged 49) US Tennis player.
1994 Death of Jack Kirby (aged 76) Comic strip cartoonist X-Men, Spiderman, Fantastic Four etc.
1994 Death of Joseph Cotten (aged 88) Actor 'Citizen Kane' 'The Third Man'.
1995 Doug McClure, the American actor who starred in the TV series 'The Virginian', died in Los Angeles, aged 59
1995 The BBC announced that it was to open Broadcasting House to visitors in 1996 and said it expected to attract 200,000 visitors a year.
1995 A man who was alleged to have stolen 60p from a schoolboy and spent almost five months in custody was found not guilty at Southwark Crown Court and won £10,000 agreed damages from the Metropolitan Police.
1995 Two brothers, aged two and three, travelled 20 yards in their father's 150mph Toyota Supra. Taking the keys from a high shelf, they ran out to the car and used the electronic beam on the key fob to switch off the alarm. Next they turned off the fuel cut-out and an immobiliser before starting the engine, while their parents were asleep. A neighbour saw the car and raised the alarm. It seems that they had wanted to take their cat, Calypso, for a ride around the block. Their father said: 'When you split the boys up they can be as good as angels; but once they are together they are a real handful, very mischievous'.
1995 According to a survey by the Consumers' Association, more than 25% of 1,035 people questioned had not visited a dentist for 18 months. 41 % claimed that charges were too high.
1995 Staff on the switchboard at the environment department of Leeds council had been banned from addressing people as 'love'. One operator said: 'It’s ridiculous. Addressing people as 'love' isn't an insult; it's just the way we speak.
1995 The American spacecraft Discovery and the Russian spacecraft Mir met in space 250 miles above the northern tip of Japan and for ten minutes orbited together at a speed of 17,500mph.
1998 Death of Carl Wilson (aged 51) A Beach Boy Carl sang the lead on 'God Only Knows'.
1998 Death of Falco (aged 40) Austrian singer 'Rock Me Amadeus'.
1999 Manchester United beat Nottingham Forest 8-1 in the Premiership.
2004 The Russian leader blamed Chechen rebels for a Moscow underground blast which killed at least 39 people.
2004 Surgeons began a long, risky operation on a baby girl born with the undeveloped head of a conjoined twin.
2004 Gerhard Schroeder announced his decision to resign as leader of his party, but would not quit as German chancellor.
2004 The wife of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic was suing Nato after a raid on her home.
2004 Lancashire police probed the drowning of 19 cockle pickers amid fears they were working for a criminal gang.
2004 World heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis announced his retirement from professional boxing.
2004 Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger said he was not thinking about signing a contract extension.
2005 Togo's parliament passed measures to allow the son of the late president to rule the country for another three years.
2005 The Tory party said it would deal "sympathetically" with any application to rejoin by disgraced peer Lord Archer.
2005 Michael Jackson's child abuse trial was delayed after family illness hit a member of the star's legal team.
2005 American billionaire Malcolm Glazer made another takeover bid for Man Utd.

BIRTHDAYS (for 06 February 2006)
Christopher Marlowe, 442 (born 06 February 1564)
English poet and playwright
Sir Henry Irving, 168 (born 06 February 1838)
English actor and the first actor to be knighted
George Herman `Babe' Ruth, 111 (born 06 February 1895)
Legendary US baseball player
Babe Ruth, 111 (born 06 February 1895)
(Died 1948) Baseball pitcher.
Ronald Reagan, 95 (born 06 February 1911)
Died 2004. fsActor and Former actor and 40th US President
Eva Braun, 94 (born 06 February 1912)
Mistress and later wife of Adolf Hitler
Zsa Zsa Gabor, 87 (born 06 February 1919)
Actress, who was a former Miss Hungary. Married 9 times.
Dennis Norden CBE, 84 (born 06 February 1922)
Scriptwriter/broadcaster
Patrick MacNee, 84 (born 06 February 1922)
British leading man in films and TV, appearing in the 1960s series "The Avengers"
Keith Waterhouse, 77 (born 06 February 1929)
Novelist.
Jimmy Tarbuck OBE, 76 (born 06 February 1930)
Comedian.
Rip Torn, 75 (born 06 February 1931)
Actor - many films and Artie in 'Larry Sanders'.
Fred Trueman, 75 (born 06 February 1931)
Cricketer.
Francois Truffaut, 74 (born 06 February 1932)
Died 1984. French Oscar-winning film director
Leslie Crowther, 73 (born 06 February 1933)
Died 1996. Television comedian, actor and presenter
Mamie van Doren, 73 (born 06 February 1933)
Actress.
Mike Farrell, 67 (born 06 February 1939)
Actor - Capt B J Hunnicut in TV's 'M.A.S.H.'.
Jimmy Tarbuck, 66 (born 06 February 1940)
Liverpudlian comedian, entertainer and quizmaster who hosted "Sunday Night at the London Palladium" and "Winner Takes All"
Gayle Hunnicutt, 63 (born 06 February 1943)
Texas born actress
Fabian, 63 (born 06 February 1943)
Singer actor.
Gayle Hunnicutt, 63 (born 06 February 1943)
Actress - Vanessa in Dallas.
Bob Marley, 61 (born 06 February 1945)
(Died 1981) Reggae singer.
Alan Jones, 59 (born 06 February 1947)
Baritone sax with Amen Corner who had numerous hits in the 1960s with songs such as "Bend Me, Shape Me", "High in the Sky", and the hit number one slot with "If Paradise in Half as Nice"
Manuel Orantes, 57 (born 06 February 1949)
Top Spanish tennis player
Jim Sheridan, 57 (born 06 February 1949)
Director - 'My Left Foot'.
Mike Batt, 56 (born 06 February 1950)
Popular music composer and arranger. Art Garfunkel recorded his song "Bright Eyes" in 1979 and it reached number one in the charts
Natalie Cole, 56 (born 06 February 1950)
Daughter of Nat 'King' Cole who had three hit singles in the late 1970s with "This Will Be", "I've Got Love On My Mind", and "Our Love"
Mike Batt, 56 (born 06 February 1950)
Musician - The Wombles guy.
Kevin Whately, 55 (born 06 February 1951)
Actor - Lewis in 'Inspector Morse' 'The Brokers Man'.
'Axl' Rose, 44 (born 06 February 1962)
Musician singer - lead of Guns 'N Roses.
Rick Astley, 40 (born 06 February 1966)
Who had a number one hit in 1987 with "Never Gonna Give You Up"

Six Nations Wallpaper

ENGLAND

SCOTLAND

WALES

IRELAND

FRANCE

ITALY

Click on your country for the official Six Nations Wallpaper

Six Nations Championship

SCOTLAND 20 - 16 FRANCE

Quiztime Web Birthday

To date, since the launch of this Quiz Blog on December 1st 2005, there have been 2,346 visitors from 65 countries around the world!
My website, since its launch on Feb 7th 2003 has 174,688 visitors logged in with 6,300 since Jan 1st 2006 and 7,090 from 50 countries since 1st Dec 2005.
The Picture Quiz Files have seen an astounding 6,566 downloads since 1st October 2005.
The Quiz Files Index has 2,100 articles with 796 registered users to date.
As Quiztime UK celebrates its 3rd Birthday on the Web on February 7th I hope that you all enjoy the free material that I am making available.
I ask that to maintain this resource that you consider making a Donation to Quiztime to show your appreciation for the resources that are available.
Lots more to come in 2006. Please leave a message at any time by using the 'comments' or the 'chat board' at the foot of the blog or by contacting me direct - quiztimeuk@gmail.com.
THANKS! Chris

100 History Quiz

To celebrate Quiztime UK Website's Third Birthday on 7th Feb I'm posting a few 'Specials'.
The 'Blog' will not be updated between Feb 8th and 22nd as I shall be on holiday. Updates will return on Thursday 23rd Feb.

Here is the third 'Special' - HISTORY

In which year did Harry S. Truman become US president
1945

In Roman myth, Neptune is equivalent to which Greek god
Poseidon

Which king was defeated at Battle of Bosworth, 22nd-Aug-1485 (the last battle of the Wars of the Roses)
Richard III

What do we call the slab of basalt with inscriptions from 196BC found near the town of the same name in Egypt in 1799
Rosetta Stone

What is a plant and a Greek mythology character who rejected the love of the nymph 'Echo'
Narcissus

In Arthurian legend, Caliburn is another name for what
Excalibur

In which war was the 'Battle of Bunker Hill'
War of American Independence

CREEP is an acronym for which campaign in 1972
Campaign to re-elect the president (Nixon)

Falangists - formerly Spanish members of which (political) group
Fascists

DORA, an acronym for which act passed in 1914 to confer extraordinary powers on government for the duration of WW1
Defence of the Realm Act

What, formed in May 1940, was originally known as 'Local Defence Volunteers'
The Home Guard (by July 1940)

In which city was Florence Nightingale born (in 1820)
Florence, Italy

The 2nd and 6th US presidents were father & son, who were they
John & John Quincy Adams

What was Britain's prize gain from the Treaty of Nanking, 1842
Hong Kong

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on which island, 1769
Corsica

The ANZUS pact of 1951 was a defence treaty between which countries
Australia, New Zealand & USA

What did we call the houses built in whole sections in factories, and put up to help solve housing shortage after WW2
Prefabs

Which Count was a German airship pioneer pre- and during WW1
Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin

The Bow Street Runners, set up in the early 1750's were the first attempt to create what, in London
Police Force

Which 2 countries left EFTA in 1973
Britain & Denmark

The 'Representation of the People Act', 1918 gave the vote to women over what age
30

What term was used by Mussolini in 1936 to describe the relationship of cooperation between Italy and Hitler's Germany
Axis

Which Tory Prime Minister defeated the 1926 general strike
Stanley Baldwin

What term was used for the men recruited by the British government in 1920, to help fight the Irish Republican Army
Black and Tans

In 1949, after the Chinese Revolution, the Chinese Nationalists fled to where
Formosa (now Taiwan)

Who was Italian Prime Minister in 1976 and later, in 1978, kidnapped and shot by the Red Brigade
Aldo Moro

Which city was 'atom' bombed on 9th August 1945
Nagasaki ,(Hiroshima was on the 6th)

Whose 1942 report forms the basis of the present 'Welfare State'
The Beveridge report

Who was the last (only?) king of Albania
Zog

Who betrayed Norway to the Nazis, whose name became generic for 'traitor'
(Vidkum) Quisling

How were the priests of the old Celtic tribes known
Druids

Who were the Germanic people, barbarians that ravaged Gaul, Spain, N. Africa and Rome, destroying many books and works of art in the 5th century
Vandals

Which ancient wonder of the world did Nebuchadnezzar build for his wife
Hanging gardens of Babylon

Where was the Minoan civilisation
Island of Crete

Which 2 countries fought the first Opium War, 1839-1842
Britain & China

What effectively replaced the Privy Council in 1688
The Cabinet

Chamberlain's policy of trying to pacify Hitler was generally known as the policy of what
Appeasement

Lady Nancy Astor was the 1st woman to do what
Take seat in House of Commons

How were Oswald Moseley's fascist followers collectively known
Blackshirts

In the Crimean war how were the cavalrymen of the 17th Hussars better known
Light Brigade

How is 6th June, 1944 generally known
D-Day

What's the 'Mappa Mundi'
13th century map of the world

Who's the chief Roman god, identified with the Greek, Zeus
Jupiter (or Jove)

Who was the father of Zeus, and the Roman equivalent
Cronus: Roman, Saturn

What was the Persian, Omar Khayyam (1050-1123), known for
Astronomer / poet / calendar reformer

Whose tomb & treasure was found by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922
Tutenkhamen

Who opened the first of a series of homes for destitute children in 1867 at Stepney, London
Dr. Barnardo

In the 17th century what were turnpike trusts set up to look after
Roads

What were 'Sepoys' in the British Army
Indian soldiers

Which conservative politician described early Victorian society as 'Two Nations', ..ie rich and poor
Benjamin Disraeli

In which city was the UN charter drawn up in 1945
San Francisco

In the 14th century, Nefertiti was queen of which country
Egypt

What relation was Kublai to Genghis Khan
Grandson

Which country sold land to the USA in the 'Louisiana Purchase' of 1803
France

According to legend, what was Faust's talent
Magician

What was the Viking winter solstice festival that predates Christmas
Yuletide

Which ancient civilisation existed in the mountains if Peru
Incas

In Greek mythology, Persephone is Queen/wife to who
Hades (or Pluto)

Who was father of Hardicanute, Danish king of England, 1040
Canute

According to legend, who defied Vogt Gessler, the Austrian governor of the Swiss canton of Uri
William Tell

Which 1959 design is Issigonis, the Palestinian born British designer, especially noted for
Mini (minor)

Capt. James Cook was born in Yorkshire. Where did he die
Hawaii

UK General Elections are usually held on which day of the week
Thursday

Neptune holds a trident in Roman mythology. Who's the Greek equivalent
Poseidon

Where was Prince Charles' investiture as Prince of Wales
Caernarvon Castle

Which 2 implements were depicted on the Soviet flag
Hammer and sickle

Who were the original SDP gang of 4
Shirley Williams, Bill Rogers, David Owen, Roy Jenkins

Who first coined the phrase 'The Iron Curtain' during a speech in Missouri in 1946
Winston Churchill

Who was US president during the 1st world war
(Thomas) Woodrow Wilson

Which 2 chiefs led the Sioux against Custer at Little Big Horn
Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull

Who said 'I think therefore I am' (or 'Cogito ergo sum' or 'Je pense donc je suis') and is considered the founder of cartesian geometry
René Descartes

In Greek mythology how are the 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne known, who are said to be inspirers of creative arts
The Muses

Which Ethiopean emperor was originally known as Ras Taffan
Haile Selassi

Who led the Fenland Rebellion against William the Conqueror in 1070
Hereward the Wake

Who succeeded James Callaghan as Labour party leader, 1980-83
Michael Foot

What was the name of the ship that took the Pilgrims from Plymouth, Sept.16th 1620 to found New Plymouth, Massachusetts
Mayflower

Who was king of Scotland from 1040. He killed Duncan I in that year. Duncan's son Malcolm III got revenge.
Macbeth

What's the middle name of the younger daughter of George VI
Rose (Margaret Rose)

Which national saint and New Testament apostle was martyred on an X-shaped cross. Feast day 30-November.
St. Andrew

Who followed Milton Obote in 1971
Idi Amin

Which operation was the allied invasion of Normandy, 6th June 1944 (D-day).
Overlord

At which 1945 conference did the allied leaders Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin complete the plans for the defeat of Germany and form the foundation of the United nations
The Yalta Conference

In Greek mythology, who were the legendary female warriors living near the Black Sea, who cut off their right breasts to use a bow more easily
Amazons

Which organisation was founded in Vienna in 1923 and moved to Paris after the 2nd world war
Interpol

Which health resort in central France was the seat of Pétain's government in the 2nd world war
Vichy

Who took ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon, Athens in the early 19th century
Lord Elgin

Who became Prime Minister during the reign of George I (the king who never spoke English)
Sir Robert Walpole

Which treaty established the European Community in 1957
Treaty of Rome

Prior to 1929, in the UK, what could boys do at 14 and girls at 12
Marry

In Greek mythology she was the daughter of Priam of Troy. Her prophecies were never believed because she rejected the love of Apollo.
Cassandra

Who was king of Babylon from 604 BC
Nebuchadnezzar

In Greek mythology Zeus sent Pandora's box as punishment after Prometheus gave mortals what gift
Fire

Albert de Salvo was which American anti-hero
The Boston Strangler

What kind of wood was the Kon Tiki raft made from
Balsa

What '-ism' is the ancient Athenian political device to banish a dangerously powerful or unpopular citizen for 5 or 10 years
Ostracism

In Greek mythology, who was the Trojan prince and son of King Priam, killed by Achilles
Hector

Who were the Viking descendants who settled in N. France
Normans

Who was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II
Anastasia

From which political party did the Liberal Party develop
Whigs

What nickname was given to the English soldier Sir Henry Percy (1364-1403)
Hotspur

100 Geography Quiz

To celebrate Quiztime UK Website's Third Birthday on 7th Feb I'm posting a few 'Specials'.
The 'Blog' will not be updated between Feb 8th and 22nd as I shall be on holiday. Updates will return on Thursday 23rd Feb.

Here is the second 'Special' - GEOGRAPHY - AROUND THE WORLD

Which landlocked country is bordered by Belgium, France and Germany.
Luxembourg

What's the Egyptian peninsular at the head of the Red Sea.
Sinai

Skopje is capital of which E. European state
Macedonia

Which region of Spain is Saragossa the capital
Aragon

Which country & peninsular in the Middle East is bounded by Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates
Qatar

Which port and suburb of Dublin was formerly known as Kingston
Dun Laoghaire

What's the capital of Kenya
Nairobi

What's the chain of coral reefs & islands off Queensland Australia
Great Barrier Reef

Dutch East Indies became independent in 1945. How now known
Indonesia

Which country occupies most of the Yucatan Peninsular, home to the Maya Indians
Mexico (+ Belize & Guatamala)

The mountain system of eastern N. America, from Alabama to Quebec, includes the Catskills & Blue Ridge mountains
Appalachians

Between which 2 countries is the Gulf of Bothnia
Sweden & Finland

Which US state has nickname 'Heart of Dixie' or 'Camellia State'
Alabama

Ross Dependency is an area of which continent
Antarctica

Name the narrow country, along the banks of the river with the same name, surrounded by Senegal
Gambia

The tip of the Horn of Africa is in which country
Somalia

Into which water (gulf) does the Colorado river flow
Gulf of California (Mexican coast)

Which American state is closest to the former Soviet Union
Alaska

On the Isle of Wight, are the Needles N, S, E or West
West

Cardiff is at the mouth of which river. (There's actually 3).
Taff (+ Rhymney & Ely)

The M8 connects which 2 cities
Glasgow and Edinburgh

Which river forms the easternmost border between England & Scotland
R. Tweed

Capital of Nepal
Katmandu

The Seychelles are in which ocean
Indian

Which is the most southerly state of the USA
Hawaii

What's the highest peak on Honshu island
Fujiyama / Mt. Fuji

Which English county is positioned between the old kingdoms of the east and west Saxons, hence its name
Middlesex

The financial centre and chief city of Switzerland
Zurich

Wenceslas Square is in which European city
Prague

In which modern country is Anatolia
Turkey

What's the largest river flowing into the Mediterranean
Nile

In which country is the 'Great Dividing Range' of mountains
Australia

The 'River of Arabia', Shatt-al-Arab, is the confluence of which 2 rivers
Tigris & Euphrates

In which country is Thebes & Valley of the Kings
Egypt

What's the 3rd major Balearic island along with Majorca & Menorca
Ibiza

The International Date Line lies predominantly along which line of longitude
180° (E or W)

On which piece of land is Snaefell the highest point
Isle of Man

Of which country is Malin Head the northernmost point
Eire

East Anglia was formerly a Saxon kingdom consisting of Norfolk, Suffolk, plus parts of which 2 other counties
Essex & Cambridgeshire

Of which group of islands is 'Mainland' & 'Yell' the 2 largest
Shetlands

Where is Cape Finisterre (the spelling is important)
(NW) Spain

Magyars are the largest ethnic group in which country
Hungary

Strait of Messina is between which 2 pieces of land
Italy and Sicily

How are the 'Low Countries' of Europe collectively known
Benelux

Easter Island, in Polynesia, is governed by which country
Chile

The Danube flows into which sea
Black Sea (Romania)

Fornebu was the main airport for which city
Oslo

In which country are King Solomon's mines (copper & iron)
Jordan (Aqaba)

The Ignaçu Falls are on the border of which 2 countries
Brazil & Argentina

Which is the largest state of the USA
Alaska

Which country has capital Vaduz and uses the Swiss franc as currency
Liechtenstein

On which peninsular is most of Denmark
Jutland

Which country is between the Bay of Bengal & the Arabian Sea
India

The Dardanelles (ancient name Hellespont) connects the Sea of Marmara to which sea
Aegean

Which motorway connects London to Oxford via High Wycombe
M40

Which point in Cornwall is the most southerly point of mainland Britain
Lizard Point

In which state is Little Bighorn, site of Custer's last stand
Montana

Which country is the 'land of 1000 lakes'
Finland

Ludgate Hill leads to which place of worship
St. Paul's Cathedral

In which bay is Alcatraz
San Francisco bay

In which city is the university of Aston
Birmingham

Which island did the Romans call VECTIS
Isle of Wight

Which body of water is between the Severn estuary and the Atlantic ocean
The Bristol Channel

What monument would you find on Salisbury Plain
Stonehenge

What's the capital of Kyushu, the most southerly of the main Japanese islands
Nagasaki

Sheba is the ancient name for which modern day country
South Yemen

Which British cheese is the only one that has its name registered as a trademark and can only be produced in Notts, Derbys and Leics.
Stilton

In which ocean is the Sargasso Sea
N. Atlantic

What was Queen Victoria's preferred residence on the Isle of Wight
Osborne House

What's the capital of the Champagne region of France
Rheims

Which Great Lake is entirely within the US
L. Michigan

What's the main (north flowing) river through Chesterfield
Rother

Which country has capital Port-au-Prince
Haiti

Which 2 countries occupy the Caribbean island of Hispaniola
Haiti, Dominican Republic

Which area of France gave its name to a wrinkly cabbage
Savoy

Which is the closest US city to Tijuana
San Diego

In which county is Lizard Point
Cornwall

What was the former name of LESOTHO
Basutoland

Hobart is capital of which Australian state
Tasmania

Sierra Madre is the main mountain system of which country
Mexico

Name the resort and capital of Vaud canton, W. Switzerland, above the N. shore of Lake Geneva
Lausanne

Which industrial city is capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India
Lucknow

Which American state is nicknamed Sioux or Flickertail State, has capital Bismarck and the town of Fargo
North Dakota

Tunstall, Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Fenton & longton are collectively known as what
The Potteries

Which pre-1974 county had borders with Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire & Bedfordshire
Huntingdonshire

Which of the Great Lakes is lowest above sea level, at 75m
L. Ontario

4 US state names start and end with consecutive letters. Compare TexaS and OregoN which END and START with consecutive letters
DelawarE, HawaiI, MichigaN, New mexicO

Oxford Street, London is on which 'A' route
A40

What naval base is on the island of Oahu
Pearl Harbor

On which river is Cologne
Rhine

On which island in New York is Brooklyn
Long Island

Which mountain is, in French, Le Cervin, and in Italian, Il Cervino
Matterhorn

What's the world's 3rd largest island, comprising parts of Indonesia & Malaysia & the country of Brunei
Borneo

At which city does the Missouri join the Mississippi
St. Louis

Which country controls the Arctic Ocean archipelago, Svalbard (formerly Spitsbergen)
Norway

Which vast gorge does the Colorado run through
Grand Canyon

Which country controls the Faroe Islands
Denmark

In which city is Sears Tower (443m / 1454ft)
Chicago

Which Russian city means literally 'Ruler of the East'
Vladivostock

Which 2 rivers join to form the Humber
Ouse & Trent

100 Entertainment Quiz

To celebrate Quiztime UK Website's Third Birthday on 7th Feb I'm posting a few 'Specials'.
The 'Blog' will not be updated between Feb 8th and 22nd as I shall be on holiday. Updates will return on Thursday 23rd Feb.

Here is the first 'Special' - ENTERTAINMENT


Who heckled 'The Muppets'
Statler and Waldorf

Which musical instrument with 4 or 5 pairs of strings is descended from the lute and so called because of its almond shaped body
Mandolin (Italian mandola = almond)

What musical time signature generally refers to a waltz
Three- four (3/4)

Which TV vehicle was piloted by Troy Tempest
Stingray

Who wrote the music & lyrics to the musical 'Starlight Express'
Andrew Lloyd Weber & Richard Stilgoe

Smallest member of the flute family
Piccolo

Who's car has registration number FAB 1
Lady Penelope

Who played the title role in the TV series 'Callan'
Edward Woodward

Which 1980 film is about the tragic life of John Merrick
The Elephant Man

Who wrote the jazz classic 'Take Five'
Dave Brubeck

Which pianist often jokingly talked about his brother George
Liberace

Who composed: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Fingals Cave Overture & The Wedding March
Mendelssohn

Which US actor starred in 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance' in 1961
John Wayne

The French Lumière brothers pioneered what form of entertainment
Cinematography

Hungarian pianist and composer whose works include 'Transcendental Studies'
Franz Liszt

Lara's theme was music to which film
Dr. Zhivago

How are Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke Taylor & Bill Oddie collectively known
The Goodies

Who composed 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' at the age of 5
Mozart (1756-91)

Which revered TV series was filmed at Castle Howerd, Yorks
Brideshead Revisited

Who played Emma Peel on TV
Diana Rigg

What is Captain Kirk's famous split infinitive (3 words)
To boldly go

Which French composer was known for his 'Prélude à l'après-midi'
Debussy

Which Rogers & Hammerstein film won 5 Oscars in 1965, including Best Film
Sound of Music

What part did Ann Bancroft play in the film 'The Graduate'
Mrs. Robinson

Chico, Harpo, Groucho. Who's the 4th Marx brother in films
Zeppo

Which TV character has been played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee
Dr Who

What's the name of the TV character 'The Saint'
Simon Templar

Which musical institution was originated by Henry Wood in 1895
Proms

Which actor supposedly had a wooden leg in the film 'Moby Dick'
Gregory Peck

In music, what's the dominant 7th chord in the key of C
G7

What was the name of Dr. Who's metal dog
K9

Which family lived on the Ponderosa
Cartwright

Who created Sir Les Patterson
Barry Humphries

Which pair wrote the W. End musical 'Jesus Christ Superstar'
Andrew Lloyd Weber & Tim Rice

Who was the Australian bush ranger and bank robber, famous for his home made armour and hanged in 1880. Who played the part in a 1969 film
Ned Kelly. Mick Jagger.

Who released the hit album 'Vivaldi Four Seasons' in 1989
Nigel Kennedy

Which 1970's TV series made Peter Gilmour famous
Onedin Line

Who usually drives the Rolls Royce FAB1
Parker

Who played 'Barbarella' in the 1968 film
Jane Fonda

Who starred in 'Beyond The Fringe' & was author of the book and BBC series 'The Body In Question'
Jonathan Miller

How was the Russian entertainer Nikolai Poliakoff better known
Coco the Clown

Who played Alexis Colby in Dynasty
Joan Collins

Which Edinburgh born comedian once had a schoolboy trial with Heart of Midlothian
Ronnie Corbett

Which actor appeared in 'The Great Escape' & 'Papillon' and died in 1980
Steve McQueen

Who starred in his first film 'East of Eden' in 1955
James Dean

Which hostess from 'The Generation Game' did Bruce Forsyth marry
Anthea Redfern

Who played the 'straight man' alongside comedian Arthur Haynes
Nicholas Parsons

Procul Harem's 'Whiter Shade of Pale' is based on a piece of music by which classical composer
J.S. Bach ('s Air on a G-String)

Who's theme tune/song is 'Thanks for the Memories'
Bob Hope

Who played 8 parts (the D'Ascoynes) in the Ealing comedy 'Kind Hearts and Coronets'
Alec Guinness

In which month is the Munich beer festival
October

In TV ads, who did Leonard Rossiter pour Cinzano over
Joan Collins

Leonard Sachs appeared in which TV program for nearly 30 years
The Good Old Days

How many quavers in a semibreve
8

How is Tchaikovski's 6th symphony better known
Pathétique

In Jack & the Beanstalk, what did Jack exchange for the beans
The Cow (Daisy)

Which musical featured 'Some Enchanted Evening'
South Pacific

Who played the Avenger, Cathy Gale
Honor Blackman

Music, which note has half the time value of a semi-breve
Minim

Who created the character 'Basildon Bond'
Russ Abbot

Which children's TV program featured Brian the snail
The Magic Roundabout

The HAL 9000 computer first appeared in which film
2001 - A Space Odyssey

Which A.R.B. was written by Irving Berlin
Alexander's Ragtime Band

KAR 120C was a green and yellow Lotus Seven, in which 60's cult TV series
The Prisoner

Who starred in the film 'Von Ryan's Express'
Frank Sinatra

Of which newspaper is Lou Grant city editor
L.A. Tribune

He was an American bandmaster and composer of marches, such as 'The Stars & Stripes Forever'
John Philip Sousa

Which TV character said 'Live long and prosper'
Spock (Startrek)

Which actor became Baron of Brighton in 1970
Sir Lawrence Olivier

What skill gave the Scot, Moira Shearer the leading roll in 'The Red Shoes' in 1948
Ballet

Who starred opposite Madonna in the title role of the film Dick Tracy
Warren Beatty

What was the name of the 19th century Swedish soprano, popularly known as the 'Swedish Nightingale'. (1820-1887)
Jenny Lind (born Johanna Maria Lind)

How was Charles Sherwood Stratton, the 19th century American entertainer and dwarf better known. P.T. Barnum exhibited him in 1842 at his 'American Museum', a showcase for curiosities.
Tom Thumb

Who was the famous English pantomime clown (1779-1837) whose nickname, Joey, is colloquially used as a synonym for clown.
Joseph Grimaldi

What collective name was used to describe the 18th and 19th century male sopranos, who were eunuchised as boys in order to keep their soprano voices into adulthood.
Castrati

P.T. Barnum, the American showman. What's the 'P' and the 'T'.
Phineas Taylor

Which sportswoman became the Gladiator, Amazon, in 1995
Sharon Davis

What make of car was the time machine in the film 'Back to the Future'
DeLorean

In which fictitious county do the 'Archers' live
Borsetshire

In which film did Marilyn Monroe's famous white dress 'fly up'
The Seven Year Itch

Who was shot and killed in his office at Baldwin's Casuals in January 1978
Ernie Bishop (Coronation St)

Where in a piece of music do you find the CODA
At the end (Italian tail)

Which country did Nina and Frederick come from
Denmark

Which 'dynastic' star was once married to Anthony Newley
Joan Collins

What drinks commercial launched Lorraine Chase's career
Campari

Les Six', French for 'The Six' refers to 6 20th century French what
Composers

Which south London theatre housed the National Theatre before its move to the South Bank in 1976
Old Vic

Which actor was born Richard Jenkins
Richard Burton

Which classical composer wrote 'Avé Maria'
(Franz Peter) Schubert

In the early 60's what did David Frost's satirical program TW3 stand for
That Was The Week That Was

Which TV craft was piloted by Steve Zodiac
Fireball XL5

Who played McGarret in Hawaii 5-O
Jack Lord

Which 'Goodie' is a famous bird watcher
Bill Oddie

Who did the lyrics, Richard Rogers or Oscar Hammerstein
Hammerstein

Hughie Green was raised in which country
Canada

Which of Gustav Holst's planets is the 'Bringer of Jollity'
Jupiter

In which film did Diana Ross play the part of Billie Holliday
Lady Sings the Blues

Who was Reginald Perrin's boss, in the (first) TV series
C.J.

In which TV series did Patrick McGoohan play John Drake
Dangerman

Who played the TV role 'Budgie'
Adam Faith

10 THINGS WE DIDN'T KNOW THIS TIME LAST WEEK

1. Shoppers spend £46m a year on "distraction buys" - items bought to mask embarrassing purchases, such as condoms and treatments for piles, in the same shopping basket.
2. The term "misfeasance" means to carry out a legal act illegally.
More details
3. Rats smell in "stereo" - the rodents' brain responding differently to smells from the left and right.
More details
4. The telegram which informed the world that Orville Wright had successfully flown misspelled his name as "Orevelle".
More details
5. The communications director of the London Planetarium is called Diane Moon.
6. Louisiana has the highest rate of coastal land loss in North America - an area the size of Wembley stadium is lost to the sea every 20 minutes.
More details
7. More households have two or more cars than have none.
8. Half of all cars sold in the United States are four-wheel drives.
9. Bill Gates is so rich the US tax department has a special computer devoted solely to his finances.
10. Metropolitan Police chief Sir Ian Blair has a glass cabinet in his office containing a Sikh sword, a Jewish prayer book and a book entitled A Portrait of New Zealand

[Sources, where stories are not linked - 1: Guardian, 3 Feb. 4: Wikipedia. 5 & 7: The Times, 31 Jan. 8: BBC One's News at 10, 31 Jan. 9. Yahoo News. 10: Guardian, Monday 30 Jan.]

Today's The Day

5th February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Agatha,
Saints Indractus and Dominica,
St Adelaide of Bellich,
St Bertulph or Benoul of Renty,
St Avitus of Vienne,
and St Vodalus or Voel.

History Test for February 5th
Born today in 1920, which humorist is best known for his writing partnership with Denis Norden? -Sir John Tenniel
Today in 1924, what timely feature was first heard on the radio? -The Pips - Greenwich time signal
The author of ‘Waltzing Matilda', Andrew Paterson, died today in 1941. What instrument provided his nickname? -The banjo
English aviator and writer, Captain W.E. Johns, was born today in 1893. Who is his most famous creation? -Major James Bigglesworth, better known as `Biggles'
Today in 1811, the then Prince of Wales was declared Prince Regent. He ascended the throne nine years later as which king? -George IV

QUOTE
"Give me a laundry list and I'll set it to music." - Gioacchino Rossini, whose Barber of Seville was premiered today, 1816.

QUOTE
"He's stoned on himself. He's always in complete control and the whole thing is manipulation. It really bothers me that a twerp like that can parade around and convince everybody that he's Satan." - Ace guitarist Ry Cooder on Mick Jagger, 1967.

Events today...
1679 Death of Joost van den Vondel, Dutch poet and dramatist.
1679 The Third Treaty of Nijmegen ended seven years of war in Europe.
1782 The Spanish captured Minorca from the British.
1881 Death of Thomas Carlyle, Scottish author, historian and essayist.
1887 Verdi's opera "Otello" premiered at La Scala in Italy.
1920 Just a month after signing an agreement to pay its former enemies £10 billion over the next 40 years as reparations for the Great War, Germany said it could not afford to make the payments. Government spokesmen captured German popular feelings of "indignation" over the conditions imposed as part of the Peace of Versailles, and were trying to avoid coming up with the cash. The debate in the Reichstag heard that the agreement would lead to "economic and political pauperisation" and could drive Germans to extreme nationalism.
1922 A new monthly magazine was launched in New York with an appealing formula - the Reader's Digest offered 31 condensed articles from the leading magazines, each one "of enduring value and interest". It was the brainchild of DeWitt Wallace, a former book salesman. Unable to find backers for his idea in his native Minnesota, Wallace finally published the magazine himself, on a shoestring budget.
1924 The BBC time signals, or 'pips', from Greenwich Observatory were broadcast for the first time; they are broadcast every hour.
1927 "The General" a movie by Buster Keaton was released and received bad revues.
1935 Boxing authorities in New York ruled that no fight could exceed 15 rounds.
1937 Charlie Chaplin's first talkie "Modern Times" premiered.
1940 Glenn Miller recorded `Tuxedo junction' with his orchestra.
1941 Death of A. B. `Banjo' Paterson, Australian poet and journalist.
1945 General MacArthur and US troops enter Manila.
1946 Death of George Aliss, English actor.
1953 Walt Disney's Peter Pan went on general release.
1957 Rock group Bill Haley and the Comets arrived to a riotous reception in London.
1958 Motorists had to pay for the privilege of parking in a Mayfair street. In a trial scheme to ease the city's endemic traffic congestion, each kerbside space now had a parking meter. Feeding coins into the slot buys parking time, registered on a dial.
1961 The first issue of the Sunday Telegraph was published.
1967 Due to a Musicians' Union ban, the Rolling Stones were not allowed to play their hit `Let's Spend the Night Together' when they appeared on an ITV show.
1972 "Mother and Child Reunion" was released by Paul Simon. This was his first recording since he split with Art Garfunkel.
1972 Death of Marianne Moore, US poet.
1974 Patricia Hearst, granddaughter of US newspaper tycoon William R. Hearst, was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
1974 Thirteen-year-old Mats Wermelin of Sweden scored all 272 points in a basketball game.
1982 Laker Airways collapsed with debts of $270 million.
1983 Expelled from Bolivia, Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie Klaus Barbie was brought to Lyon, France to be tried for war crimes. He was a former high ranking Nazi Gestapo official and was convicted of deporting thousands of French Jews to their deaths.
1983 An unknown Mozart symphony was discovered in Odense, Denmark.
1989 Media mogul Rupert Murdoch launched satellite Sky TV.
1989 Death of Joe Raposo (aged 51) Composer 'Sesame Street'.
1995 Death of Doug McClure (aged 59) Actor 'The Virginian'.
1996 Liz Taylor filed for divorce from Larry Fortensky, her seventh husband.
1999 King Hussein of Jordan returned home from America in a coma following treatment for Leukaemia. Although, clinically dead, his life support equipment kept him alive for two more days as the nation prepared for the worst.
2003 The International Court of Justice asked the US authorities to stay the executions of three of 51 Mexicans on death row in the US.
2003 German prosecutors called for a 15-year jail sentence for Mounir al-Motassadek, the first man to stand trial over the 11 September attacks.
2003 The state of Serbia and Montenegro began its life, following a vote the day before in the Yugoslav parliament to dissolve the old federation.
2003 Ambitious plans to meet housing demand in south-east England were announced along with plans to regenerate parts of the north.
2003 Jack Straw warned that Iraq had under two weeks to show it is co-operating with weapons inspectors or it would face the consequences.
2003 The judge in the privacy case brought by the Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas, said weddings were public events.
2003 Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" won three prizes at the Empire Film Awards while "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" won best film.
2004 At least 37 people died in a Beijing stampede during a lantern festival marking the end of New Year events.
2004 The strong housing market and buoyant consumer spending prompted the Bank of England to lift UK rates by a quarter percentage point.
2004 RAF and police helicopters attempted to lift 23 Chinese cocklers to safety after they are trapped by a rising tide.
2004 Former punk star John Lydon walked out of ITV's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! and quit the show.
2005 President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo died and the army handed power to one of his sons.
2005 Final score: Wales 11-9 England in the Six Nations. Gavin Henson kicked a difficult penalty to give Wales their first win against England in Cardiff for 12 years, a Damien Traille scored a late try as France beat a battling Scotland side.
2005 Roy Keane scored his 50th goal for Man Utd as they beat Birmingham to continue their pursuit of Chelsea.

BIRTHDAYS (for 05 February 2006)
Sir Robert Peel, 218 (born 05 February 1788)
British prime minister and founder of the Metropolitan Police.
Belle Starr, 158 (born 05 February 1848)
outlaw.
W E Johns, 113 (born 05 February 1893)
(Died 1968) Writer 'Biggles'.
Sid Fields, 108 (born 05 February 1898)
(Died 1975) Comedian.
Adlai Stevenson, 106 (born 05 February 1900)
American statesman and ambassador whose liberal views caused him trouble during the McCarthy witchhunts.
John Carradine, 100 (born 05 February 1906)
Died 1988. American character actor who gave notable performances in The Invisible Man and The Last Tycoon.
William S Burroughs, 92 (born 05 February 1914)
Died 1997. American novelist who wrote The Naked Lunch.
Red Buttons, 87 (born 05 February 1919)
Comedian.
Alex Harvey, 71 (born 05 February 1935)
(Died 1982) Musician.
Stephen J Cannell, 65 (born 05 February 1941)
TV Producer 'The Rockford Files'.
Michael Mann, 63 (born 05 February 1943)
Director.
Al Kooper, 62 (born 05 February 1944)
Member of Blood Sweat and Tears.
Charlotte Rampling, 59 (born 05 February 1947)
British actress whose films include The Night Porter and Stardust Memories.
Barbara Hershey, 58 (born 05 February 1948)
Actress 'Hannah and her Sisters'.
Christopher Guest, 58 (born 05 February 1948)
Comedian 'Spinal Tap'.
Nigel Olsson, 57 (born 05 February 1949)
Musician of Elton John Band.
Russell Grant, 54 (born 05 February 1952)
Astrologer.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, 44 (born 05 February 1962)
Actress 'Single White Female'.
Duff McKagen, 42 (born 05 February 1964)
Member of Guns 'N Roses.
Bobby Brown, 37 (born 05 February 1969)
Singer - biggest UK hit 'Two Can Play That Game'.

Guess The Year

Death of Bertrand Russell, English philosopher, writer and Nobel Prize-winner.
British police seized Andy Warhol's film Flesh on the grounds that it was obscene.
A car crash left Phil Spector badly injured.
Prince Charles took his seat in the House of Lords for the first time.
A man eating tiger was reported to have killed up to 48 people near New Delhi.
Death of Lord Dowding, the architect of British Fighter Command's victory over the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
Joe Frazier became world heavyweight boxing champion when he knocked out Jimmy Ellis in New York.
Death of Alfred Newman (aged 68) Film composer Love is a Many Splendored Thing'.
Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Charles was to join the Navy.
Guyana became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.
Death of Mark Rothko, US painter.
Rhodesia proclaimed itself a republic.
THE YEAR?

Something For The Weekend?

1. Who succeeded Richard the Lionheart to the throne?
King John
2. Which British bird has the shortest lifespan?
Robin
3. Ron Healy played the part of which TV hero?
Tarzan
4. Who sang "I Feel Like Buddy Holly"?
Alvin Stardust
5. What was the name of the moslem warrior who defended the holy land during the 3rd crusade?
Saladin
6. Which TV programme was originally narated by Eric Thompson?
Magic Roundabout
7. In the USA, persons born under the star sign of cancer are called what?
Moon Children
8. The Contras were the rebels in which country?
Nicaragua
9. Which cartoon series featured the voices of the Goodies?
Bananaman
10.Nanook of the North depicts the life of which race of people?
Eskimos
11. Which current TV Soap was created by Kevin Laffan and began in 1972?
Emmerdale
12. What is a badger's home called?
A Set
13. Which TV series, set in California, featured the Walsh family?
Beverly Hills 90210
14. Who was christened Genevieve and is nicknamed Alf?
Alison Moyet
15. In which country was the game of Trivial Pursuit invented?
Canada
16. Who wrote the screenplay of Chariots Of Fire?
Collin Welland
17. What was South Pacific's magical island called?
Bali Ha'I
18. Who accompanied Sir Ranulph Fiennes on his Antarctic Expedition?
Dr Michael Stroud
19. Where in your body is your Satorious Muscle?
Thigh
20. Which famous artist was born in East Bergholt, Suffolk in 1776?
Constable

21. Which coin weighs exactly 5 grams?
20 pence
22. Who had been Britain's youngest cabinet member before William Hague?
Harold Wilson - became leader of the English Labour Party in 1963
23. In which English county is Charnwood Forest?
Leicestershire
24. What strange phenomenon do Cereologists study?
Crop circles
25. What is inscribed on the reverse of the Military Medal?
For Bravery In The Field
26. The "Little Nipper" is Britain’s best selling what?
Mousetrap
27. In which British newspaper are the adventures of Rupert the Bear featured?
Daily Express
28. What do you fear if you are cyberphobic?
Computers
29. Which stringed instrument takes its name from the Hawaiian for jumping flea?
Ukulele
30. In which country did General Pinochet seize power in 1973?
Chile
31. What word means a radio-controlled plane, a deep humming sound and a male bee?
Drone
32. What is the most popular surname in Spain?
Garcia
33. What is the name of the largest cut diamond in the world?
Star of Africa
34. Which word can precede all of the following: back, line, nose, ship and top?
Hard
35. What do the Aboriginal people call their creation stories?
Dreamtime
36. In mythology, what fire-breathing female monster has a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail?
Chimera
37. In Britain, what is the maximum time there can be between general elections?
Five Years
38. Who composed the opera The Magic Flute?
Mozart
39. Why do cinema usherettes have reason to be grateful to the British Mutoscope and Biograph Company?
They introduced the Ever Ready Number One Torch to Britain in 1900
40. True or False - Everytime there is a new British Prime minister, the key to Number 10 Downing Street is changed?
False - there is no keyhole

Tiebreaker - In which year was the first Royal Variety Show held at the London Palladium?
1930

England 47 Wales 13

England 47-13 Wales

Six Nations Championship - Factfile

Wales defied recent precedent to claim a first Grand Slam in 27 years in 2005, the first time since the old Five Nations became Six that the title had not been won by either England or France.
It was also only the second time in 11 years - Scotland in 1999 being the other - that one of European rugby's two 'super powers' did not prevail.
Both England and France have won 22 and lost eight of their 30 matches since Italy came into the Six Nations in 2000.

NEW MILLENNIUM - Six Nations
2005
Wales
Grand Slam winners
2004
France
Grand Slam winnersIreland win Triple Crown
2003
England
Grand Slam winners
2002
France
Grand Slam winnersEngland win Triple Crown
2001
England
2000*
England
*Italy joins
RECENT YEARS - Five Nations
1999
Scotland
1998
France
Grand Slam winnersEngland win Triple Crown
1997
France
Grand Slam winnersEngland win Triple Crown
1996
England
Triple Crown winners
1995
England
Grand Slam winners
1994
Wales
1993
France
1992
England
Grand Slam winners
1991
England
Grand slam winners
1990
Scotland
Grand Slam winners
1989
France
1988
Wales & France
Wales win Triple Crown
1987
France
Grand Slam winners
1986
France & Scotland
1985
Ireland
Triple Crown winners
1984
Scotland
Grand Slam winners
1983
France & Ireland
1982
Ireland
Triple Crown winners
1981
France
Grand Slam winners
1980
England
Grand Slam winners
POST-WAR YEARS - Five Nations
1979
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1978
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1977
France
Grand Slam winnersWales win Triple Crown
1976
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1975
Wales
1974
Ireland
1973
Five-way tie
1972
NOT COMPLETED
1971
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1970
France & Wales
1969
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1968
France
Grand Slam winners
1967
France
1966
Wales
1965
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1964
Scotland & Wales
1963
England
1962
France
1961
France
1960
France & England
England win Triple Crown
1959
France
1958
England
1957
England
Grand Slam winners
1956
Wales
1955
France & Wales
1954
England, France & Wales
England win Triple Crown
1953
England
1952
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1951
Ireland
1950
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1949
Ireland
Triple Crown winners
1948
Ireland
Grand Slam winners
1947*
Wales & England
*France rejoins
INTER-WAR YEARS - Four & Five Nations
1939
England, Wales & Ireland
1938
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1937
England
Triple Crown winners
1936
Wales
1935
Ireland
1934
England
Triple Crown winners
1933
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1932
England, Wales & Ireland
1931*
Wales
*France leaves
1930
England
1929
Scotland
1928
England
Grand Slam winners
1927
Scotland & Ireland
1926
Scotland & Ireland
1925
Scotland
Grand Slam winners
1924
England
Grand Slam winners
1923
England
Grand Slam winners
1922
Wales
1921
England
Grand Slam winners
1920
England, Scotland & Wales
PRE-WAR YEARS - Four & Five Nations
1914
England
Grand Slam winners
1913
England
Grand Slam winners
1912
England & Ireland
1911
Wales
Grand Slam winners
1910*
England
*France joins tournament
1909
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1908
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1907
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1906
Ireland & Wales
1905
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1904
Scotland
1903
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1902
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1901
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1900
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1899
Ireland
Triple Crown winners
1898
NOT COMPLETED
1897
NOT COMPLETED
1896
Ireland
1895
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1894
Ireland
Triple Crown winners
1893
Wales
Triple Crown winners
1892
England
Triple Crown winners
1891
Scotland
Triple Crown winners
1890
England & Scotland
1889
NOT COMPLETED
1888
NOT COMPLETED
1887
Scotland
1886
England & Scotland
1885
NOT COMPLETED
1884
England
Triple Crown winners
1883
England
Triple Crown winners
1882
England
Only England and Wales

Telly Addicts File - The A Team

TV-Series 1983-1987

Four Vietnam vets, framed for a crime they didn't commit, help the innocent while on the run from the military

Runtime: 60 min (98 episodes)

CAST

George Peppard .... Col. John "Hannibal" Smith

Mr. T .... Sgt. Bosco

"B.A." Baracus Dirk Benedict ....

Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck #2 Dwight Schultz ....

Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock Tim Dunigan ....

Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck #1 (Pilot only)

Melinda Culea .... Amy Amanda Allen (1983)

William Lucking .... Col. Lynch (1983-1984)

Lance LeGault .... Col. Roderick Decker (1983-1986)

Marla Heasley .... Tawnia Baker (1984)

Robert Vaughn .... Gen. Hunt Stockwell (1986-1987)

Eddie Velez .... Frankie "Dishpan" Santana (1986-1987)

Judy Ledford .... Carla (1986)

Trivia: It is also noted that the "B.A." in B.A. Baracus stands for his first and middle names "Bosco Albert" Baracus (as well as the more obvious "Bad Attitude").

THEME TUNE

More from the Tellytunes Files soon...

Guess The Year

Millions of Kenyan Luo tribesmen mourned the death of Omiuri, a 16 ft (7.6 m) python believed to have magical powers.
The Soviet Union's nine-year military occupation of Afghanistan ended as the final armoured column of Red Army forces set off home from the capital, Kabul.
B.T. banned "chatlines" because people were getting hooked on the faceless chatter and running up huge bills which they could not pay.
Death of John Cassavetes (aged 59) Actor director 'Rosemary's Baby'.
Death of Lionel Newman (aged 73) Film composer.
South African politician P. W. Botha unwillingly resigned both party leadership and the presidency after suffering a stroke.
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch launched satellite Sky TV.
Death of Joe Raposo (aged 51) Composer 'Sesame Street'.
Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, Timothy West and Derek Jacobi were among actors and playwrights who demanded the Government give £150,000 to save the British Theatre Association Library.
Scotland Yard launched a £400,000 campaign against racial harassment in London, attempting to encourage ethnic communities to trust the police and report racially motivated attacks.
South West Water Authority paid out a total of £52,000 in compensation to two hundred people whose tap water was contaminated after twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate were pumped into the wrong tank at a treatment works near Camelford, Cornwall.
Air accident investigators were called in after pieces of metal from an aircraft were discovered strewn across a one-mile area of woods and farmland in Oxfordshire.
THE YEAR

Today's The Day

4th February 2006
The National Day of Sri Lanka.

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Theophilus the Penitent,
St Nicholas Studites,
St Andrew Corsini, bishop,
St Joan of Valois,
St Isidore of Pelusium,
St John de Britto,
St Modan, St Phileas,
St Joseph of Leonessa,
and St Remben.

History Test for February 4th
Born Vincent Furnier today in 1948 who topped the UK pop charts with `School's Out'? -Alice Cooper
Born today in 1915, which British comedian made his film debut in `Trouble in Store'? -Norman Wisdom
Today in 1971 which British car and aero-engine manufacturer was declared bankrupt? -Rolls-Royce
Which American heiress was kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army today in 1974? -Patricia Hearst
Which American President joined Stalin and Churchill for the Yalta Conference, which began today in 1945? -F D. Roosevelt

QUOTE
"If a woman like Eva Peron with no ideals can get that far, think how far I can go with all the ideals that I have." -Margaret Thatcher in a Sunday Times interview - she became head of Britain's Conservative Party today, 1975.

Events today...
211AD Death of Lucius Septimius Severus, Roman emperor
1615 Death of Giambattisca della Porta, Italian natural philosopher.
1793 Slavery was abolished in all French territories.
1810 Tsar Alexander refused to grant Napoleon his sister Anna's hand in marriage.
1824 Rubber galoshes went on sale made by J W Goodrich.
1861 In an atmosphere of looming conflict with American President Abraham Lincoln and his Northern Republicans, delegates from seven Southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to draft a separate constitution for what they called the Confederate States of America. Led by South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas all formally broke ties with Washington. Lincoln’s convincing election victory in the rapidly industrialising North and its implacable opposition to slavery in the Rural South tipped the scales towards secession. The South said it could not survive without its slaves. The Confederates faced the choice of abandoning their almost feudal way of life or fighting to defend it. Jefferson Davis was to be their first president.
1899 Fighting broke out in America's newest colony, the Philippines, which had recently declared itself a republic. The US had supported the Filipino nationalist revolutionary General Emilio Aguinaldo against the islands' Spanish colonial masters during the Spanish-American war. Aguinaldo had thought the US would back Filipino independence after the war, and he then declared the Philippines a republic, with himself its first president. But the rebels won their freedom only to lose it again - the US annexed the islands as a prize of war.
1904 The Russo-Japanese War began after Japan laid siege to Port Arthur.
1911 Rolls-Royce commissioned their famous figurehead.
1925 Death of Oliver Heaviside, English physicist.
1925 Death of Robert Koldewey, the German archaeologist who excavated Babylon.
1926 Malcolm Campbell topped 174 mph (280 kph) in Wales to break the world land speed record.
1928 The black American "hot jazz" dancer Josephine Baker raised a storm of protest in Vienna. Members of Adolf Hitler's fast-growing Nazi party were outraged by her stage act. Broadway star Miss Baker made a string of bananas the most provocative dress of the 20s in her Paris revue, but in Vienna she drew angry complaints from Austria's Nazis, who accused her of public indecency. But what they really found offensive was not the amount of Miss Baker's skin on view, but its colour.
1936 A synthetically made substance Radium E was made.
1938 Joachim von Ribbentrop became foreign minister of Germany while Hitler took control of the army.
1945 Allied leaders Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin met at Yalta, in the Crimea.
1951 Sugar Ray Robinson defeated Jake LaMotta and won the world middleweight boxing title.
1957 The first portable typewriter went on sale.
1948 Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) gained independence from Britain.
1968 The world's largest hovercraft was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.
1969 Yasser Arafat became chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (P.L.O.).
1971 Bankruptcy was announced by car makers Rolls Royce.
1971 The Osmonds received their first gold record. It was for the song "One Bad Apple".
1975 Death of Louis Jordan (aged 66) Blues singer.
1976 An earthquake in Guatemala killed over 22,000.
1977 The album "Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac was released.
1980 Revolutionary Iran installed its first elected president. However, President Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was to follow the line of the country's de facto ruler, religious leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Bani-Sadr was a moderate economist who, like Khomeini, spent a long exile in Paris.
1982 Death of Alex Harvey (aged 47) Singer.
1983 American singer Karen Carpenter died of anorexia nervosa (aged 32).
1987 After an embarrassing four-year sojourn in Australia, the America's Cup was finally back in America, in the trophy room of the San Diego Yacht club. The US catamaran Stars & Stripes, skippered by Dennis Connor, beat the New Zealand, a 133-ft (40.5-m) monohull, in races off Perth.
1987 American pianist and entertainer Liberace died, aged 67, officially of a brain tumour, although the real cause of death was rumoured to be AIDS.
1991 Richard Miller, an FBI agent, was sentenced in the U.S. for spying and got 20 years.
1993 Russian scientists unfurled a giant mirror in orbit and flashed a beam of sunlight across Europe during the night; observers saw it only as an instantaneous flash.
2003 In an interview with UK anti-war campaigner Tony Benn, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein said Iraq has no connection with the Bin Laden network.
2003 During a memorial service in Houston, the US president paid tribute to each of the seven astronauts who died three days earlier when the Columbia space shuttle disintegrated on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.
2003 Two plans which would create the world's tallest building were chosen as finalists to fill the gap left by the twin towers in New York.
2003 The Yugoslav parliament voted to dissolve the Yugoslav federation - the country was to be known as Serbia and Montenegro.
2003 The leader of the Turkey's governing party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Turkey's interests would be undermined if it refused to take part in a war in Iraq.
2003 Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac admitted their differences remained, but stressed both countries agreed on the need to disarm Iraq.
2003 Tony Blair's plans for Lords reform lay in tatters after MPs rejected all the options from a fully elected chamber to a fully appointed one.
2003 Firefighters' leaders decided not to set any new strike dates and welcomed John Prescott's "helpful intervention" in the pay dispute.
2003 Courtney Love was questioned at Heathrow police station on suspicion of endangering an aircraft.
2003 Legendary record producer Phil Spector was released on bail after being charged with murdering a woman at his Los Angeles mansion.
2004 Turkish police detained two contractors following the collapse of a block of flats which killed at least 25 people.
2004 The European Commission called for Italy to pay record fines over its discrimination of foreign language lecturers.
2004 A UK student arrested at an American airport after saying she had bombs in her bag, was spared jail and allowed to leave the US.
2004 Man City came back from 3-0 down with only ten men to pull off one of the best FA Cup comebacks in history beating Tottenham 4-3.
2005 A man who pretended he was a senior police officer to get into Windsor Castle pleaded guilty to nuisance charges.
2005 The Football Association charged Blackburn and Chelsea for failing to control their players.

BIRTHDAYS (for 04 February 2006)
Fernand Léger, 125 (born 04 February 1881)
French Cubist painter who also designed ballet sets, tapestries, stained glass and ceramics.
Nigel Bruce, 111 (born 04 February 1895)
(Died 1953) Actor 'Sherlock Holmes'.
Charles Lindbergh, 104 (born 04 February 1902)
Died 1974. American aviator who made the first solo flight over the Atlantic.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 100 (born 04 February 1906)
German theologian who was one of the group that plotted the assassination of Adolf Hitler and who was subsequently executed in a concentration camp.
Byron Nelson, 94 (born 04 February 1912)
American golf champion who won the first two US Masters titles.
Norman Wisdom OBE, 91 (born 04 February 1915)
British comedy actor
Ida Lupino, 88 (born 04 February 1918)
(Died 1995) Actress.
George A Romero, 66 (born 04 February 1940)
Film director 'Night of the Living Dead' 'Creepshow'.
Tony Haygarth, 61 (born 04 February 1945)
Actor 'Kavanagh QC'.
Dan Quale, 59 (born 04 February 1947)
Former US vice president
Alice Cooper, 58 (born 04 February 1948)
American pop singer who loved to shock his audiences with hits like "Welcome to my Nightmare".
James Dunn, 56 (born 04 February 1950)
Member of The Stylistics.
Natalie Imbruglia, 31 (born 04 February 1975)
Beth from `Neighbours', singer 'Torn'

6 Nations Handbook with The Times this Saturday

This Saturday The Times is giving away a 68 page guide to this year's

6 Nations Championship, absolutely free of charge.
Don't forget to pick up your copy.

Six Nations Team Guide

The 2006 Six Nations kicks off on Saturday

BBC ONE:

Six Nations: Ireland v Italy (1300)

Six Nations: England v Wales (1520)

Six Nations: Scotland v France (Sunday 1440)

TEAM GUIDE

The Weeks News - At A Glance

A Review of The Week's News - A handy reference for those of you who include Current Affairs in your Quizzes.

Friday January 27
Patricia Hewitt said the health service would offer all patients an "MoT" at five points in their lives to assess their fitness.Two men caught unlawfully making thousands of songs available on the internet were given stiff fines in the first such case brought by the music industry in Britain. The commanding officer of the paratroopers being sent to Afghanistan said that Army chiefs would give him their "full support" over any incident in which his soldiers might be prosecuted. Angela Merkel pushed Germany's birth rate to the top of the political agenda for the first time since the Nazi era as an expert said the nation could die out if births continued to fall.

Saturday January 28
The full extent of the cash crisis crippling schools was laid bare for the first time - sparking fears of teacher shortages and cancelled lessons. Fresh footage of Norman Kember, the kidnapped British peace activist, was broadcast on Al Jazeera as his captors renewed their threat to kill him unless all Iraqi prisoners were freed. Sixty six people were killed and over 100 were injured when the snow-covered roof of an exhibition hall collapsed on hundreds of people in Katowice, southern Poland. The disgraced comedian Michael Barrymore was thrown a lifeline by one of television's most powerful figures after he was named as the surprise runner-up on Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother.

Sunday January 29
Some 3.8 million people paid income tax at the wrong rate, beacause the system devised by Gordon Brown was over complicated, a report said. A police log was doctored to conceal the fact that Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead as a suicide bomber, had been wrongly identified, it was alleged. An 11-year-old girl from Glasgow received hospital treatment after collapsing in class from the effects of smoking heroin.Saddam Hussein stormed out of his trial in Baghdad after its new chief judge lost control of proceedings.

Monday January 30
A reprieve for up to 100 community hospitals threatened with closure was in prospect after a Government policy U-turn aimed to provide care for patients closer to their homes. David Cameron vowed never to give in to the Tory Right as he spelt out his determination to fight and defeat New Labour on the centre ground of politics.A campaigner against ID cards, who was stopped under terror laws while collecting signatures for a petition, was told by police that his details will be kept on file indefinitely. Israeli funds to the Palestinian Authority were cut off after Hamas rejected international demands that it renounce violence and recognise the Jewish state.

Tuesday January 31
A grim milestone was reached in the war in Iraq as the 100th British serviceman was killed. Tony Blair's authority was gravely weakened after the Government crashed to a double defeat over the religious hatred Bill. In his sixth State of the Union address, George W Bush sought to reinvigorate his presidency by calling on America to end what he termed an 'addiction' to oil. The world's major powers agreed unanimously to report Teheran to the United Nations for possible sanctions as international atomic inspectors said that Iran had obtained designs to build the core of a nuclear weapon.

Wednesday February 1
The IRA was accused of hoarding a cache of weapons, according to a report that said they were still involved in espionage and organised crime.Newspapers across Europe defended what one editor called the "right to blasphemy" by printing Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that have provoked fury in the Arab world.More than 200 people were injured in clashes between Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers attempting to defy a court order to demolish nine houses illegally built on Palestinian land.Aid workers said that desperate efforts to feed millions of Kenyans on the brink of starvation could fail unless there was a sharp increase in relief sent to the worst hit areas.

Thursday February 2
A leading Islamic cleric called for an "international day of anger" over publication of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.A Government watchdog said that Britain faced a "real and present danger" of further shocking attacks by suicide bombers. The leader of the British National Party and a party activist will face a re-trial after a jury failed to reach verdicts on the race hate charges.Millions of pounds worth of antiques and fine art, described as being of "great rarity and of museum quality", were stolen from a 17th century manor house belonging to the property tycoon Harry Hyams.

And...
A fire brigade drew up a four-page safety manual to instruct crews on how to sit in a reclining chair... An austere blonde Texan became the latest TV life coach to preach to viewers, advising warring couples on howto divorce without traumatising the children.... Policemen and women in London were issued guidelines by the Metropolitan Police advising they should avoid "amorous" contact while on duty for fear of injury or infection... Prince Charles shocked the world of fine tailoring by turning his back on his distinctive bespoke outfits and buying made-to-measure alternatives... Silvio Berlesconi, the prime minister of Italy, promised not to have sex until after the country's general election on April 9... A family doctor who closed his medical practice in a small New Zealand town announced he would reopen for business next month as a brothel-keeper... A deaf former soldier regained his hearing after 15 years when his ears popped while skiing in Italy... A cow startled its owner by giving birth to healthy triplets, a feat that was described by vets as being as rare as human quintuplets... According to a study of monkeys, fathers-to-be may be able to blame their expanding waistlines on the rigours of pregnancy... A dog who got lost in a city on his first trip away from his farm amazed his owners by making the 20-mile journey home... Smash Hits, the magazine that indulged generations of teenagers in their love affairs with pop stars, is to close after 28 years.
Radio 4's UK Theme is to be recorded by one-hit wonder Mike Flowers and released as a single!

Smash Hits

Smash Hits, which is to close after 28 years, was the bible for many teenagers discovering their musical tastes in the 1980s and 1990s.
Every fortnight, Smash Hits thumped through the letterbox dishing out gossip, interviews, pull-out posters - and perhaps most importantly - lyrics to the top tunes of the day.
The whole kit and caboodle was served up in a typically playful house style that would go on to set a new standard in magazines.
In 1981, it is rumoured that the then Smash Hits editor David Hepworth sent a memo to record companies saying he intended "to reverse the entire direction" of pop music publishing in favour of trivia, demanding to know the colour of their artists' socks.
The approach worked.


Before long, Smash Hits' irreverent and witty style was pulling in a regular readership of half a million readers. Hepworth - and the two editors before him - had gathered together a sharp team of writers, including Mark Ellen, who is now editor of Word Magazine, and Neil Tennant, who would go on to front the Pet Shop Boys.
They helped shape the tongue-in-cheek style of the magazine that triumphed throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.
Where else would the pop royalty of the day be known as Dame David Bowie, Sir Clifford of Richard and Fab Macca Wackythumbsaloft?

Bros were nicknamed Matt, Luke and Ken - after third member Craig was declared irrelevant - while Brother Beyond were somewhat shortened to The 'Yond.
"Corky O'Reilly! It's Kylie" and "Legs akimbo!" were often used phrases among it vernacular.
Pop stars were not pandered to on the pages, but asked both probing and silly questions of the "do you have smelly feet?" ilk.
They often received equally silly replies.
But the magazine also succeeded in appealing to the teenager with a wide taste in music, as anyone who was anyone in the charts making it onto the hallowed pages.

Interviews with artists like The Cure and the Cocteau Twins were sandwiched comfortably between gossip on pop acts like Duran Duran and Wham!
Letter writers to Black Type mused on the songwriting ability of their favourite stars, wrote poems, and argued amongst themselves.
They signed their letters Morten Harket's Bottom, Neil Tennant's Chest Wig, or Jesus and Mary's Chainstore.
Smash Hits was the brainchild of former NME man Nick Logan, who thought about calling his protegee pop bible Disco Fever.

The first test issue - featuring Belgian one-hit-wonder Plastic Bertrand on the cover and Sham 69 as the centre spread - was put to together on Logan's kitchen table.
But unsure of how it would go down, Logan refused to print his name as editor, using instead the pseudonym Chris Hall - a combination of the names of his children Christian and Hallie.
After just three issues, Smash Hits moved from monthly to fortnightly, and its impact was immediate and lasting.
I think these days, a lot of pop music is invented in boardrooms at record companies
Mark Frith, former editor
During the 1980s, appearing on the Smash Hits cover equalled BBC show Top of the Pops in determining when an act had finally arrived.
Morrissey wearing a hearing aid and holding a kitten inside his cardigan was just one of the memorable covers of the time.
Even footballer Paul Gascoigne made the cover when Gazza-mania gripped the country during the 1990 world cup.
"End of an era"
Smash Hits not only launched the careers of the pop stars on its pages, but it also gave its creative editorial team a leg up the ladder.
Founding editor Logan went on to launch The Face in 1980, while broadcaster and columnist Miranda Sawyer was also one of the magazine's early writers.
Perhaps the most high-profile editor was X-Factor presenter Kate Thornton who took the helm in 1996 aged just 21.
She said the magazine's closure was "the end of an era" but added that "times were changing".
In recent years the magazine was sold with free gifts from notepads to coloured pens for its increasing pre-teen readership, as teenagers turned to new technology to influence their musical direction.
Mark Frith, who now edits Heat magazine, said the music industry itself may also be to blame for the demise.
"I think these days, a lot of pop music is invented in boardrooms at record companies and it kind of ticks all the boxes and appeals to the right demographic," he said.
"Where are the characters coming through now and making pop music? It's not just there.
"I think Smash Hits particularly thrived on those kind of people."



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4673850.stm

The Day The Music Died

The Day the Music Died February 3 1959, refers to the plane crash that killed three rock and roll singers, who were very popular at the time. Early that morning, at approx. 1:05 AM Central Standard Time Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper (J. P. Richardson) were killed when the plane they were on crashed en route to a gig in Fargo, North Dakota. Don McLean's famous 1971 song, "American Pie", contains many references to this day, including the phrase itself.

Events Leading To The Crash
"The Winter Dance Party" was a tour that was set to cover 24 midwest cities in three weeks' time. The problem was that the venues were not booked appropriately (i.e., according to the proximities of the venues to one another). For example, the tour would start at venue A, travel two hundred miles to venue B, and travel back one hundred seventy miles to venue C, which was only thirty miles from venue A. Adding to the dismay was the fact that the tour bus used to carry the musicians was ill-prepared for the weather; its heating system broke shortly after the tour began. It is reported one of the drummers developed frostbite while on the bus.
The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa was never intended to be a stop on the tour, but promoters, hoping to fill an open date, called the manager of the ballroom at the time and offered him the show. He accepted and the date of the show was set for February 2nd.
When Buddy Holly arrived at the ballroom that evening, he had had enough of the tour bus, and asked his bandmates that, once the show was over, they try to charter a plane to get to the next stop on the tour, which was Fargo, North Dakota.
Arrangements were made for the plane, and Dwyer Flying Service got the charter. A fee of $36 per person was charged for the single engine Beechcraft Bonanza that could hold three people, plus its pilot.
The Big Bopper had developed a case of the flu during the tour, most likely from riding on the unheated bus, and asked one of Buddy Holly's bandmates, Waylon Jennings, for his seat on the plane; Jennings agreed to give up the seat. When Buddy heard about this, his reply to Waylon was "Well, I hope your old bus freezes up!", to which Waylon's replied, "Well I hope your plane crashes!" This trade of words, though made in jest at the time, is said to have haunted Waylon Jennings for many years afterward.
Ritchie Valens had never flown in a small plane before, and asked Buddy's remaining bandmate on the plane, Tommy Allsup, for the seat. Tommy said "I'll flip ya for the remaining seat". Contrary to what is seen in biographical movies, that coin toss DID NOT happen at the airport shortly before takeoff, nor was Buddy Holly the one that tossed it. That coin toss happened at the ballroom shortly before departure to the airport, and the coin itself was tossed by a DeeJay that was working the show that night. On the toss of that coin, Ritchie won a seat on the plane, and Tommy won the rest of his life.
Rumor has it, Dion of Dion & The Belmonts, who was the forth headliner on the tour, was offered Tommy's seat on the plane first, before Ritchie asked for the seat, but Dion declined because he was scared of flying. If this rumor is true, his fear of flying saved his life, for it is known that all four headliners were fed up with the bus.

The Crash
At approx. 1:00 AM on February 3rd Central Time, the plane took off from the Clear Lake, Iowa Airport. At approx. 1:05 AM, eyewitness reports from the manager of the Surf Ballroom said that he could see the lights of the plane start to disappear from the sky to the ground. At first, he thought it was an optical illusion because of the curve of the earth and the horizon. Thus far, this is the only known eyewitness account of the crash.
When the plane did not check into the Fargo, North Dakota Airport, and attempts to make radio contact had failed, a search party was formed. When light broke that morning, light wreckage of a plane was found in a cornfield, approx. five miles from the Clear Lake, Iowa Airport. When the manager of the Surf Ballroom told local police what he had seen the night before, he was taken to the crash site. The manager of the Surf Ballroom confirmed that was indeed the plane that took off the night before, and identified all three performers on board.
There have been many rumors as to why the plane actually crashed. Some say the pilot was not experienced enough with the new instruments on his plane to make proper judgements. Some go so far as to say that Buddy Holly shot the pilot, killing him in flight. None of these reports have been proven, however, and the aircraft owner has forbidden examination of the interior of the plane.

The Memorial
In 1988, Ken Paquette, a Wisconsin fan of the 1950s era, erected a stainless steel monument depicting a steel guitar and a set of three records bearing the names of each of the three performers. It is located on private farmland, about one quarter mile west of the intersection of 315th Street and Gull Avenue, approximately five miles north of Clear Lake, Iowa. He also created a similar stainless steel monument to the three musicians near the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. That memorial was unveiled on July 17 2003. Holly, the Big Bopper and Valens played at the Riverside Ballroom on Feb. 1st, the evening-before-last of the fateful flight.

Trivia
In the 1987 movie La Bamba, Ritchie Valens, rather than The Big Bopper, is incorrectly represented as the one who came down with the flu.

National Salt Awareness Week

This is National Salt Awareness Week.

We are being encouraged to pay more attention to the level of salt in our diets.

But how much do you know about salt?

Take The Quiz

Guess The Year

The world's largest hovercraft was launched at Cowes, Isle of Wight.
The 10th Winter Olympic games opened in Grenoble, France.
The Beatles (John and George) went to India for some meditation with the Maharishi. Paul and Ringo joined them later.
The Royal Navy’s first Polaris missile was successfully tested in the Atlantic.
Elvis Presley's religious album "How Great Thou Art" went gold.
English actor Sir Donald Wolfit died.
Jean-Claude Killy from Austria, one of the world's greatest alpine skiers, won all three men's gold medals at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
Pink Floyd had a new member when Dave Gilmour joined the band.
Death of Howard Walter Florey, Australian pathologist who developed penicillin.
Theatre censorship ended in Britain.
English astronomer Jocelyn Burnell announced the discovery of the first pulsar.
The guardians of Wimbledon's hallowed turf at last agreed to the unthinkable - allowing professional tennis players to compete in the world's oldest amateur tennis tournament. The British Lawn Tennis Association and the International Tennis Federation voted to open the game to the highly-paid professionals who were drawing huge crowds at other international tournaments.
THE YEAR?

Quiztime Commonwealth Quiz

1. Where are the 2006 Commonwealth Games to be held?
Melbourne (2006 Winter Olympics - Turin)
2. Which British city hosted the 1970 and 1986 commonwealth games?
Edinburgh
3. What was the previous name for what is now The Commonwealth Games?
British Empire Games
4. In which country did the Commonwealth Games take place in 1998?
Malaysia
5. How many gold medals did the Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe win at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester?
Six
6. The Commonwealth Games have been held in seven different countries around the world, which country has hosted the games the most times?
Canada - Hamilton, Vancouver, Edmonton and Victoria
7. Which British athlete became the first to be Commonwealth, European, Olympic, World Champion and world record holder simultaneously?
Daley Thompson
8. Which athlete won the Heptathlon at the Commonwealth Games in 1998?
Denise Lewis
9. Which British swimmer won gold medals at the 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989 European Championships, Commonwealth Golds in 1982 and 1986 and Olympic gold in 1988?
Adrian Moorhouse
10. Which British city is bidding to stage the Commonwealth Games in 2014?
Glasgow
11. Which member of the royal family is the president of the Commonwealth Games Federation?
Prince Edward
12. Which British athlete won gold in the women’s javelin at the 1990 Commonwealth Games?
Tessa Sanderson
13. Which British athlete successfully defended her Commonwealth Games 10,000m title in 1990?
Liz McColgan
14. Which Commonwealth golfer won his only Open championship at Lytham in 1963?
Bob Charles - New Zealand
15. In which country did the first ever Commonwealth Games take place in 1930?
Canada
16. Who dead heated with the Scot Allan Wells for the gold medal in the 200m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane?
Mike McFarlane
17. Which country made it's final appearance in the Commonwealth Games in 1994?
Hong Kong
18. The commonwealth games were held in Wales in which year?
1958
19. How many gold medals did England win at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester?
54
20. Which heavyweight has held the British, European, Commonwealth, and Australian titles?
Joe Bugner

21. Which commonwealth country voted against becoming a republic in 1999?
Australia
22. Which island seceded from the Federation of Malaysia, becoming an independent republic within the Commonwealth in August 1965?
Singapore
23. Which country became a Republic in January 1950, but chose to remain within the Commonwealth?
India
24. What does the acronym CSIRO stand for?
Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research
25. Name the two Commonwealth countries that are islands in the Mediterranean Sea?
Cyprus, Malta
26. In which part of the Commonwealth might you tune into Penguin Radio?
Falkland Islands
- The sheep forms part of the emblem of which Commonwealth country? The Falkland Islands
27. Stewart Island is the third largest island in which Commonwealth country?
New Zealand
28. What is the nearest commonwealth member to the UK?
Malta
29. What major country left the British commonwealth in May 1961 after becoming a republic?
South Africa
30. Which commonwealth country possesses three of the world's ten largest islands?
Canada (Baffin, Victoria, Ellesmere)
31. In which Commonwealth country is Waitangi Day the National Day?
New Zealand
32. Which commonwealth country has three time zones ranging from 8 hours to 10 hours ahead of GMT?
Australia
33. Which was the first country to leave the Commonwealth?
Ireland in 1949
34. Of which Commonwealth country in the Caribbean is St George's the capital?
Grenada
35. In which commonwealth country are there airports with the codes "Ccu", "Bom" And "Del"?
India
36. Which country and member state of the commonwealth did France cede to England under the Treaty of Paris in 1763?
Canada
37. In which decade of the 20th century did Kenya join the Commonwealth?
Sixties - 1963
38. Which Commonwealth country has only one land border - with Senegal?
The Gambia
39. The British Commonwealth is made up of how many nations?
53
40. Which colony left the Commonwealth in June 1997 and is unlikely ever to return?
Hong Kong

Tiebreaker - How many countries competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester?
72

2006 Commonwealth Games

15 - 26 MARCH

The Melbourne 2006 Sports Program comprises 12 individual and four team sports, with a total of 24 disciplines to be contested at the XVIII Commonwealth Games.
Aquatics includes Diving, Swimming and Synchronised Swimming
Cycling includes Track, Road and Mountain Bike
Gymnastics includes both the Artistic and Rhythmic disciplines
Shooting includes Clay Target, Pistol, Small Bore and Air Rifle, and Full Bore Rifle.The Sports Program for Elite Athletes with a Disability (EAD) will comprise 12 events across four sports - Swimming, Athletics, Table Tennis and Powerlifting - which will be integrated into the general Games competition schedule.

The Sports Program has been confirmed by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Today's The Day

3rd February 2006

Religious Events today...
Feast day of St Laurence of Spoleto,
St Anskar,
St Ia the Virgin,
St Laurence of Canterbury,
St Blaise,
St Werburga,
and St Margaret 'of England'.

History Test for February 3rd
Today in 1970, the Queen knighted the author of the plays 'This Happy Breed' and `Blithe Spirit'. Name him. -Noel Coward
Born today in 1928, which singer had fifties hits with `Green Door' and 'Garden of Eden' and is famous for his high kicks? -Frankie Vaughan
Today in 1960, Harold Macmillan made his historic `Wind of Change' speech to which country's parliament? -South Africa
Today in 1989, Michael Manley was elected Prime Minister of which Caribbean island? -Jamaica
Today in 1873 Lord Trenchard was born. He was known as the `father' of which armed service? -The Royal Air Force - he founded it

Events today...
1399 Death of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster and father of King Henry IV of England.
1488 The Portuguese navigator Bartholomeu Diaz landed at Mossal Bay in the Cape - the first European known to have landed on the southern extremity of Africa.
1730 The London Daily Advertiser published the first stock exchange quotations.
1762 Death of Richard Beau Nash, British dandy and gambler.
1877 "Chopsticks", a piece of music composed by Arthur de Lull (in reality 16-year-old Euphemia Alten), was registered at the British Museum.
1882 P.T. Barnum bought his world famous elephant Jumbo.
1913 The 16th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorising the power to impose and collect income tax, was ratified.
1919 The League of Nations held its first meeting in Paris, with US President Wilson chairing.
1924 Death of Woodrow Wilson, 28th US president.
1959 Death of Buddy Holly (aged 22) Singer.
1959 Death of Ritchie Valens (aged 17) Singer 'La Bamba'.
1959 Death of The Big Bopper (aged 28) Singer.
1962 Trade between the U.S and Cuba was stopped on the orders of President Kennedy except for food and drugs.
1963 Rave reviews greeted Buddy Holly's long-awaited new LP which was released on this day, four years after the great rock singer and guitarist was killed in a plane crash.
1964 "Meet the Beatles" album went gold.
1966 The first rocket-assisted controlled landing on the Moon was made by the Soviet space vehicle Luna IX.
1967 Death of Joe Meek (aged 37) Music producer 'Telstar'.
1967 Jimi Hendrix recorded "Purple Haze".
1969 At the Palestinian National Congress in Cairo, Yasser Arafat was appointed leader of the PLO.
1969 English actor Boris Karloff, who made a speciality of horror parts, died at the age of 82.
1970 British police seized Andy Warhol's film Flesh on the grounds that it was obscene.
1984 The first baby to be conceived by embryo transplant was born in Long Beach, California.
1989 B.T. banned "chatlines" because people were getting hooked on the faceless chatter and running up huge bills which they could not pay.
1989 Death of John Cassavetes (aged 59) Actor director 'Rosemary's Baby'.
1989 Death of Lionel Newman (aged 73) Film composer.
1989 South African politician P. W. Botha unwillingly resigned both party leadership and the presidency after suffering a stroke.
1993 Gloria Estefan received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
1994 Jean-Claude van Damme married Darcy Lapier.
1995 The space shuttle "Discovery" was piloted by a female astronaut (Eileen Collins) for the first time when it blasted off on its mission to link up with the Russian Space Centre.
1998 Princess Diana postage stamps were issued.
1998 Murderess Klara Faye Tucker was executed by lethal injection in Texas -The first woman since 1863.
2003 The treason trial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, finally started after riot police tried to prevent the public attending.
2003 German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder ruled out resigning and insisted his reforms would speed up, despite crushing defeats in key state elections.
2003 Russia put on hold its programme of sending paying tourists into space, as space veterans mourned the crew of the Columbia shuttle, which disintegrated on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere three days earlier.
2003 Legendary US record producer Phil Spector was charged with murder after a woman is found shot dead at a house in Los Angeles.
2003 A court heard that "Hello!" magazine breached security to snatch pictures of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones' wedding.
2003 Liverpool's Steven Gerrard was suspended for three matches by the FA after being found guilty of violent conduct.
2005 "Star Trek: Enterprise", the latest TV incarnation of the sci-fi saga, was axed by broadcaster UPN.
2005 Councillors decided to allow Manchester United to add nearly 8,000 seats to their ground.

BIRTHDAYS (for 03 February 2006)
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 197 (born 03 February 1809)
Died 1874. German composer of Fingal's Cave and The Midsummer Night's Dream.
Gertrude Stein, 132 (born 03 February 1874)
American writer and critic who lived in Paris and was friend to many famous painters and writers.
Clarence Mulford, 123 (born 03 February 1883)
American writer who created Hopalong Cassidy.
Norman Rockwell, 112 (born 03 February 1894)
Died 1978. US artist & illustrator.
Pretty Boy Floyd, 102 (born 03 February 1904)
(Died 1934) Bankrobber
James Michener, 99 (born 03 February 1907)
American novelist who wrote a number of blockbuster novels, including Hawaii.
Simone Weil, 97 (born 03 February 1909)
French writer whose work was published posthumously.
Shelley Berman, 80 (born 03 February 1926)
Comedian
Frankie Vaughan OBE, 78 (born 03 February 1928)
Singer
Val Doonican, 78 (born 03 February 1928)
Singer
Kenneth Anger, 76 (born 03 February 1930)
Film maker, author
David Vine, 71 (born 03 February 1935)
TV presenter
Johnny "Guitar" Watson, 71 (born 03 February 1935)
(Died 1996) Musician.
Victor Buono, 68 (born 03 February 1938)
(Died 1982) Actor
Michael Cimino, 67 (born 03 February 1939)
Director 'The Deer Hunter'
Dennis Edwards, 63 (born 03 February 1943)
Member of The Temptations
Roy `Chubby' Brown, 61 (born 03 February 1945)
Slightly-vulgar comedian
Melanie, 59 (born 03 February 1947)
Singer - 'Brand New Key'
Dave Davies, 59 (born 03 February 1947)
Musician of Kinks fame (Ray's brother)
Morgan Fairchild, 56 (born 03 February 1950)
Actress
Nathan Lane, 50 (born 03 February 1956)
Actor - 'The Birdcage'
Gary Webster, 42 (born 03 February 1964)
Star of Minder, taking over from Dennis Waterman in the leading role
Darren Peacock, 38 (born 03 February 1968)
Newcastle United Footballer

Anagram List Quiz 1

1. No Brains None (4/8)
ANNE ROBINSON
2. He Smack Jail Con (7/7)
MICHAEL JACKSON
3. I Like Em Young (5/7)
KYLIE MINOGUE
4. Nor Any Scene (4/7)
SEAN CONNERY
5. Naughtiness Drug is an anagram of which drink?
Draught Guinness
6. What work of art is an anagram of 'No hat a smile'?
The Mona Lisa
7. DAMN! VOCAL ERROR (5,9)
CAROL VORDERMAN
8. IN LEAN ‘N’ OXEN (5,6)
ANNIE LENNOX
9. A REACTION WINS (3,5,6)
SIR ISAAC NEWTON
10. RAMBO HYPER THUG (8,6)
HUMPHREY BOGART
11. WESTERN VIDEO is an anagram of which famous US singer?
Stevie Wonder
12. ELUDE BEDROCK is an anagram of which sweet bar?
Double Decker
13. CHASE LEAN GIRLS is an Anagram of which film and TV programme?
Charlies Angels
14. That Snail Charm
Alan Titchmarsh
15. O so flashy Londoners?
Only fools and Horses
16. UKTV Blind Date
David Blunkett
17. CL