Mistinguett – French Actress And Singer

Mistinguett (5 April 1875 – 5 January 1956) was a French actress and singer, whose birth name was Jeanne Bourgeois. She was at one time the best-paid female entertainer in the world. Biography The daughter of Antoine Bourgeois, a 30-year-old day-laborer, and Jeannette Debrée, a 21-year-old seamstress, Jeanne Florentine Bourgeois was born at 5 Rue [...]

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On This Day In 1953 – Queen Elizabeth Takes Coronation Oath

Queen Elizabeth II has been crowned at a coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey in London. In front of more than 8,000 guests, including prime ministers and heads of state from around the Commonwealth, she took the Coronation Oath and is now bound to serve her people and to maintain the laws of God. After being [...]

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On This Day In 1957 – Arthur Miller Found Guilty Of Contempt

US playwright Arthur Miller has been convicted of contempt of Congress. The conviction relates to an investigation last year by the House of Representatives’ Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) into a Communist conspiracy to misuse American passports. During the investigation 41-year-old Mr Miller, who is married to Hollywood movie star Marilyn Monroe, refused to reveal the [...]

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Ella Kate Ewing – The Missouri Giantess

Ella Kate Ewing (March 9, 1872 – January 10, 1913) was a Missouri woman considered the worlds tallest female of her era. She would use her great height to earn a living as a sideshow attraction, popularly known as "The Missouri Giantess." Early life and growth Ella Ewing was born in La Grange, Missouri, the [...]

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On This Day In 1950 – UK Drivers Cheer End Of Fuel Rations

Long queues have appeared at garages this evening and motorists have torn their ration books into confetti after the government announced an end to petrol rationing. The Minister of Fuel and Power, Philip Noel-Baker, told the House of Commons rationing would be abolished because two American companies had agreed a deal to supply oil in [...]

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On This Day In 1966–Cooper Loses To World Champ Clay

American Cassius Clay has beaten Britain’s Henry Cooper in the sixth round of a fight in London to retain the world heavyweight championship. Cooper’s hopes of bringing the title back to the UK were dashed one minute and 38 seconds into the sixth round when the referee stopped the fight – a deep gash over [...]

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Lorraine Hansberry – Afro-American Playwright

Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago, the daughter of civil rights activists and intellectuals. Her play, “A Raisin the Sun” (1959), the first drama by a black woman to be produced on Broadway and winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, was loosely based on her own experiences. When she was eight, her [...]

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May 17 – Norwegian Constitution Day

Norwegian Constitution Day is the National Day of Norway and is an official national holiday observed on May 17 each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to simply as syttende mai (meaning May Seventeenth), Nasjonaldagen (The National Day) or Grunnlovsdagen (The Constitution Day), although the latter is less frequent. A noteworthy aspect of the [...]

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On This Day In 1978: Charlie Chaplin’s Stolen Body Found

The coffin containing the body of Charlie Chaplin – missing since his grave was robbed 11 weeks ago – has been found. It was dug up from a field about a mile away from the Chaplin home in Corsier near Lausanne, Switzerland. The legendary comedian died on Christmas Day last year, aged 88. He was [...]

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On This Day In 1995 – British Woman Conquers Everest

A British mother of two has become the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas. Alison Hargreaves, 33, is only the second person ever to reach the peak of the world’s highest mountain unaided. She reached the 29,028ft (8,847.7m) summit at 1208 local time on Saturday – 0723 in Britain [...]

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On This day in 1966 – Moors Murderers Jailed For Life

  Ian Brady and his lover Myra Hindley have been sentenced to life imprisonment for the so-called Moors murders at Chester Assizes. Judge Fenton Atkinson imposed three concurrent life sentences on Ian Brady, aged 28, for what he called "three calculated, cruel, cold-blooded murders". The couple were tried for the killing of Edward Evans, 17, [...]

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On This Day In 1961 – Shepard Becomes First US Astronaut

Commander Alan Shepard has been recovered from his space capsule in the Atlantic after becoming the first American in space. Three weeks ago, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to fly into space. This morning, 37-year-old Cdr Shepard of the US Navy was launched into sub-orbital flight from Cape Canaveral in Florida in [...]

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Bertha Heyman aka Big Bertha – The Confidence Queen

Bertha Heyman (born c. 1851) was a 19th-century American criminal, also known as "Big Bertha" or the "Confidence Queen." She was described by famed New York City detective Thomas F. Byrnes as "one of the smartest confidence women in America", and was considered by the New York City police to be "the boldest and most [...]

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Isn’t Modern Medicine Marvellous

Zsa Zsa Gabor Might Be A Mom Soon! Yeah, that Zsa Zsa. The 94-year-old one who’s been ill for forever and who’s convinced that she’s knockin’ on heaven’s door.  But hey, you know what would help with all those woes? A little bitty baby! You might be wondering how any of this is possible, and [...]

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On This Day In 1994 – Race Ace Senna Killed In Car Crash

The Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna has been killed in a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, near Bologna in Italy. He was just 34-years-old. His Williams FW16 Formula One car was travelling at a speed of 192 mph (309 km/h) when it ran wide at a curve and crashed into a [...]

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On This Day In 1958 – My Fair Lady Dazzles London

The Broadway musical My Fair Lady has opened for its first night in London, to a rapturous reception. The event, at the Drury Lane theatre, was star-studded: Ingrid Bergman, Dirk Bogarde, Terence Rattigan and John Strachey were among those who arrived at the theatre to be greeted with cheers and applause by a crowd of [...]

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On This Day In 1969 – Devlin Is Youngest-Ever Woman MP

A 21-year-old woman, Bernadette Devlin, has become Britain’s youngest ever female MP and the third youngest MP ever. Standing as an independent Unity candidate, Miss Devlin wrested the seat of Mid-Ulster in Northern Ireland from the Ulster Unionists. In a straight fight she defeated Anna Forrest, the widow of the late MP George Forrest, by [...]

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On This Day In 1964 – ‘Great Train Robbers’ Get 300 Years

Some of the longest sentences in British criminal history have been imposed on men involved in the so-called "Great Train Robbery". Sentences totalling 307 years were passed on 12 men who stole £2.6m in used bank notes after holding up the night mail train travelling from Glasgow to London last August. The judge at Buckinghamshire [...]

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On This Day In 1964 – Sidney Poitier Breaks New Ground With Oscar Win

The acting profession’s top award has gone to a black actor for the first time. Sidney Poitier won the best actor Oscar for his role in Lilies of the Field. In the film, released last year, he played construction worker Homer Smith whom a group of nuns believe was sent to them by God to [...]

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On This Day In 1961 – Soviets Win Space Race

The Soviet Union has beaten the USA in the race to get the first man into space. At just after 0700BST, Major Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin was fired from the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan, Soviet central Asia, in the space craft Vostok (East). Major Gagarin orbited the Earth for 108 minutes travelling at more than [...]

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