John Lennon Shot

The Sun and Daily Mirror dated Wednesday 10th December 1980

John Winston Lennon, born in Liverpool, England in 1940, was a founding member of the pop group that dominated the 1960’s in the Western World.  The Beatles lasted from 1960 to 1969, after which Lennon had a solo career and moved to the USA where he became active in the Anti-Vietnam War movement as well as other Left Wing organizations – much to the annoyance of successive US Governments who tried to get him deported. 

He was shot outside the Dakota apartment building near Central Park in New York on the night of Monday 8^th December.  Due to the time difference between New York and London the Tuesday morning British papers did not feature the story.  The London evening papers did have it, but it was Wednesday morning before the national dailies featured the story.

Violet Carson was a singer and broadcaster that started in radio and the TV. She joined the cast of the soap Coronation Street as Ena Sharples when it started in 1960 and left in 1980. Despite her claim to return she never did and died in 1983

‘De Do Do De Da Da’ a  Christmas number 1? Wrong. After 3 successive number 1’s for The Police it peaked at number 5.  When I looked this up it seems that the title should read 'De Do Do Do De Da Da Da' and appears as such on a picture sleeve reproduced on Wikipedia.  Why am I wasting my life? 

Not quite always time – actually just a bit over 18 years.  In January 2009 all the British stores closed down.

A job in Libya?  What could go wrong?

100,000 'Steel Helmets' Goose-step in Berlin

The Daily Mirror dated Tuesday May 10th 1927

The Stahlhelm or Steel Helmet Nationalist movement was founded in Germany just after WWI by Franz Seldte, .During the 1920’s the Stahlhelm became increasingly anti-democratic and anti-republican and Seldte hoped that the organization could become a leading organ of a united right-wing movement. In 1931, he, together with Alfred Hugenberg and Adolf Hitler create the Harzburg Front, an alliance against the then current German Government.

He hoped to lead the Nazis into a government led by him, but soon realize that Hitler was the man of the moment and when, in 1933, Hitler came to power, Seldte joined as Reich Minister for Labour. Also at that time the Stahlhelm members were integrated into Ernst Röhm's Sturmabteilung (SA) militia.

He was captured and arrested at the end of the war but died in a US military hospital before being arraigned on charges.

Charles Nungesser was a French pilot and adventurer and a renowned ace in France, rating third highest in the country for air combat victories during World War I.

After the war, Nungesser mysteriously disappeared during an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight from Paris to New York, flying with wartime comrade François Coli. Their aircraft took off from Paris on 8 May 1927, was sighted once over Ireland, and then was never seen again.

Two weeks after Nungesser and Coli's attempt, Charles Lindbergh successfully made the journey, flying solo from New York to Paris in Spirit of St. Louis.

"I think you've had enough for your money"  Makes a change from the false ending where the artiste leaves the stage, waits for the applause to start to tail off, then bounds back on for an 'unexpected encore'.

"Well lass, that there wet stuff is the water and France is over yonder.  I would come with you but the Duck and Slug Ale House is expecting me for their Chef's Special eight course lunch. Don't forget to a send post-card."

Those were the days when everyone over the age of 10 smoked and the average life expectancy was about 60 years.  At those prices I'm not surprised.

Click on this and take a closer look. You are only a couple of answers and 84 years away from winning £100. I reckon 58 across is SOLO, 58 down should be SLY, and 63 across YEWS, but then 60 across is wrong!

If a man stood like this over a lady these days he'd be done for sexual harassment at the very least, and with a name like Rod La Rocque probably done for appearing in porn films as well.  Actually Rod made 104 quite legitimate films between 1914 and 1940.  The cast of 'Resurrection' includes one of Leo Tolstoy's sons, Count Ilya Tolstoy.

His Valet Found The King Dead

Daily Mirror dated Thursday February 7th 1952

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Born Albert Frederick Arthur George in 1895 he became King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth in 1936 until his death on 6^th February 1952.

As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward, but when Edward abdicated in 1936 in order to marry, Albert ascended the throne as George VI. 

He was beset by health problems, including smoking related lung cancer, in the later years of his reign. He died from a coronary thrombosis in his sleep at Sandringham House in Norfolk, at the age of 56.  His daughter Elizabeth flew back to the UK from an official visit to Kenya as Elizabeth II. Because George died in his sleep during the night, his precise moment of death, and therefore Elizabeth's accession, is unknown.

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No silly comment - just an interesting picture.

No ladders in her stockings - now there's a sleuthing trick that not only Sherlock Holmes but also CSI's greatest minds have missed. 'He was trying merely to quieten her, in a way he had used successfully with her before' - I assume that was when he wasn't sticking red hot needles under her finger nails to stop her hic-cups.

How dreadfully sexist.

By gad, Sir!  What's the old Regiment coming to when a Major can't have some fun with his Privates without the Military Police getting involved.

I just hope that the hand belongs to the man's wife or girlfriend and not his senior Army Officer.  Who is this advert aimed at?  I wouldn't have thought that the typical 1950's macho-man would take well to be depicted in a 'pinny'.  The name 'Rhodian' brings to mind the famous girls' school so maybe the product was aimed at women.  Who knows?  Who cares?  I've got the washing up to do. 

Plot to Kill President Wilson

The Star dated Monday February 24th 1919

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Even Wikipedia, that fount of all knowledge both true and imaginary, has little or nothing to say about this plot by Spanish anarchists to blow up US President Woodrow Wilson during his brief visit to Boston.  Were they ever tried?  Convicted?  What had they got against him?

President Wilson suffered a stroke later in 1919 and his health continued to deteriorate until he died in February 1924.

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In September 1916, the German Zeppelin L-33 was brought down at Great Wigborough, Essex. It was virtually intact and her motors were undamaged. In one stroke the British had been handed a near perfect airship full of the latest German technology.  A crew of investigators recorded every feature of the ship in detail, taking five months to complete the task.  With this information the British designers adapted the plans of the R33 and R34 airships.

Jazz dancing!!  Whatever next?  Hold on for 35 years and you'll get Rock'n'Roll!!

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Should have gone to Specsavers

The genesis of the jet engine? Auguste Rateau (1863 – 1930) invented the turbo-charger and applied it to an aircraft engine as early as 1917.  Also among his invention were (according to Wikipedia among others) electric shutter glasses for watching 3D films in 1896!

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Well if the upper classes that ran England in 1914 hadn't sent all the lower classes off to be butchered in the trenches of France and Belgium, there might have been enough still around in 1919 to do their dirty work for them.  That or the servant class, having been through the War, decided to tell their so called betters where to stuff their apple dumplings.

Film acting?  Mark my words ladies and gents, there's no future in the film business - they'll be inventing Television soon and all the cinemas will become Bingo Halls.

They're Free / Massacre of Olympic City

The Sun dated Wednesday September 6th 1972

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Two editions of the Sun for the same day – two completely opposite stories.  In the early edition the Israeli Olympic athletes that had been held hostage by 8 PLO gunmen were rescued by German police marksmen as the hostages were being transferred from helicopters to a Boeing 747.  In the later edition the more accurate story emerges – the hostages were all killed by the gunmen as the German police failed to rescue them.

What I find interesting is how few words on the front page have been changed to tell the different story.  And how the two politicians pictured in the early edition have been quickly written out of history now that they are no longer part of a successful rescue. 

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Of course even the late edition didn’t tell the whole truth.  It turned out, according to various books and newspaper articles, that the rescue attempt was a farce.  The police underestimated the number of gunmen, the police had no radios to communicate with one another, a group of police posing as airport workers unilaterally decided to just abandon the mission, two of the police snipers had no line of fire when the helicopters landed and were actually themselves in the line of fire of the other three snipers and so on.

I bet that you would be hard pressed to answer the question ‘When were the zig-zag lines either side of zebra crossing introduced?’  Well now, thanks to Holdthefrontpage, you can.

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Idi Amin seized power in Uganda in 1971 promising democratic rule.  One week later he declared himself President of Uganda, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Army Chief of Staff, and Chief of Air Staff.  In August 1972 he declared that all Asians had to leave Uganda.  80,000 in all.

His erratic behaviour, including announcing he was ‘King of Scotland’, made him the butt of jokes and if you want a good laugh (albeit rather politically incorrect) at his expense try and find a copy of the audio recordings of John Bird as Idi Amin. 

I just love the way the advertising agency for the Army have dropped ‘Northern Ireland’ into the middle of this list of ‘fun’ places to visit.

Iranian Embassy Siege Ends

Daily Mirror dated Tuesday May 6th 1980

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Obviously 9/11 (or 11/9 as it should be in the UK) is on every one's minds today and, for those old enough to remember it, the live TV coverage.  21 years before 9/11 the SAS raid that ended the 6 day siege of the Iranian Embassy in London was broadcast live at peak time on a Bank Holiday Monday evening and was viewed by millions of people, mostly in the UK. Both the BBC and ITV interrupted their scheduled programming to show the end of the siege, which proved to be a major career break for several journalists. Kate Adie, the BBC's duty reporter at the embassy when the SAS assault began, went on to report from war zones across the world.

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The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed members of the Democratic Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Arabistan (DRFLA) stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington. The gunmen took 26 people hostage, including Police Constable Trevor Lock of the Metropolitan Police's Diplomatic Protection Group (DPG). Lock was carrying a concealed Smith & Wesson .38-calibre revolver, but was unable to draw it before he was overpowered, although he did manage to press the "panic button" on his radio. Lock was later frisked, but the gunman conducting the search did not find the constable's weapon. 

By the sixth day of the siege the gunmen had become increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress in meeting their demands. That evening, they killed one of the hostages and threw his body out of the embassy. As a result, the British government ordered the Special Air Service (SAS), to conduct an assault to rescue the remaining hostages. During the 17-minute raid, the SAS rescued all but one of the hostages, and killed five of the six terrorists.

At one point during the siege the police guaranteed that a statement would be broadcast on the BBC news in exchange for the release of two people. The hostages decided amongst themselves who would be released.  One was chosen because his loud snoring kept the other hostages awake at night.

Guess who?  Answer at the end of the post.

Even despots can dream.

So what else is new?

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Currently featured in an advert for Kronenbourg 1664 lager, playing a slowed down version of their 1980 top 3 hit, ‘Baggy Trousers’, this is what Madness looked like 31 years ago.

The picture is of Muhammad Ali ex World Heavyweight Champion boxer.  Ali had retired in 1979, but returned in 1980.  He is seen here during preparations to face current champion Larry Holmes in an attempt to win a heavyweight title an unprecedented four times. Ali's manager Angelo Dundee refused to let him come out for the 11th round, in what became Ali's only loss by anything other than a decision.

Peter Cushing Dies

Daily Mirror dated Friday August 12th 1994

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The film actor Peter Cushing was born in 1913 in Surrey and had a film career that started in 1939 and ended in 1986.  One of his very early appearances was a student in the Laurel and Hardy vehicle ‘A Chimp at Oxford’.  He went on to play Sherlock Holmes, Professor Van Helsing, Baron Frankenstein, Dr Who, The Sheriff of Nottingham, Beau Brummell, Winston Smith, King Richard II, Mr Darcy, Clive of India and Grand Moff Tarkin, among others.  He appeared in about 93 films and 36 TV programmes.  His final film was ‘Biggles’, an awful time-travel twist on the W E Johns stories, not exactly a great ending to his career.

I hope that whoever won the '£1000 a week for life' is still alive and is enjoying the £887,000 they've received so far.

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All I can say is that it was a brave effort for World Peace but it hasn’t worked, yet, and I don’t believe the quote in the last paragraph.

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Petrol at £2.47p a gallon?  Outrageous! Oh, hang on a minute – that’s 54p a litre.  Ah… I remember it well.