James Mollison was born today in 1905. He was a Scottish aviator and if you've never heard of him that's because all his thunder was stolen by his wife, Amy Johnson. He was actually flying with her when they crossed the Atlantic for the first time but he might as well not have bothered.
He got his own back later though, by shortening his Christian name to Jim and singing with the Doors, a band that didn't feature Amy Johnson at all, although experts on the band do say that 'You're Lost, Little Girl' may refer to her.
In other news ...
Charles Darwin, the famous beagle-breeder, owner of a horrendous beard and reluctant evolutionist died today in 1882. His last book came out the previous year and was called On the Formation of Vegetable Moulds. It has now sold 30 million copies worldwide, is available on Kindle for only £23.94 (price set by publisher) and it spawned an opera, a ballet, a radio series and no less than six movies (two in the silent era). There is talk of another remake starring Sly Stallone as 'Lichen' and Gene Hackman as 'Fungus' with a screenplay, inevitably, by Julian Fellowes.