22nd September

Robert Walpole, the Whig leader whose career was a byword for corruption, moved into the new house for Prime Ministers, Number 10, Downing Street, today in 1735. Next door was one of his cronies, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (oh, no, wait a minute - that was Walpole too). Everybody else in the street was so appalled by their new neighbour that they not only left, they had their houses demolished.

In other news ...
It was today in 1980 that Idi (The Last King of Scotland) Amin told Uganda's 80,000 Asians they had 48 hours to leave the country.

The whites were given six minutes.

30th August

Denis Healey was born today in 1917. Who? I hear you cry, gentle reader. He was a Labour MP, Cabinet Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer with the bushiest eyebrows in politics. He was mercilessly lampooned by the impressionist Mike Yarwood with the immortal phrase 'Silly Billy'. So, happy birthday, Denis, 95 today.

In other news ...
Marcus Antonius committed suicide today in Alexandria in 30BC. He'd just lost a war against Octavius Caesar and not even his famous wife, Cleopatra, could shake him out of his depression. He did 'what's fine, what's Roman' (that's your actual Shakespeare) after his bodyservant refused to kill him with his sword.

Incidentally, there's a rather good bio of Cleopatra out shortly from Constable Robinson in their Brief History of ... series, by my old mate MJ Trow.