25th April

'Let's go, children of the fatherland, the day of glory has arrived.' All right, it sounds better in the original French. These are the opening words of the Marseillaise, written on this day in 1792 by Captain Claude-Joseph Rouget de L'Isle and put to the music of a marching tune belonging to revolutionary soldiers from Marseilles. It's a rattling good song and knocks the other Six Nations efforts in international rugby into a cocked hat. It must be the only national anthem in the world that most people know much better than their own.

In other news ...
King Edward II was born today in 1284. His dad was kicking seven kinds of ordure out of the Welsh at the time and they demanded a prince who could speak no English to rule over them. Accordingly, the king appeared on the battlements of his brand-spanking-new Caernarvon castle with his baby son in his arms and said 'Here he is, then. A prince who can speak no English.' And so the future Edward II became the first Prince of Wales. He was to go on to a memorable meeting with a red-hot poker, but that's another story. And you have to ask yourself how dim could the Welsh be? You'd think they could have seen that one coming, wouldn't you?

11th April

A remarkable character was born today in 1929. He served in the US Navy, smoked a pipe all his life and had a deformed jaw. He only had one friend, who was addicted to beefburgers and his girlfriend left a lot to be desired in the hour glass figure stakes. He was constantly having run-ins with a moron with a beard and huge shoulders and there was a kid who looked just like him and was always crawling off high buildings. Robin Williams played him - not very well, it must be said. His real claim to fame was trying to get children - or indeed any sane adult - to eat spinach.

Thank you, Popeye, for what you've been.

In other news ...

William Anne Mary was crowned today in 1689, the only official hermaphrodite monarch of England (the unofficial ones, if you're wondering are: Richard I, Edward II and [almost] Wallis Simpson).