16th December

Anna Steenkamp, a Boer farmer's wife, wrote in her diary today in 1836 - 'It was not the non-whites' freedom that drove us to such lengths [travelling north in the Great Trek] as their being placed on an equal footing with Christians, contrary to the laws of God.'

You can't get a more Christian sentiment than that, now, can you?

In other news ...
The world went mad today in 1991, when the name of the new leader of MI5 - 'M' - was printed in the British Press. She was Stella Rimmington, the first woman to hold the job. This marked the end of the spying game as far as Britain was concerned - not that a woman was in charge (he added hastily) but that the whole thing was so public. This explains why James Bond had to undergo so many plastic surgery operations. The name was the same, but in a feeble attempt to pretend the Secret Services were still secret, the face had to change.

Spooky.

19th September

'Try stubbing out a cigarette with both feet while rubbing your back with a towel.'
This action describes -

1. Discovering a fire in Pudding Lane, London, in 1666 and attempting to prevent its spread
2. Being Lord Mayor of London 2012
3. Doing the Twist 1960
4. Auditioning for the part of James Bond 1960-2012?

Answer please to: Mr C Checker (oh, damn; I've given it away!)

In other news ...
Lesley Hornby was born today in 1949. She's better known as Twiggy and was the face of the Sixties modelling scene. Amazingly, she's still going strong today and still looks great. Unlike the other Sixties models, Stringy, Skinny and Skeletal who, frankly, are beginning to show their age.

23rd January

Wasn't the Cold War great? Anybody under thirty must be totally bewildered by spies coming in from the cold. They've had to create ever more unlikely baddies for James Bond to fight because the 'evil empire' is no more. Today in 1963, Kim Philby, the 'third man' disappeared in Beirut. He was the 'third man' because the 'first man' was Guy Burgess and the 'second man' was Donald Maclean (I hope you're following this because I will be asking questions later). MI5 was full of men, mostly recruited from Cambridge and often leaning to the left.
Personally, I thought Orson Welles' version of Philby was near perfect and what he could do with a zither could make your eyes water. Or have I got that wrong? These spies are very tricky people, as I am sure you know.

In other news ..
There are some things you just shouldn't promise. Especially of you can't deliver; every parent who has ever let their attention wander as Christmas approaches knows this. Sometimes broken promises are bigger than those involving a newbikeanahamsteranatigerarealtigernotatoyonelikelastyearanda ... we've all broken that one or something like it, usually inadvertently, but take as cases in point Marshal Ney, who promised to bring Napoleon back to Paris in a cage; in fact, he defected to him. Adolf Hitler promised not to invade any more countries just before he went into the Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Russia etc etc. But the most spectacular of all was Salvador Dali, the surrealist painter. 'Geniuses don't die,' he said. 'I'm going to live forever.' Except he didn't, dying today in 1989.
Who knew?