6th December

'The Soviet Union has disintegrated,' said Leonid Kravachuk of the Ukraine today in 1991. This was far too late for thousands of innocent people who went to their deaths under Lenin, Trotsky and above all, Stalin in the name of a political system that cannot possibly work in a free society.

In other news ...

The French tennis team won the Davis Cup today in 1991 and their captain, Yannick Noah, spoke for them all when he said, 'Guy was happy, I was happy, the team was happy, the crowd was happy, everybody was happy. There is just one word to describe it all - happiness.'

Had a way with words, didn't he, old Yannick?

10th November

The Berlin Wall was smashed through in two places today in 1989, an iconic moment which effectively marked the beginning of the end of the 'evil empire' of the Communist Soviet Union. Pieces of the Wall became the new true cross, relics which changed hands for large sums of money. There were so many pieces of the Wall on the market that there was clearly some confusion with the Wall of China. 'All in all,' as Pink Floyd once said, 'We're just another chink in the Wall.'

In other news ...
Dick Jenkins was born today in 1925. Who he? I hear you cry. Well, he was a fine Shakespearean actor and famous drunk who married Liz Taylor sixteen times or thereabouts. Does that give you a clue?