June 3rd

Feast Day of Saint Clothilde, Queen of All The Franks. She is patron saint of Queens, brides, widows, those in exile, the lame and ill tempered husbands!

1675 The Great Fire of Northampton occurred in 1675 in the town of Northampton in Northamptonshire, England. The blaze was caused by sparks from an open fire in St. Mary’s Street near Northampton castle, and devastated the town centre, destroying about 700 buildings [out of 850] including All Saints church, in six hours. Three quarters of the town was destroyed, 11 people died and about 700 families were made homeless. Many people escaped the fire as the Trumpton Fire Brigade were guests at a local wedding ceremony and their expertise was much praised by the locals.

1875 French composer Georges Bizet died from a heart attack in Paris aged just 36yo. His best known work being the opera "Carmen".

1888  The poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer is first published.

"The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville Nine that day;

The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play,

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,

A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

...

 

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;

He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;

He signalled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;

But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out."

1918 English actor and producer Patrick Cargill was born in Bexhill-On-Sea.

1924 Bohemian novelist Franz Kafka died from starvation. He was suffering from laryngenal tuberculosis that left it impossible for him to swallow food and at the time there was no way known to feed him, his throat simply closed to the point where no nourishment could be taken. He was 40yo. Amongst his most notable works were :-

"Die Verwandlung" ("The Metamorphosis")

Der Process (The Trial)

"Das Urteil" ("The Judgment")

Das Schloss (The Castle)

Betrachtung (Contemplation)

Ein Hungerkünstler (A Hunger Artist).

1925 American actor Tony Curtis is born in Manhattan as Bernard Schwartz.

1937 The Duke of Windsor married Wallis Simpson in France.

1966 Pakistan and Lancashire cricketer Wasim Akram is born in Lahore.

2001 Mexican/American actor and painter, Anthony Quinn passed away He died aged 86 in Boston, Massachusetts from pneumonia and respiratory failure while suffering from throat cancer.
By the early 1980s, his artwork had caught the eyes of various gallery owners and was exhibited internationally, in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Mexico City. His work is now represented in both public and private collections throughout the world.

2009 American actor/director David Carradine was found dead in his room at the Swissôtel Nai Lert Park Hotel on Wireless Road, near Sukhumvit Road, in central Bangkok, Thailand. reported evidence suggested that his death was the result of autoerotic asphyxiation. Two autopsies were conducted and concluded that the death was not a suicide. The cause of death became widely accepted as "accidental asphyxiation"

2009 Rue McClanahan was an American actress, died at the age of 76, at New York–Presbyterian Hospital after she suffered a brain haemorrhage. Best known for her role on television as Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls (1985–92), for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1987.

Jimmy Saville and others: Commenting on news that the ex DJ, Mrs Thatcher loving paedophile had sexually abused victims as young as 2yo , former minister, Eggwina Curry stated, " No of course we had no idea what he was like! If Margaret had known she would have had him locked up, what? Ah yes we did give him the keys to Broadmoor...but he was a great union basher and we wanted the nasty troublemakers out, no I'm sure we did the right thing...well with hindsight , obviously it was very wrong as we gave him carte blanche to abuse any vulnerable person he wanted to...but we weren't aware of that. Rumours? Well of course there are always rumours, especially about good working class Tory supporters, I mean there was a rumour going round that I was shagging John Major...oh dear?"