June 6th

Of course today is the 70th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings, D-Day.
The targeted 50mile stretch of Normandy coastline was divided into five sectors, namely Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword beach,  Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their intended positions, particularly at Utah and Omaha. The men landed under heavy fire from gun emplacements overlooking the beaches, and the shore was mined and covered with obstacles such as wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire, making the work of the beach clearing teams difficult and dangerous. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs. At Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled using specialised tanks.
The Allies failed to achieve all of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, a major objective, was not captured until 21 July. Only two of the beaches (Juno and Gold) were linked on the first day, and all five bridgeheads were not connected until 12 June. However, the operation gained a foothold that the Allies gradually expanded over the coming months. German casualties on D-Day were around 1,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 12,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead. Museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area host many visitors each year.

1436 Regiomontanus, German mathematician and astronomer is born in Unfinden now part of Konigsberg,Germany.

1752 A devastating fire destroys one third of Moscow including 18,000 homes. Luckily the Trumpton Fire Service were in Russia on a vodka tasting tour and the expertise of Captain Flack and his men saved the remaining two-thirds earning the honour and respect of the Moscovites for the Trumpton Brigade and their bravery. To this day the cry of ," Tpoekpathoe ypa Trumpton!" is often heard in the City.

1868 Antarctic explorer and Boys Own hero, Robert Falcon Scott was born in Plymouth, Devon.

1889 The Great Seattle Fire destroyed all of down town Seattle. It could have been much worse had the Trumpton Fire Brigade not been attending the annual International 'Moose Hunt'. To this day songs are sung hailing the bravery and expertise of Captain Flack and his men.

1909 French troops capture Abeche, and install a puppet sultan in the Quaddai Empire. Sultan Andy Pandy with his advisers Teddy and Looby-Loo remained in power for 26 yrs, ruling from the "Large Toy Basket Palace " in Abeche.

1930 England Cricketing Legend Frank Tyson was born in Farnworth, near Bolton. In his Test career he took 76 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 18.56. His fast bowling style earning him the nickname of " Typhoon Tyson". After retiring he emigrated to Australia in 1960 becoming a well respected journalist and commentator.

1932 English actress Billie Whitelaw is born in Coventry, she made her film debut in Sleeping Tiger in 1954 and has appeared in over 40 films, most recently coming out of retirement to play the role of Joyce Cooper in Simon Pegg's "Hot Fuzz", (2007).

1947 Could today be a "Blind Date"? Politician David Blunkett is born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

1956 Tennis Legend Bjorn Borg is Bjorn in Sweden on this date. He won six French Championships, Five Wimbledon Singles Championships and four US Open titles, his only Achilles heel being his inability to play convincingly in Australia, only ever reaching the third round once.

1957 Rotund, former England cricket captain, Michael William Batting is born in Kingsbury, London. Batting is probably best remembered, rightly or wrongly, for his 1987 altercation with Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana in Faisalabad. He was accused of adjusting the field illegally, i.e. after the bowler had started running in, and warned. In fact, Gatting had been signalling to the long leg fielder to stop walking in, and the move was legal as it was not in the batsman's eyeline. Rana shouted 'stop, stop' and signalled dead ball, however, infuriating Gatting. Tempers were already frayed following a string of umpiring decisions that had gone against England, and the England team were unhappy that Rana was wearing a Pakistan sweater under his jacket. An argument ensued, during the course of which Rana accused Gatting of breaking the rules and Gatting shouted 'We made the rules'. He had to be dragged away by Bill Athey. Rana refused to resume the match the following morning until Gatting delivered a handwritten apology, which he did under protest – eventually, the match was drawn due to bad light. The England hierarchy supported him, flying officials out to mediate with the board and deal with press relations. The Pakistan board supported Rana, naming him umpire for the deciding Test, from which position they only backed down when it was clear the England team would not play if Rana officiated, naming two other umpires. Indeed, the TCCB subsequently paid all players in the England party a £1000 'hardship' bonus for the tour. Gatting  reflected later that 'it wasn't a very proud moment of my career.'He also admitted that, whatever the official reason given, it was the real reason why he lost the England captaincy the following summer.However, it went a long way towards establishing the principle of the superiority of the umpire over the players, which had not always been the case previously, and Rana said he did it 'for umpires everywhere'. Gatting was sacked as England captain the following summer over an alleged encounter with a barmaid.

1963 English actor/ producer Jason Isaacs was born in Liverpool. Best known for his role as Lucius Malfoy, the " Death Eater" in the Harry Potter film series, Isaacs has acted in over forty films as well as roles on the stage and TV, including the 2012 NBC semi-series "Awake", which was too complex an idea for American viewers, actors and writers, as its dual universe scenario disappeared up its own backside after 13 episodes.

1968 Robert Francis Kennedy died, aged 42yo, in Los Angeles after being shot the day before. He had addressed his supporters shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968, in a ballroom at The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Leaving the ballroom, he went through the hotel kitchen after being told it was a shortcut despite being advised to avoid the kitchen by his bodyguard, FBI agent Bill Barry. In a crowded kitchen passageway, Sirhan Sirhan, a 24-year-old Palestinian, opened fire with a .22-caliber revolver. Kennedy was hit three times and five other people also were wounded.
His body was returned to New York City, where it lay in repose at Saint Patrick's Cathedral from approximately 10:00 p.m. until 10:00 a.m. on June 8. A high requiem mass attended by members of the extended Kennedy family, President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife Lady Bird Johnson, and members of the Johnson Cabinet was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral at 10:00 a.m. on June 8. Bobby's brother Ted said the following:

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it. Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: 'Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not'.

1974 American singer/songwriter Uncle Kracker is born Matthew Schafer in Mount Clemens, Michigan. Best known for his hit singles, " Follow Me", "Drift Away", " Smile" and alongside Kevin Chesney, "When the Sun Goes Down".

1983 English petty thug,murderer and police killer Dale Cregan was born(?), today in Tameside.

1984 The videogame "Tetris" is released by Alexi Pajitnov for the Elektronica 60.

1985 The grave of "Wolfgang Gerhard is opened in Embu, Brazil. The exhumed remains are later proven to be those of Dr Josef Mengeles, the Auschwitz " Angel of Death". Mengele is thought to have drowned while out swimming in 1979.

1987 Scottish actor Fulton Mackay, best  known for his role as prison officer Mr. Mackay in the 1970s sitcom Porridge, died from stomach cancer aged 64yo.

1987 Seamus O'Toole, famed Irish cyclist was born today in Tipperary. Best remembered for taking a wrong turn and completing the Tour De France in reverse, his mistake earning him the classic Purple Jersey and title of Francis De La Tour Winner 2012. Unabashed Seamus said later, " I thought it was a little strange that all these other cyclists were going the opposite way, I just thought they were in another race! Plus the mountain stages were great fun going down hill. Next year? Yes I'll be back!" . Unfortunately he hasn't been as he got lost in the Giro d'Italia in 2013 and hasn't been seen since.

1994 Scottish actor Mark McManus, best known for his portrayal of Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running ITV television series Taggart for eleven years, died from an alcohol-related illness aged 59yo in Glasgow.

1999 Anne Haddy best known for her soap role as matriarch Helen Daniels in the long-running Australian soap opera, Neighbours, died aged 68yo.

2005 Anna Maria Louisa Italiano, known professionally as Anne Bancroft, died, age 73, of uterine cancer. Her death surprised many, even some of her friends. She was intensely private and had not released details of her illness.
Her best-known role, possibly, was as Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate (1967), for which she received a third Academy Award nomination. In the film, she played an unhappily married woman who seduces a family friend, the much-younger recent college graduate played by Dustin Hoffman. In the movie, Hoffman's character later dates and falls in love with her daughter. Bancroft was ambivalent about her appearance in The Graduate; she stated in several interviews that the role overshadowed all of her other work. Despite her character becoming an archetype of the "older woman" role, Bancroft was only six years older than Dustin Hoffman.

But above all else June 6th is always one thing