July 5th
 
The Feast Day of St Zoe of Rome. A noble woman of the imperial court of Rome, she was executed in the early stages of Emperor Diocletian's (r. 284-305) persecution of the Church. She was greatly devoted to St Peter, and was praying by his tomb when she was arrested for her faith. She died, stifled by smoke, being hung over a fire. Her body then was thrown into the River Tiber.
 




1826 English politician Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles died from apoplexy a day before his forty fifth birthday. A British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore and the London Zoo. He is often described as the "Father of Singapore" and the "Father of the London Zoo".


 
1928 American actor Warren Oates is born at Depoy, Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Best known for his performances in several films directed by Sam Peckinpah including The Wild Bunch (1969) and Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974). He starred in numerous films during the early 1970s which have since achieved cult status including The Hired Hand (1971), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) and Race with the Devil (1975). Oates also portrayed John Dillinger in the biopic Dillinger (1973) and Sergeant Hulka in the comedy Stripes (1981).






1937 Spam is introduced to the world by Hormel Foods. Ingredients stated are Pork Shoulder Meat, Added Ham Meat, Salt, Water, modified potato starch, (as a binder), sugar and sodium nitrite as a preservative. The gelatinous glaze occurs during cooling. In the UK Spam is sliced, battered and drrp fried as Spam Fritters. Spam was made eternally famous by Monty Python with their 'Spam Sketch' complete with greasey spoon cafe and bloody Vikings!




 
1950 American singer/songwriter and actor Huey Lewis is born in New York as Hugh Anthony Cregg III. Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band, Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs. The band is perhaps best known for their third album, Sports, and their contribution to the soundtrack of the 1985 feature film Back to the Future.




 
1954 The BBC broadcasts the first TV news bulletin. The 20-minute bulletin was read by Richard Baker and was introduced as an "Illustrated summary of the news... Followed by the latest film of events and happenings at home and abroad."




1960 American actor Pruitt Taylor Vince is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He is an American character actor who has made many appearances in film and television e.g. Mississippi Burning, Murder One, The Mentalist, Bones, etc.




 
1966 English actress Susannah Doyle is born at Kingston-upon-Thames. Best known for her roles in situation comedies Drop The Dead Donkey (as Joy Merryweather), and Ballykissangel (as Avril Burke).  Since 2001, she has been pursuing parallel careers of scriptwriting and acting.




 
1973 Irish songstress Roisin Murphy is born in Arklow, County Wicklow. Murphy first came to note as one half of the electronic music duo Moloko with her then-boyfriend Mark Brydon. After the two ended their romantic relationship, Murphy released her debut solo album, Ruby Blue, written and produced with Matthew Herbert, in 2005. Her second solo album, Overpowered, was released in 2007.




 
1975 Arthur Ashe became the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship. Ashe beat defending champion Jimmy Connors three sets to one on Centre Court, 6-1, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.




 
1983 American trumpet player and actor Harry James died from lymphatic cancer in Las Vegas aged 67yo. By the age of 10 he was taking trumpet lessons from his father, who placed him on a strict daily practice schedule. Each day, James was given one page to learn from the Arban's book and was not allowed to pursue any other pastime until he had learned that particular page. His was the first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939. He wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin' but Sinatra refused.

James was married three times. He married singer Louise Tobin on May 4, 1935, and they had two children. They divorced in 1943.That same year, he married actress Betty Grable. They had two daughters, Victoria and Jessica, before divorcing in 1965. James married a third time in 1968 to Las Vegas showgirl Joan Boyd, whom he would divorce in March 1970.
He died exactly 40 years after his marriage to Betty Grable (July 5, 1943), who was buried exactly 30 years after that date (July 5, 1973). Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at the funeral, held in Las Vegas.


 
1996 Dolly the Sheep becomes the first mammal ever to be cloned. She was cloned by Ian Wilmut, Keith Campbell and colleagues at the Roslin Institute, part of the University of Edinburgh, and the biotechnology company PPL Therapeutics near Edinburgh in Scotland, the United Kingdom. The funding for Dolly's cloning was provided by PPL Therapeutics and the Ministry of Agriculture.


 
2007 American actor Kerwin Matthews died in his sleep in San Francisco, he was 81yo. Best known for playing the titular heroes in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960) and Jack the Giant Killer (1962). He retired from acting in 1978 and moved to San Francisco, where he ran a clothing and antiques shop.




 
2008 English jazz musician and raconteur George Melly died at his London home  from lung cancer and emphysema aged 80yo. His singing style, particularly for the blues, was strongly influenced by his idol, Bessie Smith. While many British musicians of the time treated jazz and blues with almost religious solemnity, Melly rejoiced in their more bawdy side, and this was reflected in his choice of songs and exuberant stage performances. He recorded a track called "Old Codger" with The Stranglers in 1978 specially written for him by the band.



Melly, who was bisexual, moved from strictly homosexual relationships in his teens and twenties to largely heterosexual relationships from his thirties onwards. He married twice and had a child from each marriage, though his first child Pandora was not known to be his until she was much older. He married his second wife, Diana Moynihan (née Dawson), in 1963.She brought with her two children (Candy and Patrick) from two previous marriages, though Patrick later died from heroin overdose in his twenties. Their own son, Tom, was born two days after the wedding.


 
Independence Day in America was spent with one eye firmly fixed on the skies as experts warned that aliens have been studying the 1996 hit film and drawing up their plans. The President spoke to defence chiefs for over an hour amidst reports that the ISIS movement had radicalised Alpha Centaurians to their jihadic cause, " We neither confirm nor deny extraterrestrial assistance", said an ISIS spokesman finishing his speech by licking his forehead with his 7 inch forked tongue. It is understood that Bill Pullman has been ordered to the White House in case the situation worsens!

Yesterday's Celebrations Brought Warnings

ISIS Negotiators Arrive In US

Obama Special Adviser

We Will Continue Discussions With ISIS