Gooseberry Crumble

American actor Tobey Maguire celebrates his 47th birthday today. Probably best known for playing Peter Parker aka Spiderman in the movie franchise between 2002 and 2007 . His other films include Woody Allens Deconstructing Harry (1997), Fear a d loathing in Las Vegas (1998) alongside Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, Oscar winning film The Cider House rules (1999) with Michael Caine and Charlize Theron and The Great Gatsby (2013) co-starring with his pal Leonardo DiCaprio. Mary McAleese , former President of Ireland from 1997-2011 turns 71 today.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/26/boris-johnson-is-a-sorcerer-who-has-run-out-of-spells-a-wizard-with-a-broken-wand Good column by Andrew Rawnsley in todays Observer on Boris Johnson describing him as a sorcerer who has run out of spells.

On this day in 1958 professional athlete George Orton, the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal, died aged 85. At the age of 3 George suffered severe injury after falling out of a tree and developing a blood clot on the brain. This left him effectively paralysed until the age of 10 and with a severely damaged right arm. With the right therapy and physio he gradually recovered near full mobility by the age of 12- this makes his subsequent Olympic success all the more remarkable and inspirational. At the Olympic games in Paris in 1900 Geowon a bronze medal in the 400m hurdles and then 45 minutes later he won gold in the 2500m steeplechase. In the years immediately prior to the games in the 1890s he was already established as the number one middle distance runner in the world due to his success in smaller competitions and national championships. Also at this Olympics he entered what was referred to as the 'handicap races' but they were not officially recognised by the Olympic authorities in the same way as the main games. He hugely outshone the other athletes and was made to give up either his time or distance in the scoring such was his capacity to vastly outperform all other disabled athletes. His lifelong dead right arm and hand which he hid so successfully from many meant he was the first disabled athlete to win an Olympic gold. In this era nationalities was regarded as less central and important at the Olympic games especially as many competed in teams or groupings from sport teams at universities of mixed nationality or were more regarded as competing as individuals rather than countries representatives. This lead to George wrongly being regarded as american because he was heavily involved with other US athletes and he was added to the american medal total initially- before being removed and becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal.. Away from the Olympics George Orton was regarded as 'The father of Philadelphia hockey' after he introduced ice hockey to Philadelphia and was key to nurturing it there and getting initial sports premises and pitches built. In 2019 a book was published about Orton called 'The greatest athlete(you've never heard of)' by Mark Hebscher. But as the first Canadian and first disabled athlete to win an Olympic gold will always be regarded as his crowning best achievements.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/19006909/blind-date-voiceover-our-graham-skidmore-dead-90-tributes/ Confirmed Graham from Blind Date has died.

American singer songwriter Rosie Gaines celebrates her 62nd birthday today. I remember dancing to her song 'Closer than close 'in the 1990s on the dance floor in gay nightclubs in Liverpool with some rather sexually excited older guys joining in and bopping on the dance floor with me.. !! Thanks for those memories Rosie!

On this day 19 years ago in 2003 , Denis Thatcher- businessman and spouse of the UKs first female Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , died aged 88.

Former Scottish footballer Gordon McQueen, who has played for both the national team for seven years and clubs such as Manchester United , Leeds United and St Mirren, celebrates his 70th birthday today.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10953309/Ghislaine-Maxwell-face-child-sex-trafficking-victims-sentencing-hearing.html Revealed that there is a one million dollar bounty on Ghislaine Maxwell.

On this day in 1894 the President of France Sadi Carnot was assainated aged 56. He was French President from 1887-1894. Sadi came from a family heavily involved in national politics indeed steeped in it. The family came from the moderate republican tradition and was firmly active in opposing attempts by opponents to restore the french monarchy. His grandfather was a military moderniser trying to embed loyalty to the French Republic into the militarys ethos rather than loyalty to the monarchy and his father was involved in drawing up the constitutional laws of 1875. So he was from a very well connected family but in an atmosphere were there was significant background manoeuvres and attempts to restore the monarchy Sadi was regarded as a reliable and trustworthy person to push forward into responsible positions/jobs in french politics and Public life. Suspicion about infiltration by enemies of the republic was strong at this time. A high stakes situation. Appointed minister for public works in 1878 by 1885 he was minister of finance and had served in ministries under two French Prime Ministers-Jules Ferry and Charles de Freycinet. In 1887 the then French President Jules Grevy resigned as a result of a major scandal known as the 'Daniel Wilson scandal '. In essence Daniel Wilson the son in law of the president was caught selling awards of the french legion of honour . While his father in law was not directly involved and had no knowledge of wrongdoing he was held partially culpable and irresponsible for allowing Wilson access to the Elysee Palace were much of the scandal was conducted Sadi Carnots reputation for integrity was seen to make him the ideal person to replace the president after the huge scandal and he was voted into position by french politicians 616 votes out of 827. The biggest threat he and the french republicans faced was increasing personal and political attacks from politician and military man General Boulanger who many in political circles feared was popular enough to launch a successful political coup and establish a dictatorship. But when it came to the crunch his brutal courage failed him, he was indecisive and veered towards abandoning an established well planned plot and setting on achieving success via the legitimate legal route.However his botching of his plot lead the authorities to seize evidence and move to charge him with treason. He fled into exile permanently and in this regard President Carnot was lucky with his enemies who completely missed his opportunity to lead a potentially successful coup. His own Presidency took place to the difficult background of huge tensions and rivalries in french society .But itwas largely scandal free except for the huge Panama bribery scandal which ruined the government's reputation as a number of cabinet ministers were jailed over their involvement in a hugely dodgy investment they illegally profited from but enhanced his personal reputation as he was shown to have clean hands and zero personal involvement or personal gain. At the peak of his popularity in 1894 he gave a speech at a public banquet in Lyon were he strongly hinted he would not be standing for reelection . However an irian anarchist stabbed him multiple times at the event in a self confessed political act of retaliation for the execution of french anarchist Ravachol and the tightening up of french laws in recent years as a crackdown against anarchists and their bombings and assaination attempts. Alas on this occasion their assaination was successful.

On this day in 2011 british actress Margaret Tyzack died aged 79. Some of her best known work was in tv dramas The Forsyte Saga, IClaudius and award winning BBC drama The First Churchills although she did appear in some iconic films such as Stanley Kubricks 2001 A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange. Her final role in Spring 2011 was as Lydia Simmonds, the manipulating dying grandmother of Janine Butcher in EastEnders. However due to health issues after a small number of her episodes had already aired they had to recast the role at short notice to Heather Chasen after Margaret had to step down and died herself just a few months later .

American actress June Lockhart celebrates her 97th birthday today . Primarily a television actress June is probably most famous for starring in american TV shows Lost in Space and Lassie. Films she has starred in include A Christmas Carol (1938), Meet me in St Louis (1944) with Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien and a dark film noir titled Bury me dead (1947) . Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist Kyle Chalmers turns 24 today.

On this day in 2002 Pierre Werner, the former twice Prime Minister of Luxembourg, died aged 88. Pierre Werners background initially was in banking and law. He was appointed the controller of the banking system in Luxembourg and attended the Bretton Woods conference after World War two. A conference that helped to set up the architecture of the global financial system and among other things resulted in the creation of the IMF. He joined the centre right Christian Social Peoples party and in 1953 became the governments finance minister Pierre went on to serve as Luxembourgs Prime Minister twice-from 1959-1974 and 1979 -1984. Such is the political culture and system in Luxembourg all of his governments were coalition governments, mainly with the Democrat Party but once with Luxembourgs socialist workers party. But always with Werners Christian social peoples party as the senior larger party. His party lost power , a rarity, in 1974 but his party kept him on as leader confident he could be victorious at the next election in 1979. During his second stint as PM he focused on diversifying the countrys economy after they were hit hard by the steel crisis in Europe and a need to not put all of their economic eggs in one basket was seen as a must. Financial services and global satellite communications were sectors that he nurtured and developed and are to the day key strengths in Luxembourgs economy. In 1970 the heads of state in the EEC asked him to work on and draw up a blueprint on the future of the group with a detailed plan for economic and monetary union. Reform was to be gradual but aimed for irreversible fixing of exchange rates and a single currency within a decade. The timetable for his plans were derailed by political disagreement in Europe and the 1970s oil crisis but the 'Werner Plan' as it became known was revived and extended by official Deathlist alumni Jacques Delors and the principles embedded in the Treaty of Maastricht. It is also known that he gave significant clandestine support to resistance forces during the 1940-1945 Nazi Occupation of Luxembourg. It would definitely be fair and accurate to describe him as a sort of early prototype europhile!

Dutch tennis player Betty Stove celebrates her 74th birthday today. She has won ten grand slam titles in total- a combination of womens doubles and mixed doubles titles.

On this day in 1990 British Labour MP Sean Hughes died from cancer aged 44. He was the MP for Knowsley South and succeeded former Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson in 1983 as the MP for the constituency. He worked in the shadow whips office and the shadow defence team . He was regarded as a moderate not least by Harold Wilson who advocated for him to be the Labour partys selected candidate to represent the seat Wilson was retiring from. Sean Hughes was credited by a number of Labour party figures as being an important part of why in the era of the militant tendency in Merseyside this local Labour Party constituency was able to keep up its tradition of not succumbing to any extremes. 1990 was quite an unusual and sad year for the Labour party in Merseyside as three Labour mps died here in their forties this year.

American actress Michele Lee, best known for playing Karen MacKenzie in 1980s 1990s US Primetime soap Knots Landing celebrates her 80th birthday today. Her main acting career is in television but she has starred in a number of films including The Love Bug and The Comic alongside Dick Van Dyke.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/18985525/the-queen-horse-riding-again/ The Queen back riding horses again nine months after she was told/advised to quit.

On this day in 1891 German physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber died aged 86. He was the joint inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph which connected the Observatory he was in with the Institute for physics in Gottingen. The other inventor was Carl Friedrich Gauss. The unit of measurement for magnetic flux is named weber after him.

Totally respect @YoungWillz decision about his unique pool but God I'm gonna miss it this summer. All the best Will.

On this day in 1998 Irish American actress Maureen O'Sullivan died aged 87. Best known for playing Jane in the Tarzan films from 1932-1942 , Maureen starred in a number of other films in the golden age of Hollywood including Barbara Stanwyck film All I Desire (1953), Pride and Prejudice (1940) along with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson and Woman Wanted (1935) with Joel McCrea. Maureens daughter is actress and activist Mia Farrow.

American actor Ted Shackleford, best known for playing Gary Ewing in US prime time soaps Dallas and Knots Landing, celebrates his 76th birthday today.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-saturdays-mollie-king-pregnant-27305146 Singer Mollie King , member of british band The Saturdays, has announced she is expecting her first child with England cricketer Stuart Broad.

The current astronomer royal and crossbencher in the House of Lords Martin Rees celebrates his 80th birthday today.

Belated Happy Birthday for yesterday to american actor Ron Ely, most famous for playing one of the incarnations of Tarzan who celebrated turning 84 yesterday.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/18967938/gloria-hunniford-hospital-fall-broke-eye-socket-loose-women/ British tv and radio presenter Gloria Hunniford reveals she has recently been hospitalised after falling and breaking her eye socket- causing her to miss her role in the official platinum jubilee celebrations a few weeks ago.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10943081/Rupert-Murdoch-Jerry-Hall-divorcing-six-years-marriage.html 91 year old Rupert Murdoch to divorce Jerry Hall after six years of marriage.