Illuminati-R-Us

November 20, 1947 - Marriage of Princess Elisabeth and some nobleman of Greek and German descent. From afar, one gets the impression they are quite a formidable team. Today, they celebrate what we in Germany call the "Gnadenhochzeit", the Mercy, Clemency, or Grace wedding. Quite the appropriate name. Next time in five years, it's Crown Jewels, which I am sure was meant to be double entendre by no-one. And it wouldnt' even be inappropriate for that particular couple.

A German married to a Greek. After 70 years, she must have an arsehole like a broken cat flap.

I actually laughed out loud and just had to explain why to the Mem.

It's what I recall of something Frankie Boyle said on their 60th

November 22nd 1718 - death of the pirate Edward Teach (better known as "Blackbeard").

November 27th, 1944 - the biggest ever ka-BLAMMO on UK soil.

Blimey I didn't know about that one, I drive past there regularly.

I knew about the ka-BLAMMO but hadn't realised this was the anniversary.

A day late, but spotted this joke which is too good not to share.

November 27th, 1701 - Birth of Anders Celsius. He died in 1744 aged 42, although his great rival Fahrenheit thought he was 108.

Oh bravo!

30th November, 1872 - first ever international football match takes place in Glasgow. Scotland 0 - 0 England.

Scotland played a cautious 2-2-6 formation, compared to England's 1-1-8. Those formations should be brought back into the game.



Yes, he should be.

I am not comfortable with 1-1-8. You need that extra bit of versatility in midfield that only a pair ofmidfielders will allow.

Arneb wrote:I am not comfortable with 1-1-8. You need that extra bit of versatility in midfield that only a pair ofmidfielders will allow.

Indeed. I'm also a bit surprised that a match with those formations could have ended without any goals being scored (Scotland came closest, hitting the tape used as a cross bar).

1st December, 1745 - Prince Charles Edward Stuart marches from Manchester to Macclesfield, staying the night in this house.

1st December, 1987 - Prince cancels the release of his unnamed and incognito "black album" six days before it's due in shops. The stock is almost entirely destroyed, but a few escape. They now sell for tens of thousands of dollars each.

Why did he do that?

He decided he didn’t want it released, saying it was too dark and evil. Strange, as he’d had to fight Warner to agree to release it in Dec 87 in the first place, as they thought it was too soon after his previous (and double) album. Something like 200 copies, mostly on cd from Germany, survived out of over a million that were ready to go. It’s a strange album, but very good, eventually released by Warner Bros in 1994 with his grudging acceptance. I first heard it in November 87 via good contacts, but I’ve never seen a genuine 87 original.

I never heard that before, but I was never a big Prince fan so that's probably why. Thank you for the explanation.

3 December, 1967: Christiaan Barnard performs the first human-to-human heart transplant.

Wow, I remember that. My recollection is that unfortunately in about a fortnight we'll be noting the death of the first recipient.

Heid the Ba wrote:Wow, I remember that. My recollection is that unfortunately in about a fortnight we'll be noting the death of the first recipient.

I'll discreetly not mention it. You know, anyone can die from pneumonia...
On a more serious note, I have the utmost respect for people who subject themselves to such experimental treamtents. No-one in his right mind would have hoped to get more from this than a few miserable weeks or months, spent mostly in intensive care. Whatever their motives, they went down the hard road, and medicine learned a lot from them.

Another bid datee, even if I am two days late:

75 years ago on Dec. 2, humanity had its first supercritical nuclear reactor.

5th December, 1560: Vive le roi! Charles IX becomes King of France.

Have to squeze that one in shortly befire midnight:
5 Dec. 1791 deatvof W.A. Mozart, quite plssibly the greatest musician mankind has produced so far.

ETA: OK, it's 6 Dec. now, so sue me.

News from 6 December proper:

1917: Finland achieves independence from Russia
1992: Hindu exremists start demolishing the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya, a building dating from the 16th century. The Mosque is taken down within hours, and in the ensuing riots all over India, more than 2,000 pople are killed.