Welcome one and all to the last Dead Pool Newsletter of 2014. Some of you will be saying thank god, no more emails, some of you will be kicking yourselves for not listing that one name, some of you will be shitting yourselves because you haven’t got your list for 2015 submitted yet! This will be your final reminder, if you’re stuck for names, a quick search through the archives on the website will give you some ideas, hell, I was surprised Phil Donahue was still alive, but I’ve already submitted my list!

If nothing amazingly drastic occurs between now and midnight on the 31st, I am provisionally declaring Lee the winner with a paltry 323 points and three deaths, albeit those deaths being a Cert, Woman and a norm.  Also, congratulations to Stu for actually getting a Maverick! First one ever, who’d have guessed that Manuel Uribe would have pegged it!! We will also congratulate Rebecca and Paul for getting Ariel Sharon as the first death of 2014, both have consistently been high scorers in the past, let’s see if they can challenge us in 2015.

So, if no other deaths are declared, the standings are as follows:

• 1st Lee
• 2nd Stu
• 3rd Paula

Obviously, do get on my case if I have missed one of your names, although many of you think I’m not, I am fallible.

Just another reminder, this will be the last email from the Dead Pool if you have not submitted a list for next year. Thank you for taking part and please carry on sending your Klaxxxxons when someone ‘of note’ dies, the emails and the community that we have built is the most fun part of the whole thing. Without you taking part and being sick little puppies, none of this would be possible.

Let’s hope we get stronger and stronger for 2015!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Gino Pellegrini, 73, Italian scenic designer (2001: A Space Odyssey, Mary Poppins, The Birds) and painter.
• Udo Jürgens, 80, Austrian composer and singer (“Reach for the Stars“), winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1966.
• Anna Stoehr, 114, American supercentenarian.
• Billie Whitelaw, 82, English actress (The Omen, The Dark Crystal, Hot Fuzz).
• Joe Cocker, 70, British singer (“With a Little Help from My Friends“, “You Are So Beautiful“, “Up Where We Belong“), lung cancer.
• Jeremy Lloyd, 84, British screenwriter (Are You Being Served?, ‘Allo ‘Allo!), pneumonia.
• Joseph Sargent, 89, American film director (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, MacArthur, Jaws: The Revenge), heart disease.
• Mike Elliott, 68, British comedian and actor (Goal!, Billy Elliot), cancer.
• Conrad Johnson, 110, Swedish-American supercentenarian, oldest man in the United States, stroke.
• David Ryall, 79, English actor (The Singing Detective, Harry Potter, The Elephant Man).

In Other News

Former three-time heavyweight champion boxer Muhammad Ali has been taken to hospital with a mild case of pneumonia! Ali, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, is in a stable condition, his spokesman Bob Gunnell told the media. “The prognosis is good,” he added, saying the 72-year-old’s stay in hospital was likely to be brief. And true to his word, Ali has improved and it’s hoped he’s going to be discharged soon.

Talking about pneumonia, the Most Rev Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury seems to have caught it too, a day after he pulled out of his Christmas Day sermon with a “severe cold”. *cough cough* Serious stuff this pneumonia, did Richard Whitley in, remember? Lambeth Palace had said the 58-year-old archbishop had been ill for several days and decided on the morning of the service that he was too unwell to make his address. Nothing to do with a few too many communion wines and a bed littered with small boys.

The former US president George HW Bush was due to remain in hospital after being admitted experiencing shortness of breath, a family spokesman said. Bush, 90, had been taken by ambulance to Houston Methodist Hospital on Tuesday evening as a precaution, but had a “good day” and his prognosis “remains positive.” Bush spent Christmas 2012 in intensive care at the same hospital while being treated for a bronchitis-related cough and other issues. Bush is the oldest living former president, bet that keeps Jimmy Carter happy at night!

And finally, director Tim Burton and actress Helena Bonham Carter have announced that they have “separated amicably” after 13 years together. Knowing the darkness that flows through their emo souls, one would expect the imminent death of one, or at least the crushing demise of a career at least. For years the film director and actress lived in separate homes right next door to each other, something Carter said worked well for them. “It really is a great idea, you never have to compromise emotionally or feel invaded.” She said. Which somehow makes you wonder what their sex life was like…

On This Day

• 1065 – Westminster Abbey is consecrated.
• 1612 – Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star.
• 1895 – The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema.
• 1895 – Wilhelm Röntgen publishes a paper detailing his discovery of a new type of radiation, which later will be known as x-rays.

Deaths

• 1983 – Dennis Wilson, American drummer, songwriter, and producer (The Beach Boys) (b. 1944)
• 1984 – Sam Peckinpah, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Kiefer Sutherland (48), Jared Leto (43), Annie Lennox (60), Sissy Spacek (65), Ricky Martin (43), Ralph Fiennes (52), Samuel L. Jackson (66), Jane Fonda (77), Gerard Depardieu (66), Kit Harrington (28), Chris Evert (60), Phil Donahue (79), Lars Ulrich (51), Dido (43) and John Amos (74).

2014 League Table

[confidential]

Next week peeps!

Welcome all to the penultimate newsletter of the year!! Yes, we’re very close to declaring the winner for 2014 and unless something drastic happens it looks like Lee is taking the crown this year! I’m sure that all of you are busy working on your lists for next year, I’ve already got five submitted so far, feel free to submit yours too. Also, please take the time to pass on the rules to your friends, the more the merrier, hopefully we can break the 50 members mark this year.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Norman Bridwell, 86, American author and cartoonist (Clifford the Big Red Dog).
• Phil Stern, 95, American photographer, emphysema and heart failure.
• Booth Colman, 91, American actor (Planet of the Apes, Norma Rae, Intolerable Cruelty).
• Larry Henley, 77, American singer (The Newbeats) and songwriter (“Wind Beneath My Wings”).
• Mandy Rice-Davies, 70, British model, figure in the Profumo affair, cancer.
• Larry Smith, 63, American record producer (Run–D.M.C., King of Rock).

In Other News

Ali Carter has been given the all-clear seven months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer. The 35-year-old, twice a World Championship runner-up, recovered from testicular cancer last year and is aiming to resume his career. “Two beautiful words that I’ve been waiting for ‘all clear’,” Carter tweeted on Friday. “I can now concentrate on getting my life and career back. I will be glad when this year is over. Some better things to come in 2015 … #hopefully” Fair play to him, but with two bouts of cancer behind him, we’d best keep an eye out for the third.

Anthony Crolla, the WBO inter-continental lightweight title  holder, was taken to hospital after confronting burglars who were raiding a neighbour’s house in Chadderton near Oldham on Tuesday evening. The 28-year-old is understood to have broken an ankle and suffered a serious head injury after chasing the two burglars. Crolla caught one of the intruders, according to the Manchester Evening News, but was then attacked by the other with a brick or a lump of concrete. Known as ‘Million Dolla Crolla’, the WBO inter-continental lightweight title holder had been due to face the Cuban Richard Abril on 23rd January for the WBA world title, but due to his  injuries, the fight will no longer take place.

The rock band The Who have postponed two concerts in London as frontman Roger Daltrey is suffering from a throat infection. The singer has been ordered to rest by doctors. The shows, due to take place on Wednesday and Thursday at the O2 Arena, have been pushed back to March. The band are currently on their The Who Hits 50 tour, celebrating their 50th anniversary. Daltrey, 70, admitted that touring was “incredibly tough on the body” and suggested these could be The Who’s last major live shows. “This is the beginning of the long goodbye,” he said.

A judge has refused to delay Tracy Morgan’s legal action against retail giant Walmart over a car crash in which the 30 Rock comedian was injured. He is claiming compensation from the retailer for negligence in requiring the driver to drive while fatigued. He had not slept for more than 24 hours when he collided with Morgan’s limousine according to court papers. Comedian James McNair died in the crash, while Morgan suffered a traumatic brain injury and broken bones. Morgan’s attorney, Benedict Morelli has said the 46-year-old is “fighting to get better” but it is uncertain whether he will fully recover.

On This Day

• 1620 – Plymouth Colony: William Bradford and the Mayflower Pilgrims land on what is now known as Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• 1913 – Arthur Wynne‘s “word-cross”, the first crossword puzzle, is published in the New York World.
• 1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world’s first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
• 1967 – Louis Washkansky, the first man to undergo a heart transplant, dies in Cape Town, South Africa, having lived for 18 days after the transplant.
• 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
• 1988 – A bomb explodes on board Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, killing 270.
• 2012 – The world was predicted to end on December 21, 2012 according to some calendars.

Deaths

• 1907 – Klara Hitler, mother of Austrian-born German dictator Adolf Hitler (b. 1860)
• 1940 – F. Scott Fitzgerald, American author and poet (b. 1896)
• 1945 – George S. Patton, American general (b. 1885)
• 2013 – David Coleman, English sportscaster and game show host (b. 1926)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Brad Pitt (51), Jonah Hill (31), Keith Richards (71), Ray Liotta (60), Don Johnson (65), Milla Jovovich (39), Steven Spielberg (68), Katie Holmes (35), Jake Gyllenhaal (34), Christina Aguilera (34), Pope Francis (78), Alyssa Milano (42), Kristy Swanson (45), Bill Pullman (61), Jennifer Beals (51), Steve Austin (50), Patty Duke (68), Eugene Levy (68), Leonard Maltin (64) and Billy Bragg (57).

2014 League Table

[confidential]

Next week peeps!

Ok  peeps, I’m officially taking in lists for next year, so if you want to email me yours, feel free to do so on deadpool@kingofankh.co.uk As you know, this year has been a disaster, hardly any points scored with a record number of participants taking part as well, so let’s try to be more sneaky this year, really look into those terminal illnesses, weigh the chances of those sportspeople surviving another year in their dangerous sports, try to find out if the 89 year old is in fact doddery or fighting fit. As always, if you need to remind yourself of the rules, head over to the website for a look. http://thedeadpool.rip/the-rules/ You can also read through the old newsletters for ideas, they are all archived on the site.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Ralph H. Baer, 92, American video game pioneer, inventor and engineer, developed the Magnavox Odyssey.
• Stella Young, 32, Australian comedian and disability advocate.
• Ken Weatherwax, 59, American actor (The Addams Family), heart attack.
• Mary Ann Mobley, 77, American actress (Diff’rent Strokes, Falcon Crest) and television personality, Miss America (1959), breast cancer.
• Tom Adams, 76, English actor (The Great Escape, Licensed to Kill, Doctor Who), cancer.

In Other News

Phil Collins was forced to back out of his first headlining concert in about five years, stating that he was unwell. Apologising to the audience at a benefit concert in Miami Beach, Collins claimed that doctors had told him to rest his vocal cords. The 63-year-old’s performance had been expected as the grand finale for the charity concert, which was a fundraiser for his Little Dreams Foundation. Although the singer went through with soundcheck, he said it hadn’t gone well. He had been seeing doctors for the past two days, receiving treatment for “some sort of neurological affliction that he said strikes every now and then.”

Green Day guitarist Jason White has been diagnosed with  tonsil cancer. Since his doctors “caught it early”, the musician is expected to make a “full and speedy recovery”, although, with cancer, who knows… The band wrote in a Facebook statement, “Jason recently underwent a routine tonsillectomy, and his doctors discovered a treatable form of tonsil cancer … Please join us in sending him love and positive healing vibes during this time.” Unbelievably, hundreds of people cared and left comments!

If you have Christopher Lee on your list for next year, maybe you should reconsider as the 92 year old is still fighting fit and is releasing a heavy metal Christmas single. This year’s effort is entitled Darkest Carols, Faithful Sing. This is a followup to last years attempt, Jingle Hells and 2012’s Heavy Metal Christmas, with interpretations of The Little Drummer Boy and Silent Night. Amazingly Jingle Hells made it to No.18 in the charts which made Lee the oldest musician to ever make the chart!

And finally, new research prompted by the deaths of Rik Mayall and Robin Williams suggests that the best comedians often lead shorter lives. The funnier you are, the more likely you are to die young, so I’m safe then! Researchers studied 53 comedians and found that, of the 23 ranked the funniest, 78 per cent died relatively young. Tony Hancock was 44 when he committed suicide, while Peter Sellers and Tommy Cooper died of heart attacks aged 54 and 63 respectively. The “funny” man in comedy double acts were three times as likely to die first. Eric Morecambe died in 1984 aged 58, but his straight man counterpart Ernie Wise survived him by 15 years, dying aged 73. Similarly, Peter Cook was 57 when he died, but his partner Dudley Moore lived to 66. I knew there was a reason why I decided to base my list on comedians next year!

On This Day

• 1542 – Princess Mary Stuart becomes Mary, Queen of Scots.
• 1896 – The Glasgow Underground Railway is opened by the Glasgow District Subway Company.
• 1903 – The Wright brothers make their first attempt to fly with the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
• 1911 – Roald Amundsen ’ s team, comprising himself, Olav Bjaaland, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting, becomes the first to reach the South Pole.
• 1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
• 1994 – Construction begins on the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze river.
• 2008 – Muntadhar al-Zaidi throws his shoes at then-U.S. President George W. Bush during a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq.
• 2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.

Deaths

• 1799 – George Washington, American general and politician, 1st President of the United States (b. 1732)
• 1861 – Albert, Prince Consort, German husband of Queen Victoria (b. 1819)
• 1943 – John Harvey Kellogg, American physician and businessman, co-invented corn flakes (b. 1852)
• 1947 – Stanley Baldwin, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1867)
• 2012 – Kenneth Kendall, Indian-English journalist and game show host (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Peter O’Toole, Irish-English actor, singer, and producer (b. 1932)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Taylor Swift (25), Jamie Foxx (47), Steve Buscemi (57), Christopher Plummer (85), Dick Van Dyke (89), Jennifer Connelly (44), Dionne Warwick (74), Bob Barker (91), Donna Mills (74), Mos Def (41), Kenneth Branagh (54), Judi Dench (80), John Malkovich (61), Beau Bridges (73), Kirk Douglas (98), Donny Osmond (57), Nicki Minaj (32), Ann Coulter (53), Dominic Monaghan (38), Sinead O’Connor (48), Teri Hatcher (50) and Kim Basinger (61).

2014 League Table

[confidential]

Next Week peeps!

Afternoon all, welcome to this weeks edition of the Dead Pool Newsletter. Last week we saw the death of the Worlds Fattest Man™, who at his heaviest weighed in at a whopping 70 stone! How did he get this fat? Well, he would gorge on 20,000 calories a day – almost 10 times the recommended amount – by having six-egg fry-ups for breakfast then pizzas, kebabs, Chinese takeaways and Big Macs for lunch and dinner, all washed down with six pints of coffee, two litres of fizzy drinks and a wafer thin mint. Apparently he leaves behind two sisters who cared for him, if they cared that much they wouldn’t have fed so much shit to a bedridden fatty. Anyhow…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Bobby Keys, 70, American saxophonist (The Rolling Stones), cirrhosis.
• Ian McLagan, 69, English keyboardist (Small Faces), stroke.
• Jeremy Thorpe, 85, British politician, Leader of the Liberal Party (1967–1976), MP for North Devon (1959–1979), central figure in the Thorpe affair, Parkinson’s disease.
• Queen Fabiola of Belgium, 86, Spanish-born Belgian royal, queen consort (1960–1993).
• Jackie Healy-Rae, 83, Irish politician, TD for Kerry South (1997–2011).
• Keith Martin, 44, British record holder, formerly world’s fattest man, pneumonia.

In Other News

US President Barack Obama has briefly visited a Washington hospital for tests following a persistent sore throat, the White House says. Obama had experienced a sore throat over “the past couple weeks”, which appeared to be caused by acid reflux, his doctor said. Apparently he has undergone a fibre optic exam, followed by a CT scan, only for doctors to say that he’s got a bit of a sore throat. Toughen up you big girls blouse!

Sadly, the Brazil legend Pelé is showing further signs of improvement as he continues his recovery from a kidney condition. However the three-times World Cup winner still remains in “semi-intensive care” at the Albert Einstein hospital in São Paulo. Pelé, 74, only has one kidney, having had one removed towards the end of his playing career. So following an operation to remove stones from his remaining kidney, it seems to haves fucked him up somewhat. A video was posted on the former Santos star’s official Facebook page where he appeared in good spirits and was even playing the guitar. Maybe listing him for next year is a tad too premature.

Wilko Johnson says he has found it “difficult” coming to terms with still being alive after being told he had terminal cancer. The former Dr Feelgood guitarist, 67, was given 10 months to live after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, but was given the all clear in April. Johnson, who lives in Southend, says he now hopes to fulfil ambitions including playing with Bob Dylan, woo! Aim high why don’t ya! Johnson underwent 11 hours of radical surgery at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge to take out a 3kg tumour. The operation also involved removing his pancreas, parts of his stomach, spleen and small and large intestines, so fuck knows how he’s still breathing!

Thailand’s revered but ailing King Bhumibol Adulyadej has cancelled an annual appearance to mark his 87th birthday on the advice of doctors. The world’s longest-serving monarch has spent most of the last few months in hospital as fears over his health mount. A team of royal physicians examined the king on Thursday evening and agreed that he is not ready to grant a royal audience therefore they have recommended he cancels royal activities. In October the king had an operation to remove his gall bladder after tests revealed it was swollen. He was last seen in public in early November, so he might be dead already as far as we know.

It has been pointed out that Rebecca Farnworth died of cancer last month at the age of 49. Who the hell is she? Well, some of you may have read her books as she was a prolific ghostwriter, mainly for that big boobed bag of gas, Katie Price aka Jordan. Katie lamented in The Sun that she was ‘terribly terribly sad’ to hear of her death, I’m sure she was, I bet she made millions from the talent of this particular writer. Sadly Rebecca wasn’t famous enough for our needs, so we do wish her the very best on her travels into the great unknown.

Devon and Cornwall Police say a weapon, believed to have been  owned by the notorious wife-killer Hawley Harvey Crippen, was one of 446 weapons surrendered to police as part of a gun amnesty. Dr Crippen, who was born in the United States, is believed to have used hyoscine to kill Cora at his London home before attempting to flee to Canada, so it seems that the tiny pistol is practically worthless anyway. Crippen was hanged at London’s Pentoville Prison in 1910.

A hundred brains have gone missing in Texas! I would argue that there are no brains in Texas to go missing, but apparently The University of Texas at Austin had a specimen collection preserved in jars of formaldehyde that was donated to them over thirty years ago. Could it be an outbreak of zombies? Or are average Texans getting clued up to the fact that they need brains to function correctly. Who knows what has happened to them. Best guess, students pilfering them for Halloween pranks. Oh, how I wished I lived in Texas!

And finally, a tale of warning to all the golfers out there. A crocodile has killed a man while he was retrieving golf balls from Lake Panic in South Africa’s flagship wildlife reserve. Officials at Kruger National Park said the animal grabbed 29-year-old Jacques van der Sandt and disappeared under the water at a golf course next to a staff residential area. Sadly the rangers killed the crocodile after a two-hour search on Wednesday night and the body of Van der Sandt, the son of a park employee, was recovered. I doubt this is going to happen any time soon at Gleneagles, but it would make me watch the golf on the telly box if this was a possible outcome….

On This Day

• 43 BC – Marcus Tullius Cicero is assassinated.
• 1703 – The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, makes landfall. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people die.
• 1972 – Apollo 17, the last Apollo moon mission, is launched. The crew takes the photograph known as The Blue Marble as they leave the Earth.
• 1982 – In Texas, Charles Brooks, Jr., becomes the first person to be executed by lethal injection in the United States.

Deaths

• 43 BC – Cicero, Roman philosopher, lawyer, and politician (b. 106 BC)
• 1985 – Robert Graves, English author and poet (b. 1895)
• 2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor and director (b. 1915)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Amanda Seyfried (29), Billy Idol (59), Julianne Moore (54), Ben Stiller (49), Woody Allen (79), Bette Midler (69), Jeff Bridges (65), Britney Spears (33), Jay-Z (45), Daryl Hannah (54), Little Richard (82), Sarah Silverman (44), Marisa Tomei (50), Frankie Muniz (29), Tyra Banks (41), Ozzy Osbourne (66), Judd Apatow (47), Brendan Fraser (46), Nelly Furtado (36), Lucy Liu (46), Mandy Patinkin (62), John Terry (34), Nicole Appleton (40), C. Thomas Howell (48), Stan Boardman (74), Ellen Burstyn (82) and Noam Chomsky (86).

2014 League Table

[confidential]

Next Week peeps!

Afternoon all, welcome once again to your weekly edition of the Dead Pool, I promise there will be no cricket jokes about bouncers not fucking about here! Remember, there’s only a month to go now so keep working on next years list, because it has to be more inspired than this year!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Merle Barwis, 113, American-born Canadian supercentenarian, was nation’s oldest resident.
• Frankie Fraser, 90, British gangster, complications from surgery.
• Phillip Hughes, 25, Australian cricketer, vertebral artery dissection leading to subarachnoid haemorrhage.
• P. D. James, 94, English crime novelist (Adam Dalgliesh series, The Children of Men, Death Comes to Pemberley).
• Chespirito, 85, Mexican playwright, actor and screenwriter (El Chavo del Ocho, El Chapulín Colorado), heart failure.

In Other News

Lars von Trier says he is worried that he will not be able to make any more films now that he has quit drinking alcohol and no longer uses drugs. The Danish film director told the newspaper Politiken: “No creative expression of artistic value has  ever been carried out by former alcoholics and drug addicts.” Von Trier, who has directed graphic films such as Antichrist and Nymphomaniac, said he will be sober for 90 days as of Sunday and is going to meetings at Alcoholics Anonymous every day. We reckon he’ll fall off the wagon and make more movies, much to the disappointment of all.

Actor Mickey Rourke returned to the boxing ring last Friday at the age of 62, defeating a fighter less than half his age in an exhibition bout. Rourke sent 29-year-old Pasadena native Elliot Seymour to the canvas twice in the second round before the referee stopped the fight. The bout at a Moscow concert hall was Rourke’s first fight in 20 years. He took a break from acting in the early 1990s, finishing a three-year pro boxing career with six wins and two draws. He hinted that the return to the ring has helped him cope with unspecified personal issues. Those issues were the death of his pet Chihuahua, not so tough now is he…

Pelé “is in better condition” though he remains in a special care unit being treated  for a urinary tract infection. The 74-year-old is in hospital in São Paulo receiving renal support treatment, which helps kidneys to filter waste products from the blood, after surgery to remove kidney stones earlier this month. He is not on vasoactive drugs or other supportive therapies, the hospital said. Pelé, often called the greatest player in history, has suffered a long list of health problems in the past decade, including emergency eye surgery for a detached retina and a hip replacement.

Burt Reynolds is having to sell off hundreds of items of personal memorabilia in an attempt to pay outstanding mortgage payments. The actor, known for Smokey and the Bandit and Boogie Nights, is selling off over 600 items in a Las Vegas auction because he’s failed to pay his outstanding $700,000 mortgage since 2010 and is in danger of losing everything. We’d better keep an eye on him in case he goes Robin Williams on us!

And finally, The Office for National Statistics have confirmed that last year had the lowest ever number of winter deaths since records began. An estimated 18,200 excess winter deaths occurred in 2013-14, the lowest number since records began in 1950-51, which sort of bolsters why our scoring has been very low this year. Last winter was notably warmer than in previous years and had a relatively mild flu season which contributed to the lower number of deaths. Unsurprisingly, of the 18,200 excess deaths, 14,000 were in the over-75s, so best keep that in mind for your list for next year.

On This Day

• 1872 – The first-ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent, Glasgow, between Scotland and England.
• 1934 – The LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman becomes the first steam locomotive to be authenticated as reaching 100 mph.
• 1936 – In London, the Crystal Palace is destroyed by fire.
• 1940 – Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz in Greenwich, Connecticut.
• 1954 – In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space.
• 1982 – Michael Jackson‘s second solo album, Thriller is released worldwide. It will become the best-selling record album in history.
• 1998 – Exxon and Mobil sign a US$73.7 billion agreement to merge, thus creating ExxonMobil, the world’s largest company.

Deaths

• 1900 – Oscar Wilde, Irish author and poet (b. 1854)
• 1979 – Zeppo Marx, American actor and singer (b. 1901)
• 2007 – Evel Knievel, American motorcycle rider and stuntman (b. 1938)
• 2013 – Paul Walker, American actor and producer (b. 1973)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Miley Cyrus (22), Ed Harris (64), Christina Applegate (43), Jon Stewart (52), Don Cheadle (50), Tina Turner (75), Sarah Hyland (24), Tom Sizemore (53), Robin Givens (50), Judd Nelson (55), Randy Newman (71), Diane Ladd (79), Natasha Bedingfield (33), Stephen Merchant (40) and Bruno Tonioli (59).

2014 League Table

[confidential]

Next week peeps!