Without doubt, this weeks big news is the passing of Dame Diana Rigg. As always, with much loved celebrities, nobody had her listed. But onward we go… 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Rodney Litchfield, 81, English actor (Early Doors, Coronation Street, Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights, Heartbeat).  
• Kevin Dobson, 77, American actor (Kojak, Knots Landing, Midway), heart attack.  
• Bruce Williamson, 49, American singer (The Temptations), COVID-19.       
• Ronald Bell, 68, American saxophonist (Kool & the Gang) and songwriter (“Ladies’ Night“, “Celebration“).  
• Dame Diana Rigg, 82, English actress (The Avengers, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Game of Thrones), cancer. 
• Toots Hibbert, 77, Jamaican singer (Toots and the Maytals) and songwriter (“54-46 That’s My Number“, “Pressure Drop“).  
• Sir Terence Conran, 88, English designer and restaurateur (Habitat). 

In Other News

Two-time major champion John Daly has revealed he has undergone surgery after being diagnosed with bladder cancer. The 54-year-old American says the cancer was discovered during an appointment related to kidney stones. Daly – winner of the 1991 US PGA Championship and 1995 Open – had surgery to remove the cancer but said there was an 85% chance it could return and require further treatment. “They will probably have to cut it out again, It’s probably going to come back, and then another three months, that you don’t know,” the five-time PGA Tour winner said. “Luckily for me they caught it early, but bladder cancer is something that I don’t know all the details about. But it doesn’t look like it may go away. We will just see what happens. Maybe there’s a miracle. “I always tell people I’ve lived one hell of a life. No matter what happens, I’m not scared to die or anything. I’m still working, I’m still living life, I’m still doing the things I need to do. I can accept the challenge. I’m not scared of that. “I just want my kids to be OK and everyone else in my family.” Daly last played a PGA Tour event at last year’s Safeway Open, where he missed the cut. His 1991 US PGA Championship win saw him claim a major despite only entering the tournament with days to spare when Nick Price withdrew from the field.

Yet another “influencer” has kicked the bucket. Beauty blogger and influencer Ethan Peters, known as Ethan Is Supreme, has died at the age of 17. Ethan’s father Gerald told us: “He was a kind soul, who accepted everyone for who they were.” His friend, fellow influencer Ava Louise, also posted saying she’d lost her “best friend in the entire world”. Both have said that Ethan was struggling with addiction, but his official cause of death is not yet known. Ethan had over half a million Instagram followers and 139,000 YouTube subscribers. A Vice article last year described his makeup style as “characterised by its desire to catch your attention” and “dramatic, emotional and, at times, gory.” He started young, saying that by the summer of 2017 he’d hit 100,000 followers and left his private Christian school because his social media activity “violated their moral conduct code.” He moved to an online school instead. There was some negative response on social media after news of Ethan’s death broke. He had been accused of racism and transphobia in the past. But fans also spoke in his defence – including one of his inspirations, fellow makeup artist Manny MUA, who posted: “He’s made many many mistakes… but to say he deserved to pass away is horrible and inhuman.” The 17-year-old had recently started his own clothing line called Hellboy. Dunno about you, but at 17 I was too busy chasing after girls and trying to find the next bottle of 20/20 to influence fuck all.  

Remember Michael Schumacher? Nope, nor do I. But former Ferrari boss Jean Todt has revealed he saw Michael last week and says the seven-time Formula One world champion is fighting to overcome the devastating injuries that have kept him out of public view for almost seven years. Following a skiing accident on the French Alps in December 2013, Schumacher’s condition has been kept a closely guarded secret from those outside his Lake Geneva home. FIA president Todt, 74, is among just a handful of visitors to see the 51-year-old. The Frenchman oversaw five of Schumacher’s seven titles as team principal for Ferrari. On the eve of the Italian constructor’s 1,000th race, Todt told us: “I saw Michael last week. He is fighting. My God, we know he had a terrible and unfortunate skiing accident which has caused him a lot of problems. But he has an amazing wife next to him, he has his kids, his nurses, and we can only wish him the best and to wish the family the best, too. All I can do is to be close to them until I am able to do something, and then I will do it.” So basically he’s still cabbaged. 

On This Day

• 1501 – Italian Renaissance: Michelangelo begins work on his statue of David. 
• 1848 – Vermont railroad worker Phineas Gage survives an iron rod 1¹⁄₄ inches (3.2 cm) in diameter being driven through his brain; the reported effects on his behaviour and personality stimulate discussion of the nature of the brain and its functions.  
• 1899 – Henry Bliss is the first person in the United States to be killed in an automobile accident.  
• 1956 – The IBM 305 RAMAC is introduced, the first commercial computer to use disk storage.  
• 1985 – Super Mario Bros. is released in Japan for the NES

Deaths

• AD 81 – Titus, Roman emperor (b. AD 39)
• 1996 – Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, and actor (b. 1971)

Almost Fatal Injuries

Phineas P. Gage (1823–1860) was an American railroad construction foreman remembered for his improbable survival of an accident in which a large iron rod was driven completely through his head, destroying much of his brain’s left frontal lobe, and for that injury’s reported effects on his personality and behaviour over the remaining 12 years of his life‍—‌effects sufficiently profound (for a time at least) that friends saw him as “no longer Gage.” 

Gage was the first of five children born to Jesse Eaton Gage and Hannah Trussell (Swetland) Gage of Grafton County, New Hampshire. Little is known about his upbringing and education beyond that he was literate. 

On September 13, 1848, Gage was direct­ing a work gang blast­ing rock while pre­par­ing the road­bed for the Rut­land & Bur­ling­ton Rail­road south of the village of Cav­en­dish, Ver­mont. As his attention was attracted by his men working behind him. Looking over his right shoulder, and inad­vert­ent­ly bringing his head into line with the blast hole, Gage opened his mouth to speak; in that same instant the tamping iron sparked against the rock and the powder exploded. Rocketed from the hole, the tamping iron — ‌1¹⁄₄ inches in diameter, three feet seven inches long, and weighing 13¹⁄₄ pounds —‌ entered the left side of Gage’s face in an upward direction, just forward of the angle of the lower jaw.  

Continuing upward outside the upper jaw and possibly fracturing the cheekbone, it passed behind the left eye, through the left side of the brain, then completely out the top of the skull through the frontal bone. The tamping iron landed point-first some 80 feet (25 m) away, “smeared with blood and brain”. Gage was thrown onto his back and gave some brief convulsions of the arms and legs, but spoke within a few minutes, walked with little assistance, and sat upright in an oxcart for the ³⁄₄-mile (1.2 km) ride to his lodgings in town. About 30 minutes after the accident physician Edward H. Williams, finding Gage sitting in a chair outside the hotel, was greeted with “one of the great understatements of medical history”

When I drove up he said, “Doctor, here is business enough for you.” I first noticed the wound upon the head before I alighted from my carriage, the pulsations of the brain being very distinct. The top of the head appeared somewhat like an inverted funnel, as if some wedge-shaped body had passed from below upward. Mr. Gage, during the time I was examining this wound, was relating the manner in which he was injured to the bystanders. I did not believe Mr. Gage’s statement at that time, but thought he was deceived. Mr. Gage persisted in saying that the bar went through his head. Mr. G. got up and vomited; the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful of the brain [through the exit hole at the top of the skull], which fell upon the floor!  You will excuse me for remarking here, that the picture presented was, to one unaccustomed to military surgery, truly terrific; but the patient bore his sufferings with the most heroic firmness. He recognised me at once, and said he hoped he was not much hurt. He seemed to be perfectly conscious, but was getting exhausted from the haemorrhage. His person, and the bed on which he was laid, were literally one gore of blood. 

With Williams’ assistance Harlow shaved the scalp around the region of the tamping iron’s exit, then removed coagulated blood, small bone fragments, and “an ounce or more” of protruding brain. After probing for foreign bodies and replacing two large detached pieces of bone, Harlow closed the wound with adhesive straps, leaving it partially open for drainage; the entrance wound in the cheek was bandaged only loosely, for the same reason. A wet compress was applied, then a nightcap, then  further bandaging to secure these dressings. 

12 days after the accident, Gage was semi-comatose, “seldom speaking unless spoken to, and then answering only in monosyllables” the globe of the left eye became more protuberant with infected tissue pushing out rapidly from the internal canthus and wounded brain coming out at the top of the head.” By the 14th day, “The exhalations from the mouth and head are horribly fetid. Will not take nourishment unless strongly urged. The friends and attendants are in hourly expectancy of his death, and have his coffin and clothes in readiness.”  Galvanised to action, Harlow decided to reopen the wound and “cut off fungi which were sprouting out from the top of the brain and filling the opening, and made free application of caustic to them. 

On the 24th day, Gage “succeeded in raising himself up, and took one step to his chair”. One month later, he was walking “up and down stairs, and about the house! By November 25 (10 weeks after his injury), Gage was strong enough to return to his parents’ home in Lebanon, New Hampshire. 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Evan Rachel Wood (33), Shannon Elizabeth (47), Toby Jones (54), Julie Kavner (70), Doug Bradley (66), Martin Freeman (49), Heather Thomas (63), Pink (41), Miles Jupp (41), Adam Sandler (54), Henry Thomas (49), Hugh Grant (60), Eric Stonestreet (49), Jeffrey Combs (66), Julia Sawalha (52), Rachel Hunter (51), Guy Ritchie (52), Colin Firth (60), Virginia Madsen (59), Elizabeth Henstridge (33), Roxann Dawson (62), Johnny Vegas (49), Alfie Allen (34), and Linda Gray (80). 

A fairly standard no scoring week, thankfully Nickie kept me abreast of the news as I was taking a busman’s holiday in North Wales, where I noticed first hand the lack of social distancing and mask wearing that holidaymakers seem to be entitled to. I suppose those who feel the real urgent need to go on a holiday are the ones who are most likely to transmit and die of the covids.  

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Virginia Bosler, 93, American actress and dancer (Oklahoma!, Brigadoon, Out of This World).  
• Ric Drasin, 76, American bodybuilder, professional wrestler (NWA Hollywood Wrestling), promoter and trainer.  
• Ian Mitchell, 62, Irish bassist (Bay City Rollers).  
• Erick Morillo, 49, American DJ (Reel 2 Real), music producer and record label owner. 
• Kang Kek Iew, 77, Cambodian internal security leader (Tuol Sleng, Santebal) and convicted war criminal, lung disease.

In Other News

Bill Oddie has been suffering from an “almost fatal” condition throughout the summer.  The British TV personality and former member of The Goodies revealed the news to his Twitter followers. He told them he has been “very ill” with “lithium toxicity”. “Just so you know, I have been very ill most of this summer. Lithium toxicity. Almost fatal!” he wrote on social media. “I am still here but very confused about most things! But then aren’t many of us. He added: “It fuddles my brain. Confusion. Will I return? I Really dunno. I do hope so. Please wish me luck. XX.” Lithium is a type of medicine known as a mood stabiliser. According to the NHS, too much of it in the blood can trigger serious side effects, including a loss of appetite and the feeling of confusion. Oddie – a known conservationist and birdwatcher – first shot to fame as a member of the comedy trio The Goodies. Earlier this year, his co-member Tim Brooke-Taylor died from Covid-19, aged 79.   

As you saw above, DJ Erick Morillo — best known for his 1993 hit, “I Like to Move It” — has died. Law enforcement sources tell us the DJ and music producer’s body was found on Tuesday morning in Miami Beach, the circumstances surrounding his death are currently unclear. Best known for his work in international house music, Morillo produced his biggest hit in the ’90s with the electro-dance track “I Like to Move It”, which he put out under the stage name Reel 2 Real. He’s a 3-time winner of the DJ Awards’ Best House DJ and a 3-time winner of Best International DJ, including his most recent win in 2009. Morillo’s death comes a few weeks after he was arrested in Miami on sexual battery charges. The alleged victim claims she and Morillo went to his place after they were both DJing. She alleges she resisted his sexual advances, and then went to sleep at his place, but woke up nude … with Morillo standing next to her, also nude. He’d turned himself in on August 6th.   

Britain’s Got Talent and X Factor star Ian Royce has died aged 51 following a health battle, with the tragic news announced on his Twitter account on Tuesday evening. A statement was shared on his verified Twitter account with his 68,100 followers which read: “It is with our greatest regret that we have to tell you all that Ian has passed away today from severe pneumonia and multiple organ failure. “He was in no pain and was surrounded by friends and family. He put up a good fight but is in a better place now. Roxanne.” The tweet was immediately inundated with well wishes to Ian’s family from fans, friends and former colleagues. One said: “Incredibly shocking and sad news. Hugs to you Roxy and the rest of the family. Ian was one of those unsung legends, he never gave up and despite his own struggles his outspoken outlook helped others. RIP Ian.” Last year, aged 50, Ian’s showbiz pals including Ant McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Simon Cowell, Olly Murs and Robbie Williams rallied behind him as he opened up about his rehab stint. In an emotional statement, the ITV favourite said: “I just wanted to let you all know that my first 28 days of treatment have come to an end and I will now be going abroad for the next three months to continue my treatment and really work on me and issues that have been buried deep for 40 years.” He continued: “As well as my alcohol addiction I have also surrendered to my sex and love addictions stemming from my past which have affected my relationships greatly. Ian was best known as the warm up guy for ITV shows Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.

On This Day

• 1620 – The Pilgrims sail from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower to settle in North America. 
• 1901 – Leon Czolgosz, an unemployed anarchist, shoots and fatally wounds US President William McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. 
• 1952 – A prototype aircraft crashes at the Farnborough Airshow in Hampshire, England, killing 29 spectators and the two on board.  
• 1972 – Munich massacre: Nine Israeli athletes die (along with a German policeman) at the hands of the Palestinian “Black September” terrorist group after being taken hostage at the Munich Olympic Games. Two other Israeli athletes were slain in the initial attack the previous day.  
• 1997 – The Funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales takes place in London. Well over a million people lined the streets and 2 ¹⁄₂ billion watched around the world on television.

Deaths

• 1998 – Akira Kurosawa, Japanese director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1910)  
• 2007 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian tenor (b. 1935)  
• 2012 – Terry Nutkins, English naturalist, television presenter and author (b. 1946)  
• 2018 – Burt Reynolds, American actor, director and producer (b. 1936)   
• 2019 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean politician, 2nd President of Zimbabwe (b. 1924)

Last of The Khmer Rouge?

The Khmer Rouge’s chief jailer, who killed 16,000 Cambodians, ordered babies to be beaten to death and carried out medical experiments on live prisoners has died peacefully in hospital aged 77. Kaing Guek Eav, known as Comrade Duch, had been serving a life prison term for war crimes and crimes against humanity having locked up and abused thousands of men, women and children seen as enemies of the regime or who disobeyed its orders. Under his rule, torturers beat and whipped prisoners and shocked them with electrical devices, before their children were then also killed to stop any fears of the next generation taking revenge. When he finally faced a trial over the regime’s crimes, some 30 years on from the atrocities, he called himself ‘criminally responsible’ for babies’ deaths, with many infants having their young bodies battered against trees. Duch died at Cambodian Soviet Friendship Hospital on Wednesday, having developed breathing difficulties at the Kandal provincial prison he was being held two days earlier. The body is now to be examined for a cause of death before being handed to his family.   

Duch, whose trial took place in 2009, was the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face the U.N.-backed tribunal that had been assembled to deliver justice for the regime’s brutal rule in the late 1970s, which is blamed for the deaths of 1.7 million people – a quarter of Cambodia’s population at the time. The communist Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975-79 was accused of genocide for causing the deaths of so many of their countrymen from executions, starvation and lack of medical care due to its radical policies. Only after neighbouring Vietnam pushed the Khmer Rouge from power did the scale and barbarity of their rule become absolutely clear.  

As commander of the top-secret Tuol Sleng prison code-named S-21, Duch was one of the few ex-Khmer Rouge who acknowledged even partial responsibility for his actions, and his trial included his own wrenchingly graphic testimony of how people were tortured at the prison. The site in Phnom Penh, which had been a secondary school before the Khmer Rouge came to power, is now a museum with stunning evidence of the cruelty with which the Khmer Rouge persecuted even its own members they accused of disloyalty. Men, women and children seen as enemies of the regime or who disobeyed its orders were jailed and tormented there, and only a handful survived. ‘Everyone who was arrested and sent to S-21 was presumed dead already,’ he testified in April 2009. The tribunal since Duch’s trial has convicted two top echelon Khmer Rouge leaders, while two other defendants died before their trials could be completed.

Youk Chhang, head of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, which has collected voluminous archives about the country’s tragedy, said Duch’s death ‘is a reminder to us all to remember the victims of the Khmer Rouge. And that justice remains a difficult road for Cambodia.’ 

Like many key members of the Khmer Rouge, Duch was an academic before he became a revolutionary. The former maths teacher joined Pol Pot’s movement in 1967, three years before the U.S. started carpet-bombing Cambodia to try to wipe out Northern Vietnamese troops and Viet Cong inside the border. The Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 and immediately attempted a radical transformation of Cambodia into a peasant society, emptying cities and forcing the population to work on the land in the country they renamed Democratic Kampuchea. They backed up their rule with ruthless elimination of perceived enemies, and by 1976, Duch was the trusted head of its ultimate killing machine, S-21. Tribunal judges said he signed off on all executions there and was often present when interrogators used torture to extract confessions, including pulling out prisoners’ toenails, administering electric shocks, and waterboarding. Despite his denials, the judges said he had at times taken part in the torture and executions himself. The torture and executions that took place at Tuol Sleng were routinely recorded and photographed, and when the Khmer Rouge were forced from power in 1979, the thousands of documents and film negatives left at the prison became proof of the regime’s atrocities. Duch fled, disappearing for almost two decades in northwestern Cambodia and converting to Christianity until a chance discovery by a British journalist in 1999 led to his arrest. 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Idris Elba (48), Naomie Harris (44), Michael Winslow (62), Mathew Horne (42), Rose McGowan (47), Michael Keaton (69), Raquel Welch (80), Carice van Houten (44), Paddy Considine (47), Bob Newhart (91), George Lazenby (81), Damon Wayans (60), Beyoncé (39), Michael Berryman (72), Charlie Sheen (55), Keanu Reeves (56), Salma Hayek (54), Keith Allen (67), Zendaya (24), Burn Gorman (46), Lily Tomlin (81), Steve Pemberton (53), Craig McLachlan (55), Gloria Estefan (63), Richard Gere (71), and Chris Tucker (49).

Good afternoon everyone! A rather benign week for the listed, however plenty of news and potential for 2021, with four months to go, some of the newsworthy celebrities might hold on ’til January for us to list them. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Ben Cross, 72, English actor (Chariots of Fire, Star Trek, First Knight), cancer.  
• Chi Chi DeVayne, 34, American drag queen (RuPaul’s Drag Race), pneumonia.  
• Frankie Banali, 68, American drummer (Quiet Riot, W.A.S.P., Heavy Bones), pancreatic cancer.  
• Fredie Blom, 116 (claimed), South African longevity claimant
• Jack Sherman, 64, American guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers).

In Other News

Veteran radio DJ James Whale has revealed he has cancer in his kidney, spine, brain and lungs. The 69-year-old us that he received the diagnosis two weeks ago. It comes 20 years after he had one kidney removed because of a tumour. “It’s in my remaining kidney,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of small lesions in my lungs. I’ve got it in my spine. I’ve got it in my brain.” Whale has hosted a nightly evening phone-in show on TalkRadio since 2016. But the often controversial and confrontational host has been absent for the past month. He told us that he went to the doctor when he started forgetting names on air. “The woman looked worried and she said, ‘I’m so sorry. I’ve got really, really bad news for you. I’m afraid 20 years ago you had kidney cancer. Well, it looks like it’s probably come back. You’ve got a tumour on your kidney.’ “And I thought, ‘OK, well, 20 years later I’ll have to do all over again.’ And then she said, ‘I’m sorry. Sadly its spread. You’ve got small lesions in your brain and your lung, in your spine, in your pituitary gland.’” He said he already had the tumour in his pituitary gland. He has been on immunotherapy and hormone replacement treatment, and is already feeling the benefits. “I haven’t got a proper prognosis yet because it’s very early days, but this immunotherapy is a very new way of treating cancer – it gets the immune system to attack the tumours,” he said. “I’m probably going to be on tablets for the rest of my life but I’ve gone from being like a little shrunken, old man in the chair who’s not eating and could hardly walk up the stairs, to where I can run upstairs.” A drove of hateful fascists, including TV hosts Piers Morgan and Charlotte Hawkins, fellow TalkRadio presenters Julia Hartley-Brewer and Ian Collins, and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage were among those sending well wishes. After his initial experience of cancer, Whale set up the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer in 2006, which merged with Kidney Cancer UK in 2015. Whale’s wife Melinda died of lung cancer two years ago.    

A singer recorded his final moments alive before his car was hit by a train in a live stream. Tavy Pustiu, 29, was regarded as one of Romania’s rising music stars before his life was tragically cut short. In the live-stream of the horrific accident, Tavy films himself listening to music in a car which his wife is driving. He jigs along to the beat and looks at the camera as the vehicle approaches a level crossing in the city of Ploiesti, in Romania’s Prahova County. The musician looks jovial and smiles at his wife, who is seen scanning the crossing for any oncoming trains. But she fails to spot one speeding right towards them. The final moments of the video capture the singer screaming in terror when he realises the danger he is in. Tavy died on the scene and his wife – who has not been named – remains in a critical condition and is on life support at the Prahova County Hospital. A local police spokesman in Prahova over said: “As a result of a collision between a train and a car on the level crossing a 29-year-old man who was the passenger in the front of the car was declared dead and a 24-year-old woman who was the driver was injured. “The accident happened because of non-compliance with the rules at the level crossing.” The train had been travelling between Maneciu and Ploiesti Sud and police said that it had been complicated for firemen to remove the pair from the wreckage. Pictures from the scene of the crash show the pair’s white car stuck underneath the front of the train. Just one month before his death, Tavy had posted on Facebook saying: “One day, the wrong train will take you to the right destination.”  

A South African who was thought to be the oldest man in the world has died at the age of 116. Fredie Blom’s identity documents showed he was born in Eastern Cape province in May 1904, although that was never verified by Guinness World Records. When he was teenager, his entire family was wiped out by the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. He went on to survive two world wars and apartheid. Mr Blom told the BBC in 2018 that there was no special secret to his longevity. “There’s only one thing – it’s the man above. He’s got all the power. I have nothing. I can drop over any time but He holds me,” he said. Mr Blom spent most of his life as a labourer – first on a farm and then in the construction industry – and only retired when he was in his 80s. Although he gave up drinking many years ago, he was a regular smoker. However, a coronavirus-related lockdown imposed by the South African government reportedly meant he was unable to buy tobacco to roll his own cigarettes on his 116th birthday. Mr Blom’s family said he died of natural causes in Cape Town on Saturday. “Two weeks ago oupa [grandfather] was still chopping wood,” family spokesman Andre Naidoo told us. “He was a strong man, full of pride.” But within days Mr Blom shrank “from a big man to a small person”, he added.  

Microsoft has finally killed Internet Explorer! The browser will be finished on 17th August, 2021, the company said. In a blog post, Microsoft explained that the Microsoft Teams web app will no longer support Internet Explorer 11 – the most recent and final iteration of the browser – from November 30th, 2020. The remaining Microsoft 365 apps and services will end support for the browser next year. Replacing the browser is the equally shit Microsoft Edge, the computer giant’s new browser which relies on Chromium open-source software, developed by Google for Google Chrome. That gives Edge more features than Internet Explorer, or you could just use Chrome. The move towards Chromium for Microsoft’s browser, compared to its previous proprietary browser, has larger ramifications for the future of the open internet. Chromium is now the basis of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Brave, Vivaldi, Avast Secure Browser, and Opera. This means that Google has greater influence when it comes to what features are developed, practices accepted, and which usability concerns are deemed vital. 

On This Day

• AD 79 – Mount Vesuvius begins stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire.  
• 1305 – Sir William Wallace is executed for high treason at Smithfield, London. 
• 1966 – Lunar Orbiter 1 takes the first photograph of Earth from orbit around the Moon.  
• 1973 – A bank robbery gone wrong in Stockholm, Sweden, turns into a hostage crisis; over the next five days the hostages begin to sympathise with their captors, leading to the term “Stockholm syndrome”.  
• 1991 – The World Wide Web is opened to the public.

Deaths

• 1305 – William Wallace, Scottish rebel commander (b. 1272)  
• 1926 – Rudolph Valentino, Italian actor (b. 1895)  
• 2005 – Brock Peters, American actor (b. 1927)

William Wallace’s Final Days

The movie ‘Braveheart’ was a blockbuster hit and is based on the life and death of legendary Scottish hero William Wallace as he fought for independence. You already know that the Hollywood version of events was quite different to the reality; even Mel Gibson referred to it as ‘historical fantasy.’ What you may not be aware of is the genuinely grisly nature of Wallace’s death which was far more graphic and horrifying than depicted on screen. He may have lived by the sword, but he died by a variety of other means. 

Wallace was captured at Robroyston near Glasgow on August 3, 1305. He was handed over to Sir Robert de Clifford and Sir Aymer de Valence and taken to Carlisle Castle. Rather than executing him immediately, Edward wanted to transport the prisoner to London to show other would-be rebels what happened to those who defied the crown. He was forced to travel another 300 miles to London where a terrible fate awaited him. 

There was a show trial in London, but in reality, there was zero chance that Wallace would escape with his life. While his death scene in Braveheart is excruciatingly painful, it was a mild demise compared to what really happened. After the inevitable guilty verdict on August 23, 1305, he was sentenced to die in one of the worst ways imaginable. Wallace was about to be hung, drawn, and quartered. 

The English apparently took him from  Westminster Hall and stripped him naked. Then they tied him to a hurdle and horses dragged him around six miles to Smoothfield where the pain began. During the journey, bystanders threw excrement and other assorted pieces of garbage at the unfortunate Scot, and he was also beaten with sticks and whipped by the angry mob. In Braveheart, Wallace endures the painful trip to the gallows but he is clothed, and while the crowd throws items at him, he is not struck by excrement. He received the ‘drawn’ punishment for committing treason, but there was much worse to come. Wallace had also been found guilty of robbery and murder, and the sentence for these crimes was hanging. Alas, the rebel didn’t get off so easily so while he was half-strangled by the rope, he wasn’t allowed to die. In Braveheart, we see knives on the table, but we don’t see what happened below Wallace’s waist. In reality, his executioner ‘emasculated’ him; this means Wallace’s testicles and penis were cut off. Next, the prisoner’s intestines were removed and burned in front of him. If Wallace weren’t already dead at this point, the next step would have finished him off. The executioner ripped the Scot’s heart out of his chest; there were instances when a criminal’s heart was still beating when the executioner displayed it to the crowd and declared it to be the heart of a traitor. We don’t know if Wallace’s heart was still beating when it was taken out of his body. The final brutal step involved chopping Wallace’s head off with an axe. After the execution, his body was divided into four pieces and displayed in areas around the country as a showcase of Edward’s power. For example, Wallace’s head was stuck on a pike on London Bridge. The heads of John and Simon Fraser joined that of Wallace on the Bridge later on. Wallace’s limbs were sent separately to Berwick, Stirling, Perth, and Newcastle. 

It is often assumed that William Wallace died such a cruel death because of his continued resistance to King Edward I. However, new research suggests that he was targeted because Edward believed Wallace wanted the Scottish Crown. In 2011, historians from Glasgow University found evidence which suggests the English thought Wallace was trying to become the King of Scotland.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ray Park (46), Charley Boorman (54), Richard Armitage (49), Kristen Wiig (47), Ty Burrell (53), James Corden (41), Dua Lipa (24), Mark Williams (61), Laura Haddock (35), Carrie-Anne Moss (53), Hayden Panettiere (31), Kim Cattrall (64), Amy Adams (46), Ben Barnes (39), James Marsters (58), Andrew Garfield (37), Demi Lovato (28), Misha Collins (46), Ray Wise (73), John Noble (72), Sylvester McCoy (77), David Walliams (49), Melissa Fumero (38), Matthew Perry (51), Jill St. John (80), Jonathan Frakes (68), Diana Muldaur (82), Ian McElhinney (72), Jim Carter (72), Simon Bird (36), Edward Norton (51), Andy Samberg (42), Christian Slater (51), Robert Redford (84), Madeleine Stowe (62), Roman Polanski (87), Denis Leary (63), Robert De Niro (77), Sean Penn (60), Rachel Hurd-Wood (30), and Belinda Carlisle (62).

This day seems to be quite a deadly one. Although I haven’t listed each occasion, there seems to have been quite a few plane crashes and numerous previous celebrity deaths on this day. So try not to travel today… Oh… Also apologies for the tardiness of this weeks issue, life got in the way again and my leading story had to be wiped because Brutha Trump went and died before I could tell you he was critically ill, so rewrites and more rewrites! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Martin Birch, 71, British music producer and engineer (Deep Purple, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden).  
• Raymond Allen, 91, American actor (Sanford and Son, Good Times, Starsky & Hutch).  
• Pete Way, 69, English rock bass guitarist (UFO, Waysted, Fastway), injuries sustained in accident.  
• Robert Trump, 71, American business executive (The Trump Organization).

In Other News

Bollywood’s Sanjay Dutt has been diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer, reports claim. The 61-year-old star – who recently announced on Twitter that he is taking a break from work to focus on medical treatment – is said to be “devastated” by the heartbreaking diagnosis. It is thought that the Naam actor is jetting to America to start treatment right away. An insider told us: “Baba is devastated. He has little children. Fortunately, they are in Dubai right now with their mother. But breaking this awful news to them would be an ordeal.” The friend also added that Bombay native Sanjay is pretty shaken but trying to stay positive, as they added: “It is curable. He needs instant and rigorous treatment for which he leaves immediately.” The actor recently posted a statement on Twitter where he announced that he would be taking a “short break” from work. According to local media, Sanjay was taken to Mumbai’s Lilavati hospital on August 8th after complaining of breathlessness and chest discomfort. He later announced on Twitter that his test for COVID-19 was negative and he was discharged from the hospital on August 10th.  

Robert Trump, the younger brother of President Donald Trump, has died. The president visited his 72-year-old brother at a hospital in Manhattan on Friday, according to White House spokesman Judd Deere. Trump was already scheduled to visit his property in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Friday, so he’s not going out of his way. The White House did not immediately release details about why Robert Trump had been hospitalised, but officials said that he was seriously ill. Robert Trump was previously hospitalised in the Spring with an undisclosed serious condition. A senior administration official said Friday that the President “has a very good relationship with his brother and his brother is very special to him.” Robert Trump was a former top executive at the Trump Organisation. He was one of four other siblings to the President, including the late Fred Trump, Jr.  Robert Trump recently filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Trump family seeking to stop publication of a tell-all book by the president’s niece Mary titled “Too Much and Never Enough.” The president has said that Mary Trump’s book was a violation of a nondisclosure agreement she signed in connection to a financial settlement she received from the Trump family. Mary is the daughter of the brothers’ eldest sibling, Fred Trump Jr., who struggled with alcoholism and died in 1981 at the age of 43. No family members joined Fred Jr., who was known as Freddy, at the hospital on the night he died, Mary Trump said, adding that Donald Trump went to the movies with another sibling instead. And you thought your family has issues…  

Actress Alyssa Milano has said her hair is falling out as a result of coronavirus and urged people to wear face masks to stop the spread. The Charmed actress shared a video on Instagram in which she is brushing her hair, to demonstrate clumps of hair coming out. She said: “I just wanted to show you the amount of hair that is coming out of my head as a result of Covid.” She ends the video by showing the hair that has come out to the camera and said: “One brushing. This is my hair loss from Covid-19. Wear a damn mask.” Whilst not enough to make a merkin, one look at her ‘hair loss’ confirms she’s being overly dramatic. Milano has previously said she felt like she was dying while suffering from coronavirus. She revealed on Instagram that she has tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies after three earlier tests suggested she had not contracted the virus. She shared the message alongside an image of herself using breathing equipment after she fell ill in March. “I had never been this kind of sick,” she wrote. “Everything hurt. Loss of smell. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest. “I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t keep food in me. I lost 9 pounds in 2 weeks. I was confused. Low grade fever. And the headaches were horrible.” She added: “I also want you to know this illness is not a hoax.  

Simon Cowell is recovering from a six-hour surgery after breaking his back. The 60-year-old star was rushed to hospital last week after falling off his new electric bicycle in Malibu, California, and he has now emerged from a successful surgery but will require a few months to fully recover. A source told the New York Post’s Page Six: “It was a long surgery, they had to fuse his bones and implant a rod. But thank goodness he’s going to be okay and will have a few months of recovery.” Simon’s representatives previously confirmed he had broken his back in the fall. However, nobody checked on the bike and I’m sure all of you would like to know if its ok. At the time of writing, nobody is sure, but the said bike wasn’t all it seemed to be. The $21,500 machine is capable of 60mph and has a 20,000 watt motor, whereas the legal limit in the UK is 250w. So this is a tale of a man who thought he could handle a beast and it bit him.  

Antonio Banderas is celebrating a big birthday in a slightly different way this year. On Monday, the Spanish actor shared a post on social media in which he revealed he is recovering from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. As it is also his 60th birthday, the Pain and Glory star accompanied the statement with what appears to be one of his own baby photos from some six decades ago. Banderas wrote in the post that he was doing well, aside from feeling more tired than normal, and that is confident that, by following medical advice, he’ll recover soon. He went on to add that he’s been making the most of the isolation, reading, writing, resting and making plans to commemorate his 60s — something he’s looking forward to and hopeful about. The actor was in the middle of filming the comedy Official Competition with Penélope Cruz earlier this year, when shooting was suspended in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On This Day

• 1819 – Peterloo Massacre: Seventeen people die and over 600 are injured in cavalry charges at a public meeting at St. Peter’s Field, Manchester, England.  
• 1858 – U.S. President James Buchanan inaugurates the new transatlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. However, a weak signal forces a shutdown of the service in a few weeks. Nothing new there then… 
• 1906 – The 8.2 M_w Valparaíso earthquake hits central Chile, killing 3,882 people.  
• 1930 – The first colour sound cartoon, Fiddlesticks, is released by Ub Iwerks.  
• 1946 – Mass riots in Kolkata begin; more than 4,000 people would be killed in 72 hours.  
• 1960 – Joseph Kittinger parachutes from a balloon over New Mexico at 102,800 feet (31,300 m), setting three records that held until 2012: High-altitude jump, free fall, and highest speed by a human without an aircraft.  

Deaths

• 1888 – John Pemberton, American pharmacist & chemist, invented Coca-Cola (b. 1831)  
• 1899 – Robert Bunsen, German chemist and academic (b. 1811)  
• 1938 – Robert Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1911)  
• 1948 – Babe Ruth, American baseball player and coach (b. 1895)    
• 1956 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) 
• 1977 – Elvis Presley, American singer, guitarist, and actor (b. 1935)  
• 2003 – Idi Amin, Ugandan politician and despot, 3rd President of Uganda (b. 1928)  
• 2018 – Aretha Franklin, American singer-songwriter (b. 1942)   
• 2019 – Peter Fonda, American actor, director, and screenwriter. (b. 1940)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Taika Waititi (45), Steve Carell (58), James Cameron (66), Julie Newmar (87), Madonna (62), Jennifer Lawrence (30), Ben Affleck (48), Natasha Henstridge (46), Joe Jonas (31), Jim Dale (85), Tony Robinson (74), Mila Kunis (37), Halle Berry (54), Steve Martin (75), Joseph Marcell (72), Sarah Brightman (60), Cara Delevingne (28), Bruce Greenwood (64), Chris Hemsworth (37), Anna Gunn (52), Ian McDiarmid (76), Hulk Hogan (67), Antonio Banderas (60), and Rosanna Arquette (61).