• The appreciation of County Durham pitman painter Norman Cornish is growing eight months after he died at the age of 94. His painting “Two men and a whippet in a bar” has sold for a record price. Who needs a fancy title?
  • Today is National Ferret Day – not an occasion celebrated by the late Countdown presenter Richard Whitely. It is also National Reconciliation Day so, if you've fallen out with someone, you could buy them a ferret.
  • Red Rum won his historic third Grand National on this day in 1977. This was also the year a woman rode in the great race for the first time. Charlotte Brew’s mount, Barony Fort, refused at the 27th fence.
  • Hans Christian Andersen was born in Odense, Denmark, on this day in 1805. He was known as the master of fairytales, although his stories were nowhere near as far-fetched as some of the fairytales in today’s election manifestos.
  • The world’s first human cannonball act was performed at London’s Amphitheatre on this day in 1877, when Lady Zazal was shot by elastic springs into a safety net. She was fired every day despite doing her job extremely well.
  • Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on this day in 1982 and so began the Falklands Crisis. Neither side used the word “war” at any time during the conflict.