Golf Central

It was on this day in 1974 that Gary Player hit a recovery shot from the clubhouse wall behind the green on the 18th hole at Royal Lytham & St Annes to win The Open Championship. He hit it left-handed to scramble the ball back to the green and still won the title, four shots clear of Peter Oosterhuis with Jack Nicklaus a further stroke behind.

His victory meant he shared the distinction of claiming the title in three separate decades with Harry Vardon. 44 years earlier in 1932, the American Lefthanders Golf Association was founded, with Babe Ruth elected as president.

Born on this day in 100 BC, Julius Caesar is undoubtedly the most recognised of all Roman political figures. Known as the 'perpetual dictator' for his ten-year reign, his assassination by conspirators has been well documented, but he was also a military strategist of some repute. There are various stories as to why the name Caesar became the moniker of Emperors;  that the first Caesar had a thick head of hair (Latin caesaries); that he had bright grey eyes (Latin oculis caesiis); or that he killed an elephant (caesai in Moorish) in battle.

So it's Vsetko najlepsie k narodeninam! as they say in Slovakia to 1971 Masters Champ Charles Coody (71), George Lucas' muse Harrison Ford (66), stoner Cheech Marin (62), ex-Heavyweight champ Michael 'Jinx' Spinks (52), and Private Eye editor Ian Hislop (48).