Golf Central

Some people pay a lot of money for a damned good thrashing but these ladies are amateur golfers, so they have to receive their beating for free, which they did in the first ever staging of the Curtis Cup – starting a noble tradition of masochism we have been doing our best to uphold ever since. Elsewhere there were bombs, aeroplanes, dastardly deeds and tragedy – Barbara Cartland died too.

This is the redoubtable Curtis Cup team that set out for a golfing tour of America in 1932, in advance of the first ever staging of the biennial competition between the best women amateurs from GB&I and the USA, which took place on May 21. Sadly they lost, in an ominous forecast of what was to follow. In the 34 matches staged so far, ‘our’ girls have won only three times, there have been six ties and USA has lifted the trophy on 25 occasions.

In 1991 India’s former leader Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in a bomb blast that killed at least 14 other people. Thank heavens we’ve moved on from those dark days. On a brighter note, the British government announced, in 1997, a complete ban on anti-personnel landmines. It’s worked, too, because we haven’t had any in Brighton now for 18 months at least.

In 1960, US Tour golfer Mark Carnevale was born. He turned pro in 1983 but it took him almost a decade to reach the top level. But persistence does pay off and in 1992 he won the Chattanooga Classic and, at the age of 32, was the PGA Tour rookie of the year. All you have to do is believe.

How about this for coincidence? In 1927 Charles Lindbergh completed the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Five years later, on exactly the same date, Amelia Earhart landed in a pasture in Derry, becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

In 2000 on this day Barbara Cartland died. It would be inappropriate of us to say ‘Thank God’ – so we won’t.

Our ‘Enery (Cooper) very nearly became heavyweight champion of the world in 1966 when he floored then champion Cassius Clay, who was saved by the bell. Some smart work in his corner involving a concealed razor blade then led to Clay’s glove having to be changed, which gave him enough time to recover and go on to win in the sixth.

It’s National Waiter/Waitress Day in the USA. Only in America

And remember, there are only 217 days to Christmas.

Those wacky Hungers from Hungary shout: ‘Boldog szuletesnapot!’ or ‘Isten eltessen!’ but we say ‘Happy Birthday’ to
Plato (428 BC), probably the most influential philosopher the world has seen (random quote: ‘Love is a serious mental disease’),
permanently-permed popster Leo Sayer (60), acting legend Mr T (56) and footballing legend-to-be Jonathan Howson (20). Come on Leeds!