IN THIS MONTH 1975: Ross McWhirter shot dead On 27 November at 6.45pm, McWhirter, who rose to prominence with his brother Norris as co-author of The Guinness Book of Records, was shot and killed by two IRA volunteers, Harry Duggan and Hugh Doherty. Both were members of what became known as the ‘Balcombe Street Gang’ the group for whose capture McWhirter had offered a £50,000 reward. McWhirter was shot at close range in the head and chest with a .357 Magnum revolver outside his home in Village Road, Bush Hill Park. Both brothers were regulars on the BBC show Record Breakers, and brother Norris continued to appear on the programme after Ross’s death.
1952: The Mousetrap opens Based on an Agatha Christie murder mystery, The Mousetrap had its world premiere at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham on 6 October 1952. Its pre-West End tour then took it to Oxford, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds and Birmingham before it began its run in London on 25 November 1952 at the Ambassadors Theatre. It has been running continuously ever since. The longest running West End show, it has by far the longest initial run of any play in history, with its 25,000th performance taking place on 18 November 2012. The play has a twist ending, which the audience are traditionally asked not to reveal after leaving the theatre.
1957: First animal in orbit
1980: “Who shot J.R.?” On 21 November 1980, 350 million people around the world tuned in to television’s popular primetime drama “Dallas” to find out who shot J.R. Ewing, the character fans loved to hate. J.R. had been shot on the season-ending episode the previous March 21, which now stands as one of television’s most famous cliffhangers. The plot twist inspired widespread media coverage and left America wondering “Who shot J.R.?” for the next eight months. The November 21 episode solved the mystery, identifying Kristin Shepard, J.R.’s wife’s sister and his former mistress, as the culprit.
1990: Thatcher quits In November 1990, Margaret Thatcher failed to receive a majority in the Conservative Party’s annual vote for selection of a leader. She withdrew her nomination and John Major, the chancellor of the Exchequer since 1989, was chosen as Conservative leader. On November 22, she announced her resignation and six days later was succeeded by Major.
1990 1957
Thatcher’s three consecutive terms in office marked the longest continuous tenure of a British prime minister since 1827, although during her premiership she had the second-lowest average approval rating (40%) of any post-war Prime Minister.
1991: Freddie Mercury dead
On 3 November 1957, the secondever orbiting spacecraft carried the first animal into orbit, the dog Laika, launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft (nicknamed ‘Muttnik’ in the West).
On the evening of 24 November 1991, Freddie Mercury, lead singer with the rock band Queen, died at the age of 45 at his home in Kensington.The cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.
Laika died during the flight, as was intended because the technology to return from orbit had not yet been developed. At least 10 other dogs were launched into orbit and numerous others on sub-orbital flights before the historic date of 12 April 1961, when Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space.
He’d issued a statement the previous day in which he finally confirmed he’d been suffering from the disease.
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The global media hype over the series was unprecedented, and T-shirts printed with such references as “Who Shot J.R.?” and “I Shot J.R.” became common over the previous summer.
Sales of Queen albums rose dramatically in 1992, the year following his death. In 1992, one American critic noted, “What cynics call the ‘dead star’ factor had come into play - Queen are in the middle of a major resurgence.
1991