5 November

10 weird and wonderful things which happened on 5 November:

1. This date in 1913 saw the birth of Vivien Leigh, the actress best known as Gone With the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara.
2. On this date in 1919, actress Jean Acker married screen heart-throb Rudolph Valentino. Then, she locked him out of their bedroom on their wedding night. The marriage lasted less than six hours.
3. The Gunpowder Plot took place on this date in 1605. Thirty-six barrels of black powder were found in the cellar of the Houses of Parliament and the fuses were in Guy Fawkes' pocket. Fawkes was beheaded. Robert Catesby and the rest of his small band of Catholic zealots who'd planned to blow up James I and Parliament were only arrested after Fawkes cracked under torture and revealed their names.
4. Guy the Gorilla arrived at London Zoo from Cameroon on this date in 1947, at the age of 18 months. He was named after Guy Fawkes, but was upset by the noise of Fireworks on his first day in London.
5. The British Board of Film Censors was appointed on this date in 1912. It awarded just two types of certificate: “Universal” and “Not Suitable For Children”. During its first year it banned 22 films. Among the reasons given were: “indelicate or suggestive sexual situations”, “holding a minister of religion to ridicule” and “native customs in foreign lands abhorrent to British ideas.”
6. Channel 4 TV's The Tube was first broadcast on this date in 1982. Presented by Paula Yates and Jools Holland, the show featured The Jam and an interview with Mick Jagger. The first live act on the show was the band Toy Dolls.
7. In 1917, the War Office agreed to supply Christmas Puddings to British troops in France.
8. In 1932, Gillespie Road London Underground station, which served Arsenal Football Club’s Highbury ground, had its name changed to Arsenal after representations by the club.
9. Logger Travis Walton claimed he was abducted by aliens near Snowflake, Arizona on this date in 1975 and was missing for five days. Walton claimed the aliens performed "various experiments" on him. Walton later wrote a book about his experience, Fire From the Sky, which was made into a film by Paramount.
10. In 1935, Parker Brothers introduced the board game "Monopoly." Fearful that the game had too many rules and would take too long to play, Parker Brothers had initially rejected Darrow’s creation but eventually snapped up rights to Monopoly, the best-selling game in history, for an undisclosed sum.

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