Every week Spectator Life brings you doses of topical trivia – facts, figures and anecdotes inspired by the current week’s dates in history …
January 9
In 1806, Nelson’s funeral was held at St Paul’s. He is buried in the crypt, directly underneath the top of the cathedral’s dome. His coffin was made of wood taken from a French ship captured by his forces at the Battle of the Nile.
January 10
Rod Stewart (born 1945). When the singer made his first serious money, he told his mother he wanted to buy her a huge gift. She said she didn’t want anything. He begged her. She said she’d think about it. Eventually she rang back, and told him she’d like a new bread bin.
January 11
Edmund Hillary (died 2008). When the mountaineer conquered Everest in 1953, the Times correspondent James (later Jan) Morris sent a telegram to the paper in London with the message ‘Snow conditions bad’.
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