Kenneth Horne (1907–1969) was an English comedian and businessman. His burgeoning career with the Triplex Safety Glass company was interrupted by wartime service with the Royal Air Force. While serving in a barrage balloon unit and broadcasting as a quizmaster on the BBC radio show Ack- Ack, Beer-Beer, he met the entertainer Richard Murdoch, with whom he wrote and starred in the comedy series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh (1944–51). After demobilisation Horne returned to his flourishing business career, keeping his broadcasting as a sideline. He later became the chairman and managing director of toy manufacturers Chad Valley. In 1958 Horne suffered a stroke and gave up his business dealings to focus on his entertainment work. He was the anchor figure in Beyond Our Ken (1958–64). When the programme came to an end, he recorded four series of the comedy Round the Horne (1965–68). Before a planned fifth series, Horne died of a heart attack. A 2002 BBC radio survey to find listeners' favourite British comedian placed Horne third, behind Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Horne

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

380:

Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire as a result of the Edict of Thessalonica. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Thessalonica

1776:

American Revolutionary War: A Patriot victory in the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge resulted in the capture or arrest of 850 Loyalists over the following days. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Moore%27s_Creek_Bridge

1900:

FC Bayern Munich, Germany's most successful football club, was founded by eleven players led by Franz John. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Bayern_Munich

1933:

The Reichstag building in Berlin, the assembly location of the German Parliament, was set on fire (pictured), a pivotal event in the establishment of the Nazi regime in Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_fire

2002:

A violent riot in Gujarat, India, where at least 1,000 people (mostly Muslims) were killed, was triggered by a train fire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godhra_train_burning

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

house of cards: 1. A structure made by laying cards perpendicularly on top of each other. 2. A structure or argument built on a shaky foundation. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/house_of_cards

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Man, unlike any other thing organic or inorganic in the universe, grows beyond his work, walks up the stairs of his concepts, emerges ahead of his accomplishments. This you may say of man — when theories change and crash, when schools, philosophies, when narrow dark alleys of thought, national, religious, economic, grow and disintegrate, man reaches, stumbles forward, painfully, mistakenly sometimes. Having stepped forward, he may slip back, but only half a step, never the full step back.   --The Grapes of Wrath https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Grapes_of_Wrath