A dead star is born

6

February

12
Egon Ronay diesRestaurateur Egon Ronay died on this day in 2010.

19
Black Dog’s Tail dockedOn this day in 1965 workmen entered the chamber of the House of Commons and cut down Black Dog’s Tail, the length of tarred rope from HMS Victory that had hung from the ceiling since the ship’s return from the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

The ‘Pet Shop Sketch’, better known as the ‘Dead Parrot Sketch’, was first broadcast on this day in 1969, in the ‘Full Frontal Nudity’ episode of Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Read on...

Pet shop boys: John Cleese and Michael Palin

Picture: BBC