In This Month

It happened this month

... in2004: Janet and Justin’s Superbowl slip-up

A singular event occurred during the halftime show of the Super Bowl on February 1, 2004. While performing a duet with Janet Jackson, Justin Timberlake briefly exposed a delicate part of her upper anatomy in what was later described as a “wardrobe malfunction.” The performance was airing live all around the world to an estimated audience of 143.6 million - and coincided with the rise of digital video recording and internet technology. It susequently became one of the most viewed, searched for and talked-about moments in the history of the internet.

... in1952: Elizabeth

becomes Queen

In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of Kenya. On February 6, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, when word arrived of the death of the King and consequently Elizabeth’s immediate accession to the throne. Philip broke the news to the new queen. Asked her to choose a regnal name, she chose to remain Elizabeth, “of course”. She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom. She and the Duke of Edinburgh moved into Buckingham Palace. Elizabeth was crowned on June 2, 1953.

... in1983: Shergar

stolen

Shergar was the most famous, and most valuable, racehorse in the world, and when he retired at the end of the 1981season, racehorse owners paid a staggering £10m for shares in his services impregnating mares. A year later, on February 13, 1983, kidnappers armed with handguns broke into the Ballymany Stud - owned, like the horse, by the Aga Khan - and forced the head groom, James FitzGerald, to load Shergar into a trailer. The hunt for Shergar continued for weeks, but to no avail. The police even enlisted the service of two mediums. No-one has ever admitted the theft of Shergar and the body has never been found. The most valuable horse in the world disappeared without trace.