Data Department

by David Fisher

There has been quite an interest recently in Queen Elizabeth I (chart left) as 2003 marks the 400th anniversary of her death. New biographies and TV programmes have contributed to this interest, not least by David Starkey. (I wish my old history teachers could have brought history alive like he does; Simon Schama is another, of course.)

The daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth had an uneasy early life. Her identification with Protestantism aroused the suspicions of her half sister Mary I, a devout Catholic, and she was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Her accession to the throne in 1558 after Mary's death ushered in an age of religious tolerance, though retribution against Catholics became more repressive later in Elizabeth's reign. Although she had no intention of getting married, she also had little interest in settling the line of succession, as the next in line to the throne was Mary, Queen of Sots, a Catholic, although Elizabeth died content, knowing that Mary's son James was a Protestant. Elizabeth's death on 23 March 1603 marked the end of the Tudor dynasty but her long reign had seen the emergence of England as a world power through its navy and the flowering of the English renaissance through its playwrights and poets.

A great help to Elizabeth was William Cecil. On her accession to the throne, Elizabeth appointed him Chief Secretary of State an for the next forty years until his death on 4 August 1598, he was the main architect of Elizabeth's successful policies. In 1571 he was created Lord Burghley. At his death he left lavis houses which he had built himself or restored.

Queen Elizabeth I 7 September 1533 Old Style (17 September 1533 New Style); Greenwich (51N29 0W00); 3:00 pm LMT(15:00 GMT) . Martin Harvey in Astrological Journal Winter 1975/6; date and time were recorded.

William Cecil 13 September 1520 Old Style (23 September New Style); Bourne (52N46 0W23); 3:30 pm LMT (15:32 GMT) Same source as above - his time of birth was also recorded.

On 14 May 2003 the actor Robert Stack (chart left) died in his native Los Angeles. He was in films in the late 1930's, perhaps best known as the man who gave Deanna Durbin her first screen kiss. But his glory days didn't arrive until 1959 when he won the part of gang buster Eliot Ness in the hugely successful TV series The Untouchables, based on Ness' book which he co wrote with journalist Oscar Fraley. Four the next four years Stack appeared in 118 episodes in what has since become US TV's most repeated series. Although only filmed in black and white, the period atmosphere was excellent; the music had just the right undercurrent of menace and the staccato narration by broadcaster Walter Winchell made it all appear very authentic.

The TV series and the later film starring Kevin Costner, have led people to believe that Eliot Ness was the man who finally brought down Al Capone, but this isn't true. All Ness and his agents did was to reduce Capone's revenue by raiding the gangster's breweries and destroying the barrels of illicit booze. Ultimately it was the US Inland Revenue department, which put Capone behind bars for income tax evasion.

Robert Stack 13 January 1919; Los Angeles, California (34N04 118W15); 4:40 pm PST (00:40 GMT on 14 January 1919). The Gauquelin Book of American Charts from birth certificate.

Eliot Ness 19 April 1903; Chicago; time not known. (d. 16 May 1957). Torso by Steven Nickel (Avon Books 1898). This case, which involved Ness hunting for the Torso Murderer of Cleveland Ohio, in the late 1930's, proved to be Ness' biggest failure.

Alphonsus Capone 17 January 1899; Brooklyn, NY; time not known. (d. 25 January 1947). Mr Capone by Robert J. Schoenberg (Robson Books 1992).

I expect you are all dying to know the birthdates of the ten contestants of the recent series of I'm a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here. I only have the full data for one of them:

Toyah Wilcox 18 May 1958; Birmingham (52N30 1W50); 11:57 am BST (10:57 GMT). From her to Liz Medler.

Five, including the two presenters Ant and Dec, can be found in the 200 edition of TV Times Who's Who on Television:

Chris Bisson 25 September 1975, Newcastle

Dec(lan) Donnelly 25 September 1975, Newcastle

Ant(hony) McPartlin 18 November 1975, Newcastle

Daniella Westbrook 5 November 1973

Anthony Worrall Thompson 1 May 1951, Stratford Upon Avon

Three more:

John Fashnu 18 September 1963, Kensington, London. Rothman's Football Yearbook 1995-6.

Wayne Sleep 17 August 1948, Plymouth. Source unknown.

Phil Tuffnell (the eventual winner): 29 April 1966, Barnet. Wisden Cricketers Almanac 2003.

I had a letter in 1996 from Sian Lloyd who told me she was born at "five o'clock." Unfortunately, she neglected to say whether it was am or pm. (Oh, yes, it does happen sometimes.) In any case I have mislaid her date of birth. And as for Linda Barker and Catalina Gurado (and I'm not sure I have her surname correctly), I have nothing on them at all.

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