23 Ιουνιου

The Olympic Games were founded this day

Olympic

Γι' αυτό πίνουμε ένα...

Olympic

What a great legacy 1894 has left us, because it was on this day in that year that the International Olympic Committee was founded in Paris, on the initiative of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

The Baron's ideology was that the competition itself was more important than the winning, as he articulated: "The important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle, the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."

In thanks for all the tremendous entertainment the Olympics have brought us down the years, today we're drinking an Olympic, a delicious cocktail from the 1920s with cognac and freshly squeezed orange juice.

It's Alan Turing's birthday

Mathematician, codebreaker, computing pioneer, and the father of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing was born in Maida Vale, West London this day in 1912.

He tragically died aged just 42, from cyanide poisoning: he had, most likely, killed himself with a poisoned apple, in the manner of his favourite character, Snow White.

Why would a genius with his whole life ahead of him choose to die that way? Well, Turing was gay. And being gay was illegal. And two years before his suicide, he had been convicted of "indecent acts" and forced to undergo chemical castration. The series of oestrogen injections left him growing breasts, while his conviction left his career in ruins - and the UK without one of its greatest minds.

In honour of Turing, and in praise of a tolerant society, we are enjoying an Apple Strudel cocktail.

Join the Discussion


... comment(s) for The Olympic Games were founded this day

You must log in to your account to make a comment.

Report comment

You must be logged in to upvote or downvote a comment

Click here to login
Welcome to Difford's Guide

All editorial and photography on this website is copyright protected

© Odd Firm of Sin 2024