Some little while ago I read Bill Bryson’s “One Summer – America 1927”, in which he writes about various events of that year – the Lindbergh Crossing, Babe Ruth’s season and the release of The Jazz Singer among other things.  The genius of the man is to make “unputdownable” something about which I had no prior interest.  It inspired me to have a go myself and, with reason, I chose 1952.

It was the year that George VI shook a six and Princess Elizabeth ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II, much to the annoyance of Scottish Nationalists who pointed out that they had never had a Queen Elizabeth before. (Queen Elizabeth I reigned over England long before the Act of Union with Scotland in1707).

It was also the year that Dwight D Eisenhower ascended the throne of the Free World (well, elected to it anyway) taking over from Fred Trueman.  “Singing in the Rain” was released that year along with “High Noon”, precipitating a run on white cowboy hats and umbrellas, while Earnest Hemmingway wrote a book about fishing.

It was also the year, although sauces vary on this, that the contraceptive pill was discovered, whereas Newcastle won the FA Cup beating The Arse.  YIP-TI-DOODLE.   Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that Britain had developed its own atomic bomb and in that London there was a Great Smaug.

Nobody important died.

But it was a good year for future celebs being born, such as that nice Mr Putin and Mr Weinstein; also cricket players Imran Khan and Sir Vivian Khan’t, as well as fighty-type people like Steven Seagull and Lord Liam Nelson.

More importantly for the world, Coops’s head made its first appearance which was to become a bigger bombshell than that atomic one of Mr Trueman what I mentioned before.  And he has been grateful ever since that that contraceptive pill was not invented the year before, which meant his dad relying on a dodgy rubber johnny.