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Ten things you didn't know about Fred Perry Fred Perry, three-time Wimbledon champion in the Thirties, was one of Britain’s greatest sportsmen of the 20th century. His success on the hallowed Wimbledon turf went unmatched by a British man for a remarkable 77 years, ahead of Andy Murray’s triumph in 2013. Perry was the first player to hold all four Grand Slam titles, winning the national championships in Australia, France, and the US, as well as Wimbledon. Historian Kevin Jefferys, the author of a new biography of Perry, reveals ten things you probably didn't know about the tennis legend… 1. He was world champion at table tennis as a teenager 2. He was never a top tennis junior 3. He earned fame but not fortune as the world’s best player 4. He dated Hollywood actresses and was married four times 5. He was tempted by offers to become a film star 6. He lived most of his adult life in the US 7. He owned a celebrity tennis club in Los Angeles, California 8. Despite being three-time Wimbledon champion, he was barred from playing at British clubs 9. The multi-million dollar Fred Perry Sportswear Company was created almost by accident 10. He almost never lived to see the unveiling of the Fred Perry statue at Wimbledon in 1984 Source: www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/wimbledon-2017-ten-things-y...

In circuses, Elephants are confined and chained for literally hours on end; Through physical punishment and the threat of its use, they are trained to pose in unnatural and difficult positions; They are moved, in unbearable heat and below freezing temperatures, from city to city chained in flatbed trucks and in boxcars; Calves are separated from their mothers at an early age for the purpose of training; Elephants are removed from companions to be bought and sold, and frequently moved about; Circus elephants have no level of autonomy over their lives, to the extent where they are trained to defecate into a bucket on command. Elephants in circuses are reduced to objects of entertainment for people. An elephant's place is in the wild with its relatives and companions. The totally unnatural existence for circus elephants is a travesty and to allow this practice to continue is unjustified and unethical. Source: www.elephantvoices.org/elephants-in-captivity-7/in-circus...

Is that a hearse, surely not?

There is no shortage of press accounts of miltary reviews in Phoenix Park in the early years of the 20th century, for example to celebrate the King's birthday every June. Another which caught my eye (and it's a long shot) was the review of Nationalist Volunteers on Sunday 4th April 1915 (reported next day in the Dublin Daily Express).

Yesterday a review of the Nationalist Volunteers was held at the Phoenix Park. The event attracted a big gathering. Excursion trains were run from many parts of Ireland. From the South and West there were particularly strong contingents.

and

There was an abundance of green flags, though no Union Jack was to seen.

and

The weather was ideal for such a display and there seemed to be nothing lacking in point of numbers. In other respects, too, contingents appeared quite to the mark.

The officer on the white horse appears (to me at least) to have a beard. From investigations several years ago I know that beards were not allowed in the British Army (except in the Pioneers), so if (big if) these were Volunteers (and if it's a beard) then perhaps the rules didn't apply to them. [Volunteers in and before WW 1 were not people who joined up of their own free will, but equivalent to the modern Territorials, i.e. part-time solders. e.g. my grandfather failed his WW1 medical, but joined the local Volunteers] On the other hand, these look too disciplined and well-drilled to match what I imagine Volunteers to look like, and

But few lost sight of the fact that many of the Volunteers were dressed not in military garb but in the rough clothes of the country

and a can't see any sign of rough clothes, although it's possible the photographer chose to record for posterity a part of the parade where only military garb was on view.

Suck Diesel I don’t think so.

Suck Diesel A couple of the officers appear to be looking at it asking themselves the same question, but the privates know that they have to look straight ahead until the saluting base where the general(s) stood. (Is my interpretation)

Was it this gathering of Redmond’s Volunteers in April 1915? www.rte.ie/centuryireland/index.php/articles/200000-peopl...