yesterday was a ...

Wednesday 21 May 1997 23:02 BST
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Good Day for sex, as Giulio Paggi celebrated his 101st birthday in Udine, Italy, saying that the secret of his long life was: "that all my life I've put a lot into lovemaking". He and his wife were both born in Egypt in 1896; they married in 1920 and he worked as a typewriter salesman until he was 90.

Bad Day for margarine, as a line manager at the Kiev Margarine Factory, Ukraine, was found drowned in a vat of coconut oil. The factory director insisted that the plant's products were still fit to eat, because the oil he fell into had not been used for at least a year.

Edible Day for snakes, as Gringo, a performer at the Lucky Irani Circus in Pakistan, bit the head off a cobra, then ate it. "I can eat snakes, lizards, frogs or any other poisonous animals," he said. "If anyone challenges me, I can eat a dog too. I have never been sick and I have never vomited. If anyone can prove that I have vomited, I will give him 10,000 rupees."

Penitent Day for a bus-traveller who sent pounds 5 to a bus company in Shrewsbury to pay for fares she had dodged more than 20 years ago.

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