#TinoftheDay “It may be eaten by children or delicate persons without fear” - Sheldon And Pearson, Ltd, Original Puffed Rice Biscuit Toffee Tin c 1900. No elephants were harmed during the making of this toffee, but proud empires may fade away.

“I kissed the summer dawn” Born #OTD 1854, Arthur Rimbaud, restless soul, feverish imagination, seeker of other lands, with a tempestuous relationship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine. He *stopped* writing at the age of 20, died of cancer in 1891. Prose poem, from Illuminations.

Remembering Dame Anna Neagle, born #OTD in 1904 (died 1986). Leading British film actress. She made a theatrical comeback in the 1960s, with Charlie Girl at the Adelphi (also starring Joe Brown, Hy Hazell & Derek Nimmo). #AnnaNeagle

Born #OTD in 1823, Thomas Hughes QC (died 1896). Lawyer, politician, writer. Attended Rugby School which provided the material for semi-autobiographical work Tom Brown’s Schooldays (1857). Here a fine presentation volume (1902), school prize-givings aren’t what they used to be.

Born #OTD in 1969 in Colorado, Trey Parker, animator, tv producer, actor and composer – including the extraordinary South Park (with Matt Stone)!

Born #OTD in 1962, Tracy Rose Chevalier, American-British novelist. Deservedly famous for Girl with a Pearl Earring, #booksintomovies 2003 film starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth. Here’s a brace of others, 1997 and 2013.

Russian recruitment process. “In this matter you will have no silly compunctions. Your body belongs to the State. Since your birth, the State has nourished it. Now your body must work for the State. Is that understood?” Rosa Klebb addresses Tatiana FRWL

Born #OTD 1955, Timmy Mallett. Known for striking visual style and his famous foam Mallett’s Mallet (gettit?). One of the original presenters of TVAM’s Wide Awake Club, seen here with James Baker, Arabella Warner and Tommy Boyd in 1987 WAC Annual. Michaela Strachan joined later.

Born #OTD in The Bronx NY, 1947 Laura Nyro, American singer-songwriter (Stoned Soul Picnic), died of ovarian cancer aged just 49 in 1997. And When I Die, written when she was just 18, also covered by Blood Sweat & Tears (advance copy for the UK 1969)

“It was an ugly face, toadlike, under the powder and under the tight cottage-loaf of white hair. The eyes were so light brown as to be almost yellow. The pale lips were wet and blubbery. “ Rosa Klebb, played by Lotte Lenya, born #OTD 1898, d 1981, wife of Kurt Weil. FRWL Fleming

Born #OTD 1934, Alan Garner OBE. Author of complex unpigeonholeable tales. Mabinogion-inspired The Owl Service (1st edn, ex-library 1967); family history-inspired Stone Book Quartet (1970s, pb reprint 2006) "I don't have anything to do with the literary world. I avoid writers.”

Arthur Miller, born #OTD in 1915, died 2005. Some of his best plays earlier in his life, here a brace in Penguin (3s/6d) – series of Denise York’s designs for Penguin plays from 1964, the title conveying the image of theatrical lighting, 1968 in the West End & the National.

#OTD the first issue of British Elle went on sale today in 1985. Co-published News International & Hachette. Huge launch activity, inc a feature in the Sunday Times magazine, a preview issue and the real thing. Edited by Sally Brampton, cover model Yasmin (soon to be Le Bon).

Saucy, but mostly forgotten, writer Elinor Glyn, born #OTD 1864, died 1943. Journalist, screenwriter and risqué novelist. Best remembered for the enduring appeal: Would you like to sin with Elinor Glyn on a tiger skin? Or would you prefer to err with her on some other fur?

Blond, James Blond