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A sculptor has expressed renewed hope for a large-scale memorial to Benny Hill, on the centenary of the comedian's birth. The Benny Hill Show ran on BBC and ITV from 1955 to 1989, making the Southampton-born star a household name. Barnsley sculptor Graham Ibbeson was commissioned to make a fibreglass mould of the late comedian in 2004, but it has remained in storage ever since. He said a public statue would be a fitting tribute to Hill's talent. Mr Ibbeson said: "He was a comic genius. His stage was everybody's living room.

The Great War of 1914-1918 was the defining event of our time: a lost generation of millions dead or maimed; mournful widows and orphans; empires toppled and nations shattered; Western civilization damaged; vast treasures sacrificed. And in war's aftermath, democracies stillborn and totalitarianism and vengeance enthroned. How did it happen? Keegan, despite his vast expertise, confesses that even when one knows what happened, it is difficult to explain why. "The First World War is a mystery. Its origins are mysterious. So is its course. Why did a prosperous continent, at the height of its success as a source and agent...

A concert marking the centenary of Poland's regained independence was due to be held at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles on Monday. American pianist Kate Liu was billed to perform a selection of works by Beethoven and Chopin as well as Ignacy Jan Paderewski, a virtuoso pianist and composer who was one of the architects of Polish independence a century ago. Diplomats, local officials and members of the area’s Polish community were expected to be among the audience for the event, which has been co-organised by the Polish National Foundation and the Polish Consulate General in Los Angeles. Polish senator...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I on French soil, and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will be in London at a ceremony in Westminster Abby with Queen Elizabeth II. But while the leaders visit the capitals of Germany's wartime enemies, at home there are no national commemorations planned for the centenary of the Nov. 11 armistice that brought an end to the four-year war that killed more than 2 million of its troops and left 4 million wounded. Next week, German parliament is holding a combined commemoration of the 100th anniversary...

Did the horrors of the Great War cause Canadian soldiers to lose their faith? Or is it true that there were no atheists in the trenches? The war has generally been seen as a powerfully disillusioning experience. Books such as Paul Fussell’s widely influential The Great War and Modern Memory portray the war as the origins of modern skepticism and cynicism. The idea of a “lost generation” of disillusioned Anglo-American vets is a widely accepted one. The situation in Canada, however, is a little more ambiguous. In his study of the war’s impact on Canadian culture, Death So Noble, Jonathan...

Donald Trump is to hold meetings with Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Paris as world leaders arrive in western Europe for ceremonies to mark 100 years since the end of the first world war. Emmanuel Macron, the French president and host for the armistice ceremonies in Paris on 11 November, hopes to use the emotion of the occasion to warn that a nationalist resurgence led by authoritarian leaders – an outcome of the flawed ending of the first world war – will threaten liberal democracies and the institutions of multilateralism, the chief outcome of the second world war....

World War I was one of the major events that shook mankind. Originated in Europe, the war lasted from July, 1914 to November, 1918. Filmmakers across the globe have tried to capture the essence of the events that changed the world forever. As First World War marks a century, here are 5 films that delved deep into what happened among the warring nations and how it affected the humanity at large. Paths of Glory The film starring Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax is a narration of a soldier’s dilemma while motivating others for a bloody war. Douglas plays the commanding...

I first encountered Shirley Jackson through a single short story, “The Daemon Lover”, which I read when I was 12 without knowing any of her other work. Later, I rediscovered the story, along with the rest of Jackson’s writing, and became a fervent admirer of this brilliant and (at that time) much underrated American author. In some ways, “The Daemon Lover”, from a 1949 collection is a typical Jackson story. An unnamed woman of 34 (though only 30 on her marriage certificate) wakes up on the day of her wedding to a man called James Harris. Impatiently the woman waits...

Kirk Douglas turns 100 on Friday, and he has found the perfect gift to celebrate. Running Press later today officially will announcing the May 2 publication of a new book, Douglas’ 12th, written with his wife of 62 years, Anne Buydens Douglas, called Kirk and Anne: Letters of Love, Laughter, and a Lifetime in Hollywood.

Pope Francis plans to visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima in 2017, on the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary to three children, according to the diocese in Portugal. “Pope Francis confirmed to Bishop Antonio Marto that, ‘if God gives him life and health’, he wants to be in Cova di Iria to celebrate the centenary of the Apparitions of Fatima,” the diocese of Leiria-Fátima said in a press release. Three shepherd children, Lucia dos Santos, Jacinta Marto and Francisco Marto, had a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 13 1917. St John...

Today marks the centenary of the birth of Sir Alec Guinness and to commemorate this, several of his finest films are being reissued on DVD and shown at the cinema. Such fuss would probably have caused the intensely private star acute embarrassment. After all, his good friend John Le Carré once noted how much Guinness "loathes the world's flattery and mistrusts its praise".

Benjamin Britten was born 100 years ago on 22 November and as events take place around the world to celebrate the work of one of Britain's greatest composers, two people who knew both the man and the musical genius share their recollections. "I was never frightened of Ben but I had great respect for him. He was a very easy person to get on with but you were careful about what you said about works he either liked or disliked, or his own works. You chose your words carefully!" In a rare interview with BBC Radio 3's Tom Service, 87-year-old...

I know that many of you are still celebrating the birthday of the greatest American who ever lived, Ronald Reagan. But this year also marks another important anniversary. Nancy, the woman who was with Reagan from the very begining of his political career, is also having a birthday of her own. She is turning 90 on July 6, 2011. Isn't it great that the Gipper and his wife are celebrating major anniversaries this year? Nancy was with Ronnie when he left the Democratic Party and became a Republican. She stood by his side after the great speech for Goldwater in...

...As Arthur C. Clarke put it: "Almost every good scientist I know has read science fiction." And the greatest writer who produced them was Robert Anson Heinlein, born in Butler, Mo., 100 years ago this month. The list of technologies, concepts and events that he anticipated in his fiction is long and varied...

Monday, 25th September will mark the exact centenary of the birth of Dmitri Shostakovich, who has latterly become one of the most influential and most performed composers of his generation - second only, perhaps, to Stravinsky. Anniversaries make life easy for concert promoters and record labels, their itineraries handed to them on a plate. Inevitably this year the focus has tended to fall on two of the great bodies of work of the twentieth century - Shostakovich's symphonies and string quartets, fifteen of each...

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