My faith in the occasional grand display of man's generosity to his fellows, was reinforced by the riches from Wraggs story of former York worker Ray Wragg who won £7.6 million in the National Lottery and gave away £5 million to relatives, friends and charities. Now that's almost being generous to a fault, especially for a Yorkshireman. That's not to say that I think Yorkshiremen are stingy, but they do have a reputation outside Yorkshire for being very careful with their money.

When the lottery was first started, like most people, I played the game and dreamt of winning.

I even made plans of how I would spend the then £10 million or so, weekly prize if I won. I planned to pay off the mortgages of all my family and friends; fund a new wing to be built for the York Hospice; buy a helicopter for the North Yorkshire Police; build a youth club for the Foxwood youngsters; provide the RSPCA Landing Lane with ten-years supply of animal foodstuffs, and arrange for Jean to get some new hip joints.

Alas, I shall have to disappoint all those good causes, for unlike Mr Wragg I shall never win the lottery.

After winning about 20 small prizes for three or four numbers I felt I had used up all my luck, and couldn't hope to buck the one in14 million chances against winning, so I gave up trying.

But if anyone in York should win the top prize and have difficulty in deciding what to do with their winnings, I'd be most grateful if they'd carry out my charitable proposals.

'I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy, a Yankee Doodle do or die; a real live nephew of my Uncle Sam - born on the fourth of July..." So sang song and dance man Jimmy Cagney in his Oscar-winning role as actor, composer, dancer and playwright George M Cohan, in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy.

But George M Cohan was a bit of a fraud, because unlike America's first president, George Washington, who couldn't tell a lie, he told porkies - he was born on July 3.

However, among America's 41 former presidents, one - Calvin Coolidge - was born on July 4 - Independence Day. Though Coolidge was a most unlikely man to break into song and dance about anything except, perhaps, strike-breaking, and the only thing he got excited about was the national economy.

He was a real dour sourpuss, who proclaimed: "I want to be known as the US president who minded his own business." There haven't been many presidents since who've taken that line, for which, in some cases, we can be thankful.

The Fourth of July wasn't a happy day for three other of America's presidents: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe, who all died on this date.

An extraordinary co-incidence you might think. It certainly was, but I'm inclined to believe that it was probably due to heart failure, brought on by over-exciting themselves in celebrating Independence Day.

But there was a great entertainer born on the Fourth of July - the one and only Louis Armstrong, and if he hadn't departed this 'wonderful world' to play in that big jazz band in the sky on July 6, 1971, he could have been celebrating his centenary today. Give the angels a treat, Satchmo, play them some cool jazz on your hot trumpet.

"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy..."

Oh... er... sorry, got a bit carried away with the excitement of the occasion - better be careful.

It's make up your mind time, Tony. Are we going all the way with Europe, or coming out to go it alone? Let's have no more vacillation - if the Government can't decide, the people should.

Third-rate our national football team may be, but our nation must avoid relegation.