The title is a date, but can also be interpreted as the numbers of five of the six unclued entries; in that order, they indicate how that date relates to the present. (NB one of these five five unclued entries is of two words.) Their barred-off letters give FIEND-SOS. The sixth unclued entry’s relevance is obvious, and other associated figures appear (sometimes disjointedly) in the clues, where they should be disregarded when solving.
ACROSS
3 Exaggerated couple of articles by Conservative in court case (10)
10 Cat burst in, sound of cat echoing within it (6)
11 Speak about new decorated knight (6)
12 Mean onset of neuralgia to receive attention (4)
13 Propeller affected attitude shown by seamen (8)
16 March composer’s uncommon drive (5)
17 Man, perhaps, some misled (4)
19 Greek character left (and other people) (4, 2 words)
22 Passages showing one caterpillar so many inches! (6)
23 Tell about dead dormouse (6)
24 Trees identified in the Spanish document (4)
26 Drop in rent? (4)
30 Good many exercising – very good one may be this? (7)
31 A salmon I daubed in painting (8, 2 words)
32 Some quick hare needs a flexible leg joint (4)
33 Man or woman flatly wanting name put at the end (6)
34 Object on bed, mostly white down and blue (6)
35 Fails to accept one set in US city (10, 2 words)
DOWN
2 Generate bubbly drink (8, 2 words)
4 Sounds like a measure of frequency cook causes agony (5)
5 White English girl’s uniform feature (9)
6 Try to pray to disturb mad political grouping (9, 2 words)
7 Elected Conservative seen to stray has to anger Duchess (7)
15 Winning rematch, perhaps – still good in the boxing world (9)
16 Wrong man, we hear, carrying round telephone messages (9)
20 Plants almost entirely trees (7)
21 Hatter missing end of latest half of disaster in foreign theatre (7, 2 words)
25 Creature associated with desert rabbit arrived and left (5)
27 One deer held up part of limb (5)
28 Cheshire soaks up sun and gets very hot (5)
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