ON THIS DAY

FROM THE ARCHIVE

JANUARY 12, 1971

POLICE rescued George Best from fans yesterday after he barricaded himself in at his girlfriend’s home. The fans – schoolboys and teenage girls – had forced their way into the north London block of flats chanting ‘We want Georgie’. The siege began after the announcement that the Manchester United player, pictured, had been suspended for 14 days by his club for failing to turn up for showdown talks with manager Matt Busby.

JANUARY 12, 2009

HE’S a notoriously harsh taskmaster who puts in 12-hour days and expects no less from his employees, so it’s hardly surprising that Michael O’Leary hasn’t taken a sick day in more than two decades. The outspoken Ryanair boss has criticised the thousands of Irish workers who have taken to bed after being struck down with the flu that is currently sweeping the country. ‘I can’t for the life of me understand why people call in sick. I’ve never been sick in 20 years,’ the hardy Mr O’Leary told Today FM presenter Ray D’Arcy. His comments on his zero-tolerance approach to illness come as Ireland’s hospitals struggle to cope with a flu outbreak that is said to be the worst in almost a decade.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

SIMON RUSSELL BEALE, 63. The Malaysianborn award-winning British actor played Winston Churchill in 2021 film Operation Mincemeat. When as a child he played Desdemona in Othello, a review in the school newspaper said: ‘He makes up in clarity what he lacks in feminine charm.’ MICHAEL ASPEL, 91. The former newsreader hosted the BBC’s This Is Your Life, Come Dancing and Crackerjack. He made two guest appearances on The Goodies – in a 1971 episode called Kitten Kong he played a news reporter who is squashed by a giant cat.

BORN ON THIS DAY

RUTH BENERITO (1916-2013). The US chemist, right, invented wrinkle-resistant cotton, which is considered one of the most technologically significant developments of the 20th century. By the time she retired in 1997, she had more than 50 patents to her name. EDMUND BURKE (1729-1797). The philosopher and writer from Dublin was a British MP for nearly 30 years and is seen as the ‘father of conservatism’. He said that society was a partnership between ‘those who are living, those who are dead and those who are to be born’. He defended the American Revolution, but opposed the French Revolution.

ON JANUARY 12…

IN 1904, Henry Ford sets a land-speed record of 91.37mph (147.05kph) on the surface of Michigan’s frozen Lake St Clair. IN 1981, the first episode of soap opera Dynasty is broadcast in the US.

WORD WIZARDRY

GUESS THE DEFINITION: Balderdash (coined 1611) A) A flourish at the end of a written word. B) To sing in the streets. C) Adulterated wine. Answer below.

PHRASE EXPLAINED

Doubting Thomas: denotes a sceptic who needs to see proof, a reference to the Gospel of John’s depiction of the Apostle Thomas, who refused to believe the resurrected Jesus had appeared to the other ten disciples until he could see and feel his Lord’s crucifixion wounds.

QUOTE FOR TODAY

I’m not a pop star. I’m just a troubled soul who needs to scream into a mic now and then Sinéad O’Connor, Irish singer (1966-2023)

JOKE OF THE DAY

WHY was the woman’s hair so angry? Because she was always teasing it. Guess The Definition answer: C.