ON THIS DAY
February 28, 2017
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
FEBRUARY 28, 1961 THE birth control pill, which has been successfully tried out in the U.S, can now be prescribed by Britain’s family doctors. The Pill can be obtained on NHS prescription. FEBRUARY 28, 1966 FILM STAR Cary Grant became a father last night for the first time — at the age of 62. His 28-year- old actress wife, Dyan Cannon, gave birth prematurely to a 4½lb girl in a Hollywood hospital. Grant called his mother, Mrs Elsie Leach, who lives at a nursing home in Bristol. The assistant matron said: ‘She was thrilled. She’s been phoning all her friends with the news.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
STEPHANIE BEACHAM, 70. The Hertfordshire-born actress is best known for her work in Dynasty, Tenko and The Colbys, but also appeared opposite Marlon Brando in The Night comers. Brando made sure director Michael Winner could not film their sex scene below the waist. Beacham recalled: ‘Marlon wore wellies and the biggest Y-fronts I’ve ever seen. “Nice look,” I said. He said: “You’ve got a [no] nudity clause — I haven’t.”’ FRANK GEHRY, 88. The Canadian-born architect is famous for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. Gehry, who has been portrayed in The Simpsons, achieves his futuristic designs through state-of-theart software, but a collaborator said: ‘Frank still doesn’t know how to use a computer — except to throw it at somebody.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BRIAN JONES (1942-1969). The founder of the Rolling Stones, Jones came up with the name and recruited Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. He died at 27 after drowning in the swimming pool of his home in East Sussex. Drummer Ginger Baker said: ‘Brian Jones was the main man in the Stones; Jagger got everything from him.’ ROBIN COOK (1946-2005). The Scottishborn former foreign secretary never ran for leader of the Labour Party because, he said: ‘My looks and personality are very much those of the school swot, who is never handsome and charming.’
ON FEBRUARY 28th...
IN 1953, British scientist Francis Crick walked into The Eagle pub in Cambridge with his American colleague James Watson and announced they had ‘found the secret of life’, the double-helix structure of DNA.
IN 2013, Pope Benedict XVI resigned as the head of the Catholic Church, saying he was too old to serve at the age of 85.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY Usie — a self-taken photo of a group of people (as opposed to a lonely ‘selfie’). GUESS THE DEFINITION Maffick (coined 1900): A) To rejoice with an extravagant and boisterous public celebration. B) A religious figure at prayer. C) An unlicensed public house. ANSWER BELOW PHRASE EXPLAINED
Down in the dumps — referring to being depressed or unhappy. Dumps was used frequently in plays from the 16th century onward. Shakespeare, in The Taming Of The Shrew, wrote: ‘Why, how now, daughter Katharina! In your dumps?’
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I NEVER think of the future — it comes soon enough Albert Einstein, physicist (1879-1955)
JOKE OF THE DAY
HOW did the musician catch his fish? He castanet. Guess The Definition answer: A