ON THIS DAY
May 27, 2017
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE MAY 27, 1947
MR GANDHI lost one of his most prized possessions on Sunday when a thief took the five shilling watch which for 25 years had dangled from his loincloth. The thief is believed to have mingled with crowds which mobbed Mr Gandhi at Kanpur railway station on his way to Delhi. [The thief felt remorse and returned it six months later.]
MAY 27, 1969
PRINCESS ANNE made her first public speech yesterday — and she wrote it herself. The 18-year-old talked about her taste in clothes at a lunch to open the Festival of London Stores. She said: ‘I think I can claim to have supported almost all the stores represented here at some time or other. But I dislike macs so intensely, my Burberry is going to last me a good many years.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
HESTON BLUMENTHAL, 51. The three- Michelinstarred chef ( right) — whose crazy dishes include egg and bacon ice cream, snail porridge and meat fruit — turned to cooking after failing to get the A-level grades to be an architect. While people assume that Blumenthal is bald, he shaves his head, partly to stay cool in the kitchen. SIOUxSIE SIOUx, 60. The lead singer of Siouxsie and the Banshees grew up as Susie Ballion in Chislehurst, London. An early exponent of punk fashion, her controversial outfits often consisted of glam, fetish and bondage gear. During a live early-evening TV show in 1976, members of the Sex Pistols swore at presenter Bill Grundy when he tried to flirt with Siouxsie in one of the most infamous bouts of swearing in TV history.
BORN ON THIS DAY
VINCENT PRICE (19111993). The U.S. actor starred in dozens of horror films and also provided the monologue for Michael Jackson’s 1983 song Thriller. Price said of his genre: ‘In a world where slaughter and vicious crimes are daily occurrences, a ghoulish movie is comic relief.’ AMELIA BLOOMER (1818-1894). The U.S. women’s rights campaigner edited a journal in which she advocated a move away from starched petticoats and whale-bone fitted corsets to something giving women freedom of movement. In 1851, she told readers how to make the Turkish-style pantaloons and short dress that she had adopted — and within weeks newspapers dubbed it the ‘Bloomer’ dress. The baggy trousers shortened over time, but the name lived on.
ON MAY 27...
IN 1927, the last Model T Ford was built — 15 million of the cars had been sold. IN 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India’s first prime minister, died aged 74.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY
Geophony: the sounds of the wind, waves and other natural phenomena.
GUESS THE DEFINITION Fubsy (coined 1780)
A) Being chubby and somewhat squat. B) Tawny yellow tinged with red. C) Of animals: having a belly colour different from the rest of the body. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
White feather: Display of cowardice. Refers to a gamecock with a white tail feather — showing cross-breeding and lack of courage.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his. Oscar Wilde, playwright (1854-1900)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT clothing does a house wear? A dress. Guess The Definition Answer: A