ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE JULY 19, 1940
WOMen workers in Britain’s arms factories want to carry on with their jobs during air raid alarms. After two midnight alarms, one of which stopped a Midlands engineering works for three hours, a deputation of women sought the management’s permission to keep working. ‘We will keep at it even if there is a heavy attack,’ they said, ‘for we shall only undergo the same dangers to which men in the Forces are exposed.’
JULY 19, 1960
THe long-delayed road vehicle tests start on September 12. At first they will be voluntary, but soon they will be compulsory for all vehicles more than ten years old. every kind of vehicle will have to undergo tests every year once it reaches the age limit.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BrIAn MAy, 70. The Queen musician and his father made his favourite guitar, the Old Lady, out of wood from a fireplace, in the early Sixties. He often plays it with a sixpence coin instead of a pick. May has a PhD in astrophysics and is married to former eastenders star Anita Dobson. HeLen SkeLTOn, 34. The presenter of Countryfile and the BBC’s Olympics coverage (pictured) became the first woman to paddle the Amazon, aged 26. earlier this year firefighters helped her give birth when she went into labour on the kitchen floor (they were the closest emergency service).
BORN ON THIS DAY
PerCy SPenCer ( 1894- 1970). The American inventor of the microwave oven discovered electromagnetic waves could cook food while helping the British develop radar during World War II. He noticed chocolate in his pocket melted when he stood next to a magnetron and registered a patent for the ‘radarange’ in 1945. The first model was 6ft tall and weighed 340kg. MAx FLeISCHer (1883-1972). The Austrian-born animator and film director created Popeye, Betty Boop (pictured) and ko-ko the Clown. Fleischer was one of Walt Disney’s rivals, producing Gulliver’s Travels in 1939 to compete with Disney’s 1938 film Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.
ON JULY 19 . . . IN 1821,
the Coronation of George IV took place. Festivities included the first hot air balloon ascension using coal gas.
IN 1903, Frenchman Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France. The last finisher crossed the line two days later.
WORD WIZARDRY NEW WORD OF THE DAY Manel:
A panel that is exclusively male in number.
GUESS THE DEFINITION Naevus (coined 1693)
A) A congenital blemish on the skin, such as a mole or birthmark. B) The amount of liquid by which a container falls short of being full. C) A table or book containing the alphabet, a primer. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Englishman’s castle: Said of his house and is so-called as, so long as he shuts himself up in his house, no bailiff can break through the door to arrest him or seize his goods.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
THE English never smash in a face. They merely refrain from asking it to dinner. Margaret Halsey, American writer (1910-1997)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHy is the circle the most useless shape in the world? There’s no point to it. Guess The Definition answer: A Compiled by ETAN SMALLMAN and ADAM JACOT DE BOINOD