ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE July 24, 1952
Elaborate ceremonial has no place in the new reign. Mr r.A. Butler, Chancellor of the Exchequer, gave this assurance to MPs who had urged greater simplicity in Palace activities. Scottish labour MP Miss Jennie lee, a miner’s daughter and wife of [labour MP] Mr Aneurin Bevan, had accused the Tory Party of trying to maintain the royal Family as ‘a centre of snobbery’.
July 24, 1957
Police have been called in to stop a Teddy Boy war on Eton’s ‘wet-bobs’ — 400 boys who scull on the Thames.The Eton boys have been fired on with air guns while sculling. Boats have returned peppered with shots. One of the ‘wet-bobs’ said: ‘If we get them, they’ll be in the drink.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
ELISABETH MOSS, 35. The American star of BBC2’s Top Of The lake and hit Channel 4 series The Handmaid’s Tale made her name as Peggy Olson (right) in Mad Men. A Scientologist, she has previously said her faith makes her feel like a better version of herself, but in interviews now says the subject is ‘private, off limits’. Danny Dyer, 40. The East Enders star was revealed last week to be the joint highest paid star in the soap, earning up to £245,000. He joined the cast after his film company went bust and a movie he starred in got ‘some of the worst reviews for a British film in living history’. Previously, Dyer had turned down a role on the soap, saying he would only consider it when ‘I’m fat, bald and 50’.
BORN ON THIS DAY
JOHN NEWTON (1725–1807). The londonborn former slave trader wrote one of the best-known hymns, Amazing grace. After suffering a convulsive fit, he became an evangelical preacher. By 1788, he had become an abolitionist and wrote a pamphlet apologising for his part in the slave trade. He died nine months after Parliament voted to end it.
ZELDA FITZGERALD (1900-1948). The wife of The great gatsby author F. Scott Fitzgerald (right, together) was a writer and 1920s icon. One of the first celebrity couples, their marriage has been described by a Hollywood producer as ‘a co-dependency from hell’.
ON JULY 24 ...
IN 1969: Apollo 11, which carried the first men to the Moon, returned to Earth.
IN 1987: Jeffrey Archer won £500,000 libel damages for a Daily Star story that he had slept with a prostitute. In 2001, he was jailed for perjury for lying at the trial.
WORD WIZARDRY
NEW WORD OF THE DAY Wonk: A person who studies too much and knows all the details about something.
GUESS THE DEFINITION Pavis and (coined by Kipling)
A) large white wig worn by the clergy. B) To flaunt opulent clothing or jewels. C) One who stands more or less aloof from party politics. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Through thick and thin: Denotes loyalty, as in: ‘To stick by someone through thick and thin.’ Derives from the pulleys that allow ropes of differing widths to hoist sails.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
It Is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is made by men to express theirs. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I’v E stopped getting electric shocks whenever I touch metal. I’m ex-static. Guess the Definition answer: B