ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE AUGUST 5, 1947 A SCREAMING boy awoke 40 passengers flying in a KLM plane across the Atlantic to Prestwick yesterday. he had seen a five-foot snake — thought to be a black mamba — slithering along the aisle. With a blanket, 24-year-old Flight Chef Martinus Kat flung himself on the snake, then shut it in the ice box. It was being flown to Amsterdam Zoo. AUGUST 5, 1949 SCOTLAND YARD has asked acid-makers to tighten up their sales practices. It is feared the haigh murders [John George haigh killed six and dissolved their bodies in acid] may lead to copycat crimes. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPhIE WINKLEMAN, 37, right. The Londonborn actress (and halfsister of Strictly’s Claudia), keeps her maiden name professionally, but can also call herself Lady Frederick Windsor because of her marriage to the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. her credits include Disney’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe and foul-mouthed Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show. JANET McTEER, 56. The English star was Oscar nominated for Tumbleweeds and Albert Nobbs and played Mrs Claus in M&S’s ‘feminist’ Christmas advert last year. She’s devised a plan for when she hits 60: ‘I’ll start smoking and drinking again and never use skin products, so I can get all the interesting, wrinkly parts.’ BORN ON THIS DAY JOAN hICKSON (19061998). The Northamptonborn actress got her biggest break, aged 78, as Miss Marple ( right) in BBC TV’s Agatha Christie adaptations. She was delighted when a note from Christie sent to her 40 years earlier was found which said: ‘I hope one day you will play my dear Miss Marple.’ PETE BURNS (1959-2016). The singersongwriter was famous for his hit You Spin Me Round with Dead Or Alive — and for his appearance, the result of plastic surgery. When he appeared on Celebrity Big Brother in 2006, police seized his coat after complaints it was made of illegal gorilla fur. Tests showed it was made of colobus monkey skins, possibly imported before a ban. ON AUGUST 5…
IN 1926, harry houdini did his last successful stunt, lying in a sealed tank in a swimming pool for 91 minutes.
IN 1963, the UK, U.S. and Soviet Union agreed to ban nuclear tests in the atmosphere, space and underwater. WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION Featous (coined 14th century) A) having teeth that stick out. B) handsome. C) Foppish, conceited. Answer below. PHRASE EXPLAINED Lip service: Insincere spoken approval of something, it is similar to the 1538 phrase ‘lip-labour’, meaning the action of the lips without agreement of the mind (especially the vain repetition of words in prayer). QUOTE FOR TODAY IF yoU want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales. Albert Einstein (1879-1955) JOKE OF THE DAY WhAT’S the best way to get away with a murder? Don’t get caught stealing crows. Guess The Definition answer: B.