ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE OCTOBER 28, 1952
LOCAL authorities are to be allowed to distribute up to 2oz of ‘ration-free’ sweets to all schoolchildren as a Coronation Day treat. Food Minister Major Lloyd George described such gifts as a ‘loyal and cheerful custom’, and then declared: ‘I shall stop sweet rationing as soon as I can.’
OCTOBER 28, 1958
‘My Lords and Members of the House of Commons…’ This is the moment, the breathtaking moment, which will make history at three minutes past eleven this morning. For the first time, television cameras will go into the House of Lords to show the Queen opening Parliament.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
DAME CLEO LAINE, 90. The London- born jazz singer and actress ( pictured), famous for her vocal range of four octaves, is the only woman to have received Grammy nominations in the jazz, pop and classical categories. Of her curly mane, she said: ‘My famous hair is an animal — it’s untameable.’ DAvID DIMBLEBy, 79, also showed his wild side when, at the age of 75, he got his first tattoo — a scorpion on his shoulder — saying: ‘you’re only old once.’ The host of BBC’s Question Time since 1994 originally had to compete for the coveted job with Jeremy Paxman, and both men had to film pilot shows as an audition. David said: ‘The BBC turned it into a prize fight, not me.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
JONAS SALK (1914-1995). The American doctor developed the first successful vaccine against polio, described as ‘one of the greatest events in the history of medicine’. He also caused a tabloid sensation when, in 1970, he married French painter Francoise Gilot, the former mistress of Pablo Picasso. EvELyN WAUGH ( 19031966). The celebrated English author of Brideshead Revisited and Decline And Fall was once described as a ‘cruel’ father. Waugh (pictured) refused to visit his son in hospital after a shooting accident and once said: ‘I have numerous children whom I see once a day for ten, I hope, awe-inspiring minutes.’
ON OCTOBER 28...
IN 1726, Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift, was published. It has never been out of print since.
IN 1886, the first ticker-tape parade took place in New york to mark the dedication of the Statue of Liberty — as workers spontaneously threw the strips of paper out of their office windows.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION Applejohn (coined 16th century)
A) An apple tree on a boundary. B) An apple supposed to be at its best when shrivelled, keeping good for two years. C) A dead tree still standing. Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Cloak and dagger: Refers to situations involving intrigue, secrecy, espionage or mystery and derives from 17th- century France, when a ‘cloak-and-dagger’ play or
comédie de cape et d’épée, was a swashbuckling affair and highly popular.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
NEvER argue with a fool — onlookers may not be able to tell the difference. Mark Twain, author (1835-1910)
JOKE OF THE DAY
I KEEP dreaming that I’m falling through theatre doors. But my doctor told me not to worry, it’s just a stage I’m going through. Guess The Definition answer: B