ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
NOVEMBER 8, 1951 AT 2 o’clock this morning, four tired women walked off a floodlit tennis court at Torquay, having just finished the final game of the day in the Covered Courts Tournament. Because of a series of long matches, it was midnight before they began their game. Officials had gone to bed, so the women were their own umpire, linesmen and ball-boys. NOVEMBER 8, 1963 FOUR thousand newly-printed copies of Fanny Hill, Memoirs Of A Woman Of Pleasure, first published in Britain 200 years ago, were seized by police, who were then granted applications ‘for process’ under the Obscene Publications Act, 1959. [In 1964, the book was found to be obscene in one of the last obscenity book trials in Britain.]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
RICHARD CURTIS, 61 (pictured), one of Britain’s most successful comedy screenwriters (Love Actually, Notting Hill, Blackadder and Mr Bean) and the cofounder of Comic relief. He says he doesn’t have any time for cynicism: ‘ Cynical people believe everyone is cynical — so cynics who watch Love Actually think it is a cynical attempt to make money. I’d encourage people with a cynical frame of mind to get on with it. Cynics Nose Day hasn’t raised any money yet.’ KAZUO ISHIGURO, 63. The Japanese-born author of The remains Of The Day and Never Let Me Go grew up in Guildford and once worked as a grouse-beater for the Queen Mother. When, last month, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Press arrived at his door, he said he initially thought it was a hoax — ‘fake news’ — adding: ‘It was completely not something I expected, otherwise I would have washed my hair this morning.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
PATTI PAGE (1927-2013). The Oklahoma-born singer (pictured) was born Clara Ann Fowler, the tenth of 11 children. One of the biggest stars of the Fifties, she sold over 100 million records, including Tennessee Waltz and (How Much Is) That Doggie In The Window. She is thought to be the first singer to ‘overdub’ herself — a technique adopted due to a strike that left her without backing singers. HERMANN rOrSCHACH (1884-1922). The Swiss psychoanalyst who invented the rorschach psychological inkblot test as a medical student — analysing children’s responses to accidental splodges of ink. As a schoolboy, rorschach had been nicknamed ‘Kleck’ (meaning inkblot) because of his love of ink drawing.
ON NOVEMBER 8 . . .
IN 1960, John F. Kennedy was elected u.S. President, after defeating richard Nixon. IN 1968, Cynthia and John Lennon were divorced. In 1969 he married Yoko Ono.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Crinkum-crankum (coined 17th century) A) A silvery grey, almost white colour. B) A tawny yellow, tinged with red. C) Elaborate decoration. Answer below PHRASE EXPLAINED Not bat an eyelid: To show no emotional response, from the Old French battre, meaning to beat wings. In time, bate was shortened to bat, or to blink or wink.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
IT dOEs not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. J. K. Rowling, British author
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHY can’t banks keep secrets? There are too many tellers. Guess The definition answer: C.