ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 10, 1964
ONE of the last acts of James Bond author Ian Fleming was to license four of his friends to be extravagant. In his £300,000 will [£5.7 million at today’s value], published yesterday, 56-year- old Fleming left them £ 500 [£ 9,600] each to spend within 12 months ‘on some extravagance’.
NOVEMBER 10, 1969
PRINCE PHILIP said last night that the monarchy is seriously short of money. ‘We go into the red, I think, next year,’ he said cheerfully. ‘We have kept the thing going on a budget based on costs of 18 years ago.’ The royal income, £475,000 [£7.5 million today] for the Queen and £40,000 [£637,000] for himself, was fixed in 1952.
[In 1971 it was agreed that Civil list payments would be inflation proofed.]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
EDDIE IRVINE, 52. On his 1993 grand prix debut, the Northern Irish-born Formula One racing driver turned TV pundit was punched to the ground by Ayrton Senna — furious at being overtaken by him. In 2014, Irvine (pictured) was sentenced to six months jail in Italy after a nightclub brawl. last year, he listed his Dublin mansion on Airbnb, charging guests £939 a night. RUTH DAVIDSON, 39. The leader of the Scottish Conservatives calls herself ‘a tough old bird’. She was a signaller in the Territorial Army and a BBC radio presenter. The practising Christian, who is openly gay, has said of her image: ‘I’ve never been part of the short skirts and push-up bra brigade. You can wear something indecorous to the pub, but you can’t do it for the cameras.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
BRITTANY MURPHY (1977-2009). The American actress (pictured) starred in films including Clueless; Girl, Interrupted; 8 Mile and Happy Feet. She had a No 7 hit single with Paul Oakenfold in 2006 with Faster Kill Pussycat. Brittany died aged 32 of pneumonia and anaemia — which killed her husband Simon Monjack five months later, and was feared to be have been caused by toxic mould in their home. SEAN HUGHES (1965-2017). The comedian, who died of liver disease last month, quit drinking in 2014 after his jacket caught fire at a party. Born in london, he moved to Dublin aged six. He was a team captain on the anarchic BBC 2 music quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks and acted in The last Detective and Coronation Street.
ON NOVEMBER 10…
IN 1903, U.S. inventor Mary Anderson took out a patent for car windscreen wipers.
IN 1960, 200,000 copies of D.H. lawrence’s lady Chatterley’s lover sold out in one day — when a ban on publication was lifted after a celebrated obscenity trial.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION Fleeten (coined c1618)
A) The colour of skimmed milk. B) High-spirited, proud. C) Fast, speedy. Answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
The whole gamut of emotions: Phrase comes from the 16th century, when the gamut was the lowest note on the musical scale; the word has come to mean from high to low, or the whole range.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
Nobody in Beverly Hills grows old. It’s a violation of a city ordinance. Bob Hope, comedian (1903-2003)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT do you call a baby ape? A chimp off the old block. Guess The Definition answer: A.