ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 25, 1952
WoMEN employees in railway station buffets have been ordered to stop chatting with customers or calling them by their first names. They must address them as ‘Sir’, says the Hotels Executive in a circular to staff across the country.
NOVEMBER 25, 1953
RAB BUTLER, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in Manchester yesterday: ‘If people concentrated on spending on essentials, rather than unessentials, there would be less grumbling about the costs generally.
‘But for goodness’ sake don’t stop smoking. I am now getting well over £600,000,000 annually in taxation out of smoking alone, and it is easily the winner in taxes. It is easiest to collect and the biggest revenue raiser. It leaves poor old beer far behind.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
BRUNo ToNIoLI, 62 (right). The Italian-born Strictly Come Dancing judge was once a member of a pop group that hoped to represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest. Bruno, who has lived in London since the Seventies, was part of an outfit called Duke And The Aces. They appeared on the BBC’s A Song For Europe show in 1980 — but finished in seventh place. SIR PETER WRIGHT, 91. The producer and choreographer, founder of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, is said to have created the best versions of The Nutcracker and Giselle. He ran away from school at 17 to audition as a dancer in football shorts and green slippers lent to him by a female classmate.
BORN ON THIS DAY
NoEL NEILL (1920-2016). The U.S. star (right) was best known for playing Lois Lane in two Superman films and 78 TV episodes between 1948 and 1958. She retired when the TV series was cancelled, saying: ‘I didn’t have any great ambition. Basically I’m a beach bum.’ AUGUSTo PINoCHET (1915-2006). The former Chilean dictator led a coup against Salvador Allende’s democratically elected Marxist government. A friend of Mrs Thatcher, he was put under house arrest on a visit to Britain after a Spanish extradition request, but after 18 months was deemed too ill to face charges, and returned to Chile, where he died before he could face trial for human rights abuses while in power.
IN 2002, actor Nicolas Cage and Elvis Presley’s daughter Lisa Marie filed for divorce after three months of marriage.
IN 2016, former Cuban dictator Fidel Castro — the longest serving non-royal leader of the 20th century — died, aged 90. GUESS THE DEFINITION Redeless (coined 1000) A) Not knowing what to do in an emergency. B) Blind. C) Careless. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Blue chip: Refers to a company with a reputation for quality and reliability that operates profitably even in bad times. It comes from gambling in the U.S., where blue chips (of wood) had a high value.