ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 6, 1962 PRINCE PHILIP, on a shooting holiday in Italy, was in a party of 15 which bagged 1,200 duck and 400 pheasant today on the estate of industrialist Signor Vittorio Necchi. DECEMBER 6, 1967 BEATLES George Harrison and John Lennon opened their fun palace to the ‘In’ people last night. The shop in Baker Street opens to the public tomorrow. Just about all of London’s Beautiful People — in flowers, beads and every fashion look ever invented — packed the rainbow-painted building. There was Cilla Black in brown leather; Twiggy in velvet maxi-culottes; and George and John handing out apples.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
NICK PARK, 59. The animator is best known for his Wallace And Gromit films. The clay figures are moved and filmed 25 times in order to create one second of film — five animators took several months to create the 31-minute film, A Close Shave (above). PETER WILLEY, 68. The former all-rounder was a stalwart of England’s cricket teams in the Seventies and Eighties. Commentator Brian Johnston said he didn’t recall saying: ‘The bowler’s Holding, the batsman’s Willey’ when the West Indies’ Michael Holding ran into bowl at Willey at the Oval in 1976 — but was told of his gaffe in a letter from a fan.
BORN ON THIS DAY
PETER DIMMOCK (1920-2015). Best known as the face of BBC sport, Dimmock produced and directed coverage of the Queen’s coronation in 1953 — watched by half the British population. To make sure the cameras in Westminster Abbey were inconspicuous, he filmed between musicians’ legs. ALfRED EISENSTAEDT (1898-1995). The Germanborn photographer was best known for his work for Life magazine. He captured everyone from Marilyn Monroe to a glaring Joseph Goebbels — about whom he wrote: ‘Here are the eyes of hate’. Eisenstaedt’s most famous shot, The Kiss (right), showed a U.S. sailor embracing a nurse on VJ Day in August 1945.
ON DECEMBER 6…
IN 1768, the first edition of Encyclopedia Britannica was published in Edinburgh. IN 2005, David Cameron was elected Tory leader, beating current Brexit Secretary David Davis by more than two votes to one.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Oology (coined 1831) A) The study of birds’ eggs. B) Much talk with little to say. C) The use of ambiguous language. Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
My word is my bond: Meaning someone always keeps a promise; it has been the motto of the London Stock Exchange since 1801, where deals were made without a written pledge or documents.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
A SUCCESSFUL man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend. A successful woman is one who can find such a man. U.S. actress Lana Turner (1921-1995)
JOKE OF THE DAY
SCIENTISTS have discovered exactly how much sleep an average person needs . . . Just five more minutes. Guess The Definition answer: A.