ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE
DECEMBER 8, 1942 THE decision to call up wives who have no young children has been made necessary by the near-exhaustion of manpower in Britain and by the recently arranged enlarged production programme in war factories. A million part-timers are needed so more men under 30 can be released for the Forces. DECEMBER 8, 1948 WHEN Food Ministry enforcement officers in Belfast and Larne saw crates marked ‘ Rabbits’ with the animals’ ears sticking out conspicuously, they decided to investigate. The officers found that underneath the rabbits were turkeys being smuggled to retailers in London and Glasgow. They have now been diverted to local firms to help supply Ulster at Christmas.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
LOUIS DE BERNIERES, 63. The British author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin plays the mandolin himself, as well as the flute and guitar. He often writes in a shed next to his vegetable patch: ‘It’s powered by solar panels, which I fitted myself, and heated by a caravan gas heater.’ But he prefers to write poetry on trains because it ‘needs to be musical and it’s quite a help when you’ve got railway wheels going, “da da- dum, da-da-dum, da-da-dum...”’ AMIR KHAN, 31. The boxer from Bolton, worth an estimated £18 million, is a hit on the current series of I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! for gaffes, such as asking camp-mates: ‘Has a woman ever become Prime Minister?’ Going into the Aussie jungle seems an odd choice, as Khan has said: ‘Whenever I see a spider at home, I get my sister to move it. I just don’t deal with it.’
BORN ON THIS DAY
MARY, Queen of Scots (1542-1587). The tragic queen, executed on the orders of her cousin Elizabeth I, is reputed to have been the first woman to have played golf. In 1567, she is said to have caused a scandal by teeing off after her husband Lord Darnley was murdered. DIEGO RIVERA (1886-1957). The Mexican was the country’s most famous artist, alongside his wife, Frida Kahlo. In 1932, he was commissioned to paint a mural in New York’s Rockefeller Center, but this was destroyed for depicting a Communist heaven and capitalist hell and featuring Lenin. Rivera got revenge by recreating it in Mexico City, with a portrait of tycoon Nelson Rockefeller holding a martini glass and surrounded by syphilitic bacteria.
ON DECEMBER 8…
IN 1955, the Council of Europe adopted a blue flag with a circle of 12 gold stars. IN 1983, the House of Lords voted to allow cameras in to broadcast debates live.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION Keb (coined 1549) A) A coffin. B) Ewe which gives birth to dead lamb. C) A jewel. answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Over a barrel: In a helpless position, at someone’s mercy. From a nautical phrase for draping someone rescued from drowning over a barrel to help them cough up water.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
LIFE isn’t about finding yourself. life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright (1856-1950) What type of sandals do frogs wear? Open-toad. Guess the Definition answer: B.