ON THIS DAY
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE DECEMBER 30, 1952
The Queen, like her father and grandfather before her, will wear the 5lb jewel- encrusted golden crown of St Edward (pictured) at her coronation next June. It was too heavy for Queen Victoria, who at her coronation wore it for just seconds before exchanging it for the specially made 2lb Imperial State Crown.
DECEMBER 30, 1963
THE stage made famous by The Beatles at Liverpool’s Cavern Club will be broken up and sold at 5s a piece to raise cash for Oxfam. Club owner, Mr Ray McFall, said: ‘When the cutting up starts I shall have to arrange a guard on the wood. It is about the most sought-after in the world.’
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
JOE ROOT, 27. The Yorkshire cricketer, and England Test team captain (pictured) has struggled in vain to convert 50s into 100s during the ongoing Ashes in Australia. however, he has been hailed ‘a genius’ and a fine batsman by predecessor Alastair Cook — who this week became the highest scoring visiting batsman at Melbourne Cricket Ground. PATTI SMITH, 71. The Chicago-born singer/songwriter and poet became a star of the u.S. punk rock movement with her 1975 album horses. She left a factory job and moved to New York in her 20s to follow her dream of becoming a poet — and penniless, slept in graveyards.
BORN ON THIS DAY
ASA GRIGGS CANDLER (1851-1929). The American pharmacist did not devise the original Coca-Cola recipe, but did turn it into a multi-million-dollar business through marketing — distributing souvenir fans, calendars and clocks. Three years after buying the firm, he was able to boast: ‘Coca-Cola is now drunk in every state.’ he paid just $2,300 for it in 1891 and sold it for $25 million in 1919. DAVY JONES (1945-2012). The only British member of The Monkees shared a birthday with bandmate Michael Nesmith (75 today). Before finding pop fame, the Manchester born heart-throb worked as a jockey and actor — playing Ena Sharples’s grandson on TV’s Coronation Street and the Artful Dodger in West End musical Oliver! It took seven takes to record his vocals on hit Daydream Believer, and he said later: ‘You can tell from the vocal that I was p***ed off.’
ON DECEMBER 30…
IN 1460, Richard, Duke of York, was killed in the Battle of Wakefield, in the Wars of the Roses.
IN 1816, English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley married Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who would go on to write Frankenstein.
WORD WIZARDRY GUESS THE DEFINITION Dragoman (coined 1430)
A) Scarecrow made of old garments. B) Turnstile. C) Interpreter or professional guide for travellers. answer below.
PHRASE EXPLAINED
Horseplay: Meaning fooling around; its origins derive from the 1580s when ‘horse’ meant anything strong, big or coarse; so horseplay meant strong play.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
I believe that all of us ought to retire relatively young. Fidel Castro (1926-2016), who served as Cuban president for 49 years
JOKE OF THE DAY
Where do baby apes sleep? In apricots. Guess the definition answer: c.