ON THIS DAY
February 27, 2018
FROM THE DAILY MAIL ARCHIVE FEBRUARY 27, 1945
THE strain of more than five years of war is causing women to become ‘depressed and moody’, Professor D. Henderson, a leading psychiatrist, said yesterday. His views were endorsed by the superintendent of a large mental hospital, who said: ‘The sheer monotony of rationing, queues and 1,001 other wartime innovations are mainly responsible.’
FEBRUARY 27, 1960
PRINCESS Margaret and Mr Antony Armstrong-Jones (right) are spending the weekend at Royal Lodge, Windsor, while congratulations on their Leap Year engagement flood in from all over the world. The news that Princess Margaret was to marry was the best-kept royal secret in years.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
TIMOTHY SPALL, 61. The actor played J.M.W. Turner in the 2014 film Mr Turner, studying painting for two years so his brushstrokes would look realistic. He’s recently been working on the film Mrs Lowry & Son, playing L.S. Lowry, and has said he’s ‘trying to tick off all the artists’. Before taking up acting, he was torn between joining the Royal Tank Regiment and becoming a surrealist artist. JOSH GROBAN, 37. The American singersongwriter and actor, best known for the hit You Raise Me Up, has dated singer Katy Perry and Mad Men star January Jones. He has sold more than 30 million records and has performed at the Vatican, the Oscars and the Winter Olympics.
BORN ON THIS DAY
DAME Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011). The Londonborn star became the highest- paid Hollywood actress in history after accepting the role of Cleopatra (right), saying: ‘If someone’s dumb enough to offer me $1million to make a picture, I’m certainly not dumb enough to turn it down.’ She was known for having violet eyes, though they were, in fact, blue — made all the more irresistible because she had double rows of eyelashes, caused by a genetic mutation, which gave her extra sex appeal. JOAN BENNETT (1910-1990). American actress who appeared in more than 70 films from the silent era onwards, often playing the femme fatale. In 1951, her life in movies was overshadowed by private scandal when her third husband shot her agent in an LA car park, falsely believing him to be having an affair with Bennett. The agent recovered but Bennett’s career didn’t. Virtually blacklisted, she lamented: ‘I might as well have pulled the trigger myself.’
ON FEBRUARY 27…
IN 1964, the Italian government appealed for suggestions on how to stop the Leaning Tower of Pisa from collapsing. IN 2002, comedian Spike Milligan, 83, died.
WORD WIZARDRY
GUESS THE DEFINITION: Banjaxed (1935)
A) Merry, joyful.
B) Battered, destroyed.
C) Bemused.
Answer below
PHRASE EXPLAINED
To face the music: To stand up without fear in situations of difficulty and face the outcome. Derives from the historical act of disgraced officers being ‘ drummed out’ of military service.
QUOTE FOR TODAY
IF A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut
Albert Einstein, physicist (1879-1955)
JOKE OF THE DAY
WHAT is the fastest thing in water? A motor pike. Guess The Definition answer: B.